The past was sexier and more interesting than your grandma and history teachers let on. At first blush, my three books seem completely different, but that theme ties them all together. My latest, Dr. Martha Cannon of Utah (unofficially titled Prudery, Polygamy, & Politics), tells the true story of the 19th-century polygamous Mormon wife who ran against her husband for Utah Senate and won. Colorado Phantasmagorias spotlights the legacies of 15 influential Coloradans, including a Victorian-era lesbian couple who ran away to get married, a surgeon who performed 6,000 gender confirmation surgeries in the late 20th century, plus a bunch of historical rabble-rousers. Small Secrets, a literary novel, uncovers the shame of so-called "unwed mothers" from your mother's and grandmothers' generations. "There's nothing new under the sun" is a truism that makes these stories fascinating reading, whether the genre is fiction, non-fiction, or a mix of both.

Joan’s books include Dr. Martha Cannon of Utah: The Unexpected Victorian Life of America’s First Female State Senator, Colorado Phantasmagorias: A mashup of biography, fantasy, and travel guide, and Small Secrets.

Known legally as Keith Singer, it may be said that writing can explore far out ideas like souls connected underground, akin to birch trees. Language is a blessing and a languish.

One can test the waters.  Please text or call, 720-773-1789, or email altryism@gmx.com to get in your feedback: should all know each other's middle name, do poems have to rhyme, can you start a sentence with a conjunction, vote on ideas for best pen name?

But poems attributed to toep don't always have meter.  Thei don't always make sense. It may advocate collectivist anarchy, as considered in 1860s Europe.  It's all good, God willing.

I am a visual artist as well as a poet. In my mixed media drawings and paintings, I explore metaphors and symbols in still life. I set up each scene with both warm and cool colored lights, and I use a variety of media to create a haze of color. I work from life, but at a certain point, I let intuition or emotion take the lead. In my poetry, I seek to find the individual's place in both history and art. My poems weave the ancient with the contemporary, and the critical eye of the art historian with the passion of the artist and the emotion of the viewer.

I earned a BFA from Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis. I have exhibited work at Globeville Riverfront Art Center, Edge Gallery, Lone Tree Art Center, and elsewhere. My poems have appeared in CALYX Journal, Rust + Moth, Dialogist, Kitchen Table Quarterly, and others.

For more information about Sarah, visit www.sarahnixstudio.com.