A catastrophic marriage Depression hit Rowling when her first marriage to a television journalist broke down after just two years. She had moved to Portugal to teach English and gave birth to her first daughter Jessica. She said: “I’d had a short and quite catastrophic marriage. I had to get my baby back to Britain [...]

At the 2007 Toronto Film Festival, “Lars and the Real Girl” received a standing ovation. Screenwriter Nancy Oliver was recently interviewed for the Los Angeles Times by Jeff Goldsmith, and expressed her perspectives on a number of challenges facing writers and other artists. Here is an excerpt: When Alan Ball offered you a staff writing [...]

The movie based on his story The Golden Compass is about to open. On his site, Philip Pullman addresses a number of questions about his life and work as a writer: Were you encouraged to be creative? No, I was ignored. When anyone took any notice it was to point out what a twit I [...]

Protecting your identity as an artist “The people who love their craft and see themselves as artists, and carry that identity through and study each day… are the people who thrive. … Successful people are able to sustain their identity as separate from their profession and what’s happening to them. That’s particularly important in the [...]