Overview
Julia is the author of the memoir "Jesus Land," which was a New York Times and London Times bestseller and was named by Entertainment Weekly Magazine as one of the "Top 10 Memoirs" -- ever. Her second book, the critically acclaimed "A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown," was included in The Guardian's "Top 10 Books About the 1970s" list and was optioned by an Academy Award-winning actor for a movie. Her third book, a biography called "Listen, World!: How the Intrepid Elsie Robinson Became America’s Most-Read Woman" will be published in September 2022.
She's a regular contributor to the New York Times Book Review and teaches creative writing for many venues, including Stanford University. Her private clients have successfully published books, essays, and articles.
She's a regular contributor to the New York Times Book Review and teaches creative writing for many venues, including Stanford University. Her private clients have successfully published books, essays, and articles.
Services
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Education & Reference
History
Humanities & Social Sciences
Political Science & Current Affairs
Fiction
Historical Fiction
Literary Fiction
Languages
English (US)
Awards
- New Visions Award
- American Library Association's "Alex" Award
- Northern California Independent Bookstores' "Book of the Year" Award
Work experience
Self-employed
Feb, 2005 —
Present
I've written two critically-acclaimed narrative nonfiction books and have worked with dozens of other writers on their own projects. Some have landed contracts with major publishers, some with indie presses, and yet others have self-published.
My speciality is story development - helping authors tell their stories in the most compelling way possible. This means nailing down theme, character and narrative arcs, creating tension, and writing in a clear and concise fashion.
Stanford University
Jan, 2015 —
Present
I teach several writing classes through Stanford University, including memoir, proposal writing and a general craft class called "How to Grab Your Reader."
The New York Times
May, 2006 —
Present
Review fiction and nonfiction for the New York Times Book Review. (I have been doing this since 2006, but the Reedsy software won't allow me to change the year, for some reason.)
Wired News
Jan, 2000 —
Mar, 2003
(about 3 years)
Wrote stories on Internet culture, including an applauded series on child pornography and another on a chat room for folks wanting to commit suicide.
The Los Angeles Times
Feb, 1996 —
Mar, 2000
(about 4 years)
Reporter for the nation's largest daily paper, writing everything from features stories to breaking news pieces.
El Financiero de Mexico
Feb, 1994 —
Feb, 1996
(about 2 years)
Reporter for Mexican daily, writing and reporting in Spanish on topics ranging from immigration to maquiladoras.
Portfolio
Developmental Editing
What if for just one year you let desire call the shots?The project was simple: Robin Rinaldi, a successful magazine journalist, would move into a San Francisco apartment, join a dating site, ... read more
Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing
The inspiration for the acclaimed OWN TV series produced by Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay, returning for season two on June 20th“Smart and heartfelt and highly recommended.” —Karen Joy Fowler... read more
Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing
Developmental Editing
Those Who Eat Like Crocodiles is for anyone who has tried tounderstand - and be understood - in an alien environment. It is foranyone who knows what it’s like to reach a crossroads in life and... read more
Developmental Editing
Laura was ten, crouched outside her parents' bedroom, when she overheard that her father had made her oldest sister pregnant. For the next eight years, she and her four sisters struggled to su... read more
Developmental Editing
Offering an unflinching portrait of life in Daghestan and Chechnya and focusing on its girls and women, this book presents the north Caucasus today through the eyes of two Poles, an anthropologist and a journalist, who travelled there amid a locally rooted but... read more
Recently married and settling in to a new home in Brooklyn, Mark Morewitz feels something is missing from his life. He is intrigued when his neighbors introduce him to Laurie, the charismatic ... read more
Developmental Editing
“A gripping account of how decent people can be taken in by a charismatic and crazed tyrant” (The New York Times Book Review).In 1954, a past or named Jim Jones opened a church in Indianapolis called Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church. He was a charismatic prea... read more
Julia and her adopted brother, David, are sixteen-years-old. Julia is white. David is black. It is the mid-1980s and their family has just moved to rural Indiana, a landscape of cottonwood trees, trailer parks, and an all-encompassing racism. At home are a dis... read more
WINNER OF THE 2012 USA BEST BOOK AWARD FOR MULTICULTURAL NON-FICTION FINALIST IN THE 2013 ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARDS AND THE INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDSFEATURED IN ROBERT MCKEE'S BYLINE --- THE LEG... read more
Developmental Editing
Good Cop, Bad Daughter’s Karen Lynch was raised by a counter-culture tribe in summer of love Haight-Ashbury, where she was taught to despise “The Man.” But when the San Francisco Police Depart... read more
Developmental Editing
Julia has 11 reviews
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Responsiveness
Matt C.
May, 2025
Zachary K.
May, 2025
Steve I.
Apr, 2025
Howard I.
Mar, 2025
Megan M.
Mar, 2025
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