Julia Quinn
Early life and education
Quinn was born as Julie Cotler in 1970 to Jane and Stephen Lewis Cotler. She has three sisters: Emily, Abigail, and Ariana. She is Jewish. She was raised primarily in New England, although she spent much of her time in California after the divorce of her parents.Quinn's favorite books as a child included the Sweet Dreams and the Sweet Valley High series, which inspired her to begin writing at age 12.
Quinn graduated from the Hotchkiss School and Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in History of Art. During her senior year of college, she decided to become a doctor. She was accepted to Yale School of Medicine but deferred her entrance for two years to focus on writing novels.
Career
While she was a student, Quinn began to write light-hearted Regency novels. Her then-fiancé’s father, novelist John Stanley Pottinger, got her manuscript into the right hands A few weeks after her acceptance 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 new romance author. By the time Quinn entered medical school, three of her books had been published. She left medical school after two months to become a full-time writer.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. Her novels are primarily character-driven and have been noted for their humor and sharp, witty dialogue. Most of her books are dedicated to her husband, Paul Pottinger, often with references to amusing alternate titles for the work.
In 2003, she was 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.
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. At the time of her 2010 RITA award for What Happens in London, she became RWA's youngest member. She is one of only 16 authors to be inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame.
Many of Quinn's novels have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with Mr. Cavendish, I Presume hitting number one in October 2008. In addition, 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, 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.
Personal life
In 2001, Quinn won $79,000 on The Weakest Link. She is an avid reader and posts recommendations of her favorite books on her Facebook page.Quinn resides in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, virologist Paul Pottinger, and two children. Her brother-in-law is the national security expert Matt Pottinger.
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.
Splendid Trilogy
Splendid Dancing at Midnight Minx- "A Tale of Two Sisters" in ''Where's My Hero?''
Lyndon Sisters
Everything and the Moon- ''Brighter Than the Sun''
Agents of the Crown
To Catch an Heiress- ''How To Marry a Marquis''
Bridgerton series">Bridgerton (novel series)">Bridgerton series
- The Duke and I The Viscount Who Loved Me An Offer From a Gentleman Romancing Mister Bridgerton To Sir Phillip, With Love When He Was Wicked It's In His Kiss On the Way to the Wedding
- ''The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After''
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". 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- ''Mr. Cavendish, I Presume''
Bevelstoke series
The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever What Happens in London- ''Ten Things I Love About You''
Smythe-Smith quartet
Just like Heaven A Night like This The Sum of All KissesRokesby series
The Rokesby series is often considered a prequel series as it follows the Rokesby and Bridgerton families.Because of Miss Bridgerton The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband The Other Miss Bridgerton- ''First Comes Scandal''
Collections
Bridgerton Collection Volume 1 – Bridgerton Collection Volume 2 – Bridgerton Collection Volume 3 – Bridgerton Box Set 1-4 – Bridgerton Box Set 5-8 – Bridgerton Prequels Collection – Bridgerton Collector's Edition, 1 – Bridgerton Collector's Edition, 2 – Bridgerton Collector's Edition, 3 – Bridgerton Collector's Edition, 4 –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
- "The First Kiss" in Lady Whistledown Strikes Back
- ''The Wit and Wisdom of Bridgerton''
The Lady Most...
The Lady Most Likely...- ''The Lady Most Willing...''
Novellas
- "Gretna Greene" in Scottish Brides
- "... and a Sixpence in Her Shoe" in ''Four Weddings and a Sixpence''
Graphic novels
- ''Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron, a Graphic Novel''
Adaptations
- ''Queen Charlotte''
Other
- Contributor to Encounters with Jane Austen: Celebrating 250 years.
Recognition
- 1997 – Everything and the Moon nominated for Best Regency Historical by Romantic Times Magazine
- 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
- 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
- 2016 – Quinn taught the inaugural romance writing course at the Yale Summer Writers Conference