For someone who’s well published and a winner of the Nebula Award, retirement would be a good time for rest.

But for the always active Sheila Finch, it’s more than easy to write off that not-so-novel idea of the dull retired life.

Finch is an English professor who is retiring after 28 years of teaching at EC. However, Finch does not plan to lounge around and put her feet up like the stereotypical retiree.

“I’m not planning to relax when I retire,” Finch said. “There’s just so many thing I’ve been wanting to do but couldn’t because of busyness at school and things. Now I finally get time to do them so I’m very excited,” she said.

She has had eight novels and 36 short stories and articles published.

One of her short stories titled, “Reading the Bones,” which she later wrote into a book, won an award in the novella category at the Nebula Awards in 1998.

“It was so unexpected I didn’t even realize they called my name,” Finch said. “My editor had to give me a little nudge to tell me I won.”

Finch was also one of the founding members of a writing group called the Asilomar Consortium, which meets twice a month.

She has been very active in helping other writers get published ever since.

“She’s a very valuable resource for a young writer to have because she’s a working writer who is struggling with everything they’re struggling with and more,” EC English professor Daniel Houston said.