Julia Quinn
Quinn in 2008
Quinn in 2008
BornJulie Cotler
(1970-01-12) January 12, 1970
United States
Pen nameJulia Quinn
OccupationNovelist
NationalityAmerican
Period1994–present
GenreRomance, historical
SpousePaul Pottinger
Children2
Website
juliaquinn.com

Julia Pottinger (née Cotler; born January 12, 1970), better known by her pen name, Julia Quinn, is a best-selling American author of historical romance fiction.[1] Her novels have been translated into 41 languages and have appeared on The New York Times Bestseller List 19 times.[2] She has been inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Her Bridgerton series of novels has been adapted for Netflix by Shondaland under the title Bridgerton.[3][4]

Early life and education

Quinn was born as Julie Cotler in 1970 to Jane and Stephen Lewis Cotler.[5] She has three sisters: Emily, Abigail, and Ariana.[6][7][8] She is Jewish.[9] She was raised primarily in New England, although she spent much of her time in California, following the divorce of her parents. [10]

Quinn developed an appreciation for literature at an early age, and since childhood, she thoroughly enjoyed reading. At age 12, her father disagreed with her choices of reading material, which included the Sweet Dreams and the Sweet Valley High book series, and he told her she could only continue reading them if she could prove that they contributed to the development of her reading skills. She promptly told him that she was studying the literary series, in order, because she was interested in writing a novel in the future. Challenged to prove that she was, indeed, interested in pursuing a writing career, Quinn sat down at their computer and wrote her first two chapters. After finishing her novel, three years later, she submitted it to Sweet Dreams, but it was rejected.[11]

Quinn graduated from Hotchkiss School and Harvard with a degree in Art History. During her senior year of college, she realized that she did not know what she wanted to do with her degree and decided to attend medical school. That decision required her to attend two additional years of college to complete the science prerequisites necessary to apply for medical school.[2] She postponed medical school for two years while she wrote two more novels.[11]

Career

To occupy herself during the long days of studying science, Quinn began to write light-hearted Regency novels.[1] A few weeks after she was accepted to medical school, she discovered that her first two novels, Splendid and Dancing At Midnight, had been sold at auction, an unusual occurrence for a novice romance author.[12] By the time Quinn finally entered Yale School of Medicine, intending to become a doctor, three of her books had been published. After a few months of studying medicine, Quinn realized that she preferred writing to medical study. She left medical school and devoted herself, full-time, to her writing.[11]

Quinn considers herself a feminist and gives her heroines feminist qualities that are not necessarily true to the most prevalent attitudes of the times her novels are set in.[1] Her books are noted for their humor and sharp, witty dialogue.[11] The novels are primarily character-driven, lacking the great external conflicts that many romance novels employ. One of her novels, When He Was Wicked, was unusual for a romance novel, as the first four chapters describe the heroine in a happy marriage with someone who is not the hero, and then shows the death of the original husband and deals with the grief of both the heroine and hero, before allowing the second love story to flourish.[12]

Most of her books are dedicated to her husband, Paul Pottinger, often with references to amusing alternate titles for the work. Quinn won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award, in 2007, for On the Way to the Wedding and again, in 2008, for The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. When she won, in 2010, for What Happens in London, she became (at the time) the youngest member and is now one of only 16 authors to be inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame.

In 2003, she enjoyed the rare honor of being profiled in Time Magazine, an accomplishment few romance novelists have achieved. In 2005, Publishers Weekly gave To Sir Phillip, With Love a rare starred review, and later, the novel was named as one of the six best mass market original novels of the year.[2]

Each of her last 17 novels have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with Mr. Cavendish, I Presume hitting number one in October 2008. Most recently, The Girl With the Make-Believe Husband was on the NYT list in June 2017. In addition to those, both her Lady Whistledown anthologies appeared on the NY Times list, as did both of her novel-in-three-part collaborations with Connie Brockway and Eloisa James (The Lady Most Likely and The Lady Most Willing), and the Bridgertons: Happily Ever After collection of Bridgerton’s second epilogues.

Her Bridgerton series of books has been adapted for Netflix by Shonda Rhimes, under the title Bridgerton.[13][14]

Personal life

In 2001, Quinn won $79,000 on The Weakest Link.[15] She is an avid reader and posts recommendations of her favorite books on her Facebook page.

Quinn resides in Seattle, Washington,[16][17] with her husband and two children.[18][19][20]

On June 29, 2021, Quinn's sister and father, Ariana Elise Cotler and Stephen Lewis Cotler, respectively, were killed by a drunk driver in Kaysville, Utah.[21]

Bibliography

All books from Splendid through First Comes Scandal are mass market paperbacks
published by Avon Books; the last seven titles, also by Avon, are e-books.

Splendid Trilogy

  • Splendid (1995)
  • Dancing at Midnight (1995)
  • Minx (1996)
  • "A Tale of Two Sisters" in Where's My Hero? (2003, anthology with Lisa Kleypas and Kinley MacGregor)

Lyndon Sisters

  • Everything and the Moon (1997)
  • Brighter Than the Sun (1997)

Agents of the Crown

  • To Catch an Heiress (1998)
  • How To Marry a Marquis (1999)

Bridgerton series

Two Dukes of Wyndham

According to Quinn, this two-book set was based on the premise, "Two men say they’re the Duke of something. One of them must be wrong," inspired by a lyric from the Dire Straits song, "Industrial Disease".[23] The events are concurrent and the plots are intertwined, with some scenes appearing in both books but from different perspectives.

  • The Lost Duke of Wyndham (2008)
  • Mr. Cavendish, I Presume (2008)

Bevelstoke series

Smythe-Smith quartet

Rokesby series

The Rokesby series is often considered a prequel series as it follows the Rokesby and Bridgerton families.

  • Because of Miss Bridgerton (2016)[24]
  • The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband (2017)[25]
  • The Other Miss Bridgerton (2018)
  • First Comes Scandal (2020)

Collections

  • Bridgerton Collection Volume 1 (2020) – The Duke and I (2000) / The Viscount Who Loved Me (2000) / An Offer from a Gentleman (2001)
  • Bridgerton Collection Volume 2 (2021) – Romancing Mister Bridgerton (2002) / To Sir Phillip, With Love (2003) / When He Was Wicked (2004)
  • Bridgerton Collection Volume 3 (2021) – It's In His Kiss (2005) / On the Way to the Wedding (2006) / Because of Miss Bridgerton (2016)
  • Bridgerton Prequels Collection (2023) – Because of Miss Bridgerton (2016) / The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband (2017) / The Other Miss Bridgerton (2018) / First Comes Scandal (2020)

Lady Whistledown

The witty gossip columnist "Lady Whistledown" from the Bridgerton series ties together these two anthologies of interlinked novellas:

and also
  • The Wit and Wisdom of Bridgerton (2021)

The Lady Most...

Novellas

  • "Gretna Greene" in Scottish Brides (June 1, 1999 an anthology with Christina Dodd, Stephanie Laurens and Karen Ranney)
  • ". . . and a Sixpence in Her Shoe" in Four Weddings and a Sixpence (December 27, 2016 an anthology with Elizabeth Boyle, Stefanie Sloane and Laura Lee Guhrke)

Graphic novels

  • Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, a Graphic Novel (illustrated by Violet Charles) (2022)

Adaptations

Recognition

  • 1997 – Everything and the Moon nominated for Best Regency Historical by Romantic Times Magazine[11]
  • 2001 – Finalist in the Romance Writers of America's RITA Awards
  • 2002 – Romancing Mister Bridgerton voted one of the top ten books of the year by RWA membership
    Finalist for the RWA RITA Awards in the Long Historical category
  • 2002 – To Sir Phillip, With Love named one of the six best mass market original novels of the year by Publishers Weekly
  • 2003 – Quinn was profiled in Time magazine
  • 2007 – Received Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Long Historical Romance, for On the Way to the Wedding
  • 2008 – Received Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Regency Historical Romance, for The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever
  • 2010 – Received Romance Writers of America RITA Award for Best Regency Historical Romance for What Happens in London[26]
  • 2010 – Quinn was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame[26]
  • 2016 – Quinn taught the inaugural romance writing course at the Yale Summer Writers Conference[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grossman, Lev (February 3, 2003). "Rewriting the Romance". Time. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 19, 2012. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  2. 1 2 3 "About Julia". Julia Quinn Official Website. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  3. ↑ "Bridgerton". Shondaland.com. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  4. ↑ Bridgerton at IMDb
  5. ↑ "A House Cat Murdered My Wife...That's My Story". Steve Cotler's Irrepressibly True Tales. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  6. ↑ "Romance Writers of America Conference - San Francisco, July 2008". Steve Cotler's Irrepressibly True Tales. 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  7. ↑ "Copyright". ebookreading.net. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  8. ↑ "Questions About Juliaquinn.com | Julia Quinn | Author of Historical Romance Novels". juliaquinn.com. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  9. ↑ "Author Julia Quinn on the Netflix Adaptation of Her Bridgerton Series: It's a 'Fairytale'". Yahoo. December 25, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  10. ↑ Lammerhirt, Pia; Wehr, Isolde (February 2001). "Interview With Julia Quinn". Die Romantische Buecherecke. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 White, Claire E. (1998). "A Conversation with Julia Quinn". Writers Writes. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  12. 1 2 "Julia Quinn Makes her own Destiny". Romantics at Heart. 1996. Archived from the original on 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  13. ↑ "Bridgerton". Shondaland.com. Retrieved 2021-01-10.
  14. ↑ Bridgerton at IMDb
  15. ↑ "News". Julia Quinn Official Website. 2012. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
  16. ↑ "A Seattle Romance Brings the Bodice-Ripping Revolution to Netflix". Seattle Met. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  17. ↑ Vaughn, Emer (2004-11-01). "Romance Heroine". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  18. ↑ "Seoul Train". OSM Adventures. 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  19. ↑ "Two Nights in a Day". OSM Adventures. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  20. ↑ "'Bridgerton' author, top doc make ultimate Seattle Power Couple". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  21. ↑ Henderson, Cydney. "'Bridgerton' author Julia Quinn's father, sister killed by drunk driver in car accident". usatoday.com. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  22. ↑ "Booklists - Julia Quinn | Author of Historical Romance Novels".
  23. ↑ "FAQ". Julia Quinn Official Website. Archived from the original on 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  24. ↑ Lamb, Joyce (February 22, 2016). "Exclusive excerpt: 'Because of Miss Bridgerton' by Julia Quinn". USA Today. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  25. ↑ "The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband – Julia Quinn – Paperback". HarperCollins. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  26. 1 2 "Authors and Books: Hall of Fame". Romance Writers of America. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  27. ↑ "Love romance? there's more from Miss Bridgerton". British Weekly. 11 June 2016.
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