p.m.terrell was born in Washington, DC to an FBI Special Agent, John Neelley, and his homemaker wife, Lois. She was the third of five children--three girls and two boys. Although they lived for short periods throughout the country, Ms. Terrell is a native Washingtonian who has lived most of her life in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

Her life, like the novels she writes, took a series of different twists and turns. Until 2000, her writing took a back seat to earning a living. Through a stroke of luck (or some would say, fate) she was working for a subsidiary of IBM when the first Apple computers rolled off the production lines, and she found herself on the ground floor of a mushrooming industry.

p.m.terrell shown here with her bodyguards, affectionately known as "The Twins"
In 1984, p.m.terrell, known then as Patricia McClelland, opened her first business, McClelland Enterprises, Inc. It was one of the first companies in the Washington, DC metropolitan area that was devoted entirely to personal computer classroom instruction. She personally wrote all of the course manuals that were used in the classes. During this period, three of her computer how-to books were also published: Creating the Perfect Database, published by Scott-Foresman, followed by The Dynamics of WordPerfect and The Dynamics of Reflex, both published by Dow Jones-Irwin. She also wrote a series of columns for The Washington Business Advisor, The Washington Post, and The Washington Business Journal, among others. Read an interview regarding her thoughts on writing. 
Ten years later, she became Patricia McClelland Terrell, and opened her second business, Terrell Computer Services, Inc., which is now known as Continental Software Development Corporation, U.S.A... In 1996, the business was relocated to Chesterfield, Virginia.  

p.m.terrell is an advocate of animal rights. She has adopted a number of animals through rescue organizations. When Charmer, an English mastiff mix, (shown at right) died of old age in April 2003, his long-time pal Buddy, an Aussie mix, (in the foreground at right) was heartbroken, so they all made a trip to the Richmond, VA SPCA, where Buddy helped select his new pals.

 

 
p.m.terrell with Buddy (in front-an Aussie mix) and Charmer (a Mastiff mix)
Charmer died April 11, 2003
from old age
and Buddy died on November 7, 2003
from old age

Instead of leaving with one new playmate, they left with two: brother and sister Walker Hounds, Skipper and Mattie, shown below. They gave Buddy a new lease on life until he passed away on November 7, 2003. He was almost 100 years old in human years.

Skipper (shown at left in the blue collar) suffered an FCE (fibrocartilaginous embolism) in 2007 and was paralyzed from the neck down. He was taken to North Carolina State University's Veterinary Hospital and the Animal Rehabilitation & Wellness Institute in Cary, where he fully recovered and learned how to stand and walk again.
In January 2009, p.m.terrell learned of a collie (shown at right) who had been terribly abused and had been rescued by the Robeson County Humane Society. She should have weighed 65 pounds but weighed only 40, she had just given birth, and she was so physically and emotionally traumatized that it was uncertain whether she could recover. The terrells originally took her in as a foster, but the entire family fell in love with Simone and adopted her. She is now fully recovered and is a vital part of the family.
Then in December 2009, the terrells learned of a Jack Russell at the Robeson County Humane Society who had been shot in the leg. He still had shrapnel in his leg, and the shot had knocked the ball out of the socket and splintered the bone. The terrells adopted Eddie and took him to a surgeon in Cary, North Carolina. He now has a metal plate in his leg but has fully recovered. He has more energy than the other three dogs combined!

 

p.m.terrell's husband Don (shown at left with Eddie) is a pilot who works to put out forest fires from the air. To see him in action, check out these cool videos on YouTube:

Putting out a fire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yif6pVJWVA

And filling the helicopter's bucket with water:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FdQyQ7G-Wc

 

 

Seated is Virginia Governor Mark Warner. At far left is Fred Kern, President of The Virginia Crime Stoppers Association. In the center behind Governor Warner is Marc Woolverton, retired from the Manassas City Police Department and a member of the Manassas Crime Solvers. At far right is Master Detective Kevin Bacon from the Chesterfield County Police Department and coordinator for the Chesterfield County/Colonial Heights Crime Solvers.

 p.m.terrell is a strong supporter of The Virginia Crime Stoppers Association and its affiliated Crime Solvers, Crime Stoppers, and Crime Lines.

On April 1, she was with Virginia Governor Mark Warner when he signed into legislation additional protection for citizens calling Crime Solvers and Crime Stoppers with tips. It ensures that citizens will remain anonymous and can not be called to testify in court.

In August 2004, p.m.terrell co-founded The Book 'Em Foundation, a not for profit organization, with Officer Mark Kearney of the Waynesboro Police Department. The organization's mission is to increase public awareness of the connection between high illiteracy rates and high crime rates, increase literacy rates, and decrease crime rates. The First Annual Book 'Em Event was held on October 23, 2004 in Waynesboro, Virginia and attracted 52 authors. The second event, held on October 22 and 23, 2005, attracted 75 authors from all over the world. Proceeds were donated to Central Shenandoah Crime Stoppers, the Shenandoah Valley Reading Council, and Friends of the Library of Augusta County, Staunton, and Waynesboro. In 2006, Lebanon, New Hampshire held their first Book 'Em event on Saturday, September 9 and Waynesboro, Virginia held its third event on Saturday, October 14.

 

Kickback is the first suspense thriller in a series that casts female programmers in the lead roles - programmers who find themselves caught in life or death situations where they must use their knowledge and their guts to rescue themselves, a theme that was carried forward in The China Conspiracy, Ricochet and Exit 22.

"I always have admired strong women," Patricia admits. "I think it came from listening to my father tell us stories about our ancestry, and all the strong women in our family. One ancestor was left at home during the Civil War when her husband joined the Confederate Army. When a group of Union soldiers tried to steal the hams from the smokehouse, she stood in the doorway with her shotgun, and told them those hams were all she had to feed her seven children, and they would get to them over her dead body. Legend has it, they left her, her children and the hams alone."

It's the kind of guts the characters in her books would admire.

Her first historical suspense/thriller, Songbirds are Free, was released in the fall of 2007 by Drake Valley Press. It was inspired by the true story of Mary Neely, one of Patricia's ancestors, who was captured by Shawnee Indians in 1780 at Fort Nashborough at the height of the Revolutionary War. It is the story of amazing courage and determination, of an ordinary young woman catapulted into extraordinary circumstances, and of the overwhelming will to survive.  Click here to enter the world of Mary Neely and read her amazing true story.

The second book in the Mary Neely series, River Passage, won the 2010 Bengal Book Award for Best Fiction & Drama. It covers the fateful voyage of the Donelson Party as they travel from Virginia to Fort Nashborough in 1780, at the height of the Chickamauga Indian War. Facing constant Indian attacks, near starvation, small pox and frostbite, this is the story of survival against all odds.  

She is now hard at work with co-author Randy Stevens on her next contemporary suspense, scheduled for release in the spring of 2011; and Vicki's Key, scheduled for release in the fall of 2011. The third book in the Mary Neely series will be tentatively be released in 2012.