Back in 2014…
When we first met, it was best friendship at first sight. Sierra is narcoleptic, Julie likes to nap and we both love filthy love stories, 2000s pop culture, and absurdist feel good humor. We soon became the kind of friends who finish each other’s sentences and were constantly looking for reasons to span the gap between Texas and Kansas and spend more time together.
On road trips and writing retreats, we quickly found out that not only did we laugh at and fangirl over the same things, but our circadian rhythms were also in tune with one another. Four years ago, we decided to combine our love for Christmas and cozy cabins, and meet up for a December writing retreat with just the two of us. We slept in late, made delicious food, wrote like fiends, and at the end of the day rewarded ourselves with hot tub time, pie, and Hallmark Christmas movies. Now, we’ve gone on our December retreats every year since and our investment in cheesy Christmas content is unmatched. Our Christmas retreats weren’t enough and now we force our families to spend summers together at the lake--though we have yet to receive any complaints.
Like the rest of humanity, over the last few years we’ve found ourselves feeling run down in every way. From professional to personal to social, the burnout is real. Last year, as we spitballed jokes back and forth through yet another ridiculous Christmas movie, the idea for Bee Merry and the town of Christmas Notch was born. Bee Merry became our secret obsession with the sole purpose of either making each other laugh hysterically or gush over the hotness of it all. It was our stupid happy escape, and one of the most joyful creative experiences either of us have ever had.
So now that we have had the time of our lives writing about Bee, Nolan, and the rest of the Christmas Notch gang, we are so thrilled to share it with you. We hope you leave Christmas Notch feeling a little bit nice and a lot naughty.
Merrily Yours,
Julie & Sierra
All photos by Danielle Nicole Portraits
Julie Murphy lives in North Texas with her husband who loves her, her dog who adores her, and her cats who tolerate her. After several wonderful years in the library world, Julie now writes full-time.
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.
She is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels Dumplin’ (now a film on Netflix and one of TIME’s Best 100 YA Books of All Time), Puddin’, Ramona Blue, and Side Effects May Vary. Dear Sweet Pea is her debut middle grade novel, and If The Shoe Fits is her first adult romance.
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.