37 ratings | 15 reviews | avg rating:4.22

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Jan Ferrigan

Goodreads Author

Born

Canada

Website

http://janellenferrigan.com

Twitter

JEFerrigan

Genre

Young Adult, Travel, Contemporary

Member Since

May 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/jeferrigan

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Jan grew up Canadian and lived in the US for a good portion of her adult life. She recently moved back to Canada with her husband and daughter. Jan is a web designer with a M.S. in wildlife biology (not as unusual as you would think).
Jan loves to travel and to explore the grand many wonders this world has to offer.
Like the character Mr. Baxter in her first novel, Lotto's Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure, Jan believes books and fresh air will make you clever. ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Jan Ferrigan It sounds really trite, but it came from a dream. I don't recommend this approach, at least for myself, because most of my dreams are not good foundat…moreIt sounds really trite, but it came from a dream. I don't recommend this approach, at least for myself, because most of my dreams are not good foundations for a story. But this was, at least in my dream experience, an extraordinary dream.
A few years ago, I worked on a website for Youth Advocate Program International, yapi.org. I was in a hurry to finish the site, and as a result was not paying too much attention to the content, which included information on the rather serious issue of child soldiers.
At least, I thought I wasn't paying much attention. The subconscious brain is often working differently from the conscious one. So one night after working on the site, I had an incredibly visceral dream, which essentially is the opening scene for Lightning in the Desert. I did not have a name in the dream, but I was a young teenager facing the gun of another teenager who I vaguely knew. The dream felt so real that when I woke, it not only took a few seconds to recognize where I was (my own bedroom), it also took a couple of seconds to remember who I was.
I wrote Lightning in the Desert, shortly after, edited it a number of times and decided at some point that it definitely felt like an audiobook. You can read it, but for some reason it will always be a better audio than paper story for me.
Amy Wisenfeld who narrates Lightning in the Desert works for a international youth arts organisation, The Complete Freedom of Truth, "Tolerance, inclusiveness, deeper learning and an understanding of the other are at the heart" of the work done by The Complete Freedom of Truth. For that reason, it felt like Amy was be a good fit for this story, and she is a wonderful narrator.
Working on producing part 2. Unfortunately, it did not come as a dream, so I am trying my best to draw from research and the real life stories of refugees to inform the story.
Thanks for your interest in my work.(less)

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Combine Editions
Jan Ferrigan’s books

Average rating: 4.65 · 26 ratings · 14 reviews · 4 distinct works

	Lightning in the Desert 4.63 avg rating — 19 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lotto's Super-Awesome Unbelievable Park Adventure 4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Secrets of Little Saints by Jimmy Mahoney (Goodreads Author), Neil Bridge (Editor), Jan Ferrigan (Goodreads Author) (Editor) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Change in the Wind (The Specific Heat of Water Book 2) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

33 posts
Jan Ferrigan's Blog

Our Dog, Ariel Takes Her Halloween Costume Seriously

And clearly, we did not have a lot to do last weekend:)

Enjoy.

Jan’s Quotes

“Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities... because it is the quality which guarantees all others. ”
― Winston Churchill

59 likes

“I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

tags: happiness, life, sea

2163 likes

“Wicked people never have time for reading. It's one of the reasons for their wickedness.”
― Lemony Snicket

tags: humor-wicked-reading

9726 likes

“Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like.”
― Lemony Snicket

tags: fate, humor, simile

13151 likes

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, but only saps today of its strength.”
― A.J. Cronin

3238 likes

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Jan’s Groups

Goodreads Authors/Readers — 56699 members — last activity 2 hours, 49 min ago
This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more

Audiobooks — 16582 members — last activity 8 hours, 31 min ago
Audio & audiobooks are getting more and more popular for commuters & those wanting to squeeze in another book or two a month while doing other activit ...more

Great Middle Grade Reads — 4476 members — last activity 1 hour, 51 min ago
ABOUT THE GROUP Great Middle Grade Reads is here to help you discover new books, discuss favorites, and find like-minded readers. Middle Grade books a ...more

Kids/Teens Book Club — 6035 members — last activity May 07, 2026 04:34PM
Welcome to the group :) Here we talk about and recommend plenty of MG/YA books, as well as discuss film, music, our writing, current affairs and much ...more

Fiction Writers — 1041 members — last activity Dec 13, 2025 09:40AM
This group is for everyone who loves to write anything fiction. If you're an author, you want to be an author, or you just love to write, anyone is we ...more

Non Profits Literary Program — 391 members — last activity Sep 21, 2017 09:29PM
Calling all authors and readers! Wee Care Community Outreach's group is set up to involve the world wide community to see whats new in literacy progra ...more

Bargain Basement — 8284 members — last activity May 14, 2026 04:34AM
Join the Bargain Basement club for Freebies, bargains, reviews, and giveaways.

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