Pomeroy, Julia

PERSONAL:

Born in Okinawa, Japan; married; children: a daughter and a son. Education: Attended Georgetown University School of Foreign Service; graduated from Columbia University.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer and actor. Has acted on stage and in film, including the film Over the Edge; has worked as an interpreter for Italian manufacturers and owned and operated a restaurant.

WRITINGS:

The Dark End of Town (novel), Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2006.

Cold Moon Home (novel), Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

In her first novel, The Dark End of Town, Julia Pomeroy tells the story of Abigail Silvernale, a widow whose husband committed suicide two years earlier. Living in a trailer on an upstate New York farm with two dogs, Abigail works as a waitress in the local town of Bantam. She soon finds herself helping her friend and boss, Dulcie, figure out who is stealing Dulcie's van at night and riding around in it. Their investigation eventually leads them to become involved in the disappearance of a sixteen-year-old girl and the case of a teenage boy accused of murdering his mother. Eventually, Abigail finds herself confronting a psychopathic murderer and trying to talk her way out of being his next victim. In a review on the Ricklibrarian Blog, the author explained how she got the idea for her first novel: "My husband and I started and owned a restaurant for about four years. It was hard work, and we worked on alternating nights doing whatever needed to be done: we waited tables, prepared food and did janitorial work. Even so, it was always interesting, what with the dramas among the staff and the eccentricities of the customers. I always felt it would be a great backdrop for a mystery." Several reviewers agreed with Pomeroy's assessment. In a review in Booklist, Barbara Bibel noted that the author "gets the small-town setting right." Jo Ann Vicarel wrote in the Library Journal: "What transpires is a good first effort by a debut novelist."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2006, Barbara Bibel, review of The Dark End of Town, p. 24.

Library Journal, May 1, 2006, Jo Ann Vicarel, review of The Dark End of Town, p. 67.

Publishers Weekly, March 27, 2006, review of The Dark End of Town, p. 60.

ONLINE

Julia Pomeroy Home Page,http://juliapomeroy.com (May 23, 2007).

Mysterious Musings Blog,http://juliabuckley.blogspot.com/ (August 31, 2006), "Julia Pomeroy on Her Idyllic African Childhood, Her Movie with Matt Dillon, and The Dark End Of Town."

Ricklibrarian Blog,http://ricklibrarian.blogspot.com/ (May 22, 2007), "Interview with Julia Pomeroy, Author of The Dark End of Town."