Julia Quinn
Encyclopedia
Julia Quinn is the pseudonym used by Julie Pottinger (born Julie Cotler in 1970), a best-selling American
historical
romance author
, who says she chose her pseudonym so her Regency romances would be on bookshelves next to those of the successful romance writer Amanda Quick. Her novels have been translated into thirteen foreign languages, and she has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List nine times.
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 in 2007 for "On the Way to the Wedding" and in 2008 for "The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever". In 2003, she enjoyed the rare honor of being profiled in Time Magazine, an accomplishment few romance novelists have achieved, and in 2005 Publisher's 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. Nine of her novels, An Offer from a Gentleman, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, To Sir Phillip, With Love, When He Was Wicked, It's In His Kiss, On The Way to the Wedding, The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, The Lost Duke of Wyndham and Mr. Cavendish, I Presume have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. Mr. Cavendish, I Presume was number one on the NY Times list in October 2008.
Pottinger has appeared in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Heartwood, and was a contestant on The Weakest Link
. She is an avid reader, posting recommendations of her favorite books on her website.
Pottinger and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest
area of the United States.
The Bridgerton family consists of eight siblings and their widowed mother. In the novels, the Bridgertons are well respected and favored among British society. The Bridgertons are an extremely loving and tight-knit clan. The series comprises eight books in which each of the siblings finds true love. Each book is set against the backdrop of upper English society during the period of Regency England.
On the Way to the Wedding, won the Romance Writers of America
RITA Award in 2007. In 2002, To Sir Phillip, With Love was named one of the six best mass market original novels of the year by Publishers Weekly. Several books on the series have been on the New York Times bestseller list.
Quinn has published six "second epilogues" for The Viscount Who Loved Me, An Offer From A Gentleman, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, To Sir Phillip, With Love, When He Was Wicked, andIt's In His Kiss. The second epilogues are currently only available as e-books.
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." Events are concurrent and the plots are intertwined, with some scenes appearing in both books, but from different perspectives.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
historical
Historical romance
Historical romance is a subgenre of two literary genres, the romance novel and the historical novel.-Definition:Historical romance is set before World War II...
romance author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, who says she chose her pseudonym so her Regency romances would be on bookshelves next to those of the successful romance writer Amanda Quick. Her novels have been translated into thirteen foreign languages, and she has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List nine times.
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 HighSweet Valley High
Sweet Valley High is a novel series created by Francine Pascal, who presided over a team of ghostwriters for the duration of the series' creation. The series began in 1983 and ceased publication twenty years later with over 152 books to its name...
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
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
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
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
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
Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America is a national non-profit genre writers association. It provides networking and support to individuals seriously pursuing a career in romance fiction and supports top authors such as Nora Roberts and Judith McNaught.-History:...
RITA Award in 2007 for "On the Way to the Wedding" and in 2008 for "The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever". In 2003, she enjoyed the rare honor of being profiled in Time Magazine, an accomplishment few romance novelists have achieved, and in 2005 Publisher's 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. Nine of her novels, An Offer from a Gentleman, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, To Sir Phillip, With Love, When He Was Wicked, It's In His Kiss, On The Way to the Wedding, The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, The Lost Duke of Wyndham and Mr. Cavendish, I Presume have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. Mr. Cavendish, I Presume was number one on the NY Times list in October 2008.
Pottinger has appeared in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Heartwood, and was a contestant on The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
. She is an avid reader, posting recommendations of her favorite books on her website.
Pottinger and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
area of the United States.
Recognition
- 1997- Everything and the Moon nominated for Best Regency Historical by Romantic Times Magazine
- 2001 - Finalist in the Romance Writers of AmericaRomance Writers of AmericaRomance Writers of America is a national non-profit genre writers association. It provides networking and support to individuals seriously pursuing a career in romance fiction and supports top authors such as Nora Roberts and Judith McNaught.-History:...
'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
- 2010 - Quinn was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.
The Splendid Trilogy
- Splendid (1995)
- Dancing At Midnight (1995)
- Minx (1996)
- "A Tale of Two Sisters" in Where's My Hero? (2003, anthology with Lisa KleypasLisa KleypasLisa Kleypas is a best-selling American author of historical and contemporary romance novels. In 1985, she was named Miss Massachusetts and competed in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City.-Biography:...
and Kinley MacGregor)
The Bridgertons
- The Duke and I (2000)
- The Viscount Who Loved Me (2000)
- An Offer From A Gentleman (2001)
- Romancing Mister Bridgerton (2002)
- To Sir Phillip, With Love (2003)
- When He Was Wicked (2004)
- It's In His Kiss (2005)
- On the Way to the Wedding (2006)
The Bridgerton family consists of eight siblings and their widowed mother. In the novels, the Bridgertons are well respected and favored among British society. The Bridgertons are an extremely loving and tight-knit clan. The series comprises eight books in which each of the siblings finds true love. Each book is set against the backdrop of upper English society during the period of Regency England.
On the Way to the Wedding, won the Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America
Romance Writers of America is a national non-profit genre writers association. It provides networking and support to individuals seriously pursuing a career in romance fiction and supports top authors such as Nora Roberts and Judith McNaught.-History:...
RITA Award in 2007. In 2002, To Sir Phillip, With Love was named one of the six best mass market original novels of the year by Publishers Weekly. Several books on the series have been on the New York Times bestseller list.
Quinn has published six "second epilogues" for The Viscount Who Loved Me, An Offer From A Gentleman, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, To Sir Phillip, With Love, When He Was Wicked, andIt's In His Kiss. The second epilogues are currently only available as e-books.
The Two Dukes of Wyndham
- The Lost Duke of Wyndham (2008)
- Mr. Cavendish, I Presume (2008)
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." Events are concurrent and the plots are intertwined, with some scenes appearing in both books, but from different perspectives.
The Bevelstoke Series
- The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (2007)
- What Happens in London (2009)
- Ten Things I Love About You (2010)
Lady Whistledown
The witty gossip columnist "Lady Whistledown" from the Bridgerton series ties together these two anthologies of interlinked novellas:- "Thirty-Six Valentines" in The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown (2003, anthology with Suzanne EnochSuzanne EnochSuzanne Enoch is an American author of best-selling contemporary and historical Regency romance novels.Enoch began writing down her own stories when she was a child. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in English. Her first attempts at writing were in the...
, Karen HawkinsKaren HawkinsKaren Hawkins is a best-selling American author of sixteen historical romance novels. Her novels are known for their humor.-Biography:...
and Mia Ryan) - "The First Kiss" in Lady Whistledown Strikes Back (2004, anthology with Suzanne EnochSuzanne EnochSuzanne Enoch is an American author of best-selling contemporary and historical Regency romance novels.Enoch began writing down her own stories when she was a child. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a degree in English. Her first attempts at writing were in the...
, Karen HawkinsKaren HawkinsKaren Hawkins is a best-selling American author of sixteen historical romance novels. Her novels are known for their humor.-Biography:...
and Mia Ryan)
Others
- "Gretna Greene" in Scottish Brides (1999, anthology with Christina DoddChristina DoddChristina Dodd is a best-selling American author ofromance novels.-Biography:Dodd is the youngest of three daughters whose father died before she was born. Although her mother had been a housewife with few job skills, after Dodd's birth she found a job and worked diligently to support her children...
, Stephanie LaurensStephanie LaurensStephanie Laurens is a best-selling Australian author of romance novels.-Biography:Stephanie Laurens was born in Sri Lanka, which was at the time the British colony of Ceylon. When she was 5, her family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where she was raised. After continuing through school and...
and Karen RanneyKaren Ranney- Biography :Karen Ranney is the daughter of an Air Force officer and lived in places around the world, including Naples and Paris. She began writing when she was five. In first grade, she wrote a short story called "The Maple Leaf," which was chosen to be read over the school intercom.After...
) - The Lady Most Likely... (December 28, 2010 a novel with Connie BrockwayConnie BrockwayConnie Brockway is a best-selling American author of seventeen historical and contemporary romance novels.-Biography:...
and Eloisa James)