Jane Porter ’86

While some people spend their lives looking for a happily ever after, author Jane Porter ’86 literally makes them her business. The prolific romance and modern literature author has enjoyed literary success, though it was no easy feat.

During her sophomore year at UCLA, Porter submitted her first romance novel to a publisher, only to have it rejected. Over the next 15 years, Porter would have to endure that disappointment again, as the 13 complete manuscripts that followed it were similarly declined. After working as a junior high English teacher in Fresno, Calif., and earning her master’s in writing from the University of San Francisco, Porter sold her first novel, The Italian Groom, in 2001. It has since sold more than 150,000 copies worldwide.

Porter has had more than twenty novels published since the publication of The Italian Groom. As of January 2007, Porter has nearly 4 million books in print, in 20 languages and in 25 countries.

Of her long journey to become a published author, Porter said in an interview, “That’s a long time to work towards a dream but in so doing it taught me perseverance, courage, faith, hope and strength. I’m a risk-taker today because I know that I can’t fail if I give something my all.”

Recently, she has deviated from her classic romance background and delved into modern literature with the books The Frog Prince (2005), Odd Mom Out (2007), and Mrs. Perfect (2008). Porter’s Flirting with Forty (2006), her second modern lit work to be published, tells the tale of Jackie, a divorcée on a 40th birthday trip who finds a new lease on life in the sun and surf of Hawaii. The novel has been made into a TV movie starring fellow Bruin Heather Locklear and Lipstick Jungle’s Robert Buckley. It will premiere on Lifetime Television in December 2008.

Porter now lives in Seattle with her two young sons, and the notorious weather patterns of the Northwest don’t bother her. She writes on her website, “I never mind a rainy day, either, because that's when I sit at my desk and write stories about far-away places, fascinating people, and most importantly of all, love. I like a story with a happy ending. We all do.”