A passionate reader since discovering Wonder books, Jeanean dreamed of writing a novel “someday.” Throughout her extensive career as a nurse educator, she created professional training manuals and wrote a healthcare column for the local newspaper. As an enthusiastic traveler, she penned colorful journals that her friends and family enjoyed. However, she never managed to fulfill her dream of writing a novel. Recently retired, she discovered writers’ groups and attended conferences. She was encouraged by the recognition she received in every competition she entered and saw her work published, confirming that she is no longer a “wannabe” but is, in fact, an author. Ultimately, she fulfilled her dream and completed a thoroughly researched historical novel, Mixed Blood, which is set to publish is 2025.

About Mixed Blood:
The spirited daughter of a Scottish trader and a Cherokee woman, Hester’s life spanned the 1700s on the American frontier. She lived events that irrevocably changed the Cherokee Nation. To survive, her people had to assimilate, eventually adapting to the European patriarchal lifestyle rather than the matriarchal communal living of her childhood.
As an elderly woman nearing the end of her life, she realizes that her beloved grandchildren are unaware of their rich Cherokee heritage. She vows to instill pride in their legacy through storytelling. The novel unfolds across two timelines as she reflects on her family’s adaptation to a changing world and recalls historical events from a unique perspective—that of a Native woman.