Julia Quinn

Julia Quinn
Quinn in 2008
Born	Julie Cotler (1970-01-12) January 12, 1970 (age 54) United States
Pen name	Julia Quinn
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Period	1994–present
Genre	Romance, historical
Spouse	Paul Pottinger
Children	2
Website
juliaquinn.com

Julia Pottinger (née Cotler; born January 12, 1970), better known by her pen name, Julia Quinn, is an 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 University 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

Publications [22]
May 1, 1995	Splendid	ISBN: 9780380780747
December 1, 1995	Dancing At Midnight	ISBN: 9780380780754
September 1, 1996	Minx	ISBN: 9780380785629
March 1, 1997	Everything and The Moon	ISBN: 9780380789337
December 1, 1997	Brighter Than the Sun	ISBN: 9780380789344
July 1, 1998	To Catch an Heiress	ISBN: 9780380789351
March 9, 1999	How to Marry a Marquis	ISBN: 9780380800810
June 1, 1999	Scottish Brides	ISBN: 9780380804511
January 5, 2000	The Duke and I	ISBN: 9780062353597
December 1, 2000	The Viscount Who Loved Me	ISBN: 9780062353641
July 3, 2001	An Offer from a Gentleman	ISBN: 9780062353658
July 2, 2002	Romancing Mister Bridgerton	ISBN: 9780062353689
January 28, 2003	The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown	ISBN: 9780060511500
June 24, 2003	To Sir Phillip, With Love	ISBN: 9780062353733
September 1, 2003	Where’s My Hero?	ISBN: 9780060505240
April 27, 2004	Lady Whistledown Strikes Back	ISBN: 9780060577483
June 29, 2004	When He Was Wicked	ISBN: 9780062353788
June 28, 2005	It’s In His Kiss	ISBN: 9780062353795
June 27, 2006	On the Way to the Wedding	ISBN: 9780062353818
May 27, 2008	The Lost Duke of Wyndham	ISBN: 9780060876104
September 30, 2008	Mr. Cavendish, I Presume	ISBN: 9780060876111
June 30, 2009	What Happens in London	ISBN: 9780061491887
October 13, 2009	The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever	ISBN: 9780061230837
May 25, 2010	Ten Things I Love About You	ISBN: 9780061491894
December 28, 2010	The Lady Most Likely…	ISBN: 9780061247828
May 31, 2011	Just Like Heaven	ISBN: 9780061491900
May 29, 2012	A Night Like This	ISBN: 9780062072900
December 26, 2012	The Lady Most Willing…	ISBN: 9780062107381
April 2, 2013	The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After	ISBN: 9780063141278
October 29, 2013	The Sum Of All Kisses	ISBN: 9780062072924
January 27, 2015	The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy	ISBN: 9780062072948
March 29, 2016	Because of Miss Bridgerton	ISBN: 9780062388148
December 27, 2016	Four Weddings and a Sixpence	ISBN: 9780062428424
May 30, 2017	The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband	ISBN: 9780062388179
November 20, 2018	The Other Miss Bridgerton	ISBN: 9780062388209
April 21, 2020	First Comes Scandal	ISBN: 9780062956163
May 26, 2020	Bridgerton Collection Volume 1	ISBN: 9780063045118
March 30, 2021	Bridgerton Collection Volume 2	ISBN: 9780063138933
March 30, 2021	Bridgerton Collection Volume 3	ISBN: 9780063138957
November 9, 2021	The Wit and Wisdom of Bridgerton	ISBN: 9780063216020
May 10, 2022	Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, a Graphic Novel	ISBN: 9780063212459
May 2, 2023	Bridgerton Prequels Collection	ISBN: 9780063347731
May 9, 2023	Queen Charlotte	ISBN: 9780063307155
Denotes  Bridgerton / Rokesby  series.

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

• 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 Bridgertons: Happily Ever After (2013)

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

• The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever (2007)
• What Happens in London (2009)
• Ten Things I Love About You (2010)

Smythe-Smith quartet

• Just like Heaven (2011)
• A Night like This (2012)
• The Sum of All Kisses (2013)
• The Secrets of Sir Richard Kenworthy (2015)

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:

• "Thirty-Six Valentines" in The Further Observations of Lady Whistledown (2003, anthology with Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins and Mia Ryan)
• "The First Kiss" in Lady Whistledown Strikes Back (2004, anthology with Suzanne Enoch, Karen Hawkins and Mia Ryan)

and also

• The Wit and Wisdom of Bridgerton (2021)

The Lady Most...

• The Lady Most Likely... (December 28, 2010 a novel in three parts with Connie Brockway and Eloisa James)
• The Lady Most Willing... (December 26, 2012 a novel in three parts with Connie Brockway and Eloisa James)

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

• Queen Charlotte (2023 TV tie-in for Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, with Shonda Rhimes)

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

External links

• Official Julia Quinn Website
• Chapter excerpts and title list (Official publisher web page)

Franchise media

Main novels	The Duke and I (2000) The Viscount Who Loved Me (2000) On the Way to the Wedding (2006)
Adaptations	Bridgerton (2020–present) Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023)

Miscellaneous