Wynn, Patricia 1950- (Patricia Wynn Barnes Ricks)

PERSONAL:

Born October 8, 1950, in Houston, TX; daughter of Charles Wynn (a geologist and sales manager) and Marguerite (a journalist) Barnes; married; children: two. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Rice University, B.A., 1972; American Graduate School of International Management, M.I.M., 1976. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, history, walking, pets.

ADDRESSES:

Office—P.O. Box 1027, Corona del Mar, CA 92625. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer.

MEMBER:

Romance Writers of America (chapter president), Novelists, Inc., Sisters in Crime (chapter president; newsletter editor).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Romance Writers of America, RITA Award nomination for The Bumblebroth; two-time Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence final- ist; Writers Digest honorable mention, and Publishers Marketing Association silver medallion, both for "Blue Satan" series; Herodotus Award finalist for Best First Historical Mystery; Benjamin Franklin Award, Publishers Marketing Association, 2003, for The Spider's Touch.

WRITINGS:

Capturing Annie (historical romance novel), LoveSpell (New York, NY), 2000.

The Birth of Blue Satan (historical mystery novel), Pemberley Press (Austin, TX), 2001.

The Spider's Touch (historical mystery novel), Pemberley Press (Austin, TX), 2002.

A Pair of Rogues (historical romance novel), Thorndike Press (Thorndike, ME), 2003.

The Bumblebroth (historical romance novel), Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2003.

The Parson's Pleasure (historical romance novel), Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2003.

The Motive from the Deed, Pemberley Press (Corona del Mar, CA), 2007.

Also author of historical romance novels A Country Affair, Jack on the Box, Lord Tom, Mistletoe and Mischief, and Sophie's Halloo; and the historical fantasy novel The Christmas Spirit. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Austin American-Statesman.

SIDELIGHTS:

Patricia Wynn published the comedic pirate romance Capturing Annie in 2000. The book relates the story of a pirate's daughter, Annie Bonney, who is taken prisoner by the noble Captain James Noble. Lori-Anne Cohen, writing for LikesBooks.com, felt that Annie's "lack of common sense and childlike behavior are extremely off-putting," although the critic added that the novel is "fun in spots."

In 2001 Wynn kicked off her "Blue Satan" mystery series with The Birth of Blue Satan. Set amid the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, the novel follows Gideon Viscount St. Mars, a nobleman caught between the Whigs and the Tories and, naturally, between love and loyalty. Framed for murder, Gideon does what all Regency heroes do in such situations: he becomes a highwayman and, as Blue Satan, plunges into the steamy underworld of thiefdom. At the Whitestone Web site, critic Harriet Klausner declared The Birth of Blue Satan "a winner … that succeeds because the era, critical to the plot, is so alive readers will believe it is a character."

Wynn followed The Birth of Blue Satan with a sequel, The Spider's Touch, in 2002. Blue Satan, who had fled to France in the first novel, is asked to return to England in this novel to lend his support to the cause of James Stuart, who alone has the power to help Gideon fight the murder charge against him and reclaim his rightful estates. In the course of events Gideon is reunited with his friend Hester Kean, who is living in the household of the usurper, Earl of Hawkhurst, and has become entangled in a nest of spies. The murder of a Jacobite propels the action as Gideon aids Mrs. Kean in trying to solve the crime. Library Journal reviewer Rex E. Klett found the book a "glorious, thoroughly authentic" novel that is a "stunning" follow-up to The Birth of Blue Satan.

Gideon and Mrs. Kean make their third appearance in The Motive from the Deed. As the novel begins, Gideon has failed to persuade James Stuart to delay his uprising, and returns to England in disguise just as the rebellion breaks out. The murder of a notorious London bookseller, meanwhile, has thrown suspicion on Hester's brother, Jeremy, a penniless journalist, and Hester turns to Gideon for help in proving Jeremy's innocence. In their investigations they uncover dark secrets of greed, betrayal, and even treason.

Wynn once told CA: "As an author of escapist fiction, I am motivated to write by a desire to create fantasies that satisfy me. Writing gives me the time to explore my imagination more deeply than simple daydreaming does, and it allows me the control that reading does not. Two authors whose novels satisfy my own need for escape and who have influenced my work are Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, who introduced me to Regency and Georgian England and an appreciation of social satire. While I enjoy creating characters and conversations, I work to get my plots from historical research, which I love. I have always been fascinated by the way people lived in other times and other cultures. Understanding a setting and period thoroughly helps me arrive at events that might realistically have taken place. Without the security of my research, I would hesitate to write historical fiction."

She later added, "When I was a child, I wanted a career that would let me read all the time. My teachers told me I should be a writer, but I was thirty-seven years old before I finished a book. My greatest influence was my mother who was an outstanding journalist, reviewer, and editor.

"I write escape fiction and hope my books will provide escape to readers from their everyday stresses. My research is detailed, though, and I do try to be truthful with history. I became a history major after falling in love with it through reading fiction. If someone learns some history or even something about human nature while reading my books, I'm happy."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, August 1, 1996, Kristin Ramsdell, review of The Christmas Spirit, p. 60; November, 1, 2002, Rex E. Klett, review of The Spider's Touch, p. 131.

ONLINE

LikesBooks.com,http://www.likesbooks.com/ (June 12, 2001), Lori-Anne Cohen, review of Capturing Annie.

Patricia Wynn Home Page,http://www.patriciawynn.com (November 10, 2007).

Reviewing the Evidence,http://www.reviewingtheevidence.com/ (November 10, 2007), Karen Meek, review of The Spider's Touch.

Romantic Times,http://romantictimes.com/ (November 10, 2007), Melinda Helfer, review of A Pair of Rogues, The Christmas Spirit, and The Bumblebroth.

Whitestone Web site,http://www.whitestone.com/ (June 12, 2001), Harriet Klausner, review of The Birth of Blue Satan.