Jschneiderbooks

Joseph was born and raised in Los Angeles. He exhibited a passion for the arts from a young age, studying piano and competitive ballroom dance. When he was sixteen, he entered the Midsummer in Oxford drama program and decided to pursue acting. After graduating Oakwood High, he was admitted to the theater program at UCLA.

During his senior year he fell in love with close-up magic and mentalism. After several months of immersive self-study, Joseph became a working illusionist. Following a successful audition, he was granted membership in the world’s most prestigious magicians’ clubhouse, The Magic Castle. In 2007, he attended Sideshow School at the historic Coney Island Midway, studying escapology, fire-eating, and other secret arts of the American carnival.

When magic gigs were scarce, Joseph supplemented his income by teaching dance. In 2009 Joseph was named an associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD).
His life changed when TelFrance reached out to him as a consultant for a show about con artists working the French Riviera. Impressed with his ideas, they asked him to develop episode outlines. This job led to others, and Joseph soon realized his varied pursuits and unusual knowledge base could be unified in a writing career. In 2013, he was awarded a graduate fellowship at St. Mary’s college, where he completed an MFA in creative nonfiction.

Joseph’s influences in crime fiction include Richard Levinson, William Link, Ira Levin, Charles Williford, and Michael Connelly.