Pat McKee has been signed to Blue Room Books for the republication of his novel Ariel’s Island previously published by SFK. The book was updated and republished in September 2022.
Attorney Pat McKee has been signed to Blue Room Books for the republication of his award-winning debut novel Ariel’s Island. The December 2022 issue of Southern Literary Review said, in part, about the book: “With superb edge-of-your-seat plotting, an attorney’s accuracy of legal details, technological advances, and multiple absorbing characters, plus the ever-mysterious Ariel, this book is a definite winner. It delves into many a modern ethical quandary.”
Publisher Angela K. Durden said, “We are picky when it comes to the books we represent. So, when Patrick contacted us about republication with our house, we asked to see it. We loved it…and are happy to see the Southern Literary Review agreed with us.”
Characters with believable responses and feelings have readers rooting for them or hating them. Pat paid homage to his legal career and the orphanage he and his brothers grew up in.
“We were very impressed with the expertise of law and technology he wove into the book,” said Editor in Chief Tom Whitfield.
[Photographer: Susan Crutchfield]
When friends and family encouraged Pat to tell his story of a boy who grows up in an orphanage and through hard work and a good education becomes a successful lawyer, he did it. Though he’s always been a writer, in 2010 he enrolled in the Master of Arts in Professional Writing at Kennesaw State University to hone his skills. At first his work took the form of a memoir. But he was encouraged to use his knowledge as a practicing attorney to write a legal thriller. His first book of fiction, Ariel’s Island, is the result.
Pat’s early life was spent growing up on a farm not far from the Everglades. His father died as a result of a construction accident when Pat was six; his mother passed away six years later. He and his two younger brothers went to live at Thornwell, a Presbyterian orphanage in Clinton, South Carolina.
Like his protagonist, Pat graduated Valedictorian of his high school class and worked his way through college. He also majored in English and Philosophy, earning his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Georgia State University in 1973, and his law degree, with distinction, from Emory University in 1977, where he served as an editor of the Emory Law Review.
After graduation from Emory and drawn to academics, Pat took a position as legal counsel at the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. Later, in 1980, he took that interest to work at the Office of the Attorney General of Georgia where he rose to the position of Senior Assistant Attorney General, representing the University System and the State Board of Education and successfully litigating many high-profile cases.
Pat met Donna through friends at the Attorney General’s Office; they married in 1987. Later he decided to strike out on his own professionally and founded the law firm of McKee & Barge. The firm concentrated on representing educators and educational institutions. For decades Pat has represented many schools, colleges, and accreditors.
In 1991, he moved his family from Atlanta to the beautiful town of Newnan, Georgia, to raise their daughter, Jessica. A son, Patrick, came along shortly. Pat now practices exclusively out of his office in Newnan so he can spend as much time as he can with Donna, Jessica and her husband, Alden, Patrick, and now, his granddaughter, Sloane.
In 1980 Pat was recognized by his peers as being preeminent in his field. He has continuously retained that rating to this day. Pat has succeeded professionally and in the eyes of his peers and was recognized as a Georgia Super Lawyer in 2010, an honor limited to five percent of his profession.
For more information or to contact this author, please send an email to:
blueroombooks@outlook.com