Joni was born in Chicago, but graduated high school in Arizona, joined the Navy for three years, and completed her bachelor's and master's degree at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida. She returned to the Navy and retired in 1998 with 22 years of active duty service. After her husband passed away, she went back to work for seven years and retired for a second time. She lives in Tucson, Arizona. Her book, "Spell Breaker," was a 2016 Book Excellence Award finalist and the winner of the John E. Weaver Excellence Reads Award for YA:fantasy and her book, "The Blue Witch was a finalist for the 2017 International Book Award and the 2017 Book Excellence Award. In 2018, her book, "Gossamer," was a Book Excellence Award finalist. In addition, the fourth book of the series was a Book Excellence Award finalist in 2019. The first book of her next series, "Curse of the Sea," was published in July 2018 and was selected as a Finalist in the 2020 Book Excellence Awards.. The second book, "Edge of Death," was published in August 2019 and the third book, "Call From Home" was published in 2020. Another series is in the works..