About Jan

I’m an avid reader first and foremost of Christian fiction. My favorite is a fast-paced read. Too slow and you’ve lost me. 

As for what I write, I love out-of-the-box thinking and problem solving, which is probably why I love writing Romantic Suspense. Even my historicals have a suspense thread woven throughout. Sci-Fi lets my mind explore beyond the boundaries of reality of the here and now to what might be, which is always fun.

I love to cook. There’s nothing like the smell of homemade bread hot from the oven to warm the whole house like a hug. I like gardening, scrapbooking, arts and crafts—restoring and recycling old things into something new and functional can’t be beat. I’m a country girl. I love having outdoor space all around, so I can enjoy the wonders God has created without stumbling over folks. Having a farm, I’ve raised all kinds of livestock, though now all I have running around the place is one Austrian Shepard, named Wiggles. This brown and white gift of fur and happy grins was once a stray that picked our place as his home. He’s probably the smartest dog I’ve ever had the joy to be around.

History
My need to create stories was handed down from my dad, who had it handed down from his Cherokee father and Scots-Irish mother. My dad, a country boy growing up during the depression, joined the army as a teen and ended up a Japanese POW during WWII. He told endless stories of how he survived both through prayer and thinking out-of-box. He also instilled a strong legacy of honor for God, family and country in his children and grandchildren. As a result, I strive for my characters to embrace those same traits.

​Awards
2014 Phoenix Rattler contest win for Romantic Suspense
A Memory to Live For
Traumatized by injury and the madman who nearly caused her and her colleagues’ death while rock climbing, Dr. Jessie Michaels has lost her memory and her ability to practice medicine. Fear stalks her dreams and panic attacks torment her days. Can she get her memory back in time to save her town, her life and the man who claims to be her husband?
Ex-Army Ranger, Alex Wolf, now Federal Game Warden, patrols the wilderness where he spent his childhood summer vacations. Alex’s plans are to remodel the house his grandfather willed him and to court Jessie Michaels…again. He has a second chance to prove to her that he isn’t the same angry, scornful man she married. First he must protect her from the evil that followed her home. With God’s help, he can do both.
    
2015 Faith Hope and Love, Touched by Love contest win for Historical category and also won the Overall category

The Secret Life of Lady Evangeline

The death of her newborn daughter, the betrayal of her husband and lastly surviving an assassination attempt on her life, Lady Evangeline is overwhelmed. Everyone thinks she died in the fire. Let them. Whoever hired the brigands will try again and she can trust no one. Nuns find her and doctor her burns. When well enough to travel, she dons the disguise of a nun and returns home to be near her ailing father. Finding an imposter in the castle, claiming to be a distant relative of Lord Brighton and the only living heir, she must take on the persona of the infamous, Fox. Robbing from the rich to give to the poor is a penitence she never expected to have to pay. Expecting her next rich victim, she is shocked to find her husband has arrived. Why? And why does her heart claim the child he has he brought with him? Evangeline is determined to find out the truth, either with the guise of Sister Margaret Mary, or if need be with the sword, as the Fox.
Lord Henry Stanton lost his true love, when his wife was killed in a fire set by brigands. For eighteen months he has raised his daughter, ignoring his widowed sister-in-laws efforts to wed him. It is a relief to escape her clutches when he gets an urgent missive for help from his father-in-law. He barely arrives in Brighton when his carriage is accosted by brigands who kidnap his daughter. Injured in the fight, he must rely on God to restore his family and uncover the identity of the person who hired the brigands.