Miss Julia Lays Down The Law

Author Ann B. Ross is the mother of two daughters and one son, and the grandmother of four grandsons (including twin boys) and two granddaughters, both of whom are her namesakes. When her children were in college, she decided to complete her own education, enrolling in the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Literature. Reluctant to return to an empty nest, she continued her education by enrolling in the English Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned both the Master’s and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. Afterwards, she taught Literature and the Humanities at the UNC-Asheville.
Her writing career began in the early 1980s when two mysteries were published as original paperbacks: The Murder Cure and The Murder Stroke. A few years later, her first hardcover book was published: The Pilgrimage, an adventure story set in the 19th century. However, it was in 1999 when Ross’s writing career really took off. That’s when she published her first Miss Julia book, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind.
The book went through six reprintings in less than a year, and was ranked #9 on the Independent Booksellers’ most highly recommended books for that year. In addition, the book was named to the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers list. The paperback edition of the same book was listed in The Best Books of the First Five Years by BookSense. The book was later published by Readers Digest Condensed Books, appearing in 12 foreign languages. It was then one of seven nominees for the Book of the Year Award (2001) by the Southeastern Booksellers Association.
Set in Ross’s hometown of Hendersonville, NC, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind would be the first of 17 novels in the series. The second book, Miss Julia Takes Over was one of seven nominees for the Book of the Year Award (2001) by the Southeastern Booksellers Association.
Miss Julia Throws A Wedding, Miss Julia Hits The Road, Miss Julia Meets Her Match, and Miss Julia’s School Of Beauty have all appeared on the New York Times Extended Bestseller List. And Miss Julia’s Marvelous Makeover debuted on The New York Times Bestseller List at #10.
This month Ross has released the 17th Miss Julia book with Miss Julia Lays Down the Law and will be signing copies of it at Barnes & Noble in West Ashley on Saturday, April 11 at 3 p.m.
According to Ross, inspiration for the escapades of much-loved character Miss Julia comes in all manner of ways — a chance remark by a friend or family member, an incident she happens to see, in a dream, or by being reminded of something in her past experiences.
It’s always deeply satisfying to Ross when scenes in the book she is working on suddenly seem to fit together to make a good story. She does not outline or make detailed plans before starting a story. She does, however, have a general plot in mind before beginning to write, but this usually entails only the conflict and the final resolution, with few ideas of how they will be worked out. So, with just the beginning and the end of a book decided on, Ann relies on the characters themselves to fill in the middle with first one subplot after another. This, she says, is the joy of writing -— when a character suddenly does or says something unexpectedly, leading her to funny and surprising ‘mini-scenes’ that seem to delight readers.
Ann B. Ross will sign copies of her newest Miss Julia book this Saturday, April 11 at 3 p.m. at Barnes, & Noble, located at 1812 Sam Rittenberg Blvd.  For more information, call 556-6561.