Creating has been a part of Jan's life from her earliest memory. Writing, painting, singing, making...you name it! It helped that she had parents, both voracious readers, who modeled and encouraged creativity in daily life. Jan excelled in the arts throughout school, but it was a creative writing class at the University of Michigan-Dearborn that really sparked her desire to become a published writer. She had written a short story and asked her professor for permission to use the class to turn it into a novel. Each class period, the professor would select a few student pieces to read aloud and have the class critique them. Near the end of each class, he asked for a vote to hear additional work by one student. The students always chose to hear a new chapter from Jan. That novel is still a work in progress and it's at the top of Jan's bucket list.