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About Bear Mountain Books
Maria E. Schneider
A few years ago, I decided I wanted to be a writer. I gathered up my computer, memory cards (because you definitely want to back this stuff up!), and dictionary. It’s a slow journey, one with pitfalls, cliffs, boulders and every now and then a peaceful meadow with a clear brook. Surprisingly, the peaceful meadows aren’t publishing credits, they are just moments where I’m doing what I want to do, where the writing is clicking, where my characters are fascinating and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
All that said, here’s a few things I’ve accomplished so far:
Note: My books are available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Smashwords.com, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Diesel ebooks, Kobobooks and the Apple Istore.
Fiction – Sedona O’Hala Series
Book 1: Sedona O’Hala Mysteries
Executive Lunch was released for the Kindle and Smashwords in November 2009.
Sedona is given the opportunity of a lifetime: play an up-and-coming executive with all the trappings of wealth with someone else footing the bill. The catch: find out who is stealing company funds before the criminals find out that their program is being debugged.
Book 2: Sedona O’Hala Mysteries
Executive Retention is the second in the Sedona O’Hala series. After solving one case of corporate crime, Sedona expected to get her peaceful life back. Problem: She is still a manager at Strandfrost, and there is still rampant jealousy over her promotion. Is the danger of being railroaded by her not-so-illustrious colleagues worse than taking a new undercover job from Steve Huntington?
Book 3: Sedona O’Hala Mysteries
Executive Sick Days is the third book in the Sedona O’Hala series. Steve Huntington had a way of offering jobs that were too good to be true. Mark Huntington made offers too good to turn down. Sedona had a habit of being caught in the middle; somewhere in the proximity of bad guys with guns and family members she was trying to avoid.
Good thing the latest case involved a hospital. Then again, not all hospital personnel were interested in the lasting health of the patients…or that of their co-workers.
Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Mystery – Moon Shadow Series
Book 1: Moon Shadow Series
Under Witch Moon is the first in the Moon Shadow Series — Adriel should have known that with a werewolf, it never stopped with just one body. She would have gone to the police after witnessing Dolores’ death, but she wasn’t certain the killer she saw was responsible for the other murders. Besides, the police didn’t believe in werewolves, and they weren’t going to believe she was a witch either so what could she tell them?
She kept her eyes and ears open while she tried to help her latest client escape the clutches of a voodoo witch, but things went from bad to worse when more bodies turned up. She was greatly relieved when she met White Feather, an undercover cop. Unfortunately, he wasn’t convinced she was innocent of all wrong-doing.
It was going to take every spell she knew and a few she hadn’t tried to solve the murders and stay alive.
Book 2: Moon Shadow Series
Under Witch Aura There’s an ill wind blowing in Santa Fe, and it’s touching every witch Adriel knows, including White Feather, who is far more important to Adriel than just any warlock. In search of answers, she delves into ancient magic, a family secret and dangerous religious rituals. Whoever is manipulating the elements appears to be after the ultimate goal: forbidden power over life and death.
Adriel will go to the ends of the earth to keep those she loves safe, but if she lures the enemy away, will she be able to save herself? Her only hope is to use earth magic to hide from the very air she breathes as she hunts down an unseen and untenable evil.
Stand Alone Fiction
Catch an Honest Thief (A Haven Mystery)
Who is the real thief? Alexia just wants to save the city of Haven, but that means going undercover and pretending to be a thief. Can she avoid being caught–by security–or worse, the real thieves??
Tracking Magic Five case files from Max Killian Investigations: Max is hired to expel a ghost from a mansion, counteract an ancient curse, investigate a graveyard mystery and figure out which secrets are worth dying for. Contains illustrations. Available at Amazon, Smashwords and all the outlets listed on the sidebar.
Sage: Tales from a Magical Kingdom
Three tales from the kingdom of Sage, including: Toil, Trouble and Rot, which was first published by Coyote Wild, and two completely new tales, Dungeons and Decay and Call to Arms. Contains illustrations. Available at Smashwords.com in multiple formats including HTML, EPUB, Sony’s format, PDF and mobi. Also available at all the outlets listed on the sidebar.
Short Stories
Black-Tie Bingo A duo of shorts, done as an Amazon exclusive release: Black-Tie Dance: an undercover caper that sends an agent running for his life, dangling from a windowsill and visiting the morgue. Let’s hope he makes it out of there alive.
Bingo: Not your ordinary deal with the devil.
Snitched, Snatched – A short story in both English and Spanish in one download. When a spell goes wrong, can Zoe unwind it before it’s too late?
2011 — Darwin’s Evolutions published “Year of the Mountain Lion” as part of their collection. It is also available on Amazon, Amazon UK, and Barnes and Noble
Cursed as a drought-bringer, Jolan lives a harsh life of nomadic exile in the desolate desert that surrounds her former home. Now, though, she is being hunted by those who have already cast her out for purposes she cannot fathom. Unfortunately for her pursuers, Jolan is not helpless and she is determined to survive.
A gripping short story by skilled author Maria Schneider that shares a powerful woman’s refusal to surrender in the face of either nature or the society that abandoned her.
2010 — OverMyDeadBody has published Secrets in the Sand, a short story about…well, Secrets. In the Sand.
2009 — Over My Dead Body published Top Secret. This spy story will take you on a wild ride.
2008 — One of my favorite stories–Toil, Trouble and Rot, a great little sword and sorcery story dealing with gardening and grandmothers–was published in June 2008 at Coyote Wild Magazine.
2008 — Around the Bend was published in Jan 2008 at Coyote Wild Magazine. A podcast version of Around the Bend is available from www.DuneSteef.com! This story is also available in an anthology over at www.AnthologyBuilder.com. You can purchase it here: Dragon Wings. You can purchase the anthology as is, or add/delete short stories before purchase.
2007 — Haunting Clues was published by www.TheTownDrunk.org on March 1, 2007. For anyone wanting a print copy, Haunting Clues is available over at www.AnthologyBuilder.com in the anthology Clues, Haunts and Mystical Madness. You can purchase the anthology as is or add/delete short stories before purchase. www.Clonepod.org has produced Haunting Clues in audio! Wrong World did a special release of Haunting Clues for their Halloween 2008 release!
December 2004, Palo Duro Vacation: Two Engineers and a Dad received honorable mention in the Writer Works contest.
2003 — Secrets in the Sand a short story mystery won fourth place in the Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition.
2003 — Soul of the Desert, a novel about an adopted child on the run, was short-listed by the Crime Writers’ Association for the Debut Dagger Competition (unpublished novel competition).
Non-Fiction:
My red and green chile recipes were published in “Chile Pepper Magazine” December 2004.
If you wish to view an excerpt, receive a synopsis or chapters from any of the works on my pages, please use the email link to request them!