I’m an army brat, born March 3, 1963 in Edmonton, Alberta to Kevin McCarthy (father; deceased) and Karin McCarthy (mother), the third oldest in a family of four children. Our tribe re-located to a number of Canadian cities, finally settling in the City of Kanata, Ontario in the early 1970s. My ancestral lineage is half Newfoundland Irish from my father’s side (my grandfather Judge John Joseph McCarthy emigrated from County Cork, Ireland to St. John's, Newfoundland) and half German from my mother’s side. My writing career has seen its fair share of ups and downs. In the late 1980s, I co-wrote a tongue-in-cheek book that represented my first foray into prose but regrettably, that project never fully took off so I returned to short stories. In 1998, my first erotic poem poured out of me which lead to six hundred poems in the course of six years, out of which three hundred were subsequently selected for my collections. A few of my erotic poems were later purchased by Man’s Story2 magazine, whose editor suggested I try my hand at writing vampire short stories. In their own separate ways, the art chose the artist or rather erotic poetry and vampire fiction found me. When I willingly chose to combine the two elements, I knew it was time to whip out the power tools. My first novel, The Crimson Man, was born, which was followed up with my second, The Crimson Boy, my third The Crimson Woman, and now The Crimson Time. My Crimson series is not what you might expect from vampire fiction.
Anyone can enjoy vampire erotica, especially my wonderfully wicked fantasy fiction. I believe in the wisdom of the Greek philosopher Aristotle and his theory of Catharsis; it’s healthy to release pent up emotions. My personal reading list does not include vampire stories to avoid unwanted influences. I toggle between fiction, autobiographical, non-fiction, poetry and scientific. Favourite authors include Paul William Roberts, Robert Shaw, Jack London, Caleb Carr, Thomas Harris, Charles Panati and Oscar Wilde. For poetical inspiration, I read Walt Whitman, Dorothy Parker and Pablo Neruda. There are other countless poets whose work I adore but are simply too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say, I get a thrill writing vampire fiction because it allows me to transport myself and readers to a fantastic world. Fiction is about fun and giving the imagination permission to have a mind of its own. You need only be in possession of an adventurous spirit to enjoy my Crimson series of vampire novels (a tart glass of gin and tonic or fine red wine also make fine reading companions).
I have been blessed with good media fortune; most recent successes in 2010 and 2009 include multiple television interviews on CJOH News, A-Channel, CTV, Author’s Audio as well as press coverage in SNAP Ottawa Downtown ( http://www.snapottawadowntown.com/) , the Lethbridge Herald and Centretown News (see Press page). In summer 2008, I received phenomenal coverage in The Ottawa Citizen, Xpress, 24Hrs, radio interviews on Author’s Audio (www.authorsaudio.com), CKCU 98.1, FM 88.5, The Biblio File, CFRA Ron Corbett’s “Unscripted” and CJAD Montreal. In Jan 2008, I gave an erotica-themed seminar on “Dirty Talk in Five Easy Steps” at Sexapalooza in Ottawa (www.sexapalooza.com). The success of my seminar made Maclean’s magazine. In 2007, I received City Journal’s cover, Ottawa's urban newspaper (www.cityjournal.ca) and in 2007, I was featured in Image, Sandy Hill's community newspaper. In June 2007, my second novel was featured on Author's Audio. In February 2007 and 2005, I was one of multiple winners of the Ottawa Citizen's Romance Short Story contest and in March 2006, Centertown News featured me. My last live reading took place in 2010 at the Ottawa Independent Writers “Reading Night”, of which I am a member (www.oiw.ca). I have read other short stories and individual poems at such events as The Puritan launch party and Chapters for Bywords Warms the Night. Of my three poetry collections, Vulgar Verse, Friction and Mounting the Bedpost, the third was featured on The Namaste radio show. My work has appeared in WritingRaw (www.writingraw.com) City Journal, The Puritan (www.puritan-magazine.com); Man's Story2 (www.mansstory2.com); Androids2 (USA); Vampires2 (USA): Templar (US); Full Moon Tales (U.K.); The Ottawa Citizen (Canada); Bywords (Canada www.bywords.ca); Quills Magazine (USA); Underground Focus (U.K.); Open Wide Magazine (U.K.); Aesthetica: A Review of Contemporary Artists (U.K.); Jann Arden's official web-site (Canada); Lullaby Hearse (USA); Image Weavers (USA); Dripping (U.K.); The Muse Apprentice Guild (U.K.); Riot Angel (U.K.); the Sound and Silence Literary Magazine (USA); Voyages (India) and the Taj Mahal Review (India).
Then and Now …
I live and write in Ottawa, Ontario. My education began at Stephen Leacock Public School, followed by Earl of March Secondary School, both in the City of Kanata. While employed as a Legislative Assistant on Parliament Hill from 1984 to 1991, I studied political science via correspondence at the universities of Waterloo and Ottawa but moved on prior to completing a degree. I have attended several workshops on subjects ranging from editing, writing erotica, to self-promotion but I have no writing pedigree, just a desire to craft stories. My mom vividly recalls when my writing desire first expressed itself. At the age of six, I typed out fanciful stories to please the adults at the kitchen table. However, I personally feel I sharpened my pen by way of crafting correspondence while working in the Parliament Hill trenches. I learned the fine art of obfuscation and misdirection, the two essential components of fantastical stories. Writing in an environment that felt like a caldron, your skills either improved or disintegrated into party line dogma; I wrote creatively as a form of comic relief.
The fun stuff… Who is my favourite hero of fiction? Buck from Jack London's Call of the Wild. What is my motto? Ideals are illusions . What one movie falls in my top ten list? A Man For All Seasons. Who is my present day hero? Mom; she who taught me the importance of independent thinking. Of the Seven Deadly Sins, which is my favourite? Lust. What book has permanently remained in my reading pile? Leaves of Grass. What are my preferred sports? Skating on the Ottawa canal and cycling. What do I consider my greatest achievement? Becoming a small press publisher. What are my nicknames? Bella Patrizia, Sita, Lip, Red and Patty-loo. The world needs less of what? Air conditioning. What turns me on? Imagination, kissing and dark-chocolate.
Congratulations on getting through my long-winded biography....cheers, Patricia.
