Janice Shefelman: Hello, my name is Janice Shefelman. My birth name was Vera Janice Jordan. Vera for my mother. Janice, just for me, and Jordan, my family name. Unfortunately, no one pronounced Janice as Janice, so my mother gave it up. When I married Tom Shefelman, I took his name. Sometimes I wish I had used Janice Jordan as my pen name, but after 12 published books, there is no turning back. Jordan is a German surname that was acquired by my ancestors during the Crusades, between the 11th and 13th centuries. It refers to the Jordan River in the Holy Land.