Julia Watts is the author of fourteen novels and several short story collections in the genres of young adult fiction and lesbian fiction/erotica. Her books, set in Appalachia, often depict the lives of LGBTQ people in the Bible Belt. Her novel Needlework was selected as Tennessee's youth selection for the "Great Reads from Great Places" by the Library of Congress, and won Honorable Mention for Best YA novel of the year in the Foreword INDIES awards.Her novel Finding H.F. (Alyson Press) won the Lambda Literary Award in the children/young adult category. Her novel, Quiver, set in rural Tennessee, received a rare "Perfect 10 Rating" from VOYA Magazine, and was selected for the American Library Association's Rainbow List. Her novel Secret City (Bella Books) was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and a winner of a Golden Crown Literary Award. In 2020 Watts was given the Tennessee Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Award. She lives in Knoxville, TN.
