Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym used by J.K. Rowling, the famous author of the Harry Potter series and The Casual Vacancy. Galbraith is the author of the Cormoran Strike series, which is a set of classic contemporary crime fiction novels. The first novel in the series, The Cuckoo's Calling, was published in 2013 and received critical acclaim from crime fiction fans and critics alike. The subsequent novels, The Silkworm, Career of Evil, and Lethal White, have also topped national and international bestseller lists.
J.K. Rowling chose to use a pseudonym to write the Cormoran Strike series as she wanted the books to be judged on their own merit, without the influence of her fame as the author of the Harry Potter series. She also wanted to establish Galbraith as a well-regarded name in the crime fiction genre. Rowling has always been a fan of crime fiction and wanted to write a contemporary whodunit with a credible back story. Now that her true identity as Robert Galbraith is widely known, she continues to write the series under the Galbraith pseudonym to maintain the distinction from her other writing and to ensure that readers know what to expect from a Cormoran Strike novel.
Rowling was born in Yate, Gloucestershire, England in 1965 to Anne Rowling and Peter James Rowling. She has one sister, Dianne, and spent her childhood in Winterbourne and Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. She attended St Michael's Primary School and Wyedean School and College. As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would read to her sister. She has said that her teenage years were not particularly happy, and she had a difficult relationship with her father. She has also said that the character of Hermione in the Harry Potter series is loosely based on her when she was eleven.
Rowling's interest in using a pseudonym began when she was a child and considered calling herself L.A. Galbraith when writing the Strike Series. She had always liked the name Galbraith and had held a fascination for it since her childhood, even though she had no memories of meeting anyone with that name. She ultimately chose Robert Galbraith as her pseudonym, partly because it was one of her favorite male names and partly because her hero is Robert F. Kennedy. She also wanted to avoid using her initials, J.K., as they were already well-known in the publishing industry. After publishing The Cuckoo's Calling under the Galbraith name, Rowling revealed her true identity, but she continues to write the Cormoran Strike series under the Galbraith pseudonym.