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Joan M. Kop grew up in the Pacific Northwest, where she became fascinated with espionage after watching the television series Mission: Impossible. After training as a legal secretary, she was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency, launching a five-year career on the clandestine side of the agency and fueling her lifelong passion for travel, adventure, and different cultures.
After graduating from Gonzaga University, Joan returned to Washington, DC, where she met spy novelist Jack Hashian, who became her mentor and encouraged her writing career.
Joan published her memoir, Spies, Lies & Psychosis, through Gray Dog Press in 2010 and released a revised edition in 2024. Her novels include The Freedom Chaser, a finalist for the 2020 PNWA Pearl Book Award, and The Spy from Beijing, an espionage thriller published in 2025. Her essay, “Spy Fiction Is Back in Vogue. But Did You Know There Are Two Basic Types?” received an Honorable Mention from Writer’s Digest in 2024.
Her more recent work reflects her versatility as a writer. In 2025, she contributed to Hope Among the Storm: Winter Holiday Stories of Family and Hope. In 2026, she published You Said It Would Only Be Temporary: A Romantic Comedy and Santa’s Secret Keeper: Operation BUZZ OFF, a middle-grade Christmas espionage fantasy. Her children’s book The Barnyard Toy Hunt is forthcoming in September 2026, as is her espionage novel The Embassy Mole, set in London.
Joan currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with her Chipuggle, Luna.
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