omeone's lap as patrons sat around the pot-bellied stove in her grandparents' country store-the same store where her mother once filled Bonnie and Clyde's gas tank. She remembers listening, engrossed, as the local characters that gathered there each evening swapped tales. People and their stories have always fascinated her. All kinds of people. All kinds of stories. And she loves books. All kinds of books. Her house is filled with scads of bookshelves, and books are stacked in odd places here and there. As a five-year-old, her great sorrow was the loss of her big fairy-tale volume to a hurricane. She didn't care about clothes or furniture-or even dolls. She wept buckets over that book.
Jan has always had a vivid imagination and an active fantasy life, perhaps as a result of being an only child. Her curiosity is boundless and her interest range is extremely broad. In college she majored in both English and elementary education and minored in biology and history.
Later she earned a master's degree and a doctorate in counseling, was a licensed psychologist and a crackerjack hypnotist, and taught college psychology (including statistics) for twelve years. Along the way she became a blue ribbon flower arranger, an expert on dreams, and a pretty decent bridge player.
Yet, she had a creative itch she had to scratch. The need to write had always been there, nagging. Her mother always swore that her labor with Jan was so long and difficult because her daughter was holding a tablet in one hand and a pencil in the other and wouldn't let go. After years of daydreaming and secretly plotting novels, she took a few brush-up courses, joined Romance Writers of America, and plunged in. Now she writes full time, sees a few hypnotherapy clients on the side, and spends a lot of time reading-and daydreaming.
Though her friends swore that their "love at first sight" romance would never last, Jan and her husband have been living happily ever after for more years that she likes to admit. After a brief career as a rock drummer, their tall, handsome, brilliant son is an ad agency creative director. His most creative production is an adorable grandson who loves the stories his Nana tells him.
Her most memorable adventure was riding a camel to the Sphinx, climbing the Great Pyramid, and sailing down the Nile. Her favorite food is fudge. With pecans. Chocolate eclairs are a close second.
