Jan Eliot began cartooning as a form of self-defense when she was a single mom trying to raise two daughters, stay fully employed, pay the bills and still have a little fun once in a while. She discovered that cartooning gave her the opportunity to laugh at adversity, vent her frustrations and find humor in being short of money, short of time and short of patience. Not coincidentally, Jan Eliot's original comic strip was called "Patience and Sarah" and featured a single mom (Patience) and her daughter. It ran for five years in 10 weekly and monthly papers.

While working as a copywriter and graphic designer, Jan continued cartooning and developed a second strip called "Sister City," which ran weekly in the Eugene, Ore., Register-Guard for five years. Jan Eliot's cartoons have been reprinted in many humor collections, magazines, computer manuals and parenting books. Jan has also published greeting cards with Maineline Press, Umbrella Press and Marcel Schurman.

In 1995, under the new name of "Stone Soup," Jan's comic strip was nationally syndicated. Jan Elliot...