About Me
I'm a math major who grew up on snow skis and backpacking in the Utah mountains, and later fell in love with water skiing in the California Delta, camping in the Sierra, and traveling. Now my husband and I are snowbirds – spending summers in Northern California and winters in the Palm Springs area and traveling to Europe to see our grandkids in the Canary Islands..
As a geek working on satellites and advanced technology in Silicon Valley, I found myself to be one of the few women managers in aerospace. Lured to the dot.com world, with two other partners, we co-founded a successful software company, Azerity. My spy novels leverage my technical background.
Naturally, the heroine of my spy novels, Jessie Monroe, is technically savvy and athletic. The perfect combination for a CIA spy!
More about me ... I LOVE Southern Utah!
Click on the photo below and find out about the photographer (my daughter) who took and see her other fabulous landscape photos.
I'm Jan (or, to my sister, Janet)
I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah; raised Mormon. But, in the '70s, the Church's policies about Blacks seemed prejudiced to me, and I dropped out.
Now their policies about Gays seem prejudiced, and I stay away from all organized religions.
But I am a spiritual person.
And I believe in dreams.
Math Major
I was a math major, I always loved math. I guess that makes me a geek. Graduating from the U of Utah, my husband and I with Masters, were both hired by Ford Aerospace in Palo Alto (Silicon Valley). They didn't realized they'd hired a couple. I loved working on satellites and advanced technology and became one of the few women managers in aerospace. I worked there almost 20 years.
Boating and the Environment
We've been boating on the Delta since the '70s and I've grown to love the Delta ecosystem.
I was founder and president of Save the California Delta Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to keeping the California Delta a safe and healthy environment for boaters, fish, and waterfowl. Proceeds from my children’s books, The Fable of the Farmer and the Fish and Sassy the Salmon, are donated to the Alliance.
I was honored to have been named the Discovery Bay Citizen of the Year for my efforts to save the Delta.
Favorite Authors/Books
Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead)
Stephenie Meyer (Twilight)
Suzanne Collins (Hunger Games)
Tom Clancy (Patriot Games, The Sum of All Fears, …)
Carl Sagan (Contact)
Ian Fleming (James Bond)
J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings)
Douglas R. Hofstadter (Gödel, Escher, Bach)
Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
Greg Wyss (When Life was Like a Cucumber)
John Howard Griffin (Black Like Me)