Joel Nichols received his M.A. in fiction in 2005. His thesis was titled Wicked Little Town. His story "The Day the Governor Came Out" appears in Best Gay Love Stories: Summer Fling, and "The Night Bus," appears online in the current issue of Velvet Mafia alongside the likes of Lawrence Schimel, Thomas S. Roche, and Trebor Healey. He has stories published or forthcoming in Alyson's Dorm Porn 2, Travelrotica 2, Second Skin, Fast Balls, Distant Horizons (Haworth), C is for Co-ed (Cleis), Got A Minute (Cleis) and Sex by the Book: Gay Men's Tales of Lit and Lust (Green Candy Press), Full Body Contact , Just the Sex, Ultimate Undies, Sexiest Soles. An excerpt from his novel in progress won second place in the Brown Foundation Short Fiction Prize in 2005. He lives in Philadelphia with his boyfriend, works at an Internet video company, and teaches college English. He blogs at joelanichols.blogspot.com.