About the Author
1960
- Born Sunday, August 7th,
in Boscobel, Wisconsin
(also the birthplace of
the GIDEON BIBLE). Parents scuttle hopes of ‘Timothy Edward’ and combine
their own names to welcome third daughter:
Patrice Josephine. Siblings later trim this to PJ.
1966
- 1971 Patty Jo attends Immaculate Conception School
where Sister Juan Marie nurtures a love of reading and writing. In the third
grade Patty delivers her first public speech courtesy of the Worldbook Encyclopedia. The experience
later serves as a cautionary tale for hundreds of college composition students
when discussing unintentional plagiarism; they prefer the story about the time
a neighbor ran over her lip with a bicycle.
1971
- 1978 Interest in music and theater at
Boscobel Area Schools saves Patti
from earning the distinction of ‘most injuries sustained in a non-contact
sport’ on the tennis team. Babysitting enterprise leads to a summer of pushing
swings in suburban Chicago, a
‘close enough’ encounter with Barry Manilow, and a new typewriter for the
aspiring writer.
1978
- Patrice moves to Madison
and works in a long-term care facility. Begins and ends college career at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Sets
record for longest college registration process and shortest ROTC membership.
Search for serotonin goes awry; plunges into eating disorder abyss.
1979
- 1980 Works in JC Penney catalog
department; masters teletype moments before equipment becomes obsolete. Moves
to Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
to develop temping career (clerical, retail).
1980
- 1983 Attends and graduates from Viterbo University with a B.A. in English.
Performs with Viterbo Concert Choir; tours Europe in a
seafoam gown. Works in housekeeping, alumni office, and hospital development.
Writes partial draft of FEAR ITSELF, a gloomy novel about unrequited love and
social conditioning; hides novel.
1984
- Pursues short-term contracted work
(retail, clerical).
1985
- 1988 Teaches composition at South Dakota State University while
pursuing M.A. in Comparative Literature.
Ploddingly writes thesis which advisor insists on titling Iris Murdoch’s “Learning Protagonists”: Toward Contingency, Responsibility and
Reality. Eager to spend the next fifteen years paying off students loans,
prolongs graduate school by taking the education block.
1988
- 1999 Trades wind-swept plains for
scenic river town. Teaches composition
and literature, speech, technical writing, and journalism at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa
Falls, Iowa. Sponsors student
newspaper and promotes annual literary contest and publication. Surrenders all hope of a personal life.
Writes partial draft of unnamed novel; shreds manuscript.
1999
- 2001 Teaches at Scott Community College,
in Bettendorf, Iowa.
Begins long distance relationship with former
colleague based on email; marries, moves to Arizona.
Develops a healthy respect for cactus and a mediocre tolerance of extreme heat.
2002
- 2007 Writes many drafts of novel that
becomes Alumni Affairs. Develops partial drafts
for Villa Hooey, Lessons
in Duplicity, and Chanteuse on the Loose.