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Joanna FitzPatrick

Goodreads Author

Born

in Hollywood, California, The United States

Website

http://www.joannafitzpatrick.com

Twitter

Fitzpatrick_jo

Genre

Historical Fiction, Mystery, Biography

Influences

Katherine Mansfield, Divas, painters,

Member Since

August 2010

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Joanna FitzPatrick was born and raised in Hollywood. Her father, James A. FitzPatrick, produced around-the-world travelogues for MGM. Needless to say they were never in one place for very long. She started her writing habit by applying her orange fountain pen and a wild imagination to screenplays and produced her first film “White Lilacs and Pink Champagne.” She loved the work and would have continued, but she had a falling out with the director after he maliciously deleted her name from the film credits. Devastated, she stopped writing and turned her talents where they were much more appreciated in the music biz.
She had no experience, but she made a great impression and was immediately hired by a firm who represented the Divine Diva, Bette Joanna FitzPatrick was born and raised in Hollywood. Her father, James A. FitzPatrick, produced around-the-world travelogues for MGM. Needless to say they were never in one place for very long. She started her writing habit by applying her orange fountain pen and a wild imagination to screenplays and produced her first film “White Lilacs and Pink Champagne.” She loved the work and would have continued, but she had a falling out with the director after he maliciously deleted her name from the film credits. Devastated, she stopped writing and turned her talents where they were much more appreciated in the music biz.
She had no experience, but she made a great impression and was immediately hired by a firm who represented the Divine Diva, Bette Midler. FitzPatrick says Bette showed her what it takes to become an artist; the personal sacrifices made offstage to achieve the pure exhilaration onstage. She also represented The Manhattan Transfer and other dynamic singers and musicians known for their riveting live performances. Her work brought her often to New York City. And when she came home to Hollywood, she missed hailing taxis after all-night jam sessions and dancing until dawn at nightclubs.
So bored with Los Angeles and its excessive sunshine, FitzPatrick made a giant leap of faith and moved to Manhattan with her eleven-year-old daughter. It was a spectacular move. In quick succession, she married again, gave birth to a second child, and was hired as managing director of Gramavision Records. When that company was sold from under her, FitzPatrick’s one ambition was to complete her education that had been cut short at age eighteen to have a career in show-biz. After graduating with a Literature degree at SUNY Purchase, she was accepted at Sarah Lawrence College and earned an MFA in creative writing. Her thesis, SHA LA LA: LIVE FOR TODAY, is a memoir about growing up in Hollywood, marrying and divorcing The Grass Roots lead guitarist, Creed Bratton (who later played himself in The Office), balancing a career with the challenges of being a single mother.
FitzPatrick’s first novel, KATHERINE MANSFIELD, was conceived on an airplane while reading a collection of short stories written by Katherine Mansfield. She spent the next three years studying the short story writer through her journals until she knew her well enough to tell her inspirational story.
THE DRUMMER’S WIDOW was her second book release. It was published after her husband, funk drummer Jim Payne (you read it right-she married two musicians) had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and survived. She wrote out of the daily fear of what her life would have been like without him. Her character, Widow Marisa, showed up on the blank page and led FitzPatrick on a courageous journey.
THE SKETCH BOX is FitzPatrick’s most recent project. A sweeping historical novel with an element of mystery. The story takes place in Carmel in 1924 when the iconic village was a haven for female painters and writers. Her character, Ada Belle Davenport, a famous painter, dies under suspicious circumstances. Her younger sister, Sarah, also a painter, comes to Carmel to find out the truth. Release date: Fall, 2021 (She Writes Press)
FitzPatrick divides her time between a mountaintop in Northern California and a small village in Southern France where she gets her best creative ideas.

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Joanna FitzPatrick’s books

Average rating: 3.92 · 252 ratings · 69 reviews · 9 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Artist Colony 3.83 avg rating — 187 ratings — published 2021 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Katherine Mansfield 4.35 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2010 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Drummer's Widow 4.31 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Circulation Solution, The Ultimate Organizing Approach For Lasting Clutter Relief by Matt Baier, Joanna FitzPatrick (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.40 avg rating — 10 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	5 Rockstars of the American Revolution by Christina Frei, Joanna FitzPatrick (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Tim Robinson (Illustrator) 3.55 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Katherine Mansfield it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	KATHERINE MANSFIELD 2.75 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Drummer's Widow 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Perfection’s Edge 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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“The mind I love most must have wild places, a tangled orchard where dark damsons drop in the heavy grass, an overgrown little wood, the chance of a snake or two, a pool that nobody fathomed the depth of, and paths threaded with flowers planted by the mind.”
― Katherine Mansfield, Katherine Mansfield Notebooks: Complete Edition

tags: creative-process, creativity, writing-process

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― Virginia Woolf, The Waves

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