Teresa Messineo is motivated by social justice, and giving voice to the silenced. Her first novel, The Fire by Night, showcased the heroic and often overlooked work of frontline military nurses of the Second World War. Writing that novel involved seven years of research.

Teresa is also the mother of four children, whom she home schooled for twenty years. Her varied interests include medicine, swing dancing, lecturing, studying foreign languages, distance swimming, hunger relief, travel, and hiking.