Van Allen Plexico has won five awards for writing the "Best Novel of the Year," for five different books in four different genres. So far, he has written Science Fiction, Fantasy, Superhero Fiction, Period Crime Fiction, and Space Opera, as well as co-authoring numerous nonfiction books on comics and sports history. A prolific podcaster (for the White Rocket Entertainment Network and others), he also serves as a professor of history and political science in southern Illinois.