Passion, Patience and Persistence



​Jo's novel, A World of Silence, will launch on 10 May 2025 at Avid Reader.
​
This novel is pitch-perfect in its depiction of young mothers in the pretty suburbs, juggling married life, kids, jobs, friendships. 
Raw and intense, the pace quickens as the mysteries deepen and the violence escalates. This is ordinary life illuminated with great insight.  (Mary Philip - reviewer, social worker)

Three women. Three dark secrets. A deadly silence.
​Take a peak at the trailer.

In Jo's debut novel, The Truth About My Daughter , she
'negotiates, fearlessly, the harsh terrain of family dynamics - the secrets, the cruelty, the power - finding both heartache and beauty.' Amanda O'Callaghan (award-winning author of  'This Taste for Silence.'

Sisters Fin and George navigate their love/hate relationship growing up in a highly dysfunctional family.
Will Fin finally fulfill her dream of parenthood, or will her family's needs once again prevail? 

‘Steinbauer family history was rewritten even while it was happening until it became difficult to recall which bits were fabricated or embellished.’

I was very excited to learn that The Truth about My Daughter placed third in the fiction bestseller list for Books at Stones in Brisbane in 2024.  Just above Liane Moriarty who placed fourth!
​Jo is a Brisbane based GP who writes contemporary women’s fiction as well as freelance non-fiction articles about women’s issues and mental health. She also has a distance running habit. When she is not working or writing you will find her accruing kilometres while plotting her next story.
 
She lives in Brisbane and is married with three children. 
​
Learn more about Jo on her Hawkeye author page

Passion
Writing awards and Publications

Published Work
MiNDFOOD  - multiple essays about domestic violence, mental health and women's health issues
The Big Issue - October 2021 - Essay A Touch of Humanity
​Grieve Anthology - 2021 and 2022 Hunter's Writer's Centre 
Jump Anthology - 2021 Hawkeye Books 
​Water Under the Bridge Anthology - 2022 Hawkeye Books
Right Left Write Anthology - 2021 Volume 1 Queensland Writers Centre
Scope Magazine - multiple short stories and poetry 
 Eureka Street Magazine ​regular articles about health and the environment
Persistence...

Marathons 

61 Marathons - completed
My Five Latest Marathons 


 



2023 - Rome Virtual Pacer Marathon
2023 - Indigenous Marathon Foundation - Run Sweat Inspire for NAIDOC week
​2023 - Boston Pacer Adventure Marathon
2023- Indigenous Marathon Foundation November marathon challenge
​2024 - Indigenous marathon challenge
​

    Sign up to Jo's Newsletter

Patience...
Writing Novels 




​Jo's novel The Truth About My Daughter, is a contemporary women's novel featuring two sisters who grow up in a dysfunctional family. 

Her novel, A World of Silence  is about the secrets women keep and the the consequences of staying silent and speaking out. It was released in April 2025.
​