JK Rowling Considered Suicide

Before Harry Potter came along, his creator was broke, recently divorced, depressed, and near suicide, reports the Times of London. JK Rowling was a mom in her mid-20s, living in a cramped apartment paid for by a friend when she sought professional help. “We’re talking suicidal thoughts here, we’re not talking ‘I’m a little bit miserable,'” she told a student magazine at Edinburgh University.

Rowling began therapy and shortly after started writing the first Harry Potter book. "I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never," she says. "I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that." The 42-year-old is one of the world’s richest women and has sold more than 325 million books. (More Harry Potter stories.)