She is married to José Mena-Werth, a professor of astronomy at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She is surrounded by astronomers; besides José, her brother Dan spends most of his time at radio telescopes looking for extraterrestrials and she's been to many a star party with her dear friend, Ron Hipschman, who helped her greatly with this project. Her two delightful daughters, Paloma and Rosemary, officially qualify Jane as a soccer mom and lullaby singer extraordinaire. They give her an excuse to delve more deeply into children's literature, a lifelong hobby.
She is addicted to coffee houses (a leftover from her seven years in Seattle) and stares over the sea of corn fields of south-central Nebraska, pretending they are the Pacific Ocean, as she has left her heart in San Francisco.