Her last name rhymes with "bowling."

Has a sister named Di, who is two years younger than she is.

Wrote her first story, about a rabbit named Rabbit, when she was five or six years old.

Grew up outside Bristol, England, and later moved to the Forest of Dean district near Wales. The Forest of Dean is an area of great natural beauty, and was designated the first National Forest Park in England in 1938.

Attended the University of Exeter, England, where she studied French and classics. As part of her course, she studied for a year in Paris.

Worked briefly for Amnesty International in 1987, doing research into human rights abuses in French-speaking parts of Africa.

Taught English in Oporto, Portugal, in 1991.

Wrote ten versions of the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Has already written the final chapter of the seventh book, concluding the Harry Potter series. (She keeps it in a very safe place.)

Married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes in 1992.

Gave birth to daughter Jessica in 1993.

Lived on the dole, the British equivalent of welfare, for nearly a year while she finished the first Harry Potter book.

Wrote much of the first Harry Potter book in a café in Edinburgh, Scotland, since her apartment was unheated.

In 1997 she won a grant from the Scottish Arts Council, which she used to buy a computer.

In 2000 she became the highest-earning woman in Britain, netting about $30 million during the previous year.

In 2001 she received an OBE (Order of the British Empire), a medal of achievement awarded by the queen. She also received her first honorary degree, from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.