Joanne Sundell’s love for historical romance classics like Jane Eyre and “all things Jane Austen” led her to try her own hand at a genre she so knew and loved, and soon she became the author of six historical romance novels.

Now Sundell turns to a new genre– young adult fiction. After the death of her Siberian husky, Xander, Sundell began to research the breed of dog that brought such gentle companionship to her household, only to discover a troubling history. The dogs’ story became the basis and inspiration for Arctic Storm, the first in the Watch Eyes trilogy of young adult novels, released Sept. 2014.

Born in Virginia and raised a country girl, Sundell’s career in nursing led her to meet her husband, Sy, while on the job. Later they gathered their three children and traveled the world, taking on a “bucket list” perhaps before the phrase existed. From Mexico to Alaska, Australia to Eastern Europe, they showed their children the world while discovering it themselves.

Now retired from nursing, Sundell finds solace in her writing nook, a “Harriet Potter cupboard under the stairs,” where she devotes her time to the research and craft of writing. She and her husband split their time between the mountains of Colorado and coasts of California, ever chasing their children and grandchildren.