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Hi there, my name is Nina Verheij (1984). I’m a Dutchie living in Haarlem, Netherlands. I’ve got a weakness for ‘poffertjes’ (little Dutch pancakes) and my cat Emmy.
My first somewhat more serious writing attempt as a kid was a story about kittens being born from a cake. For a couple of years, this creative masterpiece could be found in the library of my primary school, after I gave it to them as a gift after finishing the final year.
Around the same time, I wrote my first thriller: ‘A grave without a name’. All main characters had names from the TV series the Power Rangers. You won’t be surprised that my favourite series to read during those years were Goosebumps, Fear Street, and the blue Thriller books.
After secondary school, I decided to study Dutch language and culture at Leiden University. A choice which I have not regretted for a single second. As icing on the cake, I managed to complete my Masters in Speech Communication cum laude. Unfortunately, I didn’t really prioritise my fiction writing anymore during those years.
Neither did I when I worked in online marketing for 8.5 years. That’s why I decided to change course at the end of 2016. I wanted to take my passion for writing seriously again. During a 2.5 month trip around Australia I turned the first ideas from my romantic drama ‘Fatale keuzes‘ (‘Fatal Choices’, formerly known as ‘De andere kant’ / ‘The Other Side’) into a whodunit.
Thanks to the Writer’s Academy and participating in National Novel Writing Month (50,000 words in 30 days), I rediscovered my love for fiction writing. I was so happy that I wanted to share this positive experience with as many writers suffering from writer’s block as possible. Hoping they would realise how much satisfaction you can actually get from writing.
Since the start of 2019, I am therefore the proud owner of BackWords, Dutch online writing courses. Aspiring writers join my BackWords community on Facebook on a daily basis. Additionally, over 1,300 Dutchies and Flemings participated in my free 7-day writing challenge. Allowing themselves the pleasure of getting back into writing.
I’ve been living in Haarlem since 2011. In addition to being the owner of BackWords, I work as a freelance online marketer and corrector.
My Dutch debut ‘Fatale keuzes‘ got published in October 2019 by Hamley Books. This psychological thriller is available in all (online) bookshops.
In November 2020 the sequel ‘Geheugenspel‘ saw the light of day. This book got nominated for the Hebban Thriller Prize 2021 and the Max Silver Bat 2021. The third and final part of the trilogy, ‘Blinde wraak‘, has been available since November 2021.
In autumn 2022, ‘Naar het licht‘, my first contemporary Young Adult, was published.
You can also follow my creative outbursts on:
Gallery
I can’t help it, I just love to take pictures of sunsets, sunrises, and trees. Especially when I’m travelling. Stunning landscapes in general are fine by me too. ^^
Below you can find a selection of pictures I took during my most recent trip, a 2.5-month adventure in Australia (October to December 2016):
