I’m Julia. I write books and music – books mostly for children and teenagers (and anyone who would like to read them); music for everyone.
My new YA novel is called I, ADA – it explores the tumultuous years of Ada Lovelace. Born Ada Byron in 1815, Ada was famous from birth: her parents were Lord Byron – England’s most notorious poet, a bona fide celebrity – and Annabella Milbanke, an accomplished mathematician. Ada’s early life was characterised by a programme of intensive study imposed by her mother, who steered Ada towards mathematics in order to prevent her from turning out like her father. Ada was a fiercely intelligent and strong-willed little girl, who also possessed extraordinary powers of imagination. When, as a teenager, she met Charles Babbage, who was hard at work on the development of an automated calculating machine, a friendship was formed that would have far-reaching ramifications for the world of computer science.
I loved researching and writing this book, which publishes on the 3rd September 2020.
For school visits (virtual if need be!), events or press enquiries, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
I’ve recently been doing some incredibly fun interviews which are now up on Soundcloud. Here’s me chatting to Simon Bailey from Kent Libraries (we even get to talk about Metallica!) And here is an interview for the brilliant Booklings Chat, organised by Glenthorne Library. I always love talking about Ada Lovelace, writing, research and anything… Read more »
It was a huge pleasure to talk to Nikki Gamble for her In the Reading Corner podcast – a podcast for teachers, student teachers and librarians. We chatted about why I wrote I, ADA; what I learned about Ada and her mother while researching the book; and whether I envisage ever writing music based on… Read more »
