Though I’m not sure if this’ll be a regular exercise here, I think I’ll change up my weekly roundup a little. I thought I’ll sexy it up a bit by spotlighting an article that caught my eye in the week just past, then throwing in my .02. This week’s soap box article is Five Cent Nickel’s post about Harry Potter: J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter, and Consumer Domination. Here, Nickel discusses the Harry Potter series and how it has dominated the best-seller list. But what keeps me amazed are the facts surrounding J.K. Rowling herself, the author of this blockbuster saga. From the Wikipedia:
The 2007 Sunday Times Rich List estimated her fortune at £545 million (about $1 billion US), making her the first person to become a US-dollar billionaire by writing books. She is ranked as the 136th richest person and the 13th richest woman in Britain.
Yeah, sure enough, but before all the fame, success and global clamor behind this worldwide reading obsession, J. K. Rowling was a single mother struggling to raise her daughter after a short marriage that purportedly ended after her then husband kicked her out of the house. Then on the dole she went, but life didn’t end there as she took life by the horns:
Unemployed and living on state benefits, she completed her first novel. She did her work in numerous cafés (e.g. Nicolson’s Cafe and Elephant House Café), whenever she could get Jessica (her oldest daughter by her first husband) to fall asleep.
How much more down in the dumps can you get? Yet, she managed to become a billionaire in so many short years. The term “supermom” would be an understatement for this woman. Admittedly, what I find more fantastic than any Harry Potter story is J.K. Rowling’s own biography. Her own experiences embody a fantasy I sometimes harbor — creating the stories that set the children’s fiction industry on fire! Sigh.
But back to reality….
More Awesome Articles Last Week
Lazy Man And Money: Choosing a 529 Plan - Even though Lazy Man has no kids yet, he’s gone through the process of funding a 529 plan for his nephew. Wouldn’t you want him as your kid’s uncle? This is an informative post I didn’t want to pass up.
Money, Matter and More Musings: Life After Spending A Ton Of Money On A Car - Golbguru shares his emotions revolving around the car problems he’s had in recent days. I’m about to add my two cents on this subject at some point.
Money Smart Life: My Son’s First Words Can Be Expensive - Ahh, this brought back memories of my own kids’ first words. My first child’s first word was “sticky” which was a harbinger for his meticulous nature. I’m just glad it wasn’t “gimme”!
The Sun’s Financial Diary: Paying Off Credit Card Or Starting Investing - It’s a dilemma lots of readers have. I had a reader ask me this popular question before, and wouldn’t you know it, Sun has the answer worked out for you.
Gen X Finance: 2nd Quarter 2007 Market Review - Here’s a thorough coverage of how the capital, bond and equity markets performed in this last quarter, along with cool graphs.
Free Money Finance: How to Retire Early: What to Do in Your 50’s - FMF has a series on “How To Retire Early” spanning various age groups. Be sure to check the rest out as well.
Mighty Bargain Hunter: The minimum wage is now $5.85/hr, but what’s the point? - Some thoughts on the pros and cons of the minimum wage, well….mostly the cons.
Blueprint For Financial Prosperity: Starting A Roth IRA With $500 - Here are some considerations and a few ways to do it! Hint: you don’t need to use Vanguard funds.
All Financial Matters: A Comprehensive List of Retirement Planning Tools and Calculators - This is one big, honking resource that you’ll need to keep around! Thanks for this, JLP!
The Simple Dollar: Another Look At Renting To Get Richer: The Inflation Factor - Great analysis by Trent on when you’d be better off renting or buying a house. If you’re looking for some basic guidelines, the last line pretty much says it all.
Dr. Housing Blog: The Foreclosure Story: What does the Process Look Like? An absolutely spot-on illustration of how people get into the foreclosure mess. A must read!
Dough Roller: 10 Fun and Free Websites to Lookup the Value of Your Home (and your neighbor’s home) - Wow, now here are some more methods to stoke our compulsions to “Keep Up With The Joneses!” Use these with care. 
Last Week’s Carnivals
Hot Finance Carnivals
The Carnival of Real Estate - got 9 points out of 10! Thanks, Rain City Guide.
Step Right Up…Carnival of Real Estate, Consumer Edition: Ben Franklin, 50-Year Mortgages, And How To Earn One Zimbabwe Dollar - received an Honorable Mention, thank you 3 Oceans Real Estate!
Carnival of Small Business and Startups #1
Festival of Stocks #46
Penny Pinching Carnival - July 24, 2007
Reach For Magnificence Personal Development Carnival
Blog Carnival: tech personalities - July 24, 2007
Hi, SVB
Thanks for picking up my biography on J.K.Rowling. It’s funny that I came to your site through checking links to my other site, because I am also interested in your personal finance tips.
Born on July 31st, 1965 in Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England, to middleclass parents, British writer J. K. Rowling is the author of the wildly popular seven book series of Harry Potter fantasy novels.
It all began one day in 1990, when the author J.k. Rowling was travelling on her own on a crowded train from Manchester to King’s Cross. The idea for Harry Potter simply “walked” into the author’s head.
The next six years (1990 onwards) witness J.K. Rowling’s marriage, the birth of her first child Jessica, divorce from her first husband, and a move to Portugal. She continues writing Harry Potter and the Philosophers’s Stone (also titled The Sorcerer’s Stone) all through this time.
In 1991, J.K. Rowling is appointed as teacher of English as a foreign language in Portugal and moves to Portugal. Here, she works afternoons and evenings and spends her mornings writing. She writes the first 10 chapters of ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’ in Portugal.
While there, she meets and marries Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese TV journalist, and in 1993 gives birth to her daughter Jessica.
After her marriage ends in divorce she returns from Portugal carrying her three months old daughter and a suitcase half full of her written work.
Ultimately settling down in Edinburgh, Scotland, J.K. Rowling continues writing much of The Philosopher’s Stone in the local cafés of Edinburgh throughout 1994 and 1995. Whenever Jessica (her first child) falls asleep in her pushchair she dashes to the nearest cafe and keeps writing. She writes nearly every evening.
She completes the First Book in 1995, types it out on an old typewriter and sends it to agents and publishers. Several publishers reject the novel, among them - Penguin, Transworld and HarperCollins - are said to have turned down Rowling.
During the 1995-1996 timeframe, while hoping to get the manuscript for Philosopher’s Stone published, Rowling works as a French teacher in Edinburgh.
Finally after rejection by several publishers, Bloomsbury snapped her up, paying a reported £10,000 for the rights to Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone and published the first Book, in June 1997. The rest is History.
A year later the book is renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and published in the USA.
Zulekha Alam
Harry Potter Movie 5 DVD.
Incredible story. I’m a bit disappointed that the Half-Blood Prince was pushed back.