Real-world Fairy Godmothers & Wizards are those extraordinary folks I believe have made life better, happier and – yes – more magical for all of us. Today’s extraordinary person: J.K. Rowling!
Name: J.K. Rowling
Magical Power(s): to exhibit courage and perseverance in the face of great odds; to write books that transport readers to a magical world of humor, mystery and suspense.
J.K. Rowling Quotes:
- “I just write what I wanted to write. I write what amuses me. It’s totally for myself.”
- “Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve.”
- “Jane Austen is the pinnacle to which all other authors aspire.”
- “Never be ashamed! There’s some who’ll hold it against you, but they’re not worth bothering with.”
J.K. Rowling is one of the bestselling authors of all time. She is credited with instilling a love of reading in many children who might otherwise have been lost to the boob tube. The ongoing surge in fantasy Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction is a direct result of the success of Rowling’s Harry Potter books.
But I admire J.K. as much for her quirks and her character as for these accomplishments.
Quirks first. J.K. only barely managed to get the first Harry Potter published. One brave British publisher decided to take a chance – with a paltry print run of only 500 books! Within a year, of course, Scholastic in the U.S. bought the American rights to Harry Potter and J.K. was on her way.
Her quirk? Do you know anyone else who achieved such a significant success while still in her 30s, and yet continued to look so harried and woebegone? (Google some of her early photos.) I believe her dogged determination to tell Harry’s story over the next decade accounts for that strained look. She could easily have let the wonderful reception to Book One go to her head and let the momentum sputter and fade. But she didn’t, and the rest is history.
As for her character, this is one gutsy lady. She was a single mom who easily could have been pressured into taking a day job of some sort, handing her child over to day care and scraping by. Society would have lauded this conventional choice for her life. But she had a vision for the Harry Potter books and she chose to pursue it. It wasn’t easy. She underwent a serious bout with near suicidal depression, times when she was two pence short of enough money to buy diapers or a can of baked beans for supper, as well as the usual tough slog of writing and revising a book of 70,000 words while caring for a small child. That is pure and unadulterated bravery.
A few days ago, J.K. – who is now said to be as wealthy as the Queen of England and who could play the “go along and get along” game, instead spoke from her heart in a Times editorial, “The Single Mother’s Manifesto.” She isn’t “playing it safe” – she’s speaking out on issues about which she is passionate. (No wonder Harry was such a gutsy hero!)
J.K. is one of my “writer heroes” – an ongoing inspiration to stay true to yourself and true to your dreams no matter what. We won’t all end up with her level of success, of course; but I truly don’t think J.K. was “in it for the money.” She was in it because she loved writing and hoped to make a decent living by it – an admirable aspiration that her luck and skill amply rewarded.
