JK Rowling was suicidal in her 20s

[Jenna]

Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has revealed she thought of killing herself while penniless and suffering from depression as a single mother, according to a report in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper.

J.K. Rowling is now one of the world's richest women due to the success of her Harry Potter books.

At the time, Rowling had separated from her first husband and was living in a cramped apartment with her baby daughter.

She was able to afford the rent only after a friend paid the £600 ($1,189) that she needed, the newspaper quoted her as telling a student reporter at Edinburgh University.

"We're talking suicidal thoughts here, we're not talking 'I'm a little bit miserable,'" Rowling said.

"Mid-twenties life circumstances were poor and I really plummeted. The thing that made me go for help . . . was probably my daughter.

"She was something that earthed me, grounded me, and I thought, this isn't right, this can't be right, she cannot grow up with me in this state."

Rowling said she then sought professional help.

While the 42-year-old has spoken before of her battle with depression, it was the first time she had admitted that she contemplated suicide, the newspaper said.

It was then that Rowling began writing the first Harry Potter book, which was eventually published in 1996.

Since then, more than 325 million books -- translated into 64 languages -- have been sold around the world and Rowling is now one of the world's richest women.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/03/2...tml?eref=yahoo

[Terminator]

Too bad she didn't do it....then we could have been spared of those damn Harry Potter movies and books and merchandise.

[Xiphos]

Too bad she didn't do it....then we could have been spared of those damn Harry Potter movies and books and merchandise.

Ok, I'm glad I'm not the only one sick of all that shit and thinking the same thing while reading that article!

[213th]

Too bad she didn't do it....then we could have been spared of those damn Harry Potter movies and books and merchandise.

Beat me to it. Someone should have been there for her to tell her "Remember, it's down the street, not across the road"

[Ender]

Too bad she didn't do it....then we could have been spared of those damn Harry Potter movies and books and merchandise.

You're just pissed because they aren't written monosyllabically enough for you to understand them.

[Terminator]

You're just pissed because they aren't written monosyllabically enough for you to understand them.

Whatever you say, Dumbledork!

[TXCharlie]

It seems like a lot of novelists were suicidal, drug addicts, or half-insane. A lot of the old classical novelists did their best work while high or in the pits of depression.

I wouldn't mind Harry Potter as much if the local libraries and every bookstore in town didn't throw heavily-publicized all-night Harry Potter parties every time a new book comes out, and my wife didn't get mad when I refuse to go to the latest & greatest Harry Potter movie.

[Ender]

It seems like a lot of novelists were suicidal, drug addicts, or half-insane. A lot of the old classical novelists did their best work while high or in the pits of depression.

I wouldn't mind Harry Potter as much if the local libraries and every bookstore in town didn't throw heavily-publicized all-night Harry Potter parties every time a new book comes out, and my wife didn't get mad when I refuse to go to the latest & greatest Harry Potter movie.

Yeah, they definitely over-advertise and throw it in your face. At this point, I think that JK is doing anything she can to stay in the limelight. A few months after the last book came out, she announces that Dumbledore is gay, and was from the beginning.

Now she comes out with this suicidal thing. What's next?

[Ducky]

Yeah, they definitely over-advertise and throw it in your face. At this point, I think that JK is doing anything she can to stay in the limelight. A few months after the last book came out, she announces that Dumbledore is gay, and was from the beginning.

Now she comes out with this suicidal thing. What's next?

Why does she need to stay in the limelight? She's wealthy enough that she'll never need to work again. Dumbledore was her creation, if she says he was gay, he was gay. No big deal. It's not like being gay is evil, she didn't out him as a pedophile or anything. And as far as the publicity over her personal life, it comes with the territory of being rich and famous. And honestly, it must SUCK. I'd hate to have every aspect of my personal life scrutinized every time I opened my mouth. When you're famous, for whatever reason, you can't even swing into a gas station to pee without it being news to SOMEONE.

I'll take my nice, pleasant anonymity any day.

[Ender]

Why does she need to stay in the limelight? She's wealthy enough that she'll never need to work again. Dumbledore was her creation, if she says he was gay, he was gay. No big deal.

Well...don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the books. Absolutely wonderful reading, and one of my two favorite series ever.

I just wonder if her motives are to keep her in the limelight when she comes out with this kind of 'publicity' stuff. Maybe she didn't like coming from nothing, got used to an enjoyed being the center of attention, and then decided that she wanted to keep it.

And saying Dumbledore is gay after the fact is just reaching. She gave NO hit to his gayness in her books, other than his lack of a woman (which, for a great and busy wizard with many other obligations, isn't that big of a stretch). Was she looking for attention, looking for a way to appeal (and sell) her books to the gay community, or being completely honest about her perception of the character?

The suicidal thing is either a noble attempt at showing the subjects that 'it happens to everybody, and anybody can overcome it,' or it is an attempt to stay in the news, one way or another. If it is the former, I applaud her...I just question her motivations sometimes.

[Terminator]

I'm not a big fan of the movies/books. I think the whole thing is overrated. And I don't understand why Ducky is being defensive over J.K Rowling.

[Ender]

I'm not a big fan of the movies/books. I think the whole thing is overrated. And I don't understand why Ducky is being defensive over J.K Rowling.

the movies are 'eh.' the books are awesome on many levels...great reading, and I read a lot

I agree with you on your last statement

[Ducky]

And saying Dumbledore is gay after the fact is just reaching. She gave NO hit to his gayness in her books, other than his lack of a woman (which, for a great and busy wizard with many other obligations, isn't that big of a stretch). Was she looking for attention, looking for a way to appeal (and sell) her books to the gay community, or being completely honest about her perception of the character?

She outed him because the script writers were trying to put a backstory in the script that didn't happen in the book, where Dumbledore had a failed romantic relationship with a woman just a few years before Harry's parents came into the picture. Not wanting her character changed into something he wasn't, she told the script writers that since he was gay, that couldn't happen. Word spread from there.

I'm not a big fan of the movies/books. I think the whole thing is overrated. And I don't understand why Ducky is being defensive over J.K Rowling.

It's not JK Rowling so much as the creator's control of their own works. Working so hard, and putting so much of your own energy and creativity into something for so long, then having someone else change things into something that is less a reflection of what you made and more a reflection of the money they want to make from it is one of the most gutting, disheartening, and insulting things that can happen to an author.

In a way, it's like what the lawyers try to do to you and the evidence you've collected when you're in court. They try and twist your words, twist the facts, destroy everything you've put into it, just to get their scum sucking client back on the street. Admittedly, entertainment is way less critical, but it's money that is the motivating factor in both cases. Greed winning out, the ones that actually work getting shafted. For some reason, I tend to object to that.

[Ender]

She outed him because the script writers were trying to put a backstory in the script that didn't happen in the book, where Dumbledore had a failed romantic relationship with a woman just a few years before Harry's parents came into the picture. Not wanting her character changed into something he wasn't, she told the script writers that since he was gay, that couldn't happen. Word spread from there.

Interesting. I heard that she just blurted it out while doing some kind of appearance at a college. Now I'm curious (and it shows what you can rely on once again as far as the news goes )

As far as wanting to stay true to her books...how the hell did she let the movie version of The Prisoner of Azkaban through?

[Ducky]

As far as wanting to stay true to her books...how the hell did she let the movie version of The Prisoner of Azkaban through?

No freaking clue on that one, but I have a suspicion that she wasn't as happy with it as she could have been. The last book is being broken into two movies, here's hoping they don't totally fuck them up.