Jill Kelly

I've always been in love with words and sentences. The first books I remember reading came from the Airstream bookmobile that traveled once a week to the general store in rural Skamania, Washington. The first stories I wrote (at age 9) were in a spiral notebook and illustrated with magazine cut-outs. I still have those notebooks!

I've been writing steadily since 2002 and publishing since 2007. Writing my memoir, Sober Truths: The Making of an Honest Woman, was much more satisfying than I could have imagined, both personally and as a writing professional. I healed up a lot of old negative experiences and I rediscovered the joy I had felt as a kid when I was writing.

Each new book has its own challenges. I've just finished the sequel to Fog of Dead Souls, called Broken Boy. And I'm in the middle of writing a personal/researched book on sugar addiction. They have been very different writing experiences.

I love the responses I get from readers to my books. That's perhaps the biggest thrill of all.

Bio: I've been a salad maker, a barista, a bookkeeper, a receptionist, an office shipping expert, and a college professor. But I make most of my living as an editor for other writers and writing coach, and I make my joy with writing and painting.

I live in Portland, Oregon, with 3 cats (Frannie, Evie, and Mr. Sam), and I'm still trying to teach them to vacuum so I won't have to.