Hi, I've never had a website before, so when I started this one, I wrote it all in the third person e.g 'Julie McGowan is an experienced writer of short stories, newspaper and magazine features, pantomimes, plays, sketches and songs.' But, although that is what I am, it didn't sound right. So now I'm going to write it as a personal letter, to you, the person who has bothered to look at the site and find out more about me and what I do. As well as the writer stuff above, I also run a successful children's drama workshop in my home town of Usk, South Wales, along with my elder daughter, Cath. Cath has a degree in theatre,drama, media, and is a talented actress, director and writer and I love working with her. The children who come to our workshop are enormous fun, and some of them have been coming since they were about 6 and are now teenagers. We've watched them grow up and seen their personalities develop as well as their skills, so it really does feel like we're one big family. Cath and I also run Is It Theatre Company Ltd. which concentrates on touring schools in South Wales with productions which have a health or social message and afterwards we talk to the audience about the issues raised. There's more information about both these activities on the relevant links. Last summer I was signed by Sunpenny Publishing and my first novel 'The Mountains Between' was published in November 2007, with a second, 'Just One More Summer' to be published this month. The Mountains Between I was born and raised in Blaenavon, until the age of 12 when we moved to Kent, and my mother's family all came from Abergavenny. 'The Mountains Between' is a story of the two generations before mine in both these places It was published in November 07 to follow on from a BBC production, 'Coal House' which was filmed in Blaenavon and aired at the end of October. 'Coal House' took people back to how the miners lived in 1927, whilst 'The Mountains Between' begins in 1929. The book has already been enormously successful, and became the bestseller in independent book stores across the region. The months since its publication have been great fun, with talks, book signings and radio interviews. The launch, in Usk, was one of the best nights of my life, packed with people who are important to me, and full of fun. There was some beautiful Welsh harp music, a silly rhyming speech from me (still in Panto mode, as we'd just finished one!) and some great live music from my talented sons Daniel and Robert (check it out on www.febria.com) One of the signings was in Borders book store in Cardiff, who have said of the book, 'The Mountains Between is shaping up to be one of this year's word-of-mouth classics as news of this terrific novel spreads across Wales.'
Meanwhile an interview for BBC Radio Wales with the entertaining Roy Noble was heard as far afield as Canada and the USA. But the best bits of all have been the personal messages from people who have gone out of the way to tell me how much they enjoyed reading it - which is the main reason for writing a novel, after all!
| Find out more: The Mountains Between Publishing Date: November 27th 2007 Just One More Summer Publishing date: April 15th 2008 Pantomimes: These are like no other you will find. 10 shows with an hilarious, quirky take on traditional tales. Ideally suited to village halls, all are available to buy. Is it? Theatre Company: An innovative theatre in education company with productions targeting health and social issues. Stageright Drama Workshop: Usk Memorial Hall, Thursday evenings for ages 6 to 16. Julie Mcgowan 16 Castle Parade Usk Monmouthshire NP15 1AA |