A native of Southeastern Kentucky, Julia Watts has written thirteen novels for adults and young adults, most of which explore the lives of LGBT people in rural and smalltown Appalachia. Her novel Finding H.F. won the 2002 Lambda Literary Award in the Children's/Young Adult category. A novel for adults, The Kind of Girl I Am , was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in the Women's Fiction category, and her 2013 young adult novel Secret City was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and a winner of a Golden Crown Literary Award. Julia's other titles include Gifted and Talented ; Hypnotizing Chickens ; and most recently, Rufus + Syd , co written with Robin Lippincott. Julia holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University and has spoken at various national and regional conferences, including the AWP Conference, the NCTE Conference, the Appalachian Studies Association Conference, and the Denham Symposium on Appalachian Literature. She teaches at South College and in Murray State University's low-residency MFA in Writing program. She was recently inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame. She currently resides in Knoxville, Tennessee.