About Julia

Welcome to my site! Do you believe in the power of words? Do you love reading and encouraging everyone around you to embrace the habit? Do you sometimes obsess about grammar? Are you curious about the relationship of words and technology? Then consider yourself a Word Nerd in good company.

Wait- you don’t obsess about grammar?  You only read sometimes?  That’s okay too. 😉

At Diary of a Word Nerd, I share more than book reviews. Come here to learn about the benefits of reading and great books to read. You might also discover a few new words and the history behind them.  I occasionally throw in a bit about the challenges of parenting.

My Word Nerd Beginnings

I have always loved words: speaking them and reading them. It’s a passion, and a bit of a curse. In second grade, I received a Valentine candy heart that said:

You talk too much.

My teacher laughed and told me to frame it.

In eleventh grade English, my teacher dubbed me “Babbles Vanderwal”, “Babs” for short. It stuck. This isn’t necessarily the nick name you want when you’re 17. When we studied Latin roots, the same teacher assigned me a presentation on loqui.  Guess why? (Learn more about loquacious here.)

My obsession with words continued. I spent Saturday mornings snuggled up with a blanket and a book, the thicker, the better. (I’m talking about the book here, not the blanket.)  I edited my high school paper and wrote feature articles that (I hope) made my classmates laugh. As a young adult, I used my word nerd tendencies to earn a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia and later Master’s Degrees in teaching and physical therapy. But when child number two arrived, I set my professional career aside.

As the fog of taking care of my young children dissipated, I realized, like one of my favorite characters, Bernadette Fox, that being creative feeds my spirit and keeps me sane. When I heard that Stephenie Meyers started writing Twilight at her kids’ swim practice, I thought, “I want to do that!”

Now, I nourish my creative side by building this blog and writing fiction, usually contemporary YA. When I’m not coaching cross country or taking care of the family (I now have more pets than children at home), I snatch moments with the laptop to write, revise, and learn from other writers. To combat stress and a slowing metabolism, I run, hike, paddle, or strike a yoga pose.

I live on a farm in the mountains of southwest Virginia with my patient husband, the kid who still lives at home, an exuberant shepherd mix, and a high maintenance, but adorable, “Poma-poo.”

Some of my favorite books:

Children’s: Where the Wild Things Are, Knuffle Bunny (One, Too and Free!) and anything else by Mo Willems

Middle Grade:  The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Claire, Wonder, Liar and Spy, Artemis Fowl, Bridge to Terebithia, Harry Potter (#6 is my favorite)

Young Adult: One of Us is Lying, Piecing Me Together, The Hate You Give, All American Boys, Speak, Bridge of Clay, he Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, The Truth About Forever, See You at Harry’s, Skinny, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Book Thief

Adult: Beartown, Tell Me More, The Most Fun We Ever Had, Big Little Lies, Small Great Things, Paradise, All the Light We Cannot See, The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,  The Night Circus, To Kill a Mockingbird, Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Join me for book reviews and literary (aka “Word Nerdy”) discussion!  Contact me at headnerd at juliatomiak dot com.