Author of three vol­umes of poet­ry and an award-win­ning chap­book of short fic­tion, Joan’s debut nov­el Extreme, set in a Sil­i­con Val­ley start­up was a Final­ist in the Inter­na­tion­al Book Awards. Joan is a mem­ber of the Nation­al Book Crit­ics Cir­cle, a juror for the North­ern Cal­i­for­nia Book Awards and has taught for Cal­i­for­nia Poets in the Schools, Poet­ry Out Loud and The Writ­ing Salon.