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A Passion for
Writing...
Jonna
has been a writer since her teenage years at Westside Junior
High and Frayser High School in Memphis, Tennessee. She began
her first novel while attending the University of
Memphis.
While living in Memphis, Jonna wrote motivational articles for
Positive
Living Magazine and motivational radio scripts for Art
Linkletter’s
The ART
of Positive Thinking. Positive thinking, to Jonna, is
an extension of her Christian faith, which has sustained her all
her life. "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs
23:7.
In 1992, Jonna and her husband, Bill Rathbun, a FedEx pilot, moved to
Denver and made it their home. They now live in a
'rural village' on the northern edge of the
Palmer Divide with their golden retrievers, Shiloh and Hudson.
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In 1995, Jonna won first place in the Highlands Ranch
Register/Littleton Independent newspapers short story
competition for "Sabrina."
She completed her first mystery novel,
The
Desk, (AuthorHouse, 2002) while completing her English degree at Regis University in
Denver where she graduated summa cum laude.
In 2002, she wrote a book of
short stories, Stories from the Heart, and feature articles for
Buy
Colorado newspaper.
In 2003, Jonna
completed her third novel,
New Pictures of an Old Murder,
a Highlands Ranch Mystery,
which won the Adult Fiction Manuscript Award at the DreamMaker
Workshop in August. The novel was published in September 2005 by
Publish America. Colorado Country Living Magazine
reviewed the novel in its November 2009 issue. The online
version of the review is as follows:
http://www.coloradocountrylife.coop/index.php/book-reviews/14-book-reviews-category/104-new-pictures-of-an-old-murder-a-highlands-ranch.html
One of Jonna's
essays, "The Clean Smell of Dirt," appeared in the
May 2004 issue of Southern Scribe e-magazine in the
Porch Tales section (southernscribe.com).
Her short story, "Alice and Sarah, Parts One and Two," set in 1958 and present day
Memphis, appeared in the spring 2005 and summer issues of Miss
Kitty's Journal:
http://www.misskittysjournal.com/.
Copies of the magazine are available from the publisher at:
Misskittyjournal@aol.com.
In September 2005, YourHub.com (Denver Post) interviewed Jonna
for their online and print issues.
In November 2005, Jonna began
writing a bi-weekly column on writing for YourHub.com online and
Thursday editions of The Denver Post. She also
occasionally interviews authors and other
interesting people in the Denver area for YourHub.com.
In January 2006, her short story
"The Trunk" appeared in Prairie Times magazine.
In February 2006, Jonna was
interviewed on Denver's NBC-affiliate KUSA-TV's Colorado &
Company. She was introduced as a 'Hot New Author.' In
April 2006, Jonna was also interviewed on Memphis's
CBS-affiliate WREG-TV's Live at 9 and introduced as 'a
southern girl who has done well returning to her roots.'
In June 2008, Jonna began a column
in YourHub.com entitled 'Angel Encounters.' She offered one of
her 'angel encounters' as the first post. She encourages readers
to e-mail their encounters to her to post and share with other
readers. All of her columns can be read at: http://denver.yourhub.com/Administrative/Search.aspx
then enter Jonna Turner.
In April 2009,
her third novel,
The Other Side of Time.
was published by amazon.com after it placed as a semi-finalist
in their Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.
In the
summer of 2010, Jonna's fourth novel, the long-awaited sequel to
The Desk, entitled
Finding Alan,
will be published. Check back for details on the release date.
Jonna's
next project
will be a pre-teen mystery/fantasy novel,
Shiloh and the Cave (co-starring her beloved golden
retriever, Shiloh), set in
Franktown, Colorado.
Contact
Jonna for more information about her books. She is available to speak to your group or book club.
Help end homelessness
in Denver. Support Denver's Road Home.
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Jonna, introduced as "A Hot New
Author,"
interviewed by Laura Thornquist
on Colorado & Company, NBC-TV Denver
February 15, 2006
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Jonna with Dreux "Bobcat" DeMack,
Executive Producer of
Colorado & Company
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