John Schreiber (born 1954) is an American author, teacher, and theater director. He has taught for over 30 years in southern Minnesota, was a finalist for Minnesota Teacher of the Year in 2003, and has directed over 120 plays and musicals. In 2012 he was Minnesota's first Theater Educator of the Year.As an author he is best known as the writer of the Ironwood County Chronicles, a series of novels that take place in southern Minnesota. Schreiber's Ironwood County Chronicles are Hillcrest Journal (published 2002), Passing Through Paradise (2003), and Life on the Fly (2005). The short story collection Tales from 2 A.M. (2004) also includes some stories based in the fictional Ironwood County.The fictional Ironwood County is located between Steele County, Minnesota, Dodge County, Minnesota, and Olmsted County. Unlike other novels based in small towns, the Ironwood County series portrays small towns as realistic microcosms of humanity, not as idyllic, romantic locales nor as backwater societies.In 2007, Schreiber published Heartstone, an epic fantasy that employs a fast-paced, cinematic writing style "with no transitions between scenes." The fantasy revolves around Derrick, a lame young man who discovers he has the power to unlock unlimited power through heartstone, and his struggle to maintain his "true beliefs."In the fall of 2008, a second edition of Passing Through Paradise was released in both hardcover and paperback. This edition is recognizable by its red cover with a childlike crayon sketch. The second edition includes discussion questions for book clubs as well as a map of Paradise. The first edition has a yellow cover with a photograph of a railroad trestle located in Kenyon, Minnesota.He has also written two short plays, "I AM: the Jesus Incident" (included in Tales from 2 A.M.), a religious play that has been performed by numerous churches throughout the world, and "I Never Saw a Moor", a one-act play that explores the pain and alienation felt by those who suffer from epilepsy.The sequel to Heartstone entitled Heartstone: Under the Shadow was published in August, 2011 in both paperback and ebook formats. It centers around Derrick, ten years after the events recounted in Heartstone. His wife is kidnapped by the Shadow Empire and he must design a plan to rescue her without plunging his country into war.
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