Mindy Schoeneman

Mindy Schoeneman was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up in rural Missouri outside of St. Clair. She started writing shortly after she learned to read, which was much later than most children. She was around seven-years-old when she finally stopped resisting her mother’s attempts to teach her to read. And yes, she was homeschooled. Her mother read a book, Better Late Than Early by Dr. Robert and Dorothy Moore, that convinced her to follow her children's lead in learning because it would make them more interested learners. Her unconventional approach meant that Mindy learned to read late, but she's never stopped since.

Mindy wrote her first poems around the age of nine. Her first short story was a collaborative work she completed with her pen pal (Monica Pels, if you’re out there, Mindy would sincerely love to catch up). Her second short story was quick to follow. But she never tried writing anything novel-length until she was an adult. That was the worst, most directionless story she has ever read. It was bad enough to convince her to stay away from novel-writing for another ten years.

Mindy began writing Adrienne's Awakening in 2016. She managed to write 40,000 words from June 2016 to October 2017. And in November 2017, she participated in her very first National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).