Joan Alden received a BS and MA from The Ohio State University and studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in New York. Alden’s first novel, Mrs. Cooper’s Boardinghouse was published by San Francisco Book Company with McGraw-Hill. Her second novel, Letting in the Night, by Firebrand Books was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for Fiction. Alden’s third novel, Before Our Eyes, was also published by Firebrand Books. Her fourth and current novel, When I First Knew is published by Dog Ear Publications. Alden is known for “normalizing” lesbianism in all her fiction.