Janet studied for her BA in English Literature, MA in Renaissance History and PhD in the art and culture of Habsburg Spain at Birkbeck College (University of London) alongside her job as a commissioning editor in the publishing industry. She has taught courses on aspects of Spanish and Northern Renaissance art and culture for organisations including the U3A, WEA and CASA. She has written and spoken widely on her PhD subject, which was the lives of the court dwarfs in the royal households of 16th- and 17th-century Europe. She also writes fiction, gives talks and teaches creative writing as Jan Ellis.