by Jess Montgomery | May 29, 2020 | Gratitude, Inspiration, Sanity Check
Note: This is a throwback to my Sanity Check humor column that I wrote for the Dayton Daily News. I think of this column, and my Great Aunt Cassie, every Memorial Day. I recently read it on my Facebook Live “Tea with Jess” series, a Facebook Live video...
by Jess Montgomery | Apr 24, 2020 | Inspiration, Sanity Check
As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I once had a stint as a humor/lifestyle columnist for the Dayton Daily News. The editor-in-chief who signed off on that gig was Jeff Bruce, now writing a mystery serious about, well, a columnist (whose column is quite...
by Jess Montgomery | Apr 16, 2020 | History, Inspiration, Story Behind the Story, The Hollows, The Widows
My protagonist, Lily Ross, is inspired by Ohio’s true first female sheriff in 1925, Maude Collins. In real life, Maude’s husband, Fletcher, was killed in the line of duty as sheriff of Vinton County, Ohio. Maude worked as his jail matron. After his non-mysterious but...
by Jess Montgomery | Mar 27, 2020 | Baking, Inspiration
A fascinating book club question At a book club a month or so ago, a reader asked me if I’m more like my protagonist Sheriff Lily or her ally Marvena in responding to adversity. I thought that was a fascinating question. I said something along the lines that I’m a...
by Jess Montgomery | Nov 14, 2019 | Book Clubs, Gratitude, Inspiration, The Widows
Sometimes, the old saying “it’s a small world” really is true, and in such a lovely way. This past spring, I received a message from a reader named Valta, via my Facebook Author page: Just finished The Widows and loved it!! Told my friend and she is...
by Jess Montgomery | Nov 7, 2019 | Gratitude, Inspiration, On the road, Other People's Books
I arrived at Bouchercon 2019 on October 30 and returned from it four days ago–and my head is still a bit in a Bouchercon whirl. I loved seeing old friends, making new friends, and spending time with my terrific Minotaur publishing team. I even met, for the first...
