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 p.m. terrell

 

p.m.terrell was born in Washington, DC to an FBI Special Agent, John Neelley, and his homemaker wife, Lois. She was the third of five children--three girls and two boys. Although they lived for short periods throughout the country, Ms. Terrell is a native Washingtonian who has lived most of her life in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

Her life, like the novels she writes, took a series of different twists and turns. Until 2000, her writing took a back seat to earning a living. Through a stroke of luck (or some would say, fate) she was working for a subsidiary of IBM when the first Apple computers rolled off the production lines, and she found herself on the ground floor of a mushrooming industry.

In 1984, p.m.terrell, known then as Patricia McClelland, opened her first business, McClelland Enterprises, Inc. It was one of the first companies in the Washington, DC metropolitan area that was devoted entirely to personal computer classroom instruction. She personally wrote all of the course manuals that were used in the classes. During this period, three of her computer how-to books were also published: Creating the Perfect Database, published by Scott-Foresman, followed byThe Dynamics of WordPerfect and The Dynamics of Reflex, both published by Dow Jones-Irwin. She also wrote a series of columns for The Washington Business Advisor, The Washington Post, and The Washington Business Journal, among others. Read an interviewregarding her thoughts on writing. Ten years later, she became Patricia McClelland Terrell, and opened her second business, Terrell Computer Services, Inc., which is now known as Continental Software Development Corporation, U.S.A... In 1996, the business was relocated to Chesterfield, Virginia.

In August 2004, p.m. terrell co-founded The Book 'Em Foundation, a not for profit organization, with Officer Mark Kearney of the Waynesboro Police Department. The organization's mission is to increase public awareness of the connection between high illiteracy rates and high crime rates, increase literacy rates, and decrease crime rates. The First Annual Book 'Em Event was held on October 23, 2004 in Waynesboro, Virginia and attracted 52 authors. The second event, held on October 22 and 23, 2005, attracted 75 authors from all over the world. Proceeds were donated to Central Shenandoah Crime Stoppers, the Shenandoah Valley Reading Council, and Friends of the Library of Augusta County, Staunton, and Waynesboro. In 2006, Lebanon, New Hampshire held their first Book 'Em event on Saturday, September 9 and Waynesboro, Virginia held its third event on Saturday, October 14.  

Kickback is the first suspense thriller in a series that casts female programmers in the lead roles - programmers who find themselves caught in life or death situations where they must use their knowledge and their guts to rescue themselves, a theme that was carried forward in The China Conspiracy, Ricochet and Exit 22.

"I always have admired strong women," Patricia admits. "I think it came from listening to my father tell us stories about our ancestry, and all the strong women in our family. One ancestor was left at home during the Civil War when her husband joined the Confederate Army. When a group of Union soldiers tried to steal the hams from the smokehouse, she stood in the doorway with her shotgun, and told them those hams were all she had to feed her seven children, and they would get to them over her dead body. Legend has it, they left her, her children and the hams alone."

It's the kind of guts the characters in her books would admire.

Her first historical suspense/thriller, Songbirds are Free, was released in the fall of 2007 by Drake Valley Press. It was inspired by the true story of Mary Neely, one of Patricia's ancestors, who was captured by Shawnee Indians in 1780 at Fort Nashborough at the height of the Revolutionary War. It is the story of amazing courage and determination, of an ordinary young woman catapulted into extraordinary circumstances, and of the overwhelming will to survive.  Click here to enter the world of Mary Neely and read her amazing true story.

The second book in the Mary Neely series, River Passage, won the 2010 Bengal Book Award for Best Fiction & Drama. "River Passage has also been determined to be so historically accurate that the Nashville Metropolitan Government Archives admitted the original manuscript into their Archives for future historians and researchers." It covers the fateful voyage of the Donelson Party as they travel from Virginia to Fort Nashborough in 1780, at the height of the Chickamauga Indian War. Facing constant Indian attacks, near starvation, small pox and frostbite, this is the story of survival against all odds.  

She is now hard at work with co-author Randy Stevens on her next contemporary suspense, scheduled for release in the spring of 2011; and Vicki's Key, scheduled for release in the fall of 2011. The third book in the Mary Neely series will be tentatively be released in 2012. http://www.pmterrell.com

 

 

 

 

 


PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

p.m. terrell: I am a native of Washington, DC. My father was in the FBI and we were transferred around a bit while I was growing up. In 1967, we found ourselves in the Mississippi Delta during one of the most tumultuous times in the South’s history. It was during that time that I began to read and write in earnest. My earliest influence was In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Considered ground-breaking, it was a true story told with the suspense of a novel. Because of my father’s influence in law enforcement, I was drawn from an early age to crime and suspense stories, and In Cold Blood reinforced my need to write about crime and suspense. My first novel was completed when I was only nine years old.


PageOneLit.com: Why do you write?

p.m. terrell: Asking why I write is like asking why I breathe. Writing has always been a major part of my life and I can’t imagine not writing.



PageoneLit.com: Briefly discuss your book River Passage.

p.m. terrell: River Passage is the true story of the Donelson voyage, which left Fort Patrick Henry for Fort Nashborough. The journey was supposed to take only four weeks, but more than four months later, a ragtag group of survivors arrived at Fort Nashborough with a harrowing tale. Their river voyage had taken them through the heart of hostile Indian Territory at the height of the Chickamauga Indian War. They were repeatedly attacked along the way; some settlers were killed, others captured, still others wounded. They also faced near starvation, frostbite, small pox, and deadly whirlpools and rapids.



PageOneLit.com: Who is Mary Neely ?

p.m. terrell: Mary Neely was only 18 years old when she joined the Donelson expedition with her family. Though the Neely family owned 300 head of cattle in Virginia and were considered prosperous, they journeyed to Fort Nashborough (now Nashville, TN) in search of a better future for themselves and the generations that followed. But only a few months after reaching Fort Nashborough, Shawnee warriors attacked, killing Mary’s father, William, and capturing Mary. She was taken deep into Indian Territory, renamed “Songbird” for her beautiful voice, and kept as a slave for three years before she managed to escape. She journeyed on foot, alone, over hundreds of miles in order to be reunited with her family. Both River Passage and Songbirds are Free are told through the eyes of Mary. If Mary were alive today, she would be my cousin. My maiden name is Neely, and my ancestors have been in the Nashville area since 1780.

 



PageOneLit.com: What makes River Passage stand out from other historical fiction books that are on the bookshelves?

p.m. terrell: River Passage is a true story, considered so historically accurate that the Nashville Metropolitan Government Archives admitted the original manuscript into their Archives for future historians and researchers. But it is told with the style of a novel, filled with adventure and suspense. Due to the use of dialogue (it is told through the eyes of Mary Neely) it transcends two genres: historical fiction and creative non-fiction. Because I “cut my teeth” on writing suspense/thrillers that style continues through this historical work, making the reader feel as if they, too, are on that river voyage. It won the 2010 Best Fiction & Drama Award as well (Bengal Book Reviews.)




PageOneLit.com:  What is it about the historical fiction genre you enjoy?

p.m. terrell: Truth is stranger than fiction, and if I had been writing a fictional account of a river voyage and a capture by Indians, I would not have continued throwing so many challenges and obstacles in the characters’ paths. But just when you think these folks badly needed a break, more was thrown in their way. I find their strength, their courage, their faith and their determination fascinating. Because they are also my ancestors, writing these books have also shed a great deal of light on my own family: where we came from, why we ended up in Middle Tennessee, and what they had hoped for future generations. It is also the story of the founding of our country, the hardships the earliest Americans went through to be free, things that are hard to imagine just two hundred years later.

 


PageOneLit.com:  Briefly discuss your book Exit 22.

p.m. terrell: Exit 22 is a contemporary suspense. It’s the story of Christopher Sandige, a political strategist who is travelling south on Interstate 95 when he is involved in a car accident at Exit 22 in North Carolina. Stranded for the weekend in Lumberton, he meets a beautiful but mysterious woman and quickly becomes involved in a double homicide. Now he is on the run, trying to escape law enforcement that are closing in on him, as well as a psychopathic hit man who is determined to kill him. And he must also discover whether he can truly trust the woman he is falling in love with—or whether she is also a killer.
 

 


PageOneLit.com: If Hollywood called today and asked you to cast the film version of Exit 22, who would you cast and why?

p.m. terrell: The psychopathic hit man who knits baby booties when he isn’t killing would definitely be Johnny Depp, because he is such a master at playing quirky characters. Christopher Sandige, the political strategist who must find it in himself to become a hero, would be played by Keanu Reeves because he can bring a depth to a complex man who finds himself out of his element. Brenda Carnegie would be played by Sandra Bullock, because she is both feminine and capable; at one point, Brenda takes Chris through an alligator-infested swamp trying to escape and I can see Sandra doing that—and being totally sexy when they arrive at an isolated cabin.
 

 


 PageOneLit.com: What do you hope to achieve with your books?

p.m. terrell: I am passionate about telling Mary Neely’s story through River Passage and Songbirds are Free because women in our early history have not received the attention that men like Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett and others have. And her true story is remarkable. With my contemporary suspense, I want people to see things actually occurring in our world—election fraud, kickbacks, illegal immigration, bank fraud, offshore corporations, identity theft—and see those events through the eyes of people affected by them. Instead of showing statistics or preaching a particular viewpoint, I want people to form their own opinions based on what could really happen—or that which is happening, right under our noses.
 
 

 


PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you read?

p.m. terrell: Three Cups of Tea, the true story of Greg Mortenson, a mountaineer who stumbled into a Pakistani village after getting lost on K2 and returned to build a school there. It is the story of the people affected by decades of war, their history, and the power of what one man can do to change our world.
 

 


PageOneLit.com: What's next?

p.m. terrell: My next book, The Banker’s Greed, is a collaboration with T. Randy Stevens, a bank CEO, about a banker’s daughter who is kidnapped and he is framed for the crime. It will be released in the spring of 2011. I have also begun a series about a CIA seer; the CIA once used psychic seers in order to infiltrate areas that were too remote for a person to physically break into. They officially disbanded the practice—but what if they didn’t, and we were using seers today to reach the most remote regions of the world, such as the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan?

 



PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?

p.m. terrell: I am passionate about animal welfare. I have four rescue dogs that each began their life in the saddest of circumstances. I have a Jack Russell who was shot, his leg shattered; a collie who lived in a crate for breeding purposes in a back yard puppy mill; a foxhound who was paralyzed from the neck down but who was taught how to stand and walk again; and another foxhound (his sister) who suffers from a heart condition. When I am not writing, I am working toward bettering Life for these four, as well as other animals that come across my path. In The Banker’s Greed, I have a golden retriever as a prominent character; that role was auctioned this past year, the money going to the Robeson County Humane Society in North Carolina to provide funds for homeless animals. I often have pets in my books because animals have been members of our families for centuries. I am also a novice fish-keeper, and would love to have more aquariums than my house could hold.

 

 

 

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