Category:Patricia Watkins

I was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, growing up in the beautiful old town of Tenby, but right after my marriage at St. Mary's Church there, emigrated to the United States, where I lived for over forty years before returning to Wales in 2003.

An information scientist by profession, I was, at one time, a researcher at Stanford University, California, before working for an international aid organization, providing the technical information for them to carry out their field projects in developing countries around the world. I also owned my own company designing in-house text-management databases for organizations. In between times, I wrote. Most of my publications during this time were either academic or satirical articles for newspapers, but I also wrote a novel. However, because of life's vagaries -- a long story -- I never got around to doing anything with it.

For many years I have also been researching my ancestors, most of whom have come from Pembrokeshire for at least the last four hundred years, so after returning here I began to take a specific interest in those who lived in the 18th century. This led to a desire to bring the period to life, so I began writing historical novels set in Dyfed during this era, the first being a biographical historical saga based on the life of my gt x 3 grandfather, a very lively and charismatic Irish actor who came to Haverfordwest in 1778, stayed and became a notable figure in the area. This was followed by a prequel about his early life as an actor at the famous Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.

After that I wrote two adventure novels about an entirely fictitious character, Connell O'Keeffe..I have become very fond of Connell, and if you read his story, hope you will too. Y

Like many other new novelists now, I spent several years trying, without luck, to find an agent, so when I was finally told bluntly that unless I already had a track record of successful novels under my belt, or was a celebrity, I stood no chance of ever finding either agent or publisher, I looked into publishing my own books. I am hoping to describe in the very near future my journey from there to here, this on a blog under my name on Amazon. It is a story whose trials and tribulations are worthy of a story of their own!

I am also a landscape photographer, and was delighted when a slideshow of my Pembrokeshire photos (some of which have appeared on the cover of Pembrokeshire Life magazine) accompanied a lecture held at the New York Public Library during Wales Week in 2009.

My photos are sold through: Celtic Images in Roch, Pembrokeshire: as well as through my other website.