Joan Popek is an age-challenged grandmother tiptoeing through the Twilight Zone while she gazes longingly at Ganymede. She is also an award winning author who managed to chase an elusive Associates of Arts degree from ENMU-R for five years until it finally gave up and let her catch it. She is currently working toward her BA. (which is even harder to trap than the A.A.) She is a graduate of Writer's Digest Short Story and Novel School. (1995) She lives and works in Roswell, New Mexico with her husband, Joe, and a big dog named Nubbins.
She has five children and fourteen grandchildren who are often her inspiration. She has worked as a waitress, clerk, small business owner, teacher, handyman (okay - handy woman), administrator/counselor in adult education author, editor and public speaker.
Until recently, she was an instructor for Customized Training at ENMU-R. Oh yes, and there was the stint as the world's best bartender. She says she acquired most of her training in psychology behind the bar and attended college later, "just to make it legal."
Science fiction is her true love, but she writes in many genres. She was the Prose and poetry editor for FYI in 1994 and Senior editor for The Roswell Literary Review and Millennium Science Fiction & Fantasy Magazines for three years.
Her other publishing accomplishments include the EPPIE 2000 award winning collection of short stories, The Administrator, from The Fiction Works http://www.fictionworks.com, Jumpstart your Writing Career with Electronic Publishers, an EPPIE 2002 Finalist, from Atlantic Bridge Publishing http://www.atlanticbridge.net and Sound the Ram's Horn, A Frankfurt Award Nominee, soon to be released from Hard Shell Word Factory http://www.hardshell.com. She has over 250 fiction, nonfiction and poetry works in various magazines and is or has been a member of EPIC, EPPRO, Ardeon, The Southwest Writers' Association and several associations for small press editors and publishers. She is also active in several online writers' critique groups. She conducts writer's workshops at meetings, conventions and online. She is currently working on a collection of short stories entitled, Fairy Tales With a Freudian Flair and a mystery entitled, Hell's Hounds.
Her short fiction has appeared in Eternity, THE EDGE, Exodus, Anotherealm, Chaotic Reflections, Pulp Eternity, The Special Editors' Edition of Goddess of the Bay, Futures, The Roswell Literary Review, Millennium Science Fiction & Fantasy and others. One of her stories was featured In "The Best of Eternity, Volume 1".
Her nonfiction credits include, Fiction Writer, Writer's Digest, Southern New Mexico Magazine, Southern New Mexico online Magazine, Writer's Hall, The Candlelight Poetry Journal and poetry in several national magazines including The Candlelight Poetry Journal, Feelings and Eclipsing.
Many of her short works have appeared in several small press anthologies and have won awards. She placed in the 1997 Best of the WEB contest by Predators & Editors, Eternity's Best of the Month contest, the 1998 Predators & Editors contest and the Alien Songs Contest/Anthology. in 1997. Her column, Ask Dr. Web-Write placed third in the 1999 Best of the WEB contest by Predators & Editors and her newest book, Jumpstart your Writing Career with Electronic Publishers, is an EPPIE 2002 Finalist.
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The year I turned thirteen, my mother declared that a magnet was planted in the middle of Second and Main Streets in Roswell, and everyone who passed over it would forever feel its gentle tug beckoning them home. She confessed that the rolling hills of Kansas, the cascading snows of Michigan, and the magnificent deserts of Arizona were all wonderful, but we could have all that and more if we went home to Roswell. So home we came.
At sixteen, I realized that my Mother knew nothing of the real world, and as most teenagers believe, I was absolutely positive that I was much smarter than she was. I couldn't wait to get away from this small town, which of course offered nothing to do. I wanted to see the world so I could really live.
In my early twenties, I left. For ten years, I felt the gentle but irresistible pull of an intangible presence. Slowly that attraction grew incredibly strong. At last, I realized how smart my Mother had been all those years ago when she moved back to Roswell for the final time. I obeyed the alluring tug of that magnet. I came home again.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and you can go home again.
Within one hour of Roswell, you can ski on the majestic mountains of Ruidoso, which offer enough snow to satisfy even Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, tour the rolling, Peter Hurd hills of Hondo Valley for breathtaking scenery, or explore the desert landscape rich with unique forms of life ranging from rainbow hued, blooming cacti to sleek, howling coyotes and prehistoric Horned Toads.
The past, present and future belong to you.
If you drive a few hours north, you can visit the ancient past. The remains of extraordinary, ancient Indian cities lie entrenched in the mighty cliffs of Mother Earth herself. Resting on lofty plateaus, overlooking vast distances, ancient, religious Indian kivas beseech you to relive history and renew your faith.
A few more hours in the southerly direction catapults you into the future. Alamogordo offers a glimpse of travel to the stars, and you can visit a world limited only by your own imagination at The International Space Hall of Fame.
Back in Roswell, Alien visitors from space wait to greet you at a UFO museum. The Chili Pepper Festival, Cinco De Mayo Celebration, Artists in Residence shows, famous Historical Homes, symphonies, an ostrich farm and a plethora of other cultural and historic events keep visitors and residents so busy they have to make an appointment just to have lunch.
If the changing seasons are your cup of chili peppers, Roswell has them. Perhaps you are old enough to remember the Howdy Doody show. If so, you might remember the famous Indian princess the show hosted. Her name was Princess Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring, and she must have come from Roswell because we have them all. (Sometimes all in one day!)
Yet, none of the seasons are extremely harsh. Mild winters, cool nights in the summer and breathtakingly brilliant autumn sunsets give us just a taste of each season. Adding to the already phenomenal diversity of Roswell's people, cultures and interests, the seasons in Roswell do not confine themselves to the traditional calendar months. I've seen snow on Easter, and one year, my family carried Christmas dinner to the patio and had a turkey picnic because the weather was so perfect. You can expect weather surprises all through the year - just to make things interesting.
The magnet at Second and Main in Roswell, New Mexico denotes all four points of the compass - North, South, East and West. You can always get there from here.