Jo Ann Lordahl, PhD. lives in Florida and is a published author, poet, and retired speaker. Her psychology background, research and tenacity have produced a breadth of published work, including prize-winning poetry, historical fiction stories, inspirational, motivational books as well as some romance novels.
She moved to Maui in 2000 and became entranced by the peace and serenity of Kauai in 2003, she was keenly focused on Hawaiian historical fiction, discovering the locals and their sacred connection to their land before statehood. Princess Ruth: Love & Tragedy in Hawaii and A Secret Kept in Hawaii (sequel, 2014) have been acclaimed by locals and critics for their engaging beauty, depth and accuracy. Delightfully combining facts, fiction and romance, Jo Ann uses her women’s stories to give the reader historic and modern insights about a present-day environmental threat that is not confined to Kauai.
Lordahl says, “From my perspective and from my total necessity, I’ve invented, at least I think I’m among the first, a new genre: Fiction-Fact. This type of writing makes me sensitive to how to both entertain and inform – while sometimes inciting readers to support active changes in our world… I quote from the Introduction to Princess Ruth:
"At first my interest in Hawaii was purely personal and pragmatic, getting along in a new place. Slowly, as a writer becoming more engrossed, a sense of justice stirred to life and the desire to tell my Hawaiian story. Soon I was writing snippets of novel and Hawaiian history, a mishmash of fact and fiction. I love research and reading and taking notes. With a computer to indulge my extravagance, well you can imagine, I ended with reams of research that I could not bear to pitch. Or dumb down."
Jo Ann has been a keynote speaker in redesigning your life through spirituality, transformational thinking and writing at the National League of American PEN Women and money workshops at Smith College, and has coordinated Women’s Voices, a performance-based poetry group in Florida. Art fellowships include The Atlantic Center for the Arts, FL; Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, CA; Ucross, WY., an award-winning poet, has traveled widely: Europe, Middle East, Canada, Caribbean, Argentina, Australia.
