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I was born and raised in sunny Southern California as the youngest of four daughters. I climbed trees, shot arrows into the hillside, and rode bikes on the dirt trails, typical tomboy stuff. My father worked hard as a doctor while my mom took a break from being a nurse and stayed home to raise us. My parents were very supportive. Grade school and junior high, however, were very difficult for me. My peers teased me daily because I had curly hair, a skinny body, and ducks (yes, ducks). I really wasn’t dumb, but in public school I felt ugly, stupid, and socially inept–can anyone relate? High school was a welcomed change and I enjoyed the friends I met in band class. Trombone was my instrument. I wasn’t a great player, but I did have fun. I also enjoyed my art classes. After graduating, I reached a crossroads. I could either ignore the faith of my childhood, or I could explore it, seeing if it would really stand up to the rigors of life. Realizing the only thing holding me back from growing closer to God was myself, I decided to pursue Him in prayer, reading the whole Bible, and getting involved in church. My faith flourished. Around this time, my dad and I attended ground school and we earned our private pilot’s licenses. In college, I found myself torn between art and music. I chose art. Art classes at Cal State Long Beach were intense. I honed my skills and learned a lot of complex processes. However, after graduating I couldn’t find a decent art-related job (I didn’t consider jobs illustrating pornographic material as “decent”). I struggled with my identity until God showed me that what I do is not who I am. My identity comes from my relationship with Him. Through humorous circumstances, I landed a job as an art teacher in a private Christian school. Of course, I ended up teaching lots of other subjects as well. It was a great learning experience in many ways. After several years, I decided I needed to look into a career that could support me better financially. So, I returned to flying. I earned my instrument rating, and then my commercial rating. Next on my list was a multi-engine rating, but then something happened. I married David Rollins. Okay, I’ll back up a little. I met David in a church home-group. Because we were both involved in a lot of church functions, we got to know each other quite well (our courtship is a humorous tale in itself). After getting married, we eventually moved into a little house in Hawthorne. Three years later I gave birth to Rachel. I quit my job at the school so I could stay home to raise her. When Rachel was six months old, I started to write my first real novel: Arana’s Child (which everyone told me was too long, so I separated it into three books which would later become Arana’s Visitor, Vashua’s Messenger and Blackwell’s Wrath). After I finished this first book, I thought it was so much fun that I wrote another and another…. After two more girls were added to the family, David took a job near Seattle Washington. I was happy to flee the smog basin of Los Angeles. We joined a church and eased into our areas of service. I’ve enjoyed writing worship songs, leading worship with guitar on occasion, and lending out new book manuscripts to friends. I am still writing and editing stories. My days are full with homeschooling my children, serving in my church and writing. God is good. Julie Rollins |