About

Welcome to Round Table Reads, home to stories built on honesty, heart, and a bit of humor. I write across two very different genres, and each one comes from a different part of my life.

Children’s Books (writing as Joann Neve)

Under the pen name Joann Neve, I write children’s picture books that all feature dogs at their center. That focus is not an accident. I have spent more than 25 years working hands-on with dogs as a professional trainer, and that experience shapes every story I tell for young readers. Dogs teach patience, loyalty, and connection better than almost anything else I know, and I wanted to share those lessons with children in a way that feels warm and true to life rather than preachy.

Each book in this collection follows a dog through a small adventure that carries a bigger lesson underneath it, the kind of lesson a child can carry with them long after the last page.

Business Satire

My other project takes a sharper turn. How to Demotivate Your Top Performers is a satirical management book born out of more than 30 years spent working across large corporations and small businesses alike, including senior technical program management and de facto chief of staff roles. Over that career, I have seen plenty of well-meaning leadership decisions land exactly the wrong way, and this book turns that experience into dark comedy for anyone who has ever sat through a meeting and wondered how things went so sideways.

If you have ever worked for someone who seemed to be actively trying to drain your motivation, this one is for you.

A Bit About Me

Outside of writing, I have built a career spanning more than three decades in IT and technical program leadership, with roles reaching up to senior director level along the way. I hold two MBAs and a master’s degree in education, credentials that reflect a lifelong habit of never quite being done learning something new. I am also the proud mother of two grown, independent daughters, which has taught me at least as much as any degree ever did.

When I am not working or writing, you will usually find me with my three dogs, a Bernese Mountain Dog and two Great Danes, or in my workshop running my laser engraving business, Days Made Brighter. Between the corporate world, the dog training world, and the writing world, I have learned that good stories tend to show up in unexpected places, and I try to bring a little of all three into everything I write.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you find something here worth reading.