Jess Lourey at Sleuthfest 2017

Picture of the Day for February 25, 2017. I've been attending Sleuthfest for years now and I've attended a lot of good workshops on how to write a novel, but hands down Jess Lourey's sessions have been the most helpful and inspiring. I actually feel like I can go out and write a novel now without it feeling so daunting. I can't wait for her instructional book, Rewrite Your Life, to come out in May. 

Jess is one of my favorite authors* and I was so excited to meet her. She was so lovely and personable and encouraging. After her first workshop, I went up to talk to Jess and she said I was the "friendly face" in the crowd she focused on as she spoke. I was pretty flattered by that. She seemed genuinely interested in the novel I would like to write someday and fascinated by the Merrill family trait of going gray at a very young age. That may even make itself into one of her novels... 

*Check out her murder-by-month series.