Pat Schmatz

As a child

Pat grew up in rural Wisconsin, with the run of the woods and swamps. She spent most of her free time either reading, or in the woods thinking about or acting out what she’d been reading. Her reading led her to make acorn pancakes (bitter!), dig treasure on an island (although there wasn’t actually an island), build an igloo, create tunnels of snow and hay and dirt, and generally imitate book characters any way she could

As an adult

Pat went to Michigan State University and University of California-Berkeley, trying hard to grow up and get real jobs that had a sensible future. None of that worked out very well. Her favourite job, other than writing, was driving a forklift in a warehouse.

As a writer

Pat likes to work in the wee early hours of the morning when no one else is up or talking or interfering with the story. On a good day, she has all of her writing for the day done before 9 a.m.

Things you didn’t know about Pat Schmatz

1. I like to read Harry Potter in Spanish. I’m almost through Book 7. When I finish, I’lI start over again on Book 1 in Japanese.
2. In college, I was on the judo team. I trained every day, and judo tournaments were all I thought about.
3. As a kid, I had a pet pig by the name of WAMO (“What a Marvelous Oinker”)
4. 4. I know a whole lot about komodo dragons. I went to Florida to visit one. She is beautiful, but she smells terrible.
5. I love the snow. I used to have to shovel roofs when I was a kid, and I loved jumping off them into the snow.
6. I do not like eggplant or coconut.
7. When I was 7, I wanted to grow up to be a veterinarian or a professional football player. Neither of those worked out.
8. I do not like to cook. I love people who cook for me. I’m a very, very appreciative dinner guest.
9. I live by the lake where I grew up. The lake has huge, old snapping turtles with moss growing on their backs. Sometimes when I’m swimming, I think the same turtle that watched me when I was 6 is watching me now.
10. I probably know more trivia about The Brady Bunch and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (my favourite TV shows) than is good or healthy for anyone to know.