VONA STEWART

I’m behind due to a devastating family tragedy, but book three, The Lost Diamond of Skywallow, is coming out November 1, 2026.

My audiobooks are available everywhere, but here’s the link to them on Audible. The audiobook for The Lost Diamond of Skywallow will be out December 15, 2026.

VON-UH. It rhymes with Donna. The ‘o’ in Vona can be hard to pronounce if you aren’t an American English speaker. This might help. I do not pronounce it like this, but don’t worry, I answer to anything that comes close.

No, it’s a nom de plume (pen name) made from part of my maternal grandmother’s name, LaVon (Listen to the pronunciation). Stewart is my paternal grandmother’s maiden name.

My real name is Jessica, and for the longest time I was a little sad that my parents never gave me a middle name. They said I could go and add one myself when I was grown up, but I dug my heels in. They named me in the first place, so I thought a middle name should come from them, too! Then years later, they surprised me with a certificate for Christmas. On it, my parents gave me the middle name "Lynn," after my mother's own middle name. It's not an official government document, and I'll probably never make it legal, but I cried when I opened it. In my heart, my name is Jessica Lynn.

Short answer: I liked the idea of the stories being the star, not me. Longer answer: The truth is, I was nervous. Sharing something you made, whether it's a story, a drawing, or a song, can feel a little scary, because what if people don't like it? Using a pen name felt like wearing a bit of armor. Even if readers knew the name wasn't really mine, it gave me something to hide behind while I got brave enough to share my stories with the world. These days I'm a little braver, but I've grown fond of my pen name, so it's staying.

I think a lot of people ask this hoping I'll share a secret. Like there might be a special bell pull you can tug to make ideas pour out of the sky. I'm sorry to say there isn't one (though if there were, I'd install one next to my desk). For me, weird and wonderful thoughts appear out of nowhere and everywhere. They happen while I'm washing dishes, driving down the highway, or cleaning a toilet. Occasionally, they happen when I'm intentionally trying to think them up. My only trick is to write ideas down or record them so I don't forget: even the weird ones, like the one I recorded back in 2016 that simply read "rock monster, dirt bullets," or a note I wrote even earlier that read, "underpants with magical properties." Most of them never turn into characters or stories, but some do. 😉 Here's my best tip: let your mind wander and then pay attention to where it goes. Write down the small, weird things you find yourself thinking about. You never know, some of those little things might spark an idea you can use.

I grew up in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah and graduated from the same high school my parents graduated from! I've always loved medicine. I earned my Medical Assisting Certificate while I was still in high school and spent time working in hospitals, labs, and clinics. I studied nursing at Weber State and the University of Utah, but my college career got cut short for several reasons (it's a long story that may end up in a grown-up memoir someday). Even though I'm very happy writing books now, a part of me still misses caring for patients. I even catch myself reading medical journals for fun. Maybe that's why, if I could be any character in my books, I'd choose a healer with my very own healer's hut.

I've lived in a rural, out-of-the-way corner of the American West for over twenty years, and while there are some very pretty places here, I would very much like to live somewhere else. Everyone asks me where, but I'm not sure! In the United States, I'm drawn to the Pacific Northwest, especially the Oregon and Washington Coast. I also love Chicago and the Great Lakes. Farther abroad, I'm fascinated with how happy the Finnish people reportedly are. My late husband and I even applied to the Finnish relocation program in 2020, but we were not selected. * Note: Speaking of the rural American West, readers who have visited the states of Idaho and Wyoming may recognize the influence of the Grand Teton and Sawtooth Mountain ranges in my books (the Dragonteeth Mountains) and Yellowstone National Park (The Plains).

I'll let you in on a secret: I'm a bit of a reluctant pet owner! My husband was the real animal lover in our family, so a lot of our pets started out as his idea. Right now we have a German Shepherd named Molly. She was my husband's dog, and these days she follows me everywhere like a big furry shadow. She sheds enough fur to build a whole second dog, and she can drive me a little bananas, but she takes her role as guard dog (barking at stray leaves and birds) very seriously and helps me feel safe. Over the years we've loved (and said goodbye to) so many others, including dogs, cats, chickens, and even goats! Some grew old with us, and some moved on to new homes and farms.

Reading and napping. Does that sound boring? Never fear, I also enjoy reading and napping while camping in adventuresome places. When I'm not curled up with a book, you might find me hiking somewhere with no cell signal, hunting for the perfect skipping stone, or fiddling with a telescope when I'm able to travel to the Dark Sky Reserve. A lot of my best story ideas sneak up on me out there. My kids keep life interesting too. Most of them are grown now, and the youngest is almost there, so these days they may head off snowboarding in winter and swimming in summer with friends while I wave from the porch.

I love dark chocolate, especially the ridiculously expensive kind with little toffee bits inside. I also love thunderstorms, the smell of old books, and the moment a story I'm working on finally clicks into place. I greatly dislike spiders who wander inside instead of staying outside in the garden where they belong. I'm also not a fan of junk mail (what a waste of paper!), bookshelves where all the books are turned around so you can't see the spines, or being interrupted when I'm deep in plotting mode.

Math, dates, appointments, time… anything to do with numbers. I have dyscalculia, which is a sort of cousin to the better known dyslexia. Dyscalculia isn’t as well known or studied, but I’ve had it my whole life, and even as an adult I still have to work harder than others to remember math facts, read an analog clock, count out change, double a recipe, and remember appointments and birthdays. I also found out as a grown-up that I have ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). Once I knew, so many things about my childhood suddenly made sense, including all the ways I never quite fit in. These days ADHD feels more like a superpower than a kryptonite. I can teach myself almost anything, I love to research, and when I get into one of my deep-focus zones, I'll look up and realize I've finished a whole project without noticing the time go by. You might notice that some of my characters work through things like this too. Hayden knows what it's like to feel anxious, and Sera learns in her own way. I like writing characters like that, because everyone's brain works a little differently, and the more we understand that, the better.

Introvert, all the way. Big crowds and lots of noise wear me out, and I recharge by being quiet and alone with my thoughts (or my characters). If you're into personality types, I'm a Myers-Briggs INFJ, which is supposed to be one of the rarest ones (though I've met a lot of INFJs in the writer-world!). Being an introvert is also my honest answer for why I haven't done book signings or school visits yet. The idea of standing up in front of a big group makes me really nervous. It's something I hope to get braver about, because I'd love to meet my readers someday. But if you've ever felt shy about doing something in front of other people, please know you're in good company.

Ravenclaw. I'm an over-analytical, deep-thinking bookworm, and I can come on strong during debates. I love researching and learning, though I'm not very good at riddles, so I might have trouble getting into Ravenclaw tower from time to time. * Note: I love the Harry Potter books, and I know a lot of you do too. But the author has said some hurtful and untrue things about transgender people, and I do not stand with her on that. Trans kids are some of the bravest, most wonderful people I know, and I will always have their back. Everyone is welcome here, exactly as they are. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (My pronouns are she/her, in case you were wondering.)