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Patrice Maguire was born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, the oldest of three children and the only girl. Her happiest childhood memories come from family RV trips to the mountains, where hiking, bike riding, and sightseeing created a sense of wonder that never left her. Because her family moved often due to her father’s work, Patrice attended several schools and learned to make friends quickly… a skill that has served her throughout her life.

Though she struggled with reading in third grade, once she gained confidence, she developed a deep love for books and comprehension that still shapes her today. In the early 1980s, after her family joined a full-gospel church, Patrice was born again at twelve and was baptized along with her family in a river in Pumpkin Center, Louisiana.

After graduating high school in Greenwood, Mississippi, Patrice worked as a cashier and waitress before joining the United States Marine Corps at age twenty. By twenty-one, she was married with her first child. She chose not to reenlist and was honorably discharged in 1993. By twenty-six, she was a mother of three sons and living in North Carolina.

Once her children entered school, Patrice attended a local community college. There she discovered her love for writing, encouraged by a professor who praised her growing skill and wit. In 2003, her family moved to Michigan, where they lived for over eight years and where her husband retired from the Marine Corps after twenty-one years of service.