Jan Crossen has been creating stories since she was in the 4th grade and won the “Tall Tale Tellers Contest” at her elementary school in Athens, Ohio.

In 2009, Jan won the gold-level Mom’s Choice Award for her 9 LIVES Trilogy, a young adult series. In 2020, she combined the three award-winning books into one title, They Call Me CAT. The series and this book were inspired by her adopted son, Joshua, whom she met when he was eight years old and living in foster care. The touching story, FOREVER, is the holiday children’s book of how Jan and Joshua met.

During the Pandemic, Jan wrote informative and entertaining books about the amazing domestic animals on her farm and the wildlife she frequently sees. Her Farm Adventures Series is a collection of eight books written for readers ages 6-9. In them students learn about rescued horses, Jersey milk cows, goats, Bantam chickens, and Rouen ducks. They also read about: Orca Whales, Black Tailed Deer, Bald Eagles, Barred Owls, Great Horned Owls, Gray Squirrels, and Garter Snakes.

Children ages 3- 5 enjoy shorter versions of these same stories. These read aloud picture books have interactive questions and a couple even have fun songs! These titles are in the Farm Stories for Wigglers’ Series.

In 2025, Jan published COLORS OF THE SKY, A MEMOIR. It is a story of self-discovery; of hiding her true self as she struggled to live authentically in a disapproving world. The book chronicles her life’s journey as a lesbian and is in-part an LGBTQ+ history lesson as readers learn about the gradual change in attitudes and acceptance of this community.

Jan is happily married and lives with her wife in Washington state on a small farm on a rural island in the Pacific Northwest.