Patrick Hickey Jr. opens up to TVGrapevine about his incredible, inspirational career and life.
Tell me a bit about how your career got started.
My writing career began about 15 years ago. I was a student at a
Community College with a Newspaper that no one wrote for. I saw an
opportunity and within a few months, I was reviewing video games,
going to film screenings and interviewing musicians, authors, pro
wrestlers and learning a ton. Within a few years, I was writing at NBC
and teaching at the same college I got my start at. If it sounds easy,
it wasn’t. There were plenty of lat-nights, lost friends and missed
family occasions along the way. I just had the right attitude and made
sure I did everything I had to do to facilitate my writing career. Now
that I’m married with children, my priorities are a bit different, but
I still produce a ton of work and have new goals every day. Being a
full-time College Professor is a huge benefit in that I have more time
to write than the average person. I take full advantage of it every
day.
You have a very diverse background. What are some of your favorite
things about each part?
Writing books and writing, editing and doing voiceover work in video
games changed my life forever. In three and a half years, I stopped
working for other people and started to do things I always wanted to
do. Again, not an easy journey, but an emotionally fulfilling one. One
that I work hard at every day, reading as much as I can, watching and
playing games I’ve never heard of, doing vocal exercises. Never easy,
but rewarding. 2021 is going to be a big year as I have a few books
slated for release and a few games I’ve worked on. Hopefully, it’s
just the beginning.
Tell me about your new book.
The Minds Behind Sports Games is written in the same style as my other
books but focuses solely on the development of the greatest and most
interesting sports video games of all-time. As my favorite genre of
games, it was an absolute pleasure speaking with people that defined
my childhood, teenage years and adulthood.
What were some challenges about writing it?
Getting in contact with video game developers is difficult- absolutely
the hardest part. I send pitches every day and only get back a
minuscule fraction of what I send out. But when it happens, it’s an
amazing feeling. Everything else is a challenge as well- writing,
editing, cleaning up photos, organizing. It’s tough. But again, the
reward is a special one.
What do you hope people like about it?
That they understand how much time, energy, passion, effort and drive
are needed to create video games, even the awful ones. That they are
works of art and deserve to be appreciated far more than they are
currently.
What are some other projects you are working on?
I am currently finishing two books, The Minds Behind Sega Genesis
Games and The Minds Behind Sony PlayStation Games. My fourth book, The
Minds Behind Shooter Games, is scheduled for a Winter 2019 release. I
also wrote a play in October that was looking promising before COVID
but I have since started shopping it to video game companies as
something really cool. I’m currently editing the story and doing the
main character’s voiceover on the next Padre video game, The Padre:
One Shell Straight to Hell and providing voiceover work for Tony
Barnes’ upcoming Project RDRA game. That’s a project I’m super excited
about.
I’m also working on a few other games that I can’t discuss yet because
of NDAs, but they’re also titles I’m pretty excited about.
You have a lot of amazing talents. What else is on your bucket list?
I used to sing a lot as a teen and I miss music every day. I’d love to
get back in a band one day. Away from that, I have a comic book I’m
currently pitching around with an amazing artist, Kieran X Quinn and
would love to do the comic book writing thing at some point as well.
As well, I’d love to wrestle a match one day. There are a few people
I’d love to take on in the squared circle.
Tell me a fun fact about yourself.
I own over 3,000 video games.
What are you watching on TV these days?
I watch a ton of Hulu. I love Solar Opposites and Dark Side of the
Ring, but I used COVID downtime to catch up on the entire MCU. I have to get
started on the DC films soon. Away from that, Wrestling, WWE, Impact,
NXT and AEW are staples in my home, as well as shows such as Cat Fish,
Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, Family Guy and Rick and Morty.
Anything else you want to share?
Support independent and young artists. Simple retweets of interviews
such as this can introduce someone to a reader/fan for life. And
that’s my goal. Every book that is bought through my official site,
PatrickHickeyJr.com/books is signed and personalized by me. I want to
grow an army of readers. I need your help to make that happen.
