Virginia Macgregor

When I was little, I spent hours snuggled up in my mum’s big double bed, reading stories. As soon as she told me that there were people whose job it was to write those stories, I knew that that’s what I wanted to do.

I came to the English language late. My mother tongue is German and I lived in Germany for the first two years of my life. I then moved to the island of Corsica where I learned to speak French, and finally, aged nearly five, I moved to Oxford in England. When I realised that none of the little girls in my elementary school had a clue what I was saying, I knew that I had to learn English – and fast! I think that coming to English late made me love it even more and speaking different languages gives me a deeper and richer understanding of the many ways in which human stories can be expressed.

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t write, but it took me a while to pluck up the courage to send my writing out into the world and to consider myself a ‘proper writer.’

I trained to teach High School English and worked in beautiful boarding schools around the UK. I still dream of writing a boarding school novel – watch this space! My time as a teacher did inspire my YA novels, though, and I still believe that this is one of the most interesting stages of life to write about.

When I met my husband, he convinced me to take the plunge and to see whether I could make that little girl’s dream come true and become a published writer. I did an MA in creative writing, took a sabbatical from teaching, wrote my heart out, learned about the process of getting an agent and a publisher and, after a rollercoaster of ups and downs and joys and heartbreak, landed my first publishing deal.

I now write books for both adults and young adults. My latest novel, The Children’s Secret, is set in New Hampshire, is published under my pseudonym, Nina Monroe.

I live in a pretty light blue house in Concord, New Hampshire, with my husband, our three children and four cats.