Jane Porter | Novelist

At right, top: Me, in Hawaii

At right, middle: The Porters in London (from right: big brother Thom, ME!, mother Marybeth, little brother Rob, and sister Kathy)

At right, second to bottom: With my wonderful grandmother

At right, bottom: on the movie set of Flirting with Forty. Click over for more photos during filming.

Jane Porter Born in Visalia, California, I'm a small town girl at heart. I love central California's golden foothills, oak trees, and the miles of farmland. In my mind, there's nothing sweeter in the world than the heady fragrance of orange blossoms on a sultry summer night.

As a little girl I spent hours on my bed, staring out the window, dreaming of far off places, fearless knights, and happy-ever-after endings. In my imagination I was never the geeky bookworm with the thick coke-bottle glasses, but a princess, a magical fairy, a Joan-of-Arc crusader.

My parents fed my imagination by taking our family to Europe for a year when I was thirteen. The year away changed me (I wasn't a geek for once!) and overseas I discovered a huge and wonderful world with different cultures and customs. I loved everything about Europe, but felt especially passionate about Italy and those gorgeous Italian men (no wonder my very first Presents was Italian).

I confess, after that incredible year in Europe, the travel bug bit, and bit hard. I spent much of my high school and college years abroad, studying in South Africa, Japan and Ireland. South Africa remains a country of my heart, the people, the land and politics complex and heart-wrenching.

After my years of traveling and studying I had to settle down and earn a living. With my Bachelors degree from UCLA in American Studies, a program that combines American literature and American history, I've worked in sales and marketing, as well as a director of a non-profit foundation. Later I earned my Masters in Writing from the University of San Francisco and taught jr. high and high school English.

After sixteen years in Greater Seattle, I'm back in California, making my home in a historic Ole Hanson home in San Clemente, with my surfer husband and three very active sons. I love being near the beach and being able to walk everywhere, but I also love being at my desk, writing stories about women and our lives, as well as the need to love, and be loved. I like a story with a happy ending. But then, I believe, we all do.

Jane shared her personal story of real-life romance in the lovely collection, Fall In Love Like a Romance Writer.

Jane Talks: How much of me is in my books?

» There's a lot of me in Flirting With Forty. Like Jackie, after one trip to Hawaii I was hooked. I consider it a second home now and my family and I visit it often. I love what being in Hawaii does for my soul.

» Like Holly Bishop, my main character in The Frog Prince, I grew up in Central California. Unlike Holly, mine was -- as I mention above -- a wonderful, idyllic childhood and I look back on my early years with fondness. Many of my Cental California memories made their way into The Frog Prince. I invite you to browse a few of these memories.

» Yes, I live in Bellevue. But I am neither Marta (Odd Mom Out) or Taylor (Mrs. Perfect). I don't own a Harley and I don't live in a house like the one Taylor and Nathan have built. I write fiction. I love writing fiction. That said, I do draw a lot from life. Many of the restaurants and shops mentioned in the books are places I like to frequent. The roads Marta and Taylor drive on are the roads in my day to day life. There is some of me in the hopes and dreams of my characters to be sure (and some of their hang-ups, too -- but I'll never tell!) -- but the part of me in these books is really the setting.

» I am not a Hollywood celebrity like Tiana (Easy on the Eyes), but I did get to spend a lot of time on the set of Flirting With Forty! And neither did my entire family perish when I was in my teens. But when I was fifteen my father died, so I have that emotional chasm to share with Tiana.

What I do share with Tiana is an active involvement in certain charity organizations. I'm very involved with Operation Smile and World Vision, including helping fund the building of a school in Zambia (which is where Tiana visits in the book.) Also, my mom, who is a great inspiration to me, was a speech therapist, and that is where where my interest in helping fund cleft palate surgeries came from.

For information about Tiana's and my favorite charities, please visit the Easy on the Eyes Books Extras section.

» In order to write Shey’s story (She's Gone Country), I drew upon my childhood vacations at our family ranch in the coastal foothills forty miles east of Paso Robles as well as the experience of being a mother of three sons. With my oldest beginning to think about college, I know exactly how excited and yet nervous Shey must be as her boys grow up and come into their own. Other than my love of Texas and ranches, my collection of cowboy boots, and my three boys, I can't say I have a lot in common with Shey. Obviously I've never been a supermodel, dated a rodeo cowboy, or lived in Texas, but heck, I can dream.

» PODCAST: Listen to an audio podcast where Rachel Belle of Ring my Belle interviews Jane on 97.3 KIRO FM. To read the online magazing article version of the interview, check out the link in the Articles and Interviews section below. (posted June 2011)

» PODCAST: Listen to an audio podcast where KCLS (King County Library System) interviews Jane on their Hear the Author feature. Download the podcast for iTunes. (posted June 2010)

» PODCAST: Listen to a podcast where best selling authors Barbara Samuels and Jane Porter discuss women's fiction and the Chick Lit phenomenon on the Romance Writers of America website. (This is a members only feature and requires a password to access the podcast.) (posted February 2009)

» VIDEO CLIP: See the latest interview with Jane where she speaks with Author Magazine on writing Mrs. Perfect. (posted May 14, 2008)

» VIDEO CLIPS:

Jane's interview on New Day Northwest, 9/8/10:

Jane's interview on Montana This Morning, May 2010:

Jane's interview on Northwest Afternoon, 11/5/07:

Jane's interview on Good Morning Texas, 10/15/07:

Jane's interview on The View From the Bay, 10/8/07:

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...by Jane

As a former English teacher, Jane holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco, and loves talking books and working with aspiring writers. Jane continues to work with writer friends all the time, developing the craft and discussing good books. For more on the craft of writing, check out Jane's workshop descriptions.

» Secret Identities & Princess Twins! by Jane Porter (posted June 2012)

» On the "Flirting With Forty" Set (posted November 2008)

» Are You Mrs. Perfect? (posted May 2008)

» Forty, Feminist and Fierce? Click on the thumbnail below to view and read the article. (A pop-up window will appear.) (posted October 2007)

» Ever feel like the Odd Mom Out? (posted September 2007)

» Chicken or the Egg? (posted August 2006)

» On writing & life (posted August 2006)

» The Reader (posted May 2005)

» A Writer's Perspective: Attitude is Everything

» Critique Groups or Freak Groups?

» Drawing a Blank

» Getting Game: Developing Mental Toughness

» How to Put on Your Own Writer's Retreat

» Ten Things Not To Do?

» Short & Sweet: Where I Get Ideas

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...about Jane

» A Musing Reviews interviewed Jane about her newest release, The Good Woman. Check it out to learn more about the book and the next books in the series! (posted September 2012)

» The Write Teacher interviewed Jane as part of their Summer Author Interview Series. Read what Jane has to say about fairy tales, being a single mom, and The Good Woman here. (posted August 2012)

» Rachel Belle of Ring My Belle interviewed Jane as a spotlight on summer romance reading. Check out the online interview here! To hear the interview as a podcast, check out the link posted in the TV, Radio, and Podcasts section above. (posted June 2011)

» The Novel Blog interviewed Jane as their September Featured Author. Read the online interview here! (posted August 2010)

» Jane was featured in the Spotlight section of HerExchange. Read the interview in which she shares about her life experiences, Flirting With Forty, and She's Gone Country. (posted August 2010)

» Jane is featured as the cover story in the March/April 2009 issue of Vox Pop Influentials. See the cover and read the interview here. (posted May 2009)

» Bellevue Reflections magazine's March 2009 issue puts the spotlight on Jane in an article entitled "On the Shelf." Click on the thumbnail at right to read the article. (posted May 2009)

» Jane and Flirting With Forty are featured in the Seattle Women & Business Examiner. Check out the online article, entitled "Get Your Romance on with Jane Porter." (posted February 2009)

» Seattle P-I interviews Jane as she shares about how her own life imitates art in novel and in the Flirting With Forty movie. Read the article online. (posted December 2008)

» Jane made an appearance in the Fall 2007 issue of USF's alumni magazine, where she talks about how USF's writing program helped push her to success in her writing career. Read the article by clicking on the thumbnail to the right. (A pop-up window will appear.) (posted September 2008)

» Jane is now listed as one of the "notable alumni" of UCLA. Read the article on the UCLA Alumni Association site.
(posted August 5, 2008)

» Jane is featured in the July 2008 issue of MORE Magazine, where she shares about her "First after 40" and dishes about both the Flirting With Forty book and movie. (A pop-up window will appear.)
(posted June 16, 2008)

» Jane gets interviewed on Shelf Awareness. Read the interview where she shares about books, from her childhood favorite to the book that changed her life.
(posted May 27, 2008)

»Jane gets interviewed by Living Read Girl. Read the interview to hear what Jane's thoughts on the theme of Odd Mom Out and more.
(posted October 19, 2007)

» Jane is in great company in Seattle Magazine. Click on the thumbnail to the right to view and read the article. (A pop-up window will appear.)
(posted October 11, 2007)

» Jane gets interviewed by AllThingsGirl.com. Read the in-depth interview about Jane's writing, how she got where she it today, and she dishes about Odd Mom Out.
(posted September 11, 2007)

» Jane gets interviewed in Stork Magazine’s premier issue, talking about love, loss and life lessons. Read the full article.
(posted February 5, 2007)

» Jane gets interviewed by Don Mayhew in the September issue of The Fresno Bee. Read the full article.
(posted September 19, 2006)

» Jane gets chatty in an interview on Stacy's Place on Earth Blogspot. Read the full interview.
(posted September 19, 2006)

» Jane's in the spotlight on the Mommy Track'd website. Check out this interview where Janes shares about life as a successful novelist and mother.
(posted September 5, 2006)

» Jane dishes with the divas in an insightful interview at Candice Hern's Fog City Divas Blog. Don't miss her thoughts about labels attributed to women's fiction and an exclusive look at Flirting with Forty.
(posted July 20, 2006)

» Jane talks about new releases and some old favorites as well as her writing and what she's learned from it. Don't miss this fun interview with Jane at Once Upon a Romance.
(posted June 19, 2006)

» Jane was interviewed at NPOB. The interview ran in both the February issue of the Banter and is running in the author spotlight section of NPOB's. Read the interview to find out more about The Sicilian’s Defiant Mistress.
(posted February 13, 2006)

» Jane was interviewed by Romance Reviews Today. Read the interview to find out more about Taken By The Highest Bidder including Jane's inspirations behind the book.
(posted December 12, 2005)

» Jane was interviewed by SisterDivas. Find out about Jane’s writing and more by reading the interview. (posted November 9, 2005)

» The Bellingham Herald interviews Jane about her inspiration and The Frog Prince. Read the interview online to see why how "she discovers inspiration in nearly all she reads." (posted June 30, 2005)

» The Frog Prince and Jane get A Closer Look in depth on writerspace. Lots of info! (posted June 3, 2005)

» Jane is featured in The Fresno Bee. Read the article. (must be a member to see it on the Fresno Bee site. We have reprinted it here on JanePorter.com). (posted May 2005)

» Jane is the featured Spotlight in Romantic Times BOOKclub. Read the article and take a glimpse back in time. (posted May 2005)

» Jane was interviewed at The Reader's Place by Leena Hyat. Check out the interview with Jane. (posted May 2005)

» Jane's the featured author over at Jess Michael's informative site, Passionate Pen. Check out the interview with Jane. (posted January 2004)

» Jane was interviewed at romancejunkies.com about current projects, the path to publication, her travels, and a few tidbits about some of Jane's favorite things. Read the whole interview. (posted November 2003)

Lots and lots of photos from events can be found on Jane in Pictures, and on Jane's Calendar. More photos below:

Dallas, TX: 2007 National RWA book signing to promote literacy.
See photos from past RWA's annual booksignings.

Dions Lina, Isaiah, Kirsten and Kimberly.
Dion clan in Seattle ~ Fans and Friends

Jane with the cast of Flirting with Forty:
Heather Locklear and Robert Buckley

Jane speaking at the Hawaii Book & Music Festival in Honolulu

See many more photos
of JANE IN PICTURES!

Where Would You Like to Go Next?

Read a Modern Fiction excerpt

Try a classic romance

Meet Jane at one of her events

Join Jane
on her blog

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