J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling’s mystery-writing alter ego has taken on a life of his own, said Tina Jordan in The New York Times. Though the beloved author of the Harry Potter series was unable to hide for long behind the pen name Robert Galbraith, she has now written four mystery novels as Galbraith and developed a habit of occasionally adopting the persona of the ex–British military police investigator while doing interviews. “I previously worked in the plainclothes S.I.B. (Special Investigation Branch) of the Military Police,” the author said recently. “After leaving the army and while writing my first novel, I worked in the world of private security, which explained my initial reluctance to be photographed, interviewed, or take meetings, lest my uncanny resemblance to J.K. Rowling be noticed.”

That resemblance, unsurprisingly, is more than skin deep. Both Galbraith and Rowling are fond of whimsical names: Lethal White, the latest Galbraith mystery featuring London private eye Cormoran Strike, is crowded with posh characters with ridiculous nicknames: Fizzy, Flopsy, Rancid. And whether writing a fantasy series or a mystery, the author remains a meticulous planner. “I never start writing a book unless I know exactly where I’m heading,” Rowling says. “Lethal White required a spreadsheet that was more complicated than any I’ve created before. It had nine columns, red text for red herrings, blue text for clues, and various colors for different suspects and themes.” She obviously enjoys the challenges too much to drop the double act anytime soon. “I’ll definitely write more Strike novels,” she says. “I’ve already got the plot of the next one.”