Miranda Jennifer July was born in Barre, Vermont in 1974, the daughter of Lindy Hough and Richard Grossinger. Her parents, who taught at Goddard College at the time, are both writers. In 1974 they founded North Atlantic Books, a publisher of alternative health, martial arts, and spiritual titles. Her father was Jewish and her mother was Protestant. July was encouraged to work on her short fiction by author and friend of a friend, Rick Moody.