Opening a book seems like something of the past in the age of everything digital.  Ironically enough, #NationalAuthorsDay is trending on Twitter today.

So, in honor of the hashtag, let’s learn some cool facts you may not know about one our generation’s most famous authors. Almost everyone knows J.K. Rowling as the woman who brought Harry Potter to life. But did you also know that the character Harry and J.K. share the same actual Birthday, July 31st?  It’s true!

• Did you also know that most of her fans thought she was a man and addressed letters to her as “Dear Sir…”? ‘JK’ was a publishing suggestion to make her identity anonymous because many worried that a wizarding story penned by a woman might be unpopular. ‘K’ is the initial of her grandmother’s name ‘Kathleen’. Boy, were they wrong!
• Rowling went from being unemployed and living on state benefits to becoming a multi-millionaire in five years. In fact, just this year Rowling lost her status as a billionaire because she donated so much of her money to charity.
• Some people type their ideas in their iPhone, others in a notebook or Post-It note, but Rowling wrote her initial Potter ideas on a napkin on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990.  Glad she didn’t have a cold!

Who are some of your favorite authors?  Let us know today, #NationalAuthorsDay!