Nona Schrader experienced the beauty of the Wind River Mountains while growing up in Lander, Wyoming. After completing her B.A. and M.A. in English at the University of Wyoming, Nona moved to Wisconsin to teach. She returned to Wyoming in retirement to write the Aqua novel series.
The Wind Rivers contain the headwaters of four major river basins in the western United States. The beauty of this pure mountain water inspired Nona to use her love of Greek mythology to convince others to protect water on our planet.
The Aqua series includes the first novel, Aqua, and Aqua II Waves of Sage. Nona is currently writing the third novel in the series, Aqua III Sweet Water.
Discover my journey as an author.
In sixth grade I ordered many books through our school’s Scholastic program. I distinctly recall looking at the new books and thinking that I wanted to see my name on the cover of my own book. After filling notebooks over the years, I finally decided to write my own novel.
My reason for writing had altered: I now wanted to convince people to protect clean water. Drawing upon my experiences in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming, I set about creating my environmental fantasy novel. I used my love of Greek mythology to hook the reader into my story. Although it took fifteen years to complete Aqua, my first novel, the second novel, Aqua II Waves of Sage only took three years from start to publication. I’m currently writing the third novel in the series, Aqua III Sweet Water.
2025 Author Events
September 6
Western Writers of America James Ersfeld Symposium Cody, Wyoming
October 10-12
Bookmarked Literary Arts Festival, Lander, Wyoming
October 23-25
Jackson Hole Writers Conference, Jackson, Wyoming
November 12
Radio Interview with Vince Tropea, County 10 CoffeeTime in Lander, Wyoming
November 14-15
I will have an author table at the Winter Craft Fair in Riverton, Wyoming