Elizabeth Geoghegan

Hey there! I'm Elizabeth Geoghegan, and I write stories about smart women who make questionable decisions when it comes to love. (Don't we all sometimes?) After spending years living between Rome and Chicago, teaching creative writing, and collecting stories about passionate but doomed relationships, I finally decided to put my own tales of romantic mishaps onto paper.

I never set out to write about love gone wrong, but there's something irresistible about exploring those moments when our hearts completely override our heads. You know the type—the guy everyone warns you about, the one your mother would hate, the walking red flag you just can't resist. My characters keep falling for them anyway. (And honestly? I get it. Some of my best stories started with terrible decisions.)

My debut collection "Natural Disasters" dives deep into this territory, featuring women who are successful and self-aware in every area of their lives... except love. These aren't your typical romance heroines—they're complex, sometimes messy, and definitely don't always learn their lessons the first time around. Or the second. Or the third. (Hey, I said they were smart, not wise.)

When I'm not writing about complicated relationships, I'm usually teaching creative writing at various universities, splitting my time between the American Midwest and Italy. There's something about the Italian atmosphere that just breeds intense romance stories—maybe it's the wine, maybe it's the history, or maybe it's just that everything feels more dramatic under the Mediterranean sun.

My writing style? Let's call it literary fiction with a heavy dose of romantic obsession. I love exploring the gray areas between love and fixation, between passion and poor judgment. My academic background means I can't help but weave in cultural references and deeper themes, but at heart, I'm telling stories about that universal experience of wanting someone who's absolutely terrible for you.

You won't find neat, tidy endings in my work. Life rarely gives us those, so why should fiction? What you will find are raw, honest portrayals of desire, beautifully flawed characters, and the kind of emotional truth that makes you think, "Oh god, I've been there." (And if you haven't been there, just wait—your walking disaster of a love interest might be right around the corner.)

I draw a lot from my experiences living abroad and teaching creative writing. There's something about being an outsider that sharpens your observations of human nature, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Plus, teaching writing has taught me that the best stories are the ones that make us uncomfortable in the best possible way.

For readers stepping into my world for the first time, expect to find: - Strong, intelligent women making spectacularly bad romantic choices - Men who are walking red flags but somehow still irresistible - Settings that bounce between American academia and European romance - Stories that'll make you laugh, cringe, and maybe see your own past relationships in a new light - Zero judgment (because seriously, who hasn't been there?)

I believe in writing that feels like a late-night conversation with your closest friend—the one where you finally admit to all the romantic mistakes you've made and realize they're actually pretty great stories. My characters might not always find their happily-ever-after, but they'll definitely find themselves along the way.

When I'm not writing or teaching, you might find me wandering through Roman side streets, grading papers in Chicago coffee shops, or collecting stories from strangers who, after a glass of wine or two, are surprisingly eager to share their own tales of romantic disasters.

To my readers: thank you for joining me in these explorations of love, bad decisions, and the beautiful mess that happens when the two collide. Let's embrace our natural disasters together—they make the best stories, after all.

Feel free to connect with me through my website or social media. I love hearing your own stories of romantic misadventures (they might just inspire my next book!).