PROFILES Specialties: urban fantasy, self-exploration, cooking, gardening, home architecture, simplicity, and mainstream fiction emphasizing character development. Joan Wolfe, youngest in a family of writers and passionate readers, grew up on an island with many books and lots of time. She soon found there is a joy in writing words one after another, in reading them aloud, and in casting oneself into the flow of storytelling. During college, Joan enrolled in the few creative writing classes available. She followed them with two years of independent study, focusing on different approaches to creation with words. She often wrote stories instead of expository papers, and composed a novella for a thesis. Joan graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in English Literature and an unofficial minor in creative writing. Words followed Joan to her work, where documentation and editing have become integral parts of her day. After hours, she attends and thoroughly enjoys a local fiction writing and critique group. She stands by the value of separate writing and editing processes, and looks forward to helping authors find and clearly express the words that compel them. Joan resides in western Washington with her philosopher-poet husband and a cat with attitude. When not reading, writing, or editing, she enjoys "collecting" cafes and visiting close friends.