Julie McGowan has been a successful short story writer for magazines and competitions for two decades, in between writing four novels, pantomime scripts, songs and scripts for adult and children’s drama productions, and features for national and regional newspapers and magazines. Close To Youis an anthology of some of the short stories she has had published over the years, some of which have won awards in competitions. We at Sunpenny Publishing are proud to also have released Julie’s first three novels,The Mountains Between, Just One More Summer,and Don’t Pass Me By-excerpts of which can be found at the end of this book, following Julie’s author page. Just One More Summerwill also be released in German in December 2015, by Random House’s imprint in Germany.We hope you enjoy Julie’s writing as much as hundreds of thousands of others have, evidenced by the fan mail she receives!

Julie enjoys giving talks about her books,campaigningfor better health and social issues (especially cancer),and running writing or drama workshops at festivals(she runs a successful drama company with her daughter).Her first novel, The Mountains Between,is set in her beloved Monmouthshire, telling the story of two very different families living each side of the Blorenge mountain during the difficult years between 1929 and 1949. It has been a regional bestseller.Her second novel, Just One More Summer,is a modern story set in Cornwall and London, and, as well as being popular in this country, is now being published for the German market by a Random House imprint.Julie returned to wartime South Wales with her third novel, Don’t Pass Me By,which tells the heartrending story of a group of evacuees sent to a remote Welsh village.