Author Archives: Jo Ann Schneider

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New Releases!

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The two new-ish Academy stories I promised are here!

Until now, The Sleepy Princess was only in the Fractured Sleep anthology of stories. Now you can get it on its own.

The ebook is available now. The paperback should be available shortly.

Princess Aurora isn’t in the mood for nonsense.

After being asleep for 500 years, and then fighting her way out of a deadly briar patch, living at the Academy is a cake walk.

Or it was until Saru comes along with his irritating need to break the rules and get his way. Either she hates him or she’s beginning to like him…

When the tragic truth about their pasts comes to light, can they weather the storm, or will it tear them apart?

If you enjoy trouble-making boys, self-rescuing princesses, and a fresh twist on two old tales, this book is for you. Download your copy today!

*Note: This is Aurora’s side of the story, and therefore book 5.5 in the series. If you want to it from read Saru’s point of view, download The Monkey King.

Until now, The Undead Princess was only in the Fractured Snow anthology of stories. Now you can get it on its own.

The ebook is available now. The paperback should be available shortly.

Controlling the undead is not a pleasant experience.

Snow is only months from having her heart cut out so she can become the next queen of the undead. Before that happens, she’s determined to live a normal life at the Academy.

Or so she tells her mother. Snow’s real reason for attending the Academy is…complicated. And likely dangerous.

Enlisting a vampire prince to help her with her experiment isn’t supposed to be personal—he hates her like all of the other undead—but Dreven turns out to be more interesting (dare she think alluring?) than Snow anticipated.

They both want change in the undead realm, but when Snow’s experiment goes awry, will she have the courage to do what is needed to keep everyone safe?

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A Little Academy News

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It’s been a few years since I wrote my Academy books.

At first, there were only eight of them.

Now there are ten!

The other two have been around, but they’ve only been available in anthologies. Soon they will be their on books. Yay!

I’ve been working with an awesome artist to get the last two characters drawn, and this is what we’ve come up with!

What do you think?

The Undead Princess.
She’s a Litch…getting her heart cut out is par for the course.
The Sleepy Princess
Aurora woke up and slashed her way out of the thorns. She’s not worried about a bunch of royal snobs.


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August Book Update

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I’m up to 38 books in 2023!

No, no, I haven’t written 38 books, I’ve read or listened to 38 book.

What do you think I am, a machine?

(Don’t answer that, AI is now “writing” books, and I don’t really want to talk about it.)

Here’s the list of books I either read or listened to in June.

Looking at these books, it seems I’ve spent a great deal of time driving around, because I listened to three of these! Of course, they’re not Brandon Sanderson’s 40+ hour books, so that helps.

Historical Romance
(I think they also call them proper romances)
This is my first Sarah Eden book and it likely won’t be my last. It not only had romance in it, but it also had some adventure, a bit of action, a bit of history, and great characters.
I listened to this one and loved the narrator!
Superhero
I read the physical copy of this book when it came out (many moons ago). I’ve always liked the X-Men, but I never got into comics. I loved this one back in the day, and it mostly held up. A fun look into the world of the X-Men
I listened to this one and didn’t like the narrator.
Historical Mystery
The cover of this one, along with the promise of Pride and Prejudice paired with murder, forced me to buy this one from Barnes and Noble.
I enjoyed how the author wove the story of P&P through a murder mystery. Fun characters, great style. If you’re a fan of the genre(s) you’ll probably like this one!
Clean Romance
Another Jane Austen retelling! This one was quite fun. Solid characters. Funny moments. Amazing chemistry. I really enjoyed it!
I listened to this one and liked the narrator.
Young Adult Thriller
A friend recommended this one, and I finally got around to reading it. Interesting premise-using young adults who have a knack for things like profiling, detecting lies, and reading emotions-to help in serial killer investigations.
Great twists and turns in this one.

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Random Act of Fiction

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I wrote this for a writing group I’m in a couple of weeks ago.

The prompt was to create a scene in which two people wanted the same thing.

This tale is based on a true story…names have been excluded to protect the innocent.

Cocaine Rolls

There I was, at the Texas Roadhouse, having dinner with a friend.

I’d known this woman since kindergarten, so we’d had an easy conversation and lots of laughing about stuff from high school, her silly husband and crazy kids, my slightly more than insane job, and her sixth pregnancy.

That’s right, I said sixth. Basically, this woman was making up for my lack of marriage and children. I’m pretty sure I’ve thanked her for that more than once.

We’d both ordered steak with loaded mashed potatoes as a side, and were enjoying the last of our meal, when something bad happened.

If you’ve ever been to Texas Roadhouse, then you know that they serve you perhaps the most delicious rolls on the planet.

I realize that’s a steep claim, but I swear that they put cocaine or something in there that makes you want “just one more.”

And they’re not like the breadsticks at the Olive Garden, which are also delicious. Olive Garden loads their bread with salt and spices, and while I can eat a whole lot of them, especially with a boat of their alfredo dipping sauce, I notice when I’m almost full.

The rolls at Texas Roadhouse? Not so much. They’re light, smooth, fluffy, and just sweet enough that I can eat them like candy.

Spread some of that amazing honey butter on there and I turn into a bona fide glutton. Who cares if Texas Roadhouse is luring me into a diabetic coma? I’m a willing participant.

Considering how many baskets of rolls the waitress’ carry by, I’m not alone in my compliance.

Back to my dinner. My friend and I both looked up from eating at the same time. Our eyes meet, and then drifted to the basket of rolls on our table.

No, not to the basket, but to the single roll left in the basket.

I swear to you that the noise around us dulled. And considering the Tetris-like way the servers pack people into a Texas Roadhouse, that’s a literal impossibility. An unnatural silence settled between us, and that music that plays in old westerns when the good guy and the bad guy are facing off at opposite ends of a dusty block sounded.

You know, the music, right?

My friend looked at me, and I looked at my friend, and we may as well have been gunslingers, ready to draw and fire on one another.

The unheard music warbled.

We both narrowed our eyes.

In the back of my mind I knew I shouldn’t take the last roll from a woman who was eight months pregnant. What kind of a jerk did that make me?

But the cocaine had kicked in, and I wasn’t exactly in the right headspace for making rational decisions.

Also, there’s the fact that my friend has elbows as sharp as knives—my ribs knew this from personal experience—and that with five kids already she had enough mom superpowers to throw said elbow over the table and knock me out.

I’d learned a lot about motherhood from watching my friends, and I understood the danger I was in.

But I didn’t care.

I was going to fight for that roll, no matter what.

My friend shifted, likely so I’d be in range of her attack.

I leaned the other way, ready to feint while grabbing my prize. My friend might have superpowers, but I had a black belt.

I could beat her to the basket, and possession was 9/10ths of the law, right?

Her swollen belly would slow her down enough that if she crawled over the table, I’d be able to get away.

With the roll.

And the rest of the honey butter.

I couldn’t leave that behind. It wouldn’t be right, I…

A cheery voice broke the tension shimmering between us like a bucket of cold water dropping on you in July.

“More rolls?” our waitress asked.

It wasn’t really a question. She grabbed the basket my friend and I had been eyeing, dumped that roll into the new basket, dropped that on the table, smiled, and walked away.

My friend chuckled.

I chuckled.

We each snatched up a roll.

Once again, a single specimen sat on the gingham paper, but that battle could wait.

For now.


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