VALDATA, Patricia 1952-

PERSONAL:

Born October 16, 1952, in New Brunswick, NJ; daughter of William and Ethel (Kovaks) Valdata; married Robert Schreiber (a computer systems architect), April 21, 1979. Education: Douglass College, B.A. (mass communications), 1974; Rutgers University, B.A. (English), 1977; Goddard College, M.F.A. (writing), 1991. Hobbies and other interests: Soaring, boating.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Cloudstreet Communications, 36 Gina Court, Elkton, MD 21921. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer and educator. Technical writer and editor, 1975-89; University of Delaware, Newark, adjunct instructor, 1990-94, assistant professor of English, 1994-97; Cloudstreet Communications, Elkton, MD, founder and president, 2000—. AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE, writer and project manager.

MEMBER:

International Association of Business Communicators (president of Delaware chapter, 2001), Women Soaring Pilots Association (founding member and former president), American Women Pilots.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Joseph C. Lincoln Award, Soaring Society of America, 1994, for story "Just like a Hawk"; First Prize, International Icarus, for poem "Directions to Bombay Hook"; First Prize, Eastern Shore Regional Poetry Competition, 2000, for "Fluid Dynamics"; Individual Artist Award for Poetry, Maryland State Arts Council, 2001.

WRITINGS:

Crosswind (novel), Wind Canyon, 1997.

Looking for Bivalve (poetry chapbook), Pecan Grove Press (San Antonio, TX), 2002.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Two more novels.

SIDELIGHTS:

Patricia Valdata told CA: "I come from a blue-collar background where participation in the arts was not encouraged. It took me a long time to take myself seriously as a writer, and so I was well into my forties before my first novel was published. I hope to make up for lost time now, and I urge anyone who wants to write to do so regardless of their background or environment."