Pat Hauldren

Who am I?

I sometimes wonder that myself. Although I am a full-time writer, I am also a full-time grandmother, wife, mother, and well, I admit it, too many cats owner, and don’t forget the dogs!

I love having grandchildren. I relish the time I get to spend with my four grandkids (3 boys, 1 girl) and helping my daughter wrangle her three through various activities while she finishes her schooling (which will end next fall).

For me, family comes first. And I’m fiercely loyal, to those who deserve it LOL. For you astrology fans, I’m a Cancer or Moonchild, and fit the mold almost to a ‘T’. I’m a sucker for doe-eyed kids and pets.

I live in Grand Prairie, Texas, with hubby, 3 dogs (Buster, Maggie May, & Quixote), and mumbletymum cats. I’ve just begun gardening a bit, nothing fancy, mostly drought-resistant Texas native plants (because I like to travel then who’s gonna water them besides the dog?). I’m a Texas native, which means I like Texas, but I like lots of places. Texas is, thankfully, one of the less-expensive places to live in the US. I doubt I’d ever live north of the River. Visit, yes, but live? brrr.

Besides being a grandmother, mother, wife, I’m also a writer, freelance editor/copy editor, tai chi practioner, and Dallas Stars hockey fan. I write Speculative Fiction and call myself a “Mythologist” because when I world-build, I have to create the legends and myths of my world. Even when writing contemporary fantasy, I delve into human history, legends, myths, and fables to niggle  out those intriguing nuggets that suggest gem of possibilities for a fantastical world or culture. Writing is a non-stop learning adventure!

I’m a past board member and newsletter editor of my local RWA chapter, NTRWA, on the conference committee for the 2010 DFW Writers’ Workshop Conference, and co-founder and moderator of the North Texas Speculative Fiction Workshop. I also founded the Frisco Writers Group and the Coppell Writers Group. Not only do I write Speculative Fiction, but I also write articles, poetry, Japanese Noh Drama, and short stories.

I’m the: * Fort Worth Writing Examiner , * the Fort Worth Hockey Examiner, * the Dallas Speculative Fiction Examiner, * the Dallas Womens Sports Examiner, * the SyFy Examiner * contributor to the North Texas e-News * contributor to the Beacon-News.com * and part-time editor for Cyberwizards Productions. For more about my freelance writing and editing, see EditAlley.com.

My favorite sport is hockey, though I don’t play it, I do dress up in hockey stuff and support my local team, the Dallas Stars. See my Hockey page for pix and fun stuff hockey-wise. (My 2nd favorite sport is reading, and my 3rd is sleeping. Also, check out my HousewifeHockey.com for the non-pro rants and raves on all things hockey). I practice the art of Tai Chi with the Taoist Tai ChiSociety and enjoy meditation, chanting, studying Zen and Laotse.

In 2009, I attended several writer’s workshops: ConDFW, 2009 DFW Writers Conference, Bob Mayer’s Writers Workshop, Bob Mayer’s Warrior Writer Workshop, Fencon, World Fantasy, Dave Farland’s Write That Novel! Workshop. In Oct. and Nov. 2009, my writer friend, Tricia, and my Dutch friend, Yann, and I did a Thelma & Louise trip around the American Southwest! What fun! In 2010, add the North Texas Romance Writers’ North Texas Two Step Conference in March, and the DFW Writers Conference in April, along with 2 workshops with David Farland, a Japanese Noh Drama workshop at SMU by founder and artistic director Richard Emmert and assisted by TN founding member John Oglevee from Theatre Nohgaku, a Paula LaRoque writer’s workshop at SMU, and a Suzanne Frank writer’s workshop.

In 2011, I cut down on my activities (I do have a novel to finish, after all, and not just one!) and attended DFWCon in Dallas and the DFW Writers’ Conference in Fort Worth where I taught a class as well!  FenCon in September and then in November, The Netherlands! Where taught several writing workshops in Amsterdam and The Hague and attended a week-long International Taoist Tai Chi class. Did I mention I love to travel? My best friend lives in The Netherlands, of course. And for the whole month of November, I toured and taught writing classes in The Netherlands. How cool is that? Check out my Blog and Photos pages for more pictures and news. In 2012, I’ve cut back even more (though it may not seem like it!). I attended/am attending ConDFW, DFW Writers’ Conference, Million Dollar Outlines by David Farland, and FenCon. I also will be attending several Taoist Tai Chi workshops. The Tai Chi really helps keep me healthy and thinking clearly (shameless promo ). Check out my schedule page for a current list of workshops I’ll be teaching and my events page for all the fun stuff I’ll be doing this year. You can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, Xanga, Skype as either Alley.Pat or Pat.Hauldren, and Yahoo! as alleypat or PatHauldren.

BACKGROUND: 

SF has been my first love in books since I can remember reading. I grew up (in the 50s and 60s) reading pulps (I read at an early age, which is not the same as saying I was born at an early age ) and with authors like Asimov, Blish, Heinlein, Budrys, MacDonald, Clarke and many more. Reading magazines I picked up at flea markets for 5 cents like Galaxy, Analog, Argosy, Amazing Stories, Thrilling Wonders, and the like. My first SF book was a Heinlein I picked up by mistake in our school library and I was hooked. I don’t recall the title, but it was probably Red Planet or Space Ship Troopers. My favorites of his are The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress and Glory Road. I’ve won a few poetry contests over the years, though I don’t consider myself a poet. I think those were just dumb luck. A few decades ago I needed a pick-me-up for my writing brain (kids, a new hubby, work and school kept me distracted for a while), so I took a creative writing class at Brookhaven (Dallas Community College). The teach says write 3 poems. I told him I couldn’t write a poem to save my life, but he said don’t worry about it, I already had an A in the class, just write something. Of course, being the professional procrastinator that I am, I waited until the night before the assignment was due to even attempt a poem. I sat to write: pen, paper, no brain. So I had a few beers, what could it hurt? That evening I wrote 3 poems for my assignment, Aced them, and won a contest from one and published the other. Obviously, the third wasn’t worth the ink used to write it. I’ve always written. I think most writers say that. Writing was just for fun, or rather, I wrote because I had to (do writers really have a choice? We write because it’s who we are.), but never seriously considered publishing until my kids (Wendi & Paul) moved away from home and I decided I should do what I’ve always wanted to do, “BE” a writer. I had no idea what that meant until I started on my own writer’s journey. A writer’s life is like a roller coaster ride. I alternately hate my writing or love it throughout the day. It’s like wanting to paint like Michaelangelo or Van Goght or Matisse, and never making it past stick figures and wilty flowers. Then there are times when I reread what I wrote and think there is hope, maybe someday, I’ll be as good as John Updike, Barbara Kingsolver, and others whose writing I admire. Eventually, I joined the DFW Writers’ Workshop in Euless, Texas, and after a bit of a shaky start (I am not a crowd person normally), I finally let down my guard and read my work aloud to the group. How scary! After the meeting, at home safe and sound, I cried the whole evening from the stress of it all. I’d done it. I’d read in public and nobody booed or had thrown rotten tomatoes. Now, I look forward to read nights. I don’t read every meeting. I’ve found I often learn more by listening — to others read and others critiquing their read — because my own emotions and stubbornness and “can’t see the forest for the trees” syndrome don’t get in the way. A few years later, several group members, Rick, Shawn, and myself, decided we wanted to add on to what we were doing at the DFW group and added a monthly group focusing on Speculative Fiction. We called it the North Texas Speculative Fiction Workshop (though Rick didn’t want initials, I think it worked out quite well). We meet every 2nd Saturday of the month at the North Richland Hills Barnes & Noble. We’ve grown from 3 members to over 25 members and I’ve made some great friends. As I grew as a writer, I discovered the SF/F conventions and now I attend several local cons regularly and try to make the bigger cons as much as funds will allow. See my “Events” page for updates on conventions and conferences I’ll be attending each year. My first con was a WorldCon, of all things! The 1996 LA Con III in Anaheim, California. I attended a bi-monthly workshop with Teresa Patterson and P. N. Elrod and others. They were big into the cons and Teresa was coordinating the art exposition. I volunteered (freaky word that, volunteered LOL) to help out. How could I miss a chance to hop a ride to Anaheim, California, and attend a big ol’ convention at that? Naturally, right before we were to leave, I twisted my ankle in Tai Chi class and doc says “Stay off it for at least 3 weeks”. I said sure, but had my fingers crossed because in my head I said “Sure, doc, 3 weeks AFTER I return from Anaheim!” Well. The ankle hurt like hell but it didn’t keep me from going, however it did keep me from helping out as much as I’d planned. I met a lot of cool folks there and learned a lot. So now I usually attend ConDFW in Dallas (however, in 2008, I missed the con for our DFW Writers’ Workshop Conference the same weekend, more on that later), as well as ApolloCon in Houston, and FenCon in Dallas. I try to make ArmadilloConin Austin every couple of years.

LOCATION:

You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. Native Texan here. Oh, I’ve lived in a few other states, but I always end up here. Currently, I live in Grand Prairie, Texas, with hubby, dogs, cats, ferrets, and grandkids. I’ve lived in Dallas, Houston, Rockwall, Quinlan, Lake Tawakoni, Silsbee, Kountz, Buna, Caldwell, Dime Box (Old not New), Wharton, Rivera (not “the” Riviera) , Plano, San Antonio, Arlington, Pasadena (Texas, not California), Garland, Richardson, and that’s just in Texas. I’ve lived in Biloxi, Mississippi, and Minot, North Dakota (you know, where the state tree is a telephone pole and the state bird is a B52).

FUN STUFF: 

Hockey! Hubby and I are avid Dallas Stars hockey fans and season ticket holders. You can see more pix of the Stars and stuff on my hockey page. Travel! I’ll be adding a few of my amateur travelogues soon on my upcoming travel page. In the meantime, check out The Netherlands, my home away from home because it’s where my fave place to visit is The Netherlands where my best friend, Yann, resides in Haarlem, just outside of Amsterdam. More stuff to come! Pat