Welcome to the World of Janina Marie Fuller
Janina is the author of the newly released, The Gecko in the Bathtub: Encounters with Marvelous Creatures. Along with writing books, she offers writing workshops and a delightful blog to bring people closer to nature.

Illustrations by Maggie Demorest
Janina’s book
The Gecko in the Bathtub:
Encounters with Marvelous Creatures
The Gecko in the Bathtub: Encounters with Marvelous Creatures is a collection of short stories about special moments Dr. Fuller has shared with animals around the world and across her lifetime. Balancing gentle humor with thoughtful insight, Dr. Fuller weaves together stories of her family and travels with moments of awe at the wonders of the natural world.
Workshops
Writer’s Workshop: Finding your voice
This workshop welcomes anyone who writes or who has ever wanted to write. Whether you keep a daily journal or haven’t written in years, whether you consider yourself to be a good or bad speller, whether or not someone at some point in your life was harshly critical of your writing . . . none of that matters here. Following the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) method, as taught by its originator, writer Pat Schneider, participants will be invited to write in response to a prompt, to share our writing with the group, and to receive positive feedback. Note: The workshops are not meant for refinement of manuscripts or other work already written, nor are they a venue for receiving edits or critiques, other than positive feedback.
Each workshop will meet once per week for two hours over six consecutive weeks. Group members are asked to attend every session if possible. Registration for each workshop will be limited to eight participants. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Questions regarding workshops may be addressed to janinamfuller@gmail.com.
Note: The workshops are not meant for refinement of manuscripts or other work already written. Each session will present an opportunity to create fresh and original pieces and to share them with other writers.
What’s New
Recent Blog Posts
What’s True About Blue?
Blue birds, so many blue birds! Eastern bluebirds, Western bluebirds, Common blue jays, Great blue herons, Lazuli buntings, Stellar’s jays, Indigo buntings, Blue grosbeaks and Belted kingfishers to name just a few, and these are just from North America. Head to Central or South America or to Africa and the list of birds with blue…
The Wren in the Wreath
Our little dome house on the bayou has been through a lot. When Tom first moved here in November 2005, more than twenty years after the house was built, the place was heavy with bad juju. The yard was overgrown, there were cracks in the plaster, the popcorn ceiling was shedding years of old dust,…
A Birthday Party
“It’s a party! For you!” smiled my mom, something about her a bit nervous and perturbed but her trying to make the best of things in spite of some upset in the background that I couldn’t identify. It turned out later on that this was supposed to have been a surprise party for me – – the only surprise party I believe my mother ever threw for anyone in her life – – but something in her planning went awry such that I was actually there, kneeling on the sofa and looking out the window as my friends and their mothers pulled up to the curb, exited their cars and came into the house.
about the author
Meet Janina
Author, Nature-Lover, and Teacher

Janina Marie Fuller was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana at a time when lightening bugs hanging in the front yard air at dusk were even more plentiful than bees sipping clover in the back yard at dawn. After completing a B.S. in zoology from Oregon State University, Janina served for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer and community organizer in a highland tribal village of the northern Philippines.
After returning to the U.S., she pursued her commitment to community service as a project coordinator, public speaker, educator, consultant and administrator in global and local nonprofit organizations working to address hunger and homelessness at home and abroad. Janina received a master’s degree in Biology from Portland State University and a PhD in workforce development from Louisiana State University.
Never one to shy away from adventure, Janina has bartered in Hong Kong, paddled the Boundary Waters, prayed among the Stonehenge megaliths, danced the part of a wood nymph, learned to fly a plane, topped Yosemite’s Half Dome, played Queen Elizabeth I on stage, birdwatched in the Amazon forest canopy and snorkeled in the Galápagos.
She currently resides in South Louisiana with her husband Tom and their dog, Utah. Binoculars always within reach, Janina continues to enjoy time on the dock by the back yard pond during the day and on the screened porch at night, ready to welcome the next marvelous creature.
Contact
Get in Touch with Janina
Janina is available for interviews, speaking events, and other public opportunities regarding the book and her writing process.
To invite Janina to speak at your event, fill out the form below.
























