Jancis Maureen Andrews was born in Bartram Place, a pit village in Northumbria, England, in 1934. In 1966 she emigrated to Canada with her husband, son and daughter, and, at the age of thirty-six, enrolled in Grade IX of the Ontario Adult Education Correspondence Courses. The family moved to West Vancouver in 1971, where, at the age of fifty-three, she obtained a BFA degree from the University of British Columbia. Jancis is a community volunteer with a particular interest in helping prevent violence against women and children. Her many hobbies include crochet, embroidery and cooking. She has published numerous stories and poems in magazines and has won several awards for her writing.