
The heart-pounding, often harrowing tales of a young wizard and his friends battling the forces of evil have introduced a generation to reading. And with more than 400 million copies of the "Harry Potter" books sold around the world and earnings for the first five movies reaching $4 billion, Harry Potter has become a multi-billion dollar brand.
But before becoming a worldwide phenomenon, Harry Potter existed only in the mind of Joanne, better known to the world as author J.K. Rowling, who was a struggling, out-of-work single mom when she decided one day to write a book.
Though the series has taken her 17 years to write, when Rowling began putting words to paper, it was magic.
In November 2006, Rowling locked herself in the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh to work on the crucial final chapters of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" -- the final Harry Potter book. As the most anticipated new book of this century neared completion, it marked the end of a personal project for Rowling, who had been immersed in the magical world of Potter and her characters for seventeen years. With its completion, Rowling says it's time to focus on her family and her own well-being.
"I am happier now than I have ever been in my life, I am happier now than I was as a child, teenager, young adult and I think middle age is probably going to be my time," she said.