Back in 2014…
Dr. Julie Murphy and Dr. Sierra Simone met while doing doctoral research at Astra University and decided to collaborate in the field of Horny Studies, a decision which has led to a fruitful partnership and several advancements in the growing subfield of Cozy-Horny Vibes.
Murphy has her PhD in Taco Bell Customizations (with an emphasis in App Ordering), while Simone has her PhD in post-Branagh Hamlet adaptations.
This is their first Academic Affairs collaboration, but they’ve presented joint research before, with the Christmas Notch series. You can find their offices at the Mount Astra campus of Astra University, where they keep office hours of 9 P.M. to 3 A.M.
(Okay, but for real: It all started with a series of tropes: just one bed, forced proximity, and a dash of enemies-to-lovers, and now, ten years later, Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone are best friends and coauthors of the USA Today bestselling The Christmas Notch Series. Separately, Julie writes for all ages, with titles including Dumplin’, If the Shoe Fits, and Dear Sweet Pea. Sierra is the author of several titles, such as Priest, American Queen, and Salt Kiss. When they’re not writing, Julie and Sierra enjoy forcing their families to go on vacation together and eating an array of pies while watching delightfully bad movies.)
Julie Murphy splits her time between Texas and Kansas with her husband who loves her and her cats who tolerate her.
A former librarian, Julie is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels for all ages including Dumplin’ (now a film on Netflix and one of TIME’s Best 100 YA Books of All Time), Dear Sweet Pea, If The Shoe Fits, and the Christmas Notch series with Sierra Simone.
Julie has been featured by Good Morning America, Teen Vogue, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and more. When she’s not writing or reliving her reference desk glory days, she can be found watching made-for-TV movies, hunting for the perfect slice of cheese pizza, and planning her next great travel adventure.
Julie is also the founder of Bittersweet Books, a story production and intellectual property company. To learn more about Bittersweet, visit bittersweet-books.com.
AnnieBeth Photography
AnnieBeth Photography
Sierra is a voracious reader of all things including the smuttiest smut, young adult, piles of non-fiction for research, and everything Bill Bryson (especially on audio).
She loves writing the dirtiest things that she can think of, King Arthur, sparkling water, Tarot, coffee, jumpers, and learning new words daily.
Her previous jobs have included firing ceramics, teaching living history lessons in one-room school house in full, 1904-approved school marm attire, and working as a librarian for several years—not in that order.
She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, two children, and two giant dogs. (And two cats, but they're so naughty we don't talk about them.)
Her novels have been published in Czech, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, and Romanian. She's been featured in Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, and Library Journal with a starred review.
The social media she cares about the most are Spotify and Instagram. You can also reach her at thesierrasimone@gmail.com.