Her publisher feared young boys would avoid a fantasy book written by a woman. Having no middle name, she borrowed the initial K from her grandmother, Kathleen.

She wanted her detective novel, The Cuckoo's Calling, to be judged purely on its own merit. The secret was kept until a lawyer leaked her identity on social media.

Rowling battled severe depression in her twenties before her writing success. The creatures drain peace and hope from their victims, mimicking the illness's hollow feeling.

Her parents, Peter and Anne, met at age eighteen on a train departing from that exact station. They were both traveling from London to Scotland to join the Royal Navy.