Janis grew up around 'science geeks' at the Darwin University, where her father was a lecturer for many years. It took her a long time to realise that not everyone got to grow up around scientists and mathematicians, and their weird sense of humour. Unlike the heroine ofBonnie's Story, Janis didn't really escape the world of nerds and spends her non-writing time as an ICT Support come Technical Writer contractor and Haus Frau."