JK Casts Her Spell Over Cinema-Goers- 09/11/01
It's been a big week for sometime Kensington resident JK Rowling as the long awaited Harry Potter film premieres in Leicester Square. The 18th highest earning celeb in the world (said to be earning £25 million a year) was at the premiere along with the young stars of the film Rupert Grint, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Other Potter fan's in attendance included Princess Beatrice and Eugenie with their mum the Duchess of York, Sting and his daughter Coco and Cate Blanchett.

By all accounts, the film did not disappoint, with some describing it as 'the best film I have ever seen'. Rowling herself said it was 'wonderful', and you can bet your Bertie Bott's Beans that if she likes it the rest of us will too. If you're a famous parent/godparent/friend and you didn't manage to get your child/godchild/young friend a ticket to the most eagerly-awaited premiere of all time, then let's just hope that you've managed to get your hands on the equally sought-after Professor Snape's Potions Set as a Christmas present, or else ...

Harry Potter author angered by tabloid photos of daughter - 14/08/01
Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling lodged a formal complaint Friday to a press industry group after a tabloid magazine published photos of the best-selling author's daughter. Rowling's lawyer issued the formal protest against OK! magazine to the Press Complaints Commission, her spokeswoman said on customary condition of anonymity.

The magazine published three photos of Rowling's 8-year-old daughter, Jessica, playing on a private beach. The pictures were reportedly taken while the author was at a resort on the Indian Ocean island Mauritius. They also show a bikini-clad Rowling and a male companion.

``Ms. Rowling has taken every possible measure over the last four years to protect her daughter's privacy and ensure that her life remains undisturbed by press intrusion,'' her spokeswoman said.

A spokesman for Northern and Shell, owners and publishers of OK! magazine, said: ``We shall examine the substance of the complaint and we shall naturally respond appropriately.'' The Press Complaints Commission is a voluntary industry group with no enforcement power.

Local Worker Breaks Promise With Employer - 30/03/01
The struggling local author JK Rowling has broken a promise she made to her publisher to come up with a new book this year. Bloomsbury announced that the writer was too busy to finish the manuscript and that it is likely to arrive sometime next year, but said, "we can't guarantee it".

Rowling's paltry earnings from her little known 'Harry Potter' series of books have so far only amounted to less than £15million, and the single mother has been forced to take a part-time job writing for a filmmaker named Spielberg.

JK Rowling meets with the Queen -22/03/01
Harry Potter author JK Rowling has met the Queen as part of day spent visiting different aspects of the British book publishing industry. The event is another of the Royal theme days when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh undertake a series of engagements all connected with the same subject. The Queen and the Duke met with JK Rowling at Bloomsbury Publishing's London offices - the company which publishes the Harry Potter books. JK Rowling, 35, was at Buckingham Palace on 2 March, to receive an OBE for services to children's literature from the Prince of Wales.

JK Rowling writes two more books for Comic Relief - 13/03/01
Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has written stories featuring their famous characters in aid of Comic Relief.

J K Rowling has produced Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which is the book junior wizard Harry bought to prepare him for Hogwarts school. She has also written Quidditch Through The Ages, a library book that Harry uses to learn the rules of the school's signature sporting activity, which involves teams playing ball on broomsticks.

JK Rowling received an OBE earlier this month from Prince Charles. "When Comic Relief asked me to write something I thought I would just love to write the two books," Ms Rowling told the BBC. "I did two because I had two in my head and I couldn't really decide between Quidditch and Fantastic Beasts, so I decided to do them both."
Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis approached J K Rowling to write a story saying he was sure she would not be able to but he would still love her books regardless. "It was a very clever way of asking somebody to do something, though I didn't really need much persuading" JK Rowling told the BBC.

Author to receive OBE from Charles - 05/03/01
J K Rowling to receive OBE from Charles Harry Potter creator JK Rowling is set to receive her OBE from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. Ms Rowling, 35, is to get the honour for services to children's literature. The Edinburgh-based single mother, whose first names is Joanne, has sold more than 30 million copies of her schoolboy wizard books worldwide.

Biography:
J.K. (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling was born in Chepstow, Gwent in 1965. Her writing career started at the age of six when she wrote a story called Rabbit. She left Chepstow for Exeter University, where her course included one year in Paris. As a post-graduate, she moved to London to work at Amnesty International doing research into human rights abuses in Francophone Africa, she married and divorced and was left holding the baby and living off social security, it was at this time that she began writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at a table in a café during her daughters naps.

When Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was bought and published by Bloomsbury in 1997 her life changed dramatically, the Harry Potter series has since then won numerous awards and become a tremendous success around the world. Warner Brothers have bought the rights to the first two books for a "substantial seven figure sum". A release date for the film (or films) has not yet been announced.