Patrick Carmen - The Genius Author

Patrick Carman is an American author of many books written for adults as well as children. His bestselling series include The Land of Elyon – The Dark Hills Divide, Beyond the Valley of the Thorns, The Tenth City, Into the Mist, and Stargazer (coming out this fall [September]), Atherton – House of Power, Rivers of Fire (coming out in May), and Third Atherton Book (coming out in 2009), and Elliot’s Park -- Saving Mister Nibbles, and Haunted Hike (coming out in August).

Carman was born in February 27, 1966, grew up in Salem, Oregon and graduated from Willamette University with a degree in economics (he doesn’t have an English degree). He went to Portland and ran an advertising agency. He also created popular board games as well. However, Carman wasn’t pleased with his work. “I mean, I actually did a lot of the design, but I never felt like I was really doing more than looking at what everybody else was doing and just kind of doing the same thing.” He decided to use his creativity to his maximum capacity, and to fulfill the dreams he had when he was in high school - to write a book.

Carman came up with the idea of the series when he and his wife decided that for one night of the week, Reese would have a night out, and Carman would hang out with the kids. Soon, his creativity again created the idea of a girl wanting to have adventures outside the walled city that she lives in. He kept a journal to doodle and write notes to keep all his ideas for the story. When Carman finally felt that he had done enough research, he began to write the story.

Patrick Carman lives in Walla Walla, Washington with his wife, Karen, and two daughters, Reese and Sierra. He also has two dogs, Taffy (mix-breed) and Otto (Chihuahua). Although Carman is very busy writing books, he still spends free time with his family.