anet Reed Ahearn was born in New York City and grew up in and around Manhattan. After graduating from Carnegie-Mellon University, Janet co-founded the Off-Broadway theatre Primary Stages now in it’s 23rd year. There, she started the Late-Nite Sketchbook Series and later, the New American Writers Group which gives funds to emerging writers to help develop their new works. As an editor for the Educational Market, she has developed big books, early readers, games, and toys. As a teacher, she has taught playwriting to children in New York’s inner-city schools for the Department of Cultural Affairs. As a writer, she has written and performed sketch comedy in New York’s West Bank Café and the Comic Strip, had her full-length play "Making Book" produced, and written numerous 10-minute plays. She wrote for television for the daytime dramas Guiding Light and As the World Turns. Presently, she is working as a Senior Supervising Editor at Macmillan-McGraw-Hill. Janet lives on the Upper West Side with her actor/writer husband Dan Ahearn and their dog Bailey.