Julie Harford, Author

Well, let's see.  What can I tell the world about myself?  Here's a few tidbits.  Any questions?  Just ask!

Childhood

I was born at Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1977.  It was a good year.  Star Wars came out that year.  Coincidence?  I think not.  My parents, Reggie and Shelley Deane, bought a house in Sheffield, Massachusetts when I was still a baby where we lived until I was nineteen.

I was like most kids, I suppose.  I played outside, rode my bike, made forts, went to school, watched tv, played games.  Due to a birth defect in my knees, I wasn't able to participate in sports to any degree (my last gym class was in fifth grade and let me tell you, that was ostracism at its best), so I spent most of my time reading and writing.  Not always a bad thing.  My town didn't get cable until I was a senior in high school so I spent years watching CBS and trying to get ABC to come in if the weather was good and the antenna could pull it in.  I loved going to my cousins' house because I got to watch FOX and PBS.

My elementary school (now remodeled to be the Bushnell-Sage Library after Undermountain Elementary was built) ended at grade four, so I moved on to Mount Everett Regional High School for grades five through twelve.

I got good grades without really trying (not bragging, just saying) and graduated as class valedictorian in 1995.  I had some great teachers along the way but if I had to pick my top three, I'd have to say Mr. Davis (English, easily the hardest yet most fair teacher I have ever had), Sr. Peron (Spanish) and the former Mlle Marquet (French).  Yes, I was that much of a nerd that I took four years of French and three of Spanish and spent my senior year in AP English.  So sue me.  I also took a semester of introductory American Sign Language and would have taken German as well if it wasn't cut from the curriculum.

College and Beyond

So yes.  I was valedictorian and got good grades.  I was, however, a "small town girl" and only seventeen.  I decided to go to Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, Massachusetts instead of a big university.  I commuted and worked at the grocery store in Canaan, Connecticut.  I got my associates degree in liberal arts in 1998.  I changed my major four times.  I was flighty, I guess.

Favorite classes?  Easy.  Psychology.  I received the Austen Riggs Award for Excellence in the Behavioral Sciences and my favorite professor was easily Pat Bradway who recommended me.  I recently caught up with her and found out she's now a clinical psychologist.

In 1997, my father had heart attacks and after a quintuple bypass surgery at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, he was sent home to recover.  We moved to my grandmother's old house in Mill River, Massachusetts and went on with our lives as best we could.

Adulthood (or something like it)

My parents moved toPittsfield, Massachusetts in 1999 (yes you read that right, my parents moved out).  I lived in the house for a few months before following them "north".  Turns out I hated living alone.

I started dating this nice man named Mark in May, 1999.  Our first date was going to see Star Wars: Episode I at the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  Eleven years later and we're not sick of each other's company yet.  A minor miracle.

We decided to get married.  A few bumps in the road (or mountains depending on your point of view) later and we were finally able to make that happen on July 14, 2001.

All Grown Up (and still growing)

I was blessed to be able to legally adopt my son Jonathan in July of 2002.  He impresses me every day with his intelligence and heart.

My son Logan was born just a few months later in September of 2002.  He is already reading books to me and helping me figure out the grocery money.  Gotta love a smart kid.  He recently took up soccer and is always practicing his "dribbles".

My youngest boy Conner was born in March of 2004.  He is my blond buddy and is always drawing pictures of Link to go with the stories he writes.  He is always coming up with schemes and I wish I could see into his head.

Signing and Beyond

My (first) book came out in 2008.  That was a high point I never imagined would actually happen when I was young, even when I was writing stories about unicorns and Christmas plays about my cousins.  I'm always arguing with myself to finish the other books I have going and lately I've been listening.  I'm happy to say I've been writing a lot more since I moved to Dalton, Massachusetts (my current town of residence).  It's amazing what you can get accomplished when you only have a few hours a day to play with.

In May 2010 I had my first book signing at Barnes and Noble.  It was surreal beyond belief.

I am a writer.