Melinda Worth Popham was the first winner of the Edward Abbey Ecofiction Award and the recipient of an NEA grant. Skywater was named an American Library Association "Notable Book." The California State Senate honored her "outstanding literary achievement advocating environmental conservation, preservation and enhancement." Skywater is her second novel. Her forthcoming memoir Grace Period is based on life events that led her to Yale Divinity School. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, she raised her family in Malibu, California, and currently lives in Los Angeles.