New Mexico Book Association
Biographies of Candidates
Anna Sochocky
Anna Sochocky is a well-published writer in the genres of memoir, poetry, and equine-specific topics. Sochocky holds undergraduate degrees in history and political science, and a graduate degree in creative writing Sochocky has been awarded multiple creative nonfiction mentorships, including one from the nationally recognized Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she studied with celebrated poet and memoirist Mark Doty. In addition to her creative and nonfiction work and after a twenty-year career in legislative, political, and media communications, Sochocky launched her own professional writing business servicing the national equine magazine community focusing on horses, health, and history. |
Shirley Melis
Shirley Melis is a longtime business writer, travel writer, and newspaper columnist who traveled the world interviewing everyone from busboys to heads of international organizations before launching a career in public relations in Washington, D.C. With an award-winning memoir, Banged-Up Heart, Shirley took her writing in a new direction, delving deeply into her own personal story of finding love late, losing it early, and discovering the strength to choose to love again. A graduate of Vassar, Shirley moved from Northern Virginia to Santa Fe full-time in 2011 to marry Frank Hirsch. Now retired, she is a full-time writer and pre-Covid, traveled extensively. She is on the Steering Committee for the Northern Chapter of New Mexico Press Women and has given workshops on memoir writing sponsored by Southwest Writers and the New Mexico Book Association. Elected to the NMBA Board in 2021, Shirley became Co-President with Miguel De La Cruz in January, 2023. |
Continuing Board Members
Miguel De La Cruz
Miguel de la Cruz manages the blog https://www.mikaildelacroix.com. In May 2019, he published the micro-fiction book The Dress of Queen Kitsch (Santa Fe: Brown Buffalo Press). In 2013, he published his first micro-fiction book Memories of a Chameleon (Las Cruces: White
Sands). His work appears in different literary magazines such as: White Sands of the State University of New Mexico, Cargo Area of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in anthologies such as: East of the Rainbow (New Jersey, 2011). In 2012, he taught literary creation workshops to young people in the C.B.T.i.s. No. 114 of Ciudad Juárez. He has taken creative workshops with Lemon Andersen, Denise Chavez, Alberto Chimal among others. He obtained a master’s degree in Hispanic American Literature from the State University of New Mexico in 2013. He has a Bachelor of Computer Systems, Bachelor of Chicano Studies and another in Spanish at NMSU (2007).
Miguel de la Cruz manages the blog https://www.mikaildelacroix.com. In May 2019, he published the micro-fiction book The Dress of Queen Kitsch (Santa Fe: Brown Buffalo Press). In 2013, he published his first micro-fiction book Memories of a Chameleon (Las Cruces: White
Sands). His work appears in different literary magazines such as: White Sands of the State University of New Mexico, Cargo Area of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and in anthologies such as: East of the Rainbow (New Jersey, 2011). In 2012, he taught literary creation workshops to young people in the C.B.T.i.s. No. 114 of Ciudad Juárez. He has taken creative workshops with Lemon Andersen, Denise Chavez, Alberto Chimal among others. He obtained a master’s degree in Hispanic American Literature from the State University of New Mexico in 2013. He has a Bachelor of Computer Systems, Bachelor of Chicano Studies and another in Spanish at NMSU (2007).
Jordan Jones
Jordan Jones is a writer, publisher, and genealogist. He has published poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and translations in dozens of journals, as well as in two books of poems, Sand & Coal (Ventura, California: Futharc Press, 1993) and The Wheel (San Jose, California: Leaping Dog Press, 2005). His fiction was anthologized in Anyone is Possible: Contemporary American Short Fiction (Palmdale, California: Red Hen Press, 1998) and his poetry in the American Book Award–winning What Book!?: Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1998). He co-edited The Northridge Review (Cal State U, Northridge) and was poetry editor of California Quarterly (UC Davis). He founded Bakunin (1990–1997), a literary magazine “for the dead Russian anarchist in all of us.” In 2003, he co-founded and co-edited the online multimedia collaborative art exhibit, The 365 Project (the365project.org). |
He has worked as a technical writer, software business architect, director of software product development and information technology, and has served on the boards of directors of the Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM) and of three genealogical societies, He served two terms as president of the National Genealogical Society. He has served on the board of directors of NMBA since 2020, serving as President from 2020–2022.
He lives in Albuquerque, where he is the editor and co-publisher of Coyote Arts, and volunteers as the technology chair and a board member of the New Mexico Genealogical Society.
He lives in Albuquerque, where he is the editor and co-publisher of Coyote Arts, and volunteers as the technology chair and a board member of the New Mexico Genealogical Society.
Paula Lozar
I'm a native of San Jose, CA, long before it was Silicon Valley! I obtained a Ph.D. in English from UC Berkeley and held several college-level teaching jobs before making a lateral move into technical writing and editing. After 34 years working in information technology and in environmental cleanup/safety analysis, I retired in 2011. Now I'm working on a series of mystery novels, and I'm also a published poet, most recently in the New Mexico Poetry 2023 anthology (Museum of NM Press). I joined the NMBA board as a member-at-large in 2006 and have been a board member (and sometimes an officer) ever since. |
Daniel Fallon
Daniel Fallon is professor emeritus of psychology and public policy at the University of Maryland at College Park, where he also served as academic vice president and provost. He concluded his professional career directing grantmaking in education as chair of the Education Division at Carnegie Corporation of New York. Fallon has published widely on psychology, educational reform, and contemporary cultural issues. He is the author of The German University: A Heroic Ideal in Conflict with the Modern World, which was awarded the Eugene M. Kayden prize for excellence in humanities. Love’s Legacy: Viscount Chateaubriand and the Irish Girl, his latest book, includes an intimate biography of Chateaubriand, as well as a story of forbidden love, fraught with passion and tragedy. It is also a memoir, a detective story, a genealogical study, and a reflective meditation on the meaning of inheritance. |
LaNysha Tufuga Adams
LaNysha Tufuga Adams, Ph.D., is a TEDx speaker, 10x award-winning author of ME POWER, and the Student Wellness Center Director at Santa Fe Community College. With over 20 years of dedication to education, she's also a mother of two, a food lover, and an avid traveler based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She brings Me Power to life with her inspiring story of surviving a sudden cardiac arrest, fostering resilience, courage, and an unwavering determination to confront challenges head-on. Every month, she releases "The 3-31” (www.ourmepower.com), a Substack newsletter designed to inform and uplift, reminding readers of their inner strength and limitless potential while boosting their confidence. Dr. Adams collaborates with schools, universities, state education agencies, research foundations, and national labs, providing tailored guidance, actionable strategies, and motivational insights for students and early-career professionals. Her influential presence extends to over 45,000 followers on social media, and she has appeared on notable platforms such as CNN, The Roland Martin Show, KOAT-TV ABC, FOX 7 Austin, Reader's Digest, Fox Business, Washington Business Journal, numerous podcasts, and many syndicated radio shows. |
Laurah Morningstar Winder
Laurah Morningstar Winder took her undergraduate degree from Smith College in American Studies focusing on Interlocking Registers of Identity. She has a master's in Journalism from Columbia University. While most of her work is non-fiction, movie shorts, plays and profile pieces, she wrote a children's book; a love letter to her two favorite places: Santa Fe, New Mexico and New York City. She is a member of the Authors Guild and the New Mexico Book Association. If she is not writing, she is thinking about writing. |