Look and Listen

Biography

Grace Anne Schaefer, a retired English teacher, lives in central Texas and has been married to her first husband Kenn, a transplanted Hoosier saint, since 1969. Their daughter Anja, an independent spirit like her mother, teaches high school English. Her daughter is a leukemia survivor, and her husband is a bladder cancer survivor, and Grace Anne is a ten-year breast cancer survivor – all three are testimonies to early detection and the best possible care. In early 2006, Grace Anne was almost felled by a congenitally malformed aortic valve. Her heart surgery has given her a new lease on life by finally allowing her to finish this book and get back to doing what she loves most traveling and meeting friends – old and new—at pow wows, festivals, and book signings. She is currently at work on the third book in the People of the Frozen Earth series – To Walk Above the Clouds.

Inspiration

Grace Anne Schaefer is a wife and mother, a giver and friend, a dreamer and storyteller, a teacher and writer, a small town girl and nation-wide traveler, a survivor and overcomer, and an independent spirit. She lives in the small central Texas that has been her home her entire life. She has been married to Kenn Schaefer, a saint who has made it his life’s goal to make her happy, since 1969. Their daughter Anja, an independent spirit like her mother, teaches high school English. When she was young, Grace Anne dreamed of escaping from the small town. As a kid, it drove her crazy that whenever she sneezed, her grandmother knew she was catching a cold before she got home. Time has passed and the small town isn't nearly so small anymore, but the old families are still all there. And her neighbors and friends have proved to be an incredible support system during the inevitable challenges of life: Grace Anne's breast cancer, Anja's leukemia, Kenn's bladder cancer, and Grace Anne's heart surgery. The family has survived and overcome the challenges, stronger and grateful for life, each other, and their family and friends — in their hometown and around the country. Grace Anne and Kenn enjoy traveling, especially to attend pow-wows. Although they have traveled around the United States, Texas is their home and always will be. A story-teller and writer since she could talk and hold a pencil, Grace Anne put her writing dreams on hold and taught English and reading for thirty-two years. She loved teaching and enjoyed every minute of her career. But she never quit writing and the dream of writing a book never went away. Finally about a dozen years ago, she decided if she was going to write a book, she had better get started. She sat down with seven pencils of different lengths, a huge spiral notebook, and an idea. Twelve weeks later, she had two manuscripts with a total of twelve hundred pages on the computer. Neither of the manuscripts bore much resemblance to the original idea. After typing “The End” in huge fancy letters and screaming at the top of her lungs, she took a course on novel writing and found out she'd done it all wrong. She spent the next year researching, editing, and revising. When she started submitting the manuscript to publishers, she received rejections, but the editors consistently asked, "What happened BEFORE this?" So she set about writing what happened before ... and the result is a five-book series: People of the Frozen Earth. The first two books — The New Day Dawns and As Shadows Fall — have been published. Next will come the two books that were written first, followed by a concluding tale. Grace Anne wouldn't change her past, but she's thrilled to face the future living her dream as a published author in addition to all the other roles in her life.