About

Victoria Ramirez is an Emeritus Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, retiring from the faculty in 2017. She holds a BA and Ma from Stony Brook University (Long Island, New York), and a Ph D from Binghamton University, where she specialized in Postmodern and World Literature, and Cultural Studies. She is a past director of the Creative Writing Program at Weber State, where she developed and taught courses in short story and novel writing, the performance of literature, and writing song lyrics.

In her professional life she has written a number of articles, book reviews, and presented her work at numerous conferences. Her published stories include “Ma Loves Jete,” and “Flight,” a book of collected poems, Love Among the Yearlings (2010), and her debut novel, The Mistress of Fort Neck Inn (2016). The inspiration for this novel was the hometown she grew up in, Massapequa (Long Island), New York. Named Fort Neck in the 18th Century, its rich history was never taught in school. In fact, Ramirez was surprised to learn that Long Island played a central role in the War of Independence. Fort Neck’s most renowned inhabitant, Judge Thomas Jones, a local landowner loyal to King George, was drawn into the hostilities by virtue of his prominence in the colony of New York. As no novel seriously treating Jones and his world exists, Ramirez has written one that brings Fort Neck’s history—and that of Long Island over 200 years ago—to readers curious to know more about what life was like for the rich and poor during the Revolutionary War.

Ramirez currently lives in Coos Bay, Oregon, where she is part of a group who created and hosted Oregon Writers Day (October, 2018). At present she is completing her second historical novel set on Long Island, The Maid of the Peconic, which unfolds during the War of 1812 in Greenport, Shelter Island, and Sag Harbor. A mother, cat devotee, and singer-songwriter, she performs at local coffee shops and restaurants when not working on her writing.