Writer’s Bio
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Patrick Whalen
History and writing have gone hand in hand with Patrick all of his life. He discovered a love for documenting history as a young historian in the Boy Scouts of America. Patriotism and devotion became a driving force as he worked his way through the trail to Eagle Scout, which he earned and was awarded in 1989.
Patric further exercised his measure of love for his country through five years of service in the United States Navy. During his many years at sea, Patrick discovered a love for reading historical fiction and he consumed many of the writings of authors such as Louis L’aMour and John Jakes. The beauty of the world he encountered in places like the Andes Mountains, the Egyptian Pyramids and the many Roman ruins around Italy further fanned the flames of his imagination.
The purchase of a Smith Corona word processor became his land of enchantment and many a story was poked out upon the keyboard of that machine. Unfortunately for the budding author, many of these stories were lost to the world when the machine and disks were inadvertantly tossed as excess rubbish during a ship decommissioning.
To further flame the fires of his creative energies, Patrick joined a Confederate Civil War reenacting group in Virginia Beach, Virginia. For the next three years he would experience life as a soldier in the 1860’s as was possible in the waning years of the Twentieth Century. In the late 1990’s, Patrick placed his writing on hold to delve into researching his own family’s history. In the process he discovered an ancestor that had fought on the side of the Union from the State of Illinois.
With that knowledge, Patrick re-entered the reenacting ranks as a Union soldier and participated in reenactments of battles as such places as Vicksburg, Mississippi, Pleasant Hill, Louisiana as well as the color guard that surrendered their colors at the Alamo in San Antonio.
As a Christian, Patrick has applied his love of reading and research with a personal drive to uncover truths and to shake commonly held beliefs. He has spoken at numerous elementary, middle and high schools as well as at Concordia University on the subject of Spirituality and the Civil War.
Patrick is currently working diligently on his own historical fiction novel as well as a western series, a devotional and a Christian allegory. His creative mind is never short on ideas for future projects.
While the world has yet been given the gift of his extended-length works, many of Patrick’s shorter works can be found on the FaithWriter’s website. You can see some of his early attempts at the craft of writing and see how his talent has evolved into an award winning short-fiction writer at the following link:
