About Me

Joan Fernandez is a novelist who brings to light brilliant women’s courageous deeds in history. She is a former senior marketing executive and general partner of the financial powerhouse Edward Jones. In 2018, she retired from a 30+ year career to be a full-time writer. Since leaving the corporate world, she’s become a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Author’s Guild, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA).

 

In 2020, Joan founded WFWA’s Historical Fiction affinity group, which she’s grown into a vibrant community of nearly two hundred authors. She is a contributor to the Feisty Deeds anthologies, with her short stories “A Parisian Daughter” and “The Herring Girl” appearing in the collections. Her debut novel, Saving Vincent: A Novel of Jo van Gogh, was released in April 2025.

 

A sought-after public speaker, Joan has recently presented at the 2025 Historical Novel Society Conference on the panel “Presenting the Past Through the Lens of the Present.” She also spoke at the HNS UK Conference (2024) on “Top 10 Secrets for Forming a Vibrant, Lasting Author Community” and at the WFWA 10th Anniversary Conference (2023) on “How to Portray the Past Truthfully without Harm.”

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Additional memberships include the Missouri Writers Guild, Unite Against Book Bans, Right to Read Coalition and PEN America.

 

Joan calls both St. Louis and Sedona, Arizona, home, enjoys foodie meals with her Cuban husband and antics with grandkids.