Jan Karon

Jan Karon wrote her first novel at the age of ten. "The manuscript was written on Blue Horse notebook paper, and was kept hidden from my sister. When she found it, she discovered the one curse word I had, with pounding heart, included in someone's speech. For Pete's sake, hadn't Rhett Butler used that very same word and gotten away with it? After my grandmother's exceedingly focused reproof, I've written books without cussin' ever since."

Jan Karon left a successful career in advertising to move to a mountain village of North Carolina, and write books. "I stepped out on faith to follow my lifelong dream of being an author," she says. "I made real sacrifices and took big risks. But living, it seems to me, is largely about risk."

Favorite Verse: Phillipians 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."