Joanna FitzPatrick

BIOGRAPHY

Joanna FitzPatrick was born and raised in Hollywood. Her father, James A. FitzPatrick, produced around-the-world travelogues for MGM. Needless to say they were never in one place for very long. She started her writing habit by applying her orange fountain pen and a wild imagination to screenplays and produced her first film “White Lilacs and Pink Champagne.” She loved the work and would have continued, but she had a falling out with the director after he maliciously deleted her name from the film credits. Devastated, she stopped writing and turned her talents where they were much more appreciated in the music biz.

She had no experience, but she made a great impression and was immediately hired by a firm who represented the Divine Diva, Bette Midler. FitzPatrick says Bette showed her what it takes to become an artist; the personal sacrifices made offstage to achieve the pure exhilaration onstage. She also represented The Manhattan Transfer and other dynamic singers and musicians known for their riveting live performances. Her work brought her often to New York City. And when she came home to Hollywood, she missed hailing taxis after all-night jam sessions and dancing until dawn at nightclubs.

So bored with Los Angeles and its excessive sunshine, FitzPatrick made a giant leap of faith and moved to Manhattan with her eleven-year-old daughter. It was a spectacular move. In quick succession, she married again, gave birth to a second child, and was hired as managing director of Gramavision Records. When that company was sold from under her, FitzPatrick’s one ambition was to complete her education that had been cut short at age eighteen to have a career in show-biz. After graduating with a Literature degree at SUNY Purchase, she was accepted at Sarah Lawrence College and earned an MFA in creative writing. Her thesis, SHA LA LA: LIVE FOR TODAY, is a memoir about growing up in Hollywood, marrying and divorcing The Grass Roots lead guitarist, Creed Bratton (who later played himself in The Office), balancing a career with the challenges of being a single mother.

FitzPatrick is releasing a 10th edition of her first novel, KATHERINE MANSFIELD, which was originally conceived on an airplane while reading a collection of short stories written by Katherine Mansfield. She spent the next three years studying the short story writer through her journals until she knew her well enough to tell her inspirational story.

THE DRUMMER’S WIDOW was her second book release. It was published after her husband, funk drummer Jim Payne (you read it right-she married two musicians) had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma and survived. She wrote out of the daily fear of what her life would have been like without him. Her character, Widow Marisa, showed up on the blank page and led FitzPatrick on a courageous journey.

THE SKETCH BOX is FitzPatrick’s most recent project. A sweeping historical novel with an element of mystery. The story takes place in Carmel in 1924 when the iconic village was a haven for female painters and writers. Her character, Ada Belle Davenport, a famous painter, dies under suspicious circumstances. Her younger sister, Sarah, also a painter, comes to Carmel to find out the truth. Release date: Fall, 2021 (She Writes Press)

FitzPatrick divides her time between a mountaintop in Northern California and a small village in Southern France where she gets her best creative ideas.