J.A. St. Thomas - Author of The Stephanie Beroe Chronicles
Biography
An early passion for poetry, singing and writing, J.A ST Thomas the author of The Stephanie Beroe Chronicles annoyed friends, family and neighbors alike with a distinct desire to perform that led her to Florida where she attended but did not complete studies at the University of Tampa with a full classical music scholarship. Jill became the singer of The Flower Sermon a local Tampa band in 1985 and in 1987, met Ray Carroll in NYC and they created The Waterlillies, and signed to Reprise/ Sire Records by Seymour Stein, with three songs breaking the top 10 charts in 1994 - 1995 and Never Get Enough, reaching No. 1 in the U.S. She continued to compose, record, and perform with Suicide Lounge, and Sonic Fleur.
Love struck in the summer of 89’ meeting her husband, Thomas, a fine artist from California, they married in 1994 in Hawaii. A year later her mother died of cancer and The Waterlillies broke up. Navigating reinvention, she moved to Madrid New Mexico with her husband in 1996, and they opened the Fine Art Gallery, Margeaux Kurtie Modern Art. Named after her mother and a friend of her husband who both died the previous year.
After years of writing songs and poetry she ventured into essays and artists statements with a keen eye for marketing. This led her to an assistant position to Siegfried Halus the Chairman of Arts for SFCC, for the publication of Idea Photographic; After Modernism, in conjunction with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Princeton University Art Museum collections was published by UNM, NMMFA, SFCC.
Navigating global financial duress after 9-11 she co-founded The Mad Hatter Coffee & Tea Co., a cannabis infusion company, in 2007 with her husband, and helped pioneer cannabis beverages. Considered a Green Queen of cannabis, she has been profiled by The New York Times, Time Magazine and Newsweek.
In 2015 Jill began writing larger fiction than songwriting could contain, The Stephanie Beroe Chronicles are based on surreal experiences in the cannabis industry, life in a ghost town and the explosive social and political landscape of its time. This New Mexico series continues and is a collaborative venture between music and words with a chapter song playlist that combines the author’s passion for music and a sentient, interactive experience for writing fiction in a media- based world.
Jill continues to live in New Mexico with her husband of thirty- three years, their daughter who is also a writer and their dog Mr. Darcy. She homeschooled their daughter for several years during and before the pandemic of 2020.
A Walk in The Park
Book I of The Stephanie Beroe Chronicles