Patrick Swenson

I started writing when I was in 2nd grade. My first classic was Mr Mooney Goes to the Moon. It was followed by Mr Mooney Goes to Mars and Mr Mooney Goes to North Dakota. True story. The manuscripts were lost when my family moved from one side of the state of Montana to the other. I lived in Kalispell, Montana until graduating from high school.

I attended Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA, and received my BA in Education. Some may know that originally I was a music teacher, and more specifically, a high school band director. I was also teaching English and Language Arts classes to fill up my day, and eventually I made the switch to full-time English. I’ve only taught in Washington State: Three years at Lake Quinault School on the Olympic Peninsula, thirteen years at Evergreen High School in White Center, and, after receiving my Masters in Education in 2000, and now 20 years at Auburn Riverside High School in Auburn, where I still work, teaching AP Literature, Creative Writing, Science Fiction, and Honors 10 Lit. I was the adviser for the school’s newspaper, InFlight, for eleven years, and still advise the literary magazine, Smudges.

In 1986 I attended the Clarion West writers workshop, and sold stories a few years after. In 1995 I began Talebones magazine, and in 2000 started Fairwood Press, a small SF book press. Talebones ended in 2009 so I could devote more time to writing, and later I finished my first novel, The Ultra Thin Man. It sold to Tor in June 2012 and debuted in 2014. The Ultra Big Sleep, the direct sequel debuted summer of 2016.

I have sold stories to the anthologies Unfettered III, Like Water for Quarks, Seasons Between Us, Gunfight at Europa Station, and to various magazines. In 2007 I started the Rainforest Writers Village retreat, which is held every spring at the Rain Forest Resort Village at Lake Quinault, WA.  I’ve lived in Bonney Lake, WA since 2008.

My one and only Artemis was born in 2002. They were diagnosed with high functioning autism when they were in 1st grade. They love video games, and they are a developer for an open source game in Beta called Thrive. Artemis is an amazing artist. (Check out the covers for my books!)  More of their art below.