S. Joan Popek

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.