JANICE COWAN is a Canadian journalist and writer. Born in Hampshire, England, she has worked as a journalist in Canada, as well as in England, Australia, Germany, Russia and Kazakhstan. After her time in Russia she became editor of a Washington-based business magazine in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She lived in Central Asia for six years and is a regular contributor to the International Herald Tribune’s special supplements on the region. She lives in Calgary with her husband who retired from the Canadian military in the mid-nineties.