About the Author

Nancy R. Koerner was born in eastern Ohio and raised in northwestern Pennsylvania. At age twenty-three, she moved to the Maya Mountains of Belize, Central America, where she lived in the rainforest for thirteen years. A woman of diverse talents, with a strong background in sales and marketing, Nancy has founded, co-founded, owned, and operated a number of successful businesses throughout the years, including a world-class horseback tour facility in Belize, Central America. This facility, Mountain Equestrian Trails, is one of only two locations within the country of Belize to be cited in the new best seller, "1000 Places To See Before You Die." Mountain Equestrian Trails is the true-life entity referred to in Belize Survivor as "Belize-By-Horseback."

In 1999, Nancy R. (Holtzman) Koerner founded Celestial Harp & Flute, performing for countless weddings and black-tie affairs in SW Florida until the group disbanded in 2006.

As a longtime professional singer and musician, corporate sales trainer, and motivational speaker, Nancy is no stranger to the spotlight. With unsurpassed drive, magnetic high-energy, creativity, and intense dedication to women's abuse issues, she enjoys the opportunity to share her amazing story with compassion, optimism, humor, and boundless enthusiasm.

Nancy has two grown children and presently resides with her husband, Ken, in Naples, Florida where she enjoys creative writing, kayaking, music, and landscaping.

Nancy R. Koerner, co-founder of
Mountain Equestrian Trails in Belize

". . . through the eyes of an eagle, she saw a recurring vision of a faraway land . . . a particular river, a secret place . . . a snake of water threading it's way through a shaded tropical forest . . ."

• Belize Survivor has been adapted into a screenplay and is currently under review by three different producers, including Paramount Pictures.
  
  
• The book is also under review for translation into Spanish.

JACK WOOD
1916 – 2006

Jack Wood was a world-famous photo-journalist and explorer. In his 60's, he became a champion long-distance wind-surfer and is one of only two people to windsurf across the frigid waters of Lake Titicaca, from Bolivia to Peru, at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Throughout his long life, he traveled to nearly every country in the world – from Mongolia to Tierra del Fuego, from Iceland to Irian Jaya, from Belize to the Andaman Islands. Jack was my mentor, literary confidante, best friend, role model, and personal superhero. His infinite love, faith, guidance, and humor made this book a reality.

His life was an inspiration; his memory, a benediction.
 ~ N.K.