The Write Stuff - JK Rowling

"Writers don't need love - all they require is money," said playwright John Osbourne. But these authors seem to have plenty of both.

JK Rowling - £600 million

iShe is quite possibly the only person alive who can't complain about the near legendary inefficiency of public transport - it was during a four hour delay on a train trip between Manchester and London back in 1990 that JK Rowling dreamed up the boy wizard character who would make her over half a billion pounds.

"Harry just strolled into my head, fully formed" - this is probably Rowling's most quoted quote, and it makes her achievements seem effortless. But make no mistake: it takes guts, perseverance and, of course, talent to do what Rowling has done. The Harry Potter series has sold over a quarter of a billion books, been translated into more than 60 languages and distributed in over 200 countries and all have appeared on best seller lists around the globe. Four of the books have been made into massively successful movies.

Joanne Rowling, who graduated from Exeter University, put almost six years into the first of her Harry Potter installments. During this time, she taught in Portugal, married a TV journalist, had a daughter Jessica, got divorced and returned and returned to Britain, where she went to live in Edinburgh to be near her younger sister Di.

Rowling's manuscript was rejected y nine publishers before London based Bloomsbury signed her on. The publisher opted to use her initials on the cover, on the grounds that if they used an obviously female name the target group of young boys might be reluctant to buy the books. Rowling chose to adopt her grandmother's middle name, Kathleen.

To date, six of the seven volumes of the Harry Potter series, one for each of Harry's school years, have already been published and all have broken sales records. The last three volumes in the series have all been the fastest-selling books in history, grossing more in their opening 24 hours than blockbuster films. The first three books all received the Nestle Smarties book prize, a first for any author.

Rowling is the wealthiest woman in the UK, ahead of even the Queen - Forbes magazine estimated her worth at £576 million in 2004, before Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire was released at the Cinemas.

In 2001 Rowling bought a luxurious 19th century mansion in Scotland, where she married her second husband, Dr Neil Murray, the same year. She has since had two more children, David and Mackenzie. "I'm an extraordinarily lucky person" says Rowling, who has won more awards than you can shake a wand at, and has also been named an Officer of the British Empire (OBE). She has certainly spread her luck around, giving generously to charities particularly relating to multiple sclerosis of which her mother died aged 45.