JULIE WALTERS - WALTERS' NOVEL TOOK TEN YEARS TO WRITE

WALTERS' NOVEL TOOK TEN YEARS TO WRITE

British actress JULIE WALTERS' is grateful publishers forced her to complete her debut novel after she spent 10 years slowly working on the book. Walters' was only able to write MAGGIE'S TREE during brief moments away from film and TV sets, but the EDUCATING RITA actress was spurred into action when she was told she only had one more year to complete it - or the project would be scrapped She says, "It was a hobby really, and some years I'd only write a paragraph. "Then the publishers said, 'We're putting it out next year,' so I thought, 'I had better get a move on.'" Maggie's Tree tells the story of two people searching for their friend who goes missing in New York City after suffering a nervous breakdown.