Julie
When I was young, more than one person asked if I planned to be a writer. I should’ve taken the hint and pursued it, but like most teenagers, I lacked discipline or patience. As an adult, I decided I had nothing unique or valuable to say. So for a couple of decades, I just lived. But while working and raising two boys, I learned that life is like a string of lights: long stretches of nothing much, with little bright spots that make it all beautiful. I want to share the view. I grew up in the Bay Area and earned a B.A. in Theater from San Francisco State University. After learning to design, draw, and sew costumes, I naturally became… a television newscast director. Eventually, I met another director and finally put those costuming skills to use by making my own wedding dress. The circle of life. Michael also used to write for himself. When he decided to recapture his own lost talent, I told him I wanted to play too. Since the autumn of 2016, we’ve been writing together, having the time of our lives. Now I’m reclaiming the audacity of a teenager who believes she has something original to say, or at least a knack for saying it better than anyone else.
Michael
Aside from a serious struggle with punctuation, my Creative Writing teacher in Colorado loved almost everything I wrote. Ms. Wallis was certain I had a future as a novelist. Unfortunately, that shy high-school junior decided instead that a career as a network news anchor was the life for him. The outgoing personality required for that path never developed in college or in my first TV job, so I found my place behind the camera as a newscast director. It didn’t require much writing, but there was another director at that tiny Wyoming TV station who shared my wavelength and my passion for storytelling. Julie and I soon discovered a passion for each other as well, and a wonderfully fulfilling creative partnership began. When frustration with my career reached its peak, we turned again to writing, revisiting those dusty, cobwebbed corners of our minds that once transformed ordinary life into compelling stories. We’ve tried to define our roles as M.J. Ortmeier. I’ll grab stories from the ether and hammer out a rough plot with plenty of over-the-top drama and expletives. Julie tames the savage beast with a gentle touch, lending elegance and warmth. Sometimes it’s the other way around. We’re discovering our soft and hard edges, which we both have in abundance, and the wonderful ways they fit together. As for the punctuation? That’s all her. Sorry, Ms. Wallis: the struggle continues.
Married writing duo Michael & Julie Ortmeier bring decades of broadcast and theatrical storytelling experience to emotionally charged domestic-drama fiction.
What We Write
As M.J. Ortmeier, we write intimate, emotionally charged domestic drama. We’re obsessed with the quiet moments where love starts to unravel and the stubborn, ordinary grace that holds it together.
Our debut novel, Every Lie We Told (December 1, 2025), follows a marriage that’s slowly breaking under secrets and good intentions.
Our next book, Better Angels, is about two people who never stopped loving each other. They just stopped believing they deserved it.
