Janice MacDonald is a writer of mystery novels, textbooks, non-fiction titles, and stories for both children and adults. She is best known for writing a series featuring amateur sleuth Miranda "Randy" Craig. The Randy Craig Mysteries were the first detective series to be set in Edmonton, Alberta, where Janice lives and works. Janice is a lifelong fan of detective fiction and even wrote her master's thesis on the subject. She was a long-time reviewer of mystery novels for the Edmonton Journal and an on-air "crime fiction expert" for the Canadian television series Booked. Janice has taught at the University of Alberta and Grant MacEwan College (now MacEwan University) in the Department of English and the Professional Writing program: English literature, communications, play analysis and creative writing. Impatient, after twenty years, for a pension and benefits, she left academe and joined the circus -- that is, she now works for the government. She wrote a children's book, The Ghouls' Night Out, which was awarded an Our Choice Award. Janice has also had a long love affair with the stage. She was lured away from finishing her MFA in playwriting by the chance to write and produce radio. She has had work produced on CKUA and CBC, and ACCESS. She has sat on the board of the River City Shakespeare Company. She wrote the music and lyrics for two touring historical musicals for Studio North Theatre : Northsong and Making Tracks. When she was younger, she wanted to be Ethel Merman when she grew up. When she was really young, she wanted to be an elevator operator.
