Blog #2
Genres of novels range from Romance to Science Fiction
to Mystery. Often times, a reader get so wrapped up in the events taking place
and characters within the pages that the story of the author is overlooked. One
of my long–time favorite series that the Harry
Potter series. The author of this blockbuster series, J.K. Rowling, has an
inspiring story that is overshadowed by that of her characters'.
J.K. Rowling's story tells the tale
of a struggling single mother who worked hard and reaped the rewards. She was
born and grew up in England. In 1992, she moved to Portugal to teach English
and met her husband. The couple had a daughter, Jessica, but unfortunately the
marriage did not last. After the divorce, J.K. Rowling moved back to England with Jessica where she could
live near her sister. As a mother with a young child, she had nearly no money.
She was put on welfare so she could provide for herself and her daughter. During a train delay at King's Cross Station
(a landmark mentioned throughout the series), Rowling came up with the idea for
the first Harry Potter novel. She began to write it down on a napkin she had
with her. Before long, the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's
Stone were drafted on a series of napkins. The novel took J.K. Rowling five
years to finish, but she was then able to sell it for $4,000.00, a very helpful
amount of money for a single mother on welfare. As the novel gained popularity,
she continued to write the series, and make more money to provide for herself
and for her daughter.
Though she no longer was in
desperate need of money, J.K. Rowling used her story of overcoming to inspire
others. Through letters, the author inspired a young girl named Evanna Lynch,
though she is better known to fans as Luna Lovegood, a character from the
series. At age 11, Evanna struggled with an eating disorder. She was in and out
of rehabilitation centers fighting Childhood Anorexia for years. Evanna wrote
to J.K. Rowling while she was sick. In an interview she said, " I wrote to her because Harry Potter
was the only other thing I really cared about and that helped me take my mind
off it, and I just wanted to thank her for that and say how much it helped me.
Especially how much Luna helped me. It was basically just a big fat, “thank
you, I love you” letter." She admitted to being surprised when she
received a response back from Rowling. Rowling had written her sending
encouragement to overcome her challenges and proposing the idea that if she
were able to beat her illness, she should audition for the films. This
encouraged Evanna to fight back against Anorexia, and later she landed the role
of Luna Lovegood, her favorite character.
Author's do more than create
characters and put words on a page for readers to enjoy. They are capable of
inspiring and making a difference through the impact their characters have on
the lives of the audience.
This is an amazing story. I've always been in awe of authors and their ability to create such relatable, inspirational characters. I have had so many emotional connections to characters and stories over the years. Every author somehow manages to create these people who seem to understand everything about us. Everyone has found a character in a book that they relate to, and reading stories about them makes it so much easier to deal with our own lives. Seeing these characters that we think of as versions of ourselves deal with difficult situations gives us as readers the courage to deal with obstacles in our lives. I will never understand the magic of storytelling, but I am in constant awe of it. The ability to create worlds and characters that seem so real out of simple words is an incredible talent.
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