MEET THE AUTHOR

Julie has been involved in amateur dramatics and singing/ piano playing since a child, when at the age of 7 she joined the chapel choir in her Welsh home town of Blaenavon, and participated in Sunday school anniversary performances and chapel drama groups. School drama competitions were her forte throughout her teenage years, but drama and music were put on hold when she trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital in London, and, later, as a  Health Visitor.

Her interest was resurrected when she took over the drama productions at the boarding school in England where her husband Peter was Head, and she began to write scripts and songs for the children to use.

Julie began writing commercially when her own four children were in their teens and the family had returned to Wales. To date her writing credits include over 40 published short stories, 11 pantomimes, numerous sketches and songs for children and adults, a weekly column in two local newspapers, various features in national magazines and newspapers, successive local town guides,  and awards in a number of writing competitions.

The family’s return to Wales inspired the first of Julie’s novels, ‘The Mountains Between’, which quickly became a regional bestseller. This  was swiftly followed by ‘Just One More Summer, ’ which is set in London and Cornwall.

"‘Just One More Summer’ came about as a reaction to the proliferation of chick-lit novels, and also because I wanted to explore the themes of how much our childhood shapes and influences our future, and how one actually copes with bereavement and loss in their many forms," she explains.

When not writing, Julie co-runs Is it? Theatre Company, which tours South Wales with productions for senior schools, a children’s drama workshop, Stageright,  and a local panto group, where much of her material receives its first airing and plays to sell-out audiences each year. She is currently working on her third novel, ‘Don’t Pass Me By’, and has a fourth in the pipeline.

Julie loves meeting and talking to people and is an experienced speaker on a wide range of topics! She is available for talks, book signings and interviews  and loves to hear from her readers. Her personal web site is at www.juliemcgowan.co.uk, and she can be emailed at .