Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in Bristol, England, in 1965. She dreamed of being a famous writer when she was a little girl. Before she wrote Harry Potter, she was very poor. She had no job and had to take care of her young daughter. Then she decided to write the Harry Potter story to make some money. Every day, she sat at a coffee shop writing until the first book was finished. But no one wanted to put out her book. They said girls couldn't write about magic. Then Rowling changed her name from Joanne Kathleen to J.K., so people wouldn't know she was a woman. At last, in 1997, someone agreed to put out the first book and it was a huge success. She then wrote six more Harry Potter books. In just a few years, JK. Rowling went from a poor young woman to the most—loved and richest writer in the world.
