Patricia MacGregor
Trish MacGregor, who also writes under the name T.J. MacGregor, is a prolific novelist, ghostwriter, and media creator based in West Palm Beach, Florida. With a professional writing career spanning more than four decades, she has authored over 40 novels across genres including mystery, suspense, and speculative fiction, as well as numerous nonfiction works exploring dreams, astrology, synchronicity, and other unexplained phenomena. In addition to her books, she is the co-host of The Mystical Underground podcast and has adapted several of her novels into screenplays, expanding her storytelling into new creative formats.
Trish’s path to becoming a full-time writer was shaped by a diverse and unconventional career. Before publishing her first novel in 1984, she worked in a variety of roles including teacher, prison librarian, social worker, and ESL instructor. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in library science from Florida State University, experiences that contributed to her deep interest in language, research, and human behavior. These early roles informed her writing, giving her work a grounded, observational perspective across both fiction and nonfiction.
In recent years, Trish has continued evolving her career through ghostwriting and collaborative storytelling, working with clients to develop and refine their ideas into fully realized books. Known for her honesty and clarity, she prioritizes strong communication and thoughtful feedback in her client work. Whether crafting novels, exploring metaphysical topics, or mentoring aspiring writers, she remains committed to storytelling as both a creative practice and a way to explore the complexities of human experience.
• Utica College of Syracuse University- Bachelor's
• Florida State University- Master's
• Mystery Writers of America
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to never giving up and just keeping writing. As a writer, you get rejections, especially in the early part of my career. I didn't get published until my sixth book, and that was after 12 rejections. But if you love what you're doing, you just keep going. That persistence and dedication to the craft, even through all those rejections, is what eventually led to publishing 45 novels over my career.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received was to keep writing. As a writer, you face rejections, especially early in your career. I wrote six books before getting published, and even that sixth book was rejected 12 times before finally being accepted. But the key is to not give up. If you love what you're doing, you just have to keep going and persist through all the rejections.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't give up. For one thing, Amazon has made things a lot easier now. If you're rejected by traditional publishers, you can self-publish. Of course, then you still have to publicize your book, and that's where it gets tricky because there are a lot of companies saying 'oh, we'll do this for you for X number of dollars, we'll do this, we'll do that.' So you have to be really careful about which services you use to help publicize your novel or book if you self-publish. But the main thing is to keep going and not let rejections stop you.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the internet has opened up a lot of opportunities in publishing and screenwriting. For example, I took 5 of my own books that I really liked and wrote scripts based on them. There's a place called InkTip where you can post your scripts for about 12 bucks a month, and directors and producers come and look at different scripts. There's also another site called Stage 32 where you can upload a pitch of your script and get professional feedback, which is really valuable. You have to use the internet to open up opportunities. Amazon has also made self-publishing much more accessible, though you still need to be careful about which publicity services you choose to work with.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being honest is most important to me. Especially in this ghostwriting work I do, if I don't like a project that comes in, I tell them why. I think every writer should know why their work is being rejected or what needs improvement. Back in the 80s and 90s, publishing was very different. When you got a rejection, I always wondered why. Was it because they had too many books of that type? What didn't you like? In other words, help me be a better writer. I believe in giving people that honest feedback and constructive criticism, because just saying no without explanation isn't helpful.