Jan Ellison

Jan Ellison (born January 17, 1966) is an American novelist, philanthropist and the wife of Roblox CEO David Baszucki. She won an O. Henry Award after writing her first published short story The Company of Men in 2007. In 2015, she wrote her first novel, A Small Indiscretion.

Early life and education Jan Ellison was born on January 17, 1966, in San Jose, California, and grew up in Los Angeles. Her father, Todd Ellison, known also as E.T. Ellison, was a novelist and musician who recorded music and wrote fantasy novels. Her mother was a teacher at an elementary school. Her brother, Steve Ellison, is a brewer and production manager for a company called Boundary Bay Brewery.

Ellison first went to Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, a private Catholic school. Ellison graduated from Stanford University with a undergraduate degree. She then went to San Francisco State University, where she got a Master of Fine Arts, and finally went to the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with a master's degree in journalism.

Ellison worked as a cook making French fries at a fast-food restaurant, later becoming a cashier.

Career At 19, Ellison left college for a year and traveled to Europe where she stayed in Paris for one year. Afterwards, she moved to London and began to work in an office. Eventually, Ellison moved to Hawaii, Australia and across Southeast Asia, where she stayed for two years. During this time, she began to write notes in her journals as she traveled. Ellison wrote her first short story, The Company of Men, in 2007. She then submitted it to 27 different literary journals before finally getting accepted. In January 2015, she published the novel, which follows a 40 year old woman named Annie Black piecing together her past life after a visit from a photographer which depicted Annie with her old boss at her old job. The book is deemed as a suspense novel.

Her book was featured as a recommended book in the San Francisco Chronicle, was reviewed and featured on USA Today as one of the books of the week, and her books were sold in stores such as Kepler's Books.

Personal life Ellison lives in Portola Valley, California. In 2005, she married Roblox CEO David Baszucki after meeting at Stanford University, and together they have four children. She co-founded The Baszucki group alongside her husband in 2021; she is president of the group. She currently funds neuropsychiatric research. She founded the organization Metabolic Mind to provide for education after one of her sons was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 19.