Jane C. Loudon (1807-1858), also known as Jane Wells Webb Loudon, was a British writer whose early life was filled with unexpected tragedy. She lost her mother at age 12 followed by her father at age 17. Loudon's affluent lifestyle was cut short when her father's manufacturing business went bankrupt leaving her broke and alone. As a teenager, she turned to writing to financially support herself publishing her first book, Prose and Verse in 1826. A year later Loudon produced her most notable work, The Mummy: A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century, a favorite among sci-fi and fantasy fans.