About Me
I'm AC Patterson, and I've been telling stories for as long as I can remember.
I grew up in Florida along the banks of the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers in a place called Sandy Point. It was part fishing camp, part community gathering place, and part childhood wonderland. We swam in the river, fished from its banks, worked in the fish house, gathered hickory nuts for the smokehouse, and spent countless hours in a rec room filled with pool tables, pinball machines, a jukebox, and arcade games. My friends and I became surprisingly skilled at all of them, and perhaps a little too clever at finding ways to play for free.
When I wasn't on the river, I was often in Central Florida, where citrus groves, cattle ranches, and tobacco fields shaped another chapter of my youth. Summers were spent working the fields. The work was hard, but for a kid it felt like freedom.
My parents lived separate lives, and that gave me another world to explore: New Orleans. There I wandered museums, department stores, arcades, and the streets of one of America's most fascinating cities. Looking back, those experiences filled my imagination with stories long before I understood that storytelling would become a lifelong pursuit.
I began writing at an early age, filling my memory and notebooks with stories because I never properly learned to type. In the 1960s, a junior high typing teacher informed me that boys didn't need typing skills and refused to let me take the second semester of the course. History, thankfully, had other plans. I've spent much of my life at a keyboard ever since.
My first job was at Walt Disney World. I was there on opening day, October 1, 1971, as one of the resort's earliest employees. In those years the Magic Kingdom became an extension of my playground. I spent countless hours exploring the park, watching live performances, meeting remarkable people, and discovering firsthand the power of immersive storytelling. It was an education unlike any classroom could provide.
Years later, while attending college, I won a state scholars writing competition that led to my first published essay. More importantly, it led to an unforgettable afternoon with novelist Eudora Welty, whose generosity and encouragement helped shape my understanding of both art and artists. Around the same time, a conversation with John Dykstra, co-founder of Industrial Light & Magic, sparked my interest in filmmaking and visual storytelling.
Since then I've followed a winding creative path as a writer, filmmaker, artist, educator, technologist, and storyteller. My essays and criticism have appeared in anthologies and publications. My plays and screenplays have been optioned for film and television. I co-produced the feature-length documentary Crossing Over for IFC. I've exhibited visual artwork, mentored writers and creatives, and spoken on storytelling, screenwriting, personal branding, and the ways character drives narrative.
Throughout all of it, one thing has remained constant: a fascination with the stories that shape human experience.
Today my work continues to explore mystery, memory, hidden histories, metaphysical questions, and the connections that bind seemingly separate lives and events together. Whether through novels, film, theater, essays, or art, I'm still following the same impulse that began beside a river many years ago.
Discover the story hidden inside the story. Watch for "The Alonzo Smokescreen Trilogy," available at booksellers soon. This site is under new development in advance of that publication, so I hope you'll come back occasionally over the coming months to discover all of my stories. -AC
