Julie has a PhD in Nineteenth-Century British Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2002), and has published a scholarly book of literary criticism on images of tea-drinking in Victorian literature (A Necessary Luxury: Tea in Victorian England, 2008).

She also has taught Romantic and Victorian Literature at Ithaca College, as well as classes on reading fiction, reading short stories, and academic college writing at Ithaca College, Corning Community College, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Currently at home raising her daughters, Julie has pursued her love of literature by channeling her passion for reading into a thorough perusal of the children’s bookshelves of the Southeast Steuben County library, and teaching reading to a new generation. She also enjoys knitting, gardening, and cooking with seasonal, local ingredients.