Julia Quinn - Biography

Biography

Julie Pottinger was raised primarily in New England, although she spent much time in California after her parents divorced. Even as a small child she devoured books. Her father disagreed with her choices of reading material, Sweet Dreams and the Sweet Valley High books, and told her she could keep reading them only if she could prove that they were good for her. She promptly told him that she was studying them in order to write one herself. Challenged to prove that she meant her statement, Pottinger sat down at their early computer and wrote her first two chapters. After finishing her novel three years later, she submitted it to Sweet Dreams, but was rejected.

Pottinger graduated from 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.

To occupy herself during the long days of studying science, Pottinger began to write light-hearted Regency romance novels. 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. She postponed medical school for two years while she wrote two more novels.

By the time Pottinger finally entered Yale medical school to realize her dream of being a doctor, three of her books had been published. After only a few short months of studying medicine, however, Pottinger realized that she preferred writing to dissections. She left medical school and devoted herself full-time to her writing.

Pottinger considers herself a feminist and gives her heroines feminist qualities that are not necessarily true to the attitudes of the times her novels are set. Her books are noted for being full of humor, with sharp, witty dialogue. 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 highly unusual for a romance novel, as the first four chapters actually 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.

Most of her books are dedicated to her husband, Paul Pottinger, often with references to amusing alternate titles for the work. She won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award for 2007 for On the Way to the Wedding and again for 2008 for The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. When she won for 2010 for What Happens in London, she became the youngest member and one of only 12 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 named it one of the six best mass market original novels of the year. Each of her last 13 novels has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with Mr. Cavendish, I Presume hitting number one in October 2008. Most recently, A Night Like This was on the NYT list in June 2012. Additionally, both her Lady Whistledown anthologies appeared on the NY Times list, as did The Lady Most Likely..., her novel-in-three-parts collaboration with Connie Brockway and Eloisa James.

Pottinger has appeared in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Heartwood, and was a contestant (and winner) on The Weakest Link. She is an avid reader, posting recommendations of her favorite books on her Facebook page.

Pottinger and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest area of the United States.