Julie Ellis (1933 – February 2006)

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Julie Ellis was born in Columbus, Georgia, in 1933. During her high school years she was part of the school drama group and wrote her first novel. She shipped it off to a major New York publisher, received a fast rejection slip, tossed the manuscript into the garbage--vowing to do better. At sixteen she moved with her parents to New York (after high school graduation and a very brief stint at the University of Georgia), where she focused on drama studies and wrote one-act plays performed by her drama class.

Julie Ellis was torn between an obsession for writing and for acting (she'd read every play in her Columbus, Georgia, library)--and soon triumphantly combined the two by writing three-act plays (one was briefly optioned for Broadway--the prospective sponsor decided instead to invest in a sugar-free jelly operation) and acting on the Off-Broadway scene. One play, called DANGER SIGNAL (dealing with the ugly Joseph McCarthy era), became a recent Severn House novel, renamed Small Town Dreams.

Julie Ellis married her producer/director, lived in the colorful East Village, continued to act on Off-Broadway (and toured summer resort hotels and bungalow colonies) until after the birth of her second child, daughter Susie. During the Off-Broadway period she sold several radio and television scripts--and gradually, along with her husband--became realistic. Raising two kids required some financial stability--missing in our Off-Broadway existence.

With candid reluctance ("How will I live without theatre?!") Julie Ellis realized she could be a stay-at-home mom and still work--and earn--as a writer. She'd managed being part of the Off-Broadway scene and raising her son, Richie, without domestic help except from her husband, but by the time Susie was a few months old she was launched on a hectic career as a full-time writer. She needed help. Thank God for Pearl, the kids' wonderful nanny. Of course--until both Richie and Susie were in school full time, she was frequently assaulted by small fists banging on her tiny makeshift office door. "Mommie, Richie's pulling my hair!" or "Mommie, Susie's kicking me!" Pearl would try to intervene, but her guilty conscience made her emerge for brief moments. And she was grateful that she could combine being "Mommie" and a full-time writer.

Pearl remained with her until both kids were in school full time. She became a single mother when her kids were in elementary school--but she've managed to see both through college and into adult lives. They were her treasures. They and her career as a novelist.

Julie Ellis passed away on February 2006 from a massive stroke.

Before she died, she had rewritten her website, but had not yet had it updated online. As her sons are sure she would have wanted, they have done so.

In addition to the two new books that she mentions before died, Julie Ellis also has another Severn House title, A New Day Dawning, came out in the UK in July 2006, and in the US in October 2006.

Julie Ellis' friend Barbara used to refer to her as the "Energizer Bunny"—the way she worked so hard. The harder it was to find a US publisher, the harder she worked. She has left behind several completed manuscripts. Her sons are hoping to see all these books in print.

First Book - Vendetta Castle (1971) as Susan Marino

Last Book - The Long Weekend (2008)

Source: http://www.julieellis.net/