Patti Dickinson
Author
Author Patti Dickinson is a native of Oklahoma with Cherokee ancestry, a factor that has greatly influenced her writing. She grew up in California and graduated cum laude in 1982 from California State University Fresno with BA in History.
Patti and her CPA husband David live on the Central Coast of California, a wine growing region with 160 wineries,i.e. vinophile heaven, and wonderfully creative atmosphere for writers. A 17-year member of The Authors Guild, the author's website is: www.pattianndickinson.org
A chance-stop for lunch in a Montana cowboy bar while on her way to a writer's conference, led to her first book (nonfiction.)
Five years in the making, the cowboy's 1,500 mile horseback ride from Guthrie Oklahoma to Hollywood to win a bet her grandfather made with a famous movie star, became Hollywood the Hard Way, a Cowboy's Journey. Set against the backdrop of a changing postwar America, this amazing adventure takes you back to a different time on a journey you won't soon forget. One reviewer calls Hollywood the Hard Way: "a compelling and human story...a slice of Oklahoma history...the story of an intrepid cowboy and his amazing horse worthy of being more than a sidebar in Oklahoma's past."
An equally happenstance telephone call from the granddaughter of Tommy Thompson, an outstanding Cherokee coach and teacher, resulted in the inspiring true story: Coach Tommy Thompson and the Boys of Sequoyah. This book brings together an incredible hero, a group Indian orphaned boys on the bottom rung of life's ladder, and the government-run Indian Boarding school in Tahlequah, Oklahoma where their lives come together." The Foreword was written by none other than Chadwick Smith, former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. One reviewer calls this story: "the captivating tale of a humble man who made a lasting difference in the Cherokee community, brilliantly relived....through the author's sophisticated interweaving of lucid historical narrative and biographical detail." The book provides a glimpse into Cherokee history and into life at a government run Indian boarding school that "did it right."
The Indian's Daughter, the author's first novel is a high voltage political thriller--her personal favorite genre. But with a twist: the story's heroine is--you guessed it--Indian. A murder reunites the Indian's daughter and her former fiance to find the killer, their efforts catapulting them into a vortex of politics and murder than reaches into the highest echelons of our government. High stakes, fascinating characters, and fast-paced action that keeps you turning pages.
