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Welcome to Jan's site!

When my father sent some of my poems to the Pixie Pages of the Southland Times and I saw them in print, I got the bug. I was seven years old. I have always written some fiction, alongside my other life as a clinical psychologist and a mother to my now adult children. Like most writers, I have been able to subsist on very small amounts of success – a short story in an anthology now and again, a prize in a competition. In 2003 I left full-time work to start up my own psychology practice and create some serious writing time. Over the next few years, I completed Butterfly Soup, a novel, and Harnessing Hope, a self-help book for depression sufferers, both of which I self-published. The novel has been taken up by a publisher in the UK and released in a flash new cover – very exciting!

I have a strong belief in the human need for stories to help us make sense of our lives in the world. Stories also help us develop empathy and the ability to imaginatively construct events and try them out in our minds. I write because I value this process – and because it is great fun.

Here is some of my writing, both fiction and non-fiction.
Psychology has an extract from Harnessing Hope and some book reviews.
Short Stories contains a number of stories written over the past few years and new ones will be added from time to time. 
Thoughts contains short non-fiction articles around a particular word or idea.

I hope you enjoy what you read here and maybe find it thought-provoking.