About Author

Jan Porter

Jan  Porter
  • Genre:

    Women's Fiction Literary Fiction Advice & How To Religion & Spirituality
  • Country: Canada
  • Books: 7
  • Profession: Author
  • Born: 20 June
  • Member Since: Mar 2016
  • Profile Views: 31,961
  • Followers: 222
  • VISIT AUTHOR: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon,
BIOGRAPHY

Award-winning author Jan Porter brings the wisdom of unsung heroes and explores the human condition in literary fiction to life in her notable collection of prize-winning books.
Born in rural Ontario, Canada, Jan grew up in the great outdoors, captivated by the otherworldly allure of indigenous cultures, mysticism, and tales of the northern wilderness.
Inspired by Voltaire’s 'Candide', Margaret Caven’s 'I Heard The Owl Call My Name' and the works of Robert Service, Jan discovered a passion for writing, and began to transform her thoughts into words. Handwritten scribbles became typewritten short stories, articles, and poetry, but it was only after a long career in Human Services that she began to bring various female protagonists to life. After taking early retirement and completing a Spiritualist / Metaphysical Minister’s degree, she cocooned in a northern Ontario lakeside sanctuary, where she penned spirit-world guidance books that had long been in various stages of completion.
Little did she know that one day her work would win various book awards!
With each new release, Jan continues to share the joys and challenges of the human condition that are profound, moving, inspiring, often humorous, and certainly, entertaining.

Awards:
- Three-time winner of the Wishing Shelf Book Awards
- Two-time winner of the Bookworks Book of the Week Award
- Two-time winner of the Reader’s Favorite Awards

Proud member of:
The Mohawk College Alumni Association
The Bancroft Spiritual Centre for Awakening Growth
Founder of the Soul Works Gifting Foundation (ad hoc)

Published Books (formerly published with Moose Hide Books, Canada):

Literary fiction:
- Barefoot Alice
- Maddy’s Wings
- Soul Skin, Woman, have you had enough?
- Peaceful Warrior Woman

Self counsel:
- Angel Guides, love communication
- Angel Guides, love communication – workbook
- Angel Guides, love communication – journal
- Soul Calling, your angel-guided life purpose

Published Articles:
- Co-founder of Mystical Voices Magazine
- Mosaic Magazine
- Owen Sound Sun Times
- Wiarton Echo News
- Tobermory Press
- Medium Online
- One Thousand Trees Magazine – “Sharing: Our stories, ourselves, our success”
- Link Magazine

Connect:
- YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, All Author, Library Thing, Book Bub, GoodReads

Keywords: Jan Porter, Author, literary fiction, women fiction, personal growth, self-help, awards, bestseller, 5 star reviews, Canadian, history, strong female, spiritualist, Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Reader's Favorite Book Awards, Angels, Spirit Guides, Amazon, Kindle, Nature Spirituality, Sisterhood, Empowerment, Inspiration, must read


YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/inspiredsoulworks

*For a Book Review copy, email the author directly: janwroteabook(at)gmail.com

Jan Porter's Books

Stay in the loop on books by Jan Porter. See upcoming and best-selling books by the author here. You'll also find the deals on books by Jan Porter.
** Please note that the information or price displayed here may not be the updated. Make sure to double-check the latest book price before buying books.
** Also, there might be other books by Jan Porter not listed on AllAuthor.

Book
$3.99 kindleeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Barefoot Aliceby Jan PorterPublish: Mar 02, 2021Historical Fiction Women's Fiction Literary Fiction
$3.99 kindle Free with KUeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Maddy's Wingsby Jan PorterPublish: Jul 17, 2018Historical Fiction Women's Fiction Literary Fiction
Soul Skin, Woman have you had enough?
$3.99 kindle Free with KUeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Soul Skin, Woman have you had enough?by Jan PorterPublish: Feb 03, 2014Historical Fiction Women's Fiction Literary Fiction
Angel Guides, love communication: Get your Angel groove on! Someone is waiting to formally meet you!
$3.99 kindle Free with KUeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Angel Guides, love communication: Get your Angel groove on! Someone is waiting to formally meet you!by Jan PorterPublish: Apr 18, 2014Series: Angel Guides, love communication WorkbookAdvice & How To Religion & Spirituality
Angel Guides, love communication workbook
$3.99 kindle Free with KUeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Angel Guides, love communication workbookby Jan PorterPublish: Nov 19, 2015Series: Angel Guides, love communication WorkbookAdvice & How To Religion & Spirituality
Soul Calling, your Angel guided life purpose By; Jan Porter: Get your Angel groove on!
$3.99 kindleeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Peaceful Warrior Woman
$1.99 kindle Free with KUeBook, Paperback, Signed Paperback,
Peaceful Warrior Womanby Jan PorterPublish: Nov 20, 2014Literary Fiction

Jan Porter's Series in Order

It's exciting to find a book series to follow! Discover the whole new world of book series created by Jan Porter.
** Also, there might be other book series by Jan Porter not listed on AllAuthor.

  • Angel Guides, love communication Workbook

    1 Angel Guides, love communication: Get your Angel groove on! Someone is waiting to formally meet you! - Published on Apr, 20142 Angel Guides, love communication workbook - Published on Nov, 2015

Jan Porter's Awards and Achievements

    Jan Porter has earned excellence awards over time. Here is the glimpse of the accolades clinched by the author.

  • Best Book Cover
    2021

    Barefoot Alice

    award
  • Reader's Favorite
    2021

    Barefoot Alice

    award
  • Wishing Shelf Book Award - Fiction Finalist
    2021

    Barefoot Alice

    award
  • The Wishing Shelf Book Award Finalist
    2018

    Maddy's Wings

    award
  • BookWorks Book of the Week Award
    2016

    Soul Skin, Woman have you had enough?

    award
  • Reader's Favorite 5 Star Book Award
    2016

    Soul Skin, Woman have you had enough?

    award
  • Book Works Book of the Week Award
    2014

    Angel Guides, love communication: Get your Angel groove on! Someone is waiting to formally meet you!

    award

Jan Porter Interview On 10, Sep 2018

"Jan Porter has always been scribbling bits and pieces throughout her life. Award-winning author and philosophical muse Jan Porter cannot fathom, not writing. Jan has always been fascinated and inspired by unsung heroes. Soul Skin was her first full-length novel that took many years to write. Jan thinks that anyone who journeys this earthy life and manages to navigate their challenges to stumble upon fulfillment and some happiness are heroes.
"Izzy’s Ghosts”, is her next literary fiction novel on deck, which is currently being edited with a launch date expected sometime in 2019."
Can you tell us about your childhood? Who has been the biggest support system in your life?

I am blessed to have had a country childhood. Growing up rural grew an appreciation for nature and magical adventures where my childhood’s imagination flourished. Life without television and socializing with extended family and neighbours was filled with a community atmosphere of home spun music, companionships of all ages and a variety of supports. I can easily recall; entourages of extended family camping trips, catching frogs, chasing fireflies, swimming in lakes and wading through rivers, my Great Grandmother’s home cooking on an old woodstove and listening to inebriated old farts recite old ballads and Robert Service’s tales of the northern wilderness. Childhood memories flow and intertwine throughout my books.

Have you always wanted to be a writer? What has your journey as an author been like so far?

I have always been scribbling bits and pieces throughout my life. Ten years ago, I cocooned in a northern lakeside cottage and began to put those writing bits to paper for the published novels and personal growth works that I am happy to share with readers. I cannot fathom, not writing. Innately fascinating, writing is much like an inner journey where scenes and characters play out in movie form within my being. Essentially, I journey first hand the characters and their stories.

What are some of the values you hold dear to you? How do you deal with people who tend to impose their own opinions on others?

I appreciate integrity, honesty and those who are comfortable in their own skin, as they are. I figure that everyone is here on earth to walk a unique journey with a myriad of lessons and challenges to experience. As such, it is generally not my place to judge another’s life journey or opinions. However, as a former social services worker, I have and continue to advocate for the vulnerable.

You have written a lot about spirituality and abuse. What are some of the most important themes you cover in your books about these topics?

In a pragmatic world where intuition and spirit world, higher mind concepts are often considered flakey nonsense. Much like the wisdom of our ancestors, through exploring healing and the spiritual path, I have personally found peace of mind, joy, fulfillment and contentment. From my own life experiences, I know first hand the joy and freedom of having a direct one-on-one relationship with spirit world. I count on the guidance from an intelligence far bigger than my little mind, that has a higher objective perspective and my best interests at heart. This spirit world guidance brings comfort and creative ideas. This relationship with the divine is obviously not new idea. It is what our Ancestors knew and lived within. It adheres to not one religion, philosophy or culture. It is free for the seeking. I believe it is our birthright as humans to have knowledge of and access to these teachings. It seems to me, that we have been programmed otherwise for far too long.

Let’s talk about your book Maddy’s Wings. What inspired you to write this book? How long did it take for you to write?

I recall sitting in a diner having brunch with my Dad and he asked what my next book was about. I did not know until my mouth opened and spoke of the gist of the story and characters. This book took a joyful two months to draft and was a profoundly unique journey because, I have an inherent fear of heights.

I have always been fascinated and inspired by unsung heroes. To stepping into the skin and mind of a young Maddy trying in vain to pilot a crashing loaded B26 bomber to feeling the onset sensations of Alzheimer’s, Maddy’s journey has been an incredible experience. Maddy’s life, thoughts and experiences is an ode to strong women and men who manage to navigate unfathomable situations.

Maddy’s Wings is also a tribute to my father’s anecdotal stories that honour a generation of Great Depression children who later fought in wars, to make the world a better place for us. I believe that this generation succeeded and brought forth a world of freedoms and abundance for family and future generations that few survivors had the privilege of experiencing.

Who is Maddy and what is her life like? How has the Second World War and the Great Depression affected her?

The free-spirited main character Maddy, was born a country bumpkin during the Great Depression and first world war in rural Ontario. Like many who had family surviving war and object poverty during the twenties and thirties, Maddy did not consider herself poor, as most people in America and abroad were in similar situations. In times of great adversity such as; oppression, natural disasters, economic depression and war, many people tend to drop cultural boundaries to work together in community mindsets for the common good. It is human nature that we are normally egocentric folks who live in our own little worlds of work and home. Yet, during natural and man-made disasters, most of us will step up to help one another by sharing skills, resources and comfort. It is often in times of adversity and caring for others that we feel the most fulfilled.

With Maddy, it is the advice of her father and seasoned pilots Jack and Roy, who offer the simplest of philosophies and knowledge that assist her with life challenges, navigating fear and impossible situations. Yet, one adage that I found most endearing that arose in Maddy’s character, is that she constructs her own philosophy to cope; she owes her life and happiness to all who did not survive. To avoid giving into the depths of grief, fear and despair, she strove to live life to it’s fullest, no matter what may occur.

What are some of the themes you cover in this book?

Maddy’s Wings can simply be viewed as one woman’s life journey through many changing times. Also intertwined, are social issues and wisdoms, such as; community cooperative mindsets of dealing with poverty, war and human atrocities, acknowledging female heroines, addressing veterans’ challenges, old time wisdom for overcoming post traumatic stress and survivor guilt and of course, the aging process. Oh, and the joy of friendships and eating giggle brownies.

The story of Soul Skin is very interesting. How did you come up with this premise?

Soul Skin was my first full length novel that took many years to write. After years of fulfilling years of work in social and human services; a.k.a. the welfare system, the book is a culmination of striving to remember the magical connection to the all that is that our Ancestors inherently knew, to addressing current social ills that my former clients still live through. Shamanism, Spiritualism and any form of spiritual seeking tends to have a happy and riches marketing spin in today’s culture. Yet, our Ancestors knew that the process is often born out of great adversity, both personal and within the broader community.

Like Navi, I thrive surrounded in nature’s ambiance, without the noise and haste of television or city life, although I do love a good city fix. My country sanctuary space offer the joy of freely daydreaming and experiencing my characters lives, first hand.

The main character Navi in Soul Skin is a simple misfit, like most of us. She was born of a generation who have lost the wisdom, support and empowerment of ancient knowledge and community support while the in pursuit of the all too common, great American dream.

Soul Skin is one woman’s journey, yet, speaks to all our timeless struggles with relationships gone bad, losing the ones we love, navigating life’s adversities, exploring who we are as individuals and how we fit into the world.

I am snickering now as I write this, recalling one of my brother’s trying to fathom how boring my life must be, living rural and engrossed in writing Soul Skin. I smiled and joyfully replied, “Not at all. On the contrary, I have communed with Spirit Guides, travelled with Shamans, died in a death pit in Auschwitz, sat in audience with Lord Byron, was a captive wolf breaking out to freedom and just yesterday, I was a female pilot crashing a fully loaded B26 bomber in World War Two for another book. What did you think about today?”

You have published in many magazines and newspapers. Why did you decide to become and author instead of a journalist?

I have always considered creative writing to be one of my hobbies. Akin to any hobbyist, the personal space of creativity is a Zen like space to get deliciously lost in. The world’s noise, haste and travails dissipate and as a sighing calmness gives birth to new thoughts, extraordinary, healing, sensations and ideas come forth into my beingness that is not possible in the hectic pace of daily living.

So, yes indeed, I much prefer the Zen daydreaming aspect of story creation.

You consider yourself to be a ‘philosophical observer of the human condition and nature’. What, according to you is the essence of this nature?

I find human nature fascinating. I give kudos and have great respect for my former social services clients and their unique journeys. The poorest of the poor living rural, tend to be closely intertwined with nature and living simply. They also tend to exude a joy that most of us who are steeped in perusing the great American dream will never comprehend or experience. Some of my favourite bush clients may eat squirrel and appear to outsiders as mentally ill. They rarely ask for much, just a little assistance to tide themselves and families over a tight spot. Yet, these people volunteer the most, are the first to offer their last piece of fish to someone in need and exude an inner joy as though they regularly kiss the face of God.

So, I suppose this is the essence of this amazing nature connection.

Chuckling here, I am often questioned about my beliefs. While I am a fully educated and ordained Minister, I am certainly not a living role as most people would view a person of the cloth to be. I prefer living the simple wisdoms and philosophies of our Ancestors. There are commonalities in many religions, philosophies and schools of thought, that I suppose simpler stated, are more altruistic in nature. I would never dare to set myself on any pedestal to pontificate on any topic.

Each of has a unique soul path, unique experiences, challenges and viewpoints. I think that anyone who journeys this earthy life and manages to navigate their challenges to stumble upon fulfillment and some happiness, are heroes.

What cause do you promote through the Soul Works Gifting Foundation and what does this organization do?

Soul Works is an ad hoc group who randomly give away published books and ebooks to those who would not normally have access. Prisons and non-profit centres generally have meagre book purchasing budgets, often purchasing what they can with gift cards of larger corporate book retailers that do not carry small publishers or indie books. One penitentiary librarian told me that while many inmates initially request murder mysteries and thrillers, it is the self-help and literary novels that they eventually gravitate to and spend their time reading.

To date, my daughter, friends, father and I have gifted thousands of books to jails, women’s centre’s and other non-profits. I write a personal message of hope for the mystery reader on each book’s dedication page. I also include a disclaimer note if the book is not a current version and thus, is not for re-sale, anywhere.

We also randomly send out travelling books, books that are intended to show up in restaurant bathrooms, buses, air ports or wherever we feel moved to do leave a book.

What is your secret to success?

Success is in enjoying the creative process of writing. Each step of each chapter and book completed, feels like a successful milestone and I do a little victory dance to acknowledge the moment. The pinnacle is when a reader expresses that they have enjoyed and been moved by the work.

I do not have specific monetary or fame success points in mind. I write simply because I sincerely enjoy the process and thus, will never stop striving for a wider market.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

“98 percent of the opinions and stress that people direct at you, have absolutely nothing to do with you personally.”

What book ideas are you currently working on?

“Izzy’s Ghosts”, is my next literary fiction novel on deck, which is currently being edited with a launch date expected sometime in 2019.

A happy and uplifting tale of loves lost and found, Izzy’s Ghosts is a mesmerizing journey through heart break and warm humour. Midlife Izzy is dumped by her husband and homeless, a spirit world door opens at the Rail Stop Café where she stumbles into a strange northern ghost gold mining town. Amidst wilderness and a strange community, home becomes an isolated 200-hundred-year old rural school house with its spirited classroom children and their favourite young teacher.

Resourcefully facing the inevitability of life alone in a strange rural place, Izzy unravels a family secret through a mysterious wilderness man and odd community characters. Along the way, there are ghostly descendants of Dr. Barnardo’s Home Children, Gold Rush Fevered miners, an unsanctified baby burial, modern day ghost hunters, infringing upscale cottage estates and tourists.

Befriended by loving spirits and community, history and insights collide as Izzy is challenged by ancient mystery school principles for class to begin anew.

Ask Jan Porter a Question

Have brimming questions to ask author Jan Porter? Ask whatever you like, but keep it appropriate.
** Please note that unanswered questions will not appear on the page. Refrain from posting promotional messages.

    • Error:

      Warning:

Contact Jan Porter

The author, a good book and you! Contact Jan Porter here.
** Please refrain from spamming and don’t bombard the author with promotional mails/messages. Your IP/Email address may be blocked if found doing so.

Contact Author on: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

By using this form, you agree with the storage and handling of your data by AllAuthor.