Julie Tetel Andresen

Julie Tetel Andresen (born 1950) is an American linguistic historiographer and romance novelist who is a professor at Duke University, where she has taught since 1986. Her primary appointment is in the Department of English. She has secondary appointments in the Departments of Cultural Anthropology and Slavic and Eurasian Studies. She is chair of the Interdepartmental Program in Linguistics.

Early life and education Andresen was born in Chicago, Illinois and earned her undergraduate degree at Duke in 1972. Her master's degree was in French literature, through which she discovered phonetics and, in turn, linguistics. She received her Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1980. Her dissertation was “Linguistic Crossroads of the Eighteenth Century.” She is known for her approach to synthesizing the latest research in the social and biological sciences, and its contribution to linguistic theory.

Romance novels While working on her Ph.D., Andresen read her first romance novel, a book by Georgette Heyer. This experience inspired her to pick up writing.

In 1997, Andresen founded a publishing company. It goes by the name of Generation Books for non-fiction works and Madeira Books for fiction works.

When asked about connecting her academic career to that of her novels, Andresen has said "I don’t see the two activities – high-minded scholarship and romance writing – as being at odds." She has said that she would not write a character whose native language she herself does not know, and when she does use foreign language in her writing, she checks her work with native speakers.

Academic publications

Books

Languages in the World. How History, Culture and Politics Shape Language, with Phillip M. Carter. Wiley-Blackwell (2016) Captured (2014) Tied Up (2013) DeMarco's Café (2012) French Lessons (2012) Drawn to Love (2011) The Emerald Hour (2011) The Crimson Hour (2004) The Blue Hour (1998) Heart's Wilderness (1997) Carolina Sonnet (1995) MacLaurin's Lady (1995) The Handfast (1994) Simon's Lady (1994) Dawn's Early Light (1993) Unexpected Company (1993) The Temporary Bride (1993) Suspicious Hearts (1992) And Heaven Too (1990) Swept Away (1989) Tangled Dreams (1989) Catherine of York (1987) Lord Laxton's Will (1985) My Lord Roland (1985)