About the Author

Jane Billinghurst was born in Bombay, India, and lived there for her first two years. Then she moved to Surrey, England, where she grew up. Jane received an M.A. in German and philosophy from St. Anne’s College, Oxford. She has also lived in New Haven, Connecticut; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Jane has worked in book publishing, primarily as an editor, for the last twenty years. After working in-house for Oxford University Press and Yale University Press, she began freelancing for western publisher Prairie Books based in Saskatoon. In 1983 she joined that press full-time and worked her way up to publishing director. She left Prairie Books to become manager of production, editorial, and art at Douglas & McIntyre in Vancouver. Since 1992, Jane has been a freelance editor and writer, specializing in scholarly titles and non-fiction trade books for adults and young adults. Her books include Grey Owl (Greystone, 1999) and Spirit of the Whale (Raincoast, 2000), both of which were nominated for the Saskatchewan Book Award in the non-fiction category. Her book Temptress (Greystone, 2003) has been translated into six different languages. Since 2005 she has been a coordinator at the Washington State University Skagit County Extension Master Gardener Discovery Garden. She currently lives in Anacortes, Washington.