Jess Lourey's Blog, page 3

Women's Writing and Yoga Retreat in Colorado

Imagine waking up in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies. It’s peaceful and quiet. The only thing you have to do is focus on your creativity. You don’t have to go grocery shopping or make dinner or work or cook. You only have to do gentle yoga and write.   How much could you accomplish? Care to join m…

The Quarry Girls Deleted Scenes

When I first wrote The Quarry Girls, there was no Beth. There were, however, more excerpts from Heather Cash's diary, including sketches. I envisioned Heather as a character who—like me, at her age—loved those gag gift ads at the back of comic books and created slightly twisted versions of them to exp…

New Foster Kittens!

I'm in the middle of my busiest month of the year, but I couldn't pass up fostering this batch of super-goobers. From left to right: Sprout (she's a torbie with one grey paw and the attitude of a lioness); Mustard (he's an easygoing chonk who convinces himself he's able to fly every time I pick him…

The Quarry Girls Is Out!

Aiigggghhhh! I am THRILLED to report that The Quarry Girls has been chosen as an Amazon First Reads!!! That means it's available through Kindle a month early! Even better? It’s a free download for Prime members and only $1.99 for everyone else. Get yours today! Killers hiding in plain sight. S…

BLOODLINE Won!

Lotsa fun news from the last two weeks! First (and I'm still buzzing from this): BLOODLINE won the Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original! The awards banquet was held last Saturday in Minneapolis, and I was thrilled to be in attendance and hanging with my crime writing community. The award was…

Win a QUARRY GIRLS Promo Box

The Quarry Girls, a thriller and the best book I've ever written, releases in two short months, and to celebrate, I've created the promo box to end all promo box. The box is a retro 1977—the year The Quarry Girls takes place—Swanson's TV dinner. Inside is a signed early paperback of the thriller alo…

Book in a Bag Is Back!

Thank you to everyone who emailed to ask if I'd start selling the Book in a Bag kits again. As proof that I was a magpie in a past life, I have a pretty, pretty stash of them that I was saving for some desperate future narrative shortage that only I could have predicted (???), but that's weird, I…

New Series

I just turned in my latest manuscript to my publisher, the first in a proposed new series! The series is not Kolchak, though I did watch summa that to celebrate (see photo). I also enjoyed a crisp IPA with my favorite doctored-up pizza (Tombstone, natch; I am a child of the '80s, after all). I…

BLOODLINE Won!

I just returned from ThrillerFest in New York, where BLOODLINE picked up the Best Paperback Original Thriller Award. My publisher can attest that hearing my name froze me. I sat in my seat for three to four seconds, certain that if I stood up and walked on stage, some bouncer would rush over, pity…

Leave My Book Alone!

As we head into winter, I've been thinking about the light and dark in all of us. I used to react to the behavior of others as if it was black and white. If they were nice to me, they were nice people. If they did something unkind, I'd freeze them out. They're a bad person, I'd tell myself. Thanks…