An Introduction...

Hi! I'm Eugenia O'Neal and this is my very first post for the Parker Publishing blog so I thought I'd start off by telling you a little bit about myself. I was born and grew up on the lovely island of Tortola in the British Virgin Islands (south of Puerto Rico) and have lived there for most of my life.

My first degree was in journalism from Temple University in Philly - I loved Philly! Loved the Farmer's Market in Germantown (which is no more), the trolley line which I could pick up right outside my apartment and ride all the way to school, the cheesesteaks, John Wannamakers - all of it. After graduation, though, I returned home and wrote for a local newspaper for a while before joining the civil service where I've been fortunate to hold a variety of jobs.

Writing has always been my passion and after Greenwood Publishing released From the Field to the Legislature: A History of Women in the Virgin Islands which was based on my thesis for an M.Phil degree from the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill) I decided to go back to an old fiction manuscript I'd had lying around since my early twenties. That manuscript became Just an Affair which was followed last year by Dido's Prize, released by Parker under Kymberlin Reed's stellar guidance!

In the coming months, I'll tell you more about myself and blog about my road to publication (it wasn't as easy as the above might suggest), my writing habits, Dido's Prize, my work-in-progress, the history of Dido's Prize, and lots more.

Besides writing, I love to read (which writer doesn't?), garden, and travel. Feel free to visit me on Facebook.