One More Attempt Away

Rejected by thirty publishers. Divorced, broke, living on welfare

in a cramped Edinburgh flat with her infant daughter. She wrote in cafes because she couldn't

afford to heat her apartment. Depression wrapped around her like a winter fog,

so thick she could barely see tomorrow. But every morning, she returned to those cafe tables.

Scribbling a story about a boy wizard on napkins and scraps of paper. People walked past,

never knowing they were witnessing the birth of magic. The turning point wasn't dramatic.

It was quiet. One publisher, the smallest one, took a chance. A print run of just

one thousand copies. Then the world caught fire. Children stayed up past midnight