One of seven siblings, Joan grew up on the New Jersey shore. While attending college for her degree in nursing (William Paterson University, Wayne, N.J.), she worked for two summers as one of the state's first female lifeguards. In 1994, at the age of forty-three, she left her career in nursing to pursue her life-long dream of becoming a writer. Bringing with her a six-year-old, oft-rejected manuscript and only what possessions would fit in the back of her eight-year-old Toyota, she then set out on a solo journey across the country, settling (only by chance) in the completely unfamiliar city of San Diego. Having never taken a writing class in her life, yet believing in the potential of her manuscript, she signed up for a one-night class at The Learning Annex on "How to Get Published." The rest, as they say, is history. Brady's best selling debut novel, "God on a Harley" (Pocket Books, 1995) was translated into seventeen languages around the world and was endorsed by well known self-help experts, Wayne Dyer ("Your Erroneous Zones," etc.) and John Gray ("Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"). Film rights to this inspirational story were sold to Mimi Polk Gitlin, co-producer of the classic blockbuster, "THELMA AND LOUISE." Since the success of her first novel, Joan has developed an especially large and loyal following in the Latino community. She has since penned an additional six novels, most of which have become "best sellers" in Spain and Latin America. Today, she is an internationally recognized lecturer and author of seven successful books, she has also contributed numerous articles to professional journals and is frequently asked to speak to a wide variety of groups and organizations. She has been a guest on many television and radio programs here in the United States, as well as in Barcelona, Spain, and in Mexico City, Mexico.