Author Ann Ross & the Miss Julia Stories

 Author Ann Ross & the Miss Julia Stories
by Annette Bartlett-Golden

​While I was at the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival, I had the pleasure to rediscover a North Carolina author I had previously read and enjoyed, Ann B. Ross, author of the Miss Julia series. Miss Julia Speaks her Mind is the first in the series with currently nineteen books. Set in North Carolina, it tells the story of recently widowed Julia Springer, an upstanding southern woman, who discovers her wealthy husband of forty-four years has been leading a double life when his mistress and child come to her door. What ensues is a fast-paced, wild turn of events with many laughs in this coming of age story by a perceptive and witty author.

Ann B. Ross, author of the Miss Julia series, speaking at the 2017 Carolina Mountains Literary Festival in Burnsville, NC.

​Ms. Ross’s presentation, “How I Get My Ideas for the Miss Julia Stories” was fabulous­. Hearing Ann Ross speak about her quirky characters and the many and varied sources of her inspiration – from overheard conversations, newspaper stories, local gossip, and details from her family member’s daily experiences –was insightful. It seems anything can be fodder for fiction story writing.

Then she shared with us snippets from her fan mail, and critics, to illustrate the point that oftentimes people confuse fiction with reality, even when they know better. One writer complained “I know your books are fiction but I don’t know of any Presbyterian church that acts like the one in your book. Are you sure they weren’t Baptist?” Someone else wrote in to say she had been feeling depressed for several days because a character’s behavior had let her down. She continued, “I know you’ll say to get a life, but I’m a librarian!”  Ann B. Ross has a wonderful sense of Southern humor and I laughed a great deal during her talk, as you will likely do, too, if you read her Miss Julia books.