[[caption-width-right:250:"Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."]]

'''Joanne ("J.K.") Rowling''', born in 1965, is one of the richest and most influential women alive today (she holds the distinction of being the first novelist to become a billionaire in US dollars solely through writing), and is the author of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' heptalogy. Her published works so far include:

* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' (''Sorcerer's Stone'' [[ExecutiveMeddling in the United States]])
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets''
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban''
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire''
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince''
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''
* ''Literature/TheCasualVacancy''
* ''Cormoran Strike Novels'' [[MoustacheDePlume as Robert Galbraith]]:
** ''[[Literature/TheCuckoosCalling The Cuckoo's Calling]]''
** ''The Silkworm'' (June 2014)

Outside of the Harry Potter story arc, but set in the same [[Franchise/PotterVerse universe]], she wrote three books for which all proceeds are donated to charity:
* ''Literature/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'', under the pen name Newt Scamander.
* ''Literature/QuidditchThroughTheAges'', under the pen name Kennilworthy Whisp.
* ''Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard'', released in December 2008, but before it was released Rowling made seven copies which were hand-written by her and given to her close friends, save one, which was auctioned for charity.

Rowling's biography is quite famous -- the Potter-related details of it, at least. For a comprehensive version given by herself, [[http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/biography.cfm see her website]]. The first idea for Harry Potter "fell into her head" as she was riding on a train, and the idea seized her -- but she had nothing to write on and was too shy to ask any stranger. However, early into the writing process on ''Philosopher's Stone'', Rowling's mother passed away, which "changed her world and Harry's forever", intensifying Harry's feelings of being orphaned. The most famous image of this writer is of a divorced single mother taking her baby to a cafe to write her novel on the back of napkins.

After that, history took its course. ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' is one of the biggest brands in existence today; in an age of TheInternet, VideoGames and mass Television saturation, Harry made reading cool again. This may be Jo Rowling's most important contribution of all.

Rowling has a very distinctive SignatureStyle ([[Literature/TheCuckoosCalling though apparently she's also good at hiding it]]). If you're reading one of her books, expect a story set TwentyMinutesIntoThePast with an IntroOnlyPointOfView, a PlotTriggeringDeath, LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters with [[MeaningfulName Meaningful Names]] ([[AnyoneCanDie just don't get too attached to them]]), [[SaidBookism Said Bookisms]], plenty of [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] {{Narm}}, and plenty of {{Foreshadowing}} for her overstuffed ChekhovsArmory.

Her next novel was ''Literature/TheCasualVacancy'', released on 27 September 2012. It is not a ''Harry Potter'' book and was marketed as her "first novel for adults." After mixed reviews, Rowling followed up with the hardboiled crime novel ''[[Literature/TheCuckoosCalling The Cuckoo's Calling]]'', with the added twist that she used [[MoustacheDePlume a pseudonym, Robert Galbraith]], [[RefugeInAudacity and managed to stay under the radar for]] ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome four months]]'' until she was outed.

On Septermber 12, 2013 Creator/WarnerBros announced they will produce a new series of Harry Potter SpinOff films based on Rowling's ''Literature/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' with the book's fictional author Newt Scamander as the protagonist. It will take place in the same world as Harry Potter but set 70 years before the events of the ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone''. Rowling has agreed to write the screenplay for the first film.
!!Media portrayals
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTGbKbEEE8o Appeared as herself]] on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9onI92OxBHY Played by Jennifer Saunders]] for ''Comic Relief 2003: The Big Hair Do''.
* Played by Creator/AmyPoehler in a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' [[http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/dumbledore/178704/ sketch following]] the WordOfGay on Dumbledore. Awesome as Amy Poehler is, she's... [[OohMeAccentsSlipping not good at doing a British accent]].
* Played by Chad Morgan in one of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'''s "Dicks with Time Machine" sketches, in which one of the title time travelers tries to prevent her from writing the ''Harry Potter'' series.
* The subject of a [[MadeForTVMovie Made For TV]] {{Biopic}} in which she was played by [[Series/WithoutATrace Poppy Montgomery]]. Sadly, it was made by the [[LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek Lifetime network]], but remarkably was not as bad as it could have been and Poppy KILLS the role, capturing a lot of the eccentric mannerisms and touches to Rowling's character that come through in interviews. Also the original title was scrapped in favor of ''Film/MagicBeyondWordsTheJKRowlingStory'', apparently because ''Strange Magic'' just didn't sound Lifetime-y enough. Oddly enough, the movie seems much more like typical Hallmark fare, though markedly better than most TV movies.
!!Associated tropes
* AbsoluteCleavage: Indulged in this during the [[http://perezhilton.com/2010-09-28-jk_rowling_set_to_appear_on_the_oprah_winfrey_show#.UZzOt7Wsh8E during the Goblet of Fire premiere.]]
* AcclaimedFlop: She wrote a detective novel called ''The Cuckoo's Calling'' under the pen name Robert Galbraith that received strong reviews but only sold about 1,500 copies. However, sales increased sharply after the author's true identity was revealed.
* AdamWesting: Mildly in her brief appearance on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. To date, this is the only time Rowling has played herself in any fictional context, granted it was just two voice-over lines.
-->'''Lisa:''' Can you tell me what happens at the end of the series?\\
'''Rowling:''' ''(exasperated)'' He grows up and marries you. Is ''that'' what you want to hear?\\
'''Lisa:''' ''(dreamily)'' Yes.
* [[UnclePennybags Aunt Pennybags]]
** Has donated a buttload to charities. [[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10791515 Case in point.]]
** She's also an outspoken democratic socialist, having lived in poverty.
* AuthorAvatar: [[Franchise/HarryPotter Hermione]] is based off her when she was younger. Apparently, she split her personality into three parts when designing the [[PowerTrio Golden Trio]], but Hermione is the one with the most aspects of her personality, according to WordOfGod.
** [[Literature/TheCuckoosCalling Robin Ellacott]] is based on her early adult self, again courtesy of WordOfGod.
* BlackComedy: All her novels are full of this.
* BluntYes: At least she apologized.
-->'''F.A.Q.:''' Are you going to kill any more characters?\\
'''Rowling:''' Yes. Sorry.
* CelebCrush: In ''Conversations with J. K. Rowling'', she mentions that as a kid she had crushes on Creator/DustinHoffman, after seeing him in ''Film/LittleBigMan'', and Davy Jones of Music/TheMonkees.
* ClusterFBomb: In ''Literature/TheCasualVacancy'' and ''Literature/TheCuckoosCalling''. Almost every other fucking word.
* CountryMatters: Oddly enough, she's extraordinarily versatile with the word "cunt", especially in ''Literature/TheCasualVacancy''.
* DeadpanSnarker: It's obvious where many of her characters get it.
* DyeHard: She's a natural brunette, but she dyes it blonde. The Lifetime movie starring Poppy Montgomery inaccurately portrays her as being blonde through her whole life.
* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: With her sister Di.
* IJustWriteTheThing: Rowling often tells us that she only kills off characters she likes because the plot demands it.
* LiesToChildren: Not maliciously, of course, but if the truth would be unnecessarily harsh for small kids. Compare her example on that page (regarding Aberforth and his goats) and the AdamWesting and BluntYes examples on this page.
* TheMaidenNameDebate: Her name has actually been Joanne Murray since her second marriage in 2001, but she still uses her maiden name in her pen name.
* MamaBear: She ''really'' does not like people taking pictures of her children.
* MathematiciansAnswer: She's fond of giving them to avoid spoilers, like reciting the physical dimensions of her next book when asked to describe it.
* MoustacheDePlume: She actually doesn't even have a middle name. She added the "K" (after her grandmother Kathleen) when Bloomsbury asked her to use her initials.
** Played even more straight with ''The Cuckoo's Calling'' which she published as "Robert Galbraith"
* NoPronunciationGuide: Her name is pronounced like "bowling", not like "howling", although nearly everyone makes that mistake (including news presenters) until they hear it from the WordOfGod.
** She also pronounces "Voldemort" with a silent "t", but she admits she's probably the only person who does this.
*** This makes sense, as it is the french phrase "Vol de Mort," which translates literally to "Flight from Death." Jim Dale also used this pronunciation of his name until ''Philosopher's Stone'' had it pronounced with the hard T.
* RagsToRiches
* WritersCannotDoMath: As she admits. Mostly its dating inconsistencies which make it hard for fans to construct a timeline of the series. The number of students in Hogwarts is also a point of contention. As are the House points added up at the end of each schoolyear.
** In a related sense (maybe Writers Cannot Do Geography,) she also said the reason the staircases moved around in Hogwarts was because she knew she couldn't remember where everything goes and used that as a way to smooth it over.