My name is Virginia. I write fiction, love reading, dabble with the piano, and am obsessed with my pup Okie. I moved around a lot in my twenties, something I am very proud of and which formed much of who I am today.
I am excited and honored to be represented by Liz Parker (Verve Talent & Literary) for a queer retelling of Pride & Prejudice set in the world of sororities, fraternities, and football at a big Southern university. Y’all, writing a queer Lizzie Bennet was one of the most fun things I have ever done. And a lesbian Darcy? Be still, my heart.
I was born and raised in the Big Sky state of Montana and didn’t appreciate it nearly enough at the time. I left as soon as I graduated high school and earned a film degree at the University of Oklahoma. LOVED what I studied, haven’t used it since. My husband regularly makes fun of me for how much I dislike watching movies.
After college, I taught 8th grade math in rural Greensboro, Alabama as a part of the 2011 Teach For America corps. While I have complicated feelings about TFA (who doesn’t?), I will never regret the experience, which taught me so much about myself—and gave me the chance to meet some of my best friends. After Alabama, I then moved to Nepal and taught English as a Second Language at a rural government school in the Middle Hills as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant. The best part of the experience was learning to speak Nepali and living with my host family, becoming another member of their family.
Following Nepal, I moved to the Bay Area for a guy, which worked out pretty well (cuz we married now. Woop woop!). I continued teaching in Oakland—this time as an after-school program manager for BUILD, an entrepreneurship program for underserved high school students that teaches them how to build their own business while becoming the CEO of their own lives.
When we moved to Austin for my husbs to work on his Masters at UT, I continued to work for BUILD, transitioning first to grant writing and finally into Knowledge Management and project management, which I do today. We loved being able to call Austin, Texas our home for a short while, and got pretty damn good at two-stepping and eating tacos.
However, the pull of family and the Mountain West could no longer be ignored, and in fall 2021, we moved back to our hometown of Billings, Montana. I continue to work for BUILD while spending the rest of my time writing and pursuing publication.