She currently writes for CBSNews.com and her feature articles have appeared in Salon, the Columbia Journalism Review, Pacific Standard and many others. Her first novel, "Invisible City," is a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and was named one of the Boston Globe's Best Books of 2014. Julia was born in Fresno, California to a Lutheran father and a Jewish mother, and now lives in Brooklyn.