Jana DeLeon

Jana DeLeon was raised in southwest Louisiana among the bayous and gators. Her hometown is Carlyss, but you probably won’t find it on a map. Her family owned a camp located on a bayou just off the Gulf of Mexico—you could only get there by boat. The most important feature was the rope hammock hanging in the shade on a huge deck that stretched out over the water. Jana and her brother spent thousands of hours combing the bayous in a flat-bottom aluminum boat, studying the natural habitat of many birds, nutria and alligators. She would like you to know that no animals were injured during these "studies," but they kept makers of peroxide in business. Jana now resides in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, René, three spoiled dogs and three spoiled cats.