About

Julie Mata loved reading and writing from a young age and wrote her first story, Charlotte the Horse, when she was seven. Julie was the shortest person in her class in grade school. She was also the champion four-square player, mostly because she could reach those low-to-the-ground balls better than anyone else. She took horseback riding lessons during her middle school years, learned how to jump fences, and even flew over a few without the horse. The highlights of her high school years included beating her high school ceramics teachers in several hotly contested ping-pong matches.

After graduating from Oberlin College, Julie worked as a reporter and part-time dee-jay at a Colorado country radio station. She then earned her masters degree from Northwestern University in broadcast journalism. Julie worked as a TV reporter and covered everything from murder trials to pig races at the county fair. She also worked as a news producer and freelance writer. Julie and her husband owned a video production business for many years and she wrote and directed a short film. When her two daughters were young, their pets over the years included dogs, cats, snakes, rats, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, fish, parrots, a bearded dragon lizard, and ten chickens. 

Currently, Julie lives with her husband in Florida. She loves going to the movies, traveling, reading, writing, ping pong, gardening, and fun adventures.

Julie is the author of two middle grade books, Kate Walden Directs: Night of the Zombie Chickens and Kate Walden Directs: Bride of Slug Man (Disney Hyperion).