Goodreads asked Jan Porter:

How do you get inspired to write?

Jan Porter I recall as a young child, being held captivated with magical yarns of indigenous cultures, saints, mysticism and shamanism and Robert Service's tales of the north northern wilderness . As a teen I found old battered copies of Voltaire's 'Candide', Margaret Caven's 'I Heard the Owl Call My Name' and anything ancient mystical shaman which my awkward geeky adolescent soul hungered for. Inspired, I first dabbled with typewritten short stories, articles and poetry founding a funky alternative secondary school newspaper 'Cool School News'. After many years of work in Human Services, evening ferocious spiritual, quantum or philosophical reading while raising children (all much food for character and story seeds).
During a life defining year of former vocation and other such life endings, I cocooned in my northern Ontario sanctuary, basking in nature's ambiance to begin a new chapter in my own journey. Here, I finally gave way to harvesting ancient philosophies, magic and know how and began to polish some of those numerous stories, books and course materials that had long been collecting dust in various stages of completion since childhood.
With all of the hub bub of spiritual gurus in the world, my sheroes lean toward those more authentic ideals such as; the 13 Grandmothers, my own ancestral women and all of those who vision global community sharing of all that is good in life. I admire all of the unknown authentic unsung heroes such as my former social services clients and acquaintances, my medicine woman daughter and son who all live a life less ordinary, comfortable in their own funky soul skin and happy to share what they have. While I would love to retire to a life of affluent luxury, I find there is still so much more to do, to share, to explore and to discover.

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