Jan Karon was born in western North Carolina. After a career in advertising, she began writing a column in the Blowing Rocket. The column, about life in the small North Carolina town of Mitford, centered around an Episcopalian minister named Father Tim. Karon's Father Tim stories were collected into a book and published by a Christian publisher. She has written a number of other books, which contain Christian themes but are written for general audiences, and a cookbook.