Jansina has been writing ever since she could do more than make meaningless scribbles with a crayon. She began her writing career at 13 with a newspaper column, Jansina's Journal.Her goal is to create realistic Christian fiction for young adults that will both entertain and inspire. This is her first published novel, though she has over one hundred published articles, short stories and poems in various newspapers and magazines (including the Saint Paul Pioneer Press and Brio). She is a native of Minnesota, and a few years ago discovered Backus, a little-known town of 300. Although she may never live there herself, she lives vicariously through her characters. Jansina is in the process of writing two additional novels, and several short stories-all with the setting loosely based on that little town. Many of the characters in Forgotten Memories play larger parts in those stories.When not writing, Jansina works in marketing, and also copy edits others' books, scholarly papers and articles. In her spare time she enjoys Irish and swing dancing, singing, and rereading Austen's novels. She doesn't spend much time in cemeteries.