The Website of Author

Kelly
Jones

Is this a new book?

December 3, 2021

LOST AND FOUND IN PRAGUE

Book #3: the sequel

September 16, 2021

When I published my first Dana Pierson mystery,

Expanding and Going Wide

May 29, 2021

Ok, I’ve expanded and I’m going wide! This may sound like lingo from the Pandemic, the result of sitting around for a year in my sweats, eating junk food, and drinking wine. But, it’s not.

Social distancing and books

March 16, 2020

As a writer, I spend a great deal of time alone, so social distancing didn’t seem to be that big of a deal. And yet . . .

I am not a BOT!

June 2, 2019

Earlier this week, I noticed several new subscribers to my blog. At first, I was delighted. As they continued to pop up, I wondered what the heck was going on. Several years ago, when I redesigned my website, I added a blog, started posting, then . . . not doing a lot of blogging lately, and not seeing many new subscribers.

Drinking Myself Through Another Novel

September 4, 2018

Okay, now that I have your attention, this blog post isn’t strictly about drinking, though some drinking is involved.

Pardon my French

September 21, 2017

 

Forty-three years ago today

September 8, 2017

 

Where have you been, Kelly Jones?

August 12, 2017

 

The Lost Murnau Scene

August 22, 2015

 Often when traveling, doing research for a book, I come across a setting, a character, or both together, and fall in love, and just know I have to write about it.  While visiting Germany, gathering information for my novel

And my favorite is . . .

June 9, 2015

 At a recent library book event, where I was discussing and reading from my most recent novel,

The Magic of Prague

March 19, 2015

 Fairy-tale spires pierce a misty sky over waves of red-tiled roofs.  Musicians, vendors, and tourists swarm along the Charles Bridge spanning the Vltava River. Children giggle as marionettes dance.  At sunset, stone saints along the balustrades stand in silhouette against the fuchsia, tangerine, and pink hues of the evening.  Each day, street performers, artists, and the 15

What to Wear to a Book Signing

February 3, 2015

I was once invited to a book conference where it was suggested the writers dress as characters from their books. As many writers, I’m a bit of an introvert, and I don’t particularly like to make a spectacle of myself. I spend days alone writing, and when I step out into the world to meet readers, I really don&rsquo

My Christmas in Bethlehem

December 23, 2014

I’ve always called Idaho home. When I was young, I spent time away, mostly for school, but I always came back, especially for the holidays. In my sixty-plus years, I’ve spent just one Christmas away from home.

Yes, I'll come to your book club

November 14, 2014

 One of my favorite ways to connect with readers is through book clubs. I’ve visited groups in my home state of Idaho and as far away as New York by phone.  Recently I flew to California. Yes, for a book club!

Graveyard Tourists

October 3, 2014

 I once read an article in a travel magazine about tourists who seek out graveyards.  I thought it weird, perhaps a little morbid, until I realized I myself had visited a number of the places on the list. What better way to understand a city and its history than to visit the local cemetery?

Books are like puppies

September 5, 2014

 Long ago, in what seems like a different life—different spouse, different house, different century—we bought a puppy. My then-husband wanted a hunting dog.  I wanted a pet who would become a member of the family.  We found the perfect puppy in a beautiful little Brittany Spaniel.  We called her Cindy, though she had a fancy name, registered with the AKC.  We decided to breed her once, and envisioned a litter of pedigreed puppies.  Unfortunately, and sadly, the one litter was fathered by the neighborhood mutt, who managed to jump over what we were sure was an impenetrable, unscalable eight-foot fence.  

NO PLACE FOR KIDS

August 10, 2014

 I often go back to my hometown of Twin Falls, Idaho, to visit family.  As I was writing my latest book,

The Alley

July 31, 2014

 Who says the setting for a story has to be exotic.  In my novella, EVEL KNIEVEL JUMPS THE SNAKE RIVER CANYON, much of the action takes place in an alley.  Not a scary, thug infested alley, or a place my fallen hero, or heroine, might meet to score some drugs, but the alley of my childhood.  Kids nowadays don’t know about alleys, yet they were an important part of my growing up.  Everyone had an alley running behind their house.  It was in the alley that I met my childhood best friend when they moved in on the other side, their house facing one street over.  

How Deep is the Snake River Canyon?

June 22, 2014

When Evel Knievel came to Twin Falls in the summer of 1974 to prepare for the event of the century, his jump across the Snake River Canyon, the spin began!  He claimed the canyon was over 600 feet deep and 4,781 feet wide.  Local engineers put the width at about 1,600 feet, substantially less than the almost mile-wide gap the showman claimed.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

June 6, 2014

 As a writer I abhor clichés.  But, in this case, it just seems to fit.  So how did I find myself in this very uncomfortable place?

LIBRARY!

June 2, 2014

In Boise, the big letters spelling out L-I-B-R-A-R-Y on the building are followed by an exclamation point! I've always thought the library was a fun place, deserving of an exclamation point, which maybe makes me a bit of a nerd.  I seldom go to borrow a novel anymore, because I like to buy books.  As a fiction writer myself I think it is important to support my fellow writers in this way.  Yet, I’m always delighted to see one of my own books on a library shelf.

Ninth Avenue Press

May 19, 2014

 I grew up in Twin Falls, Idaho, on Ninth Avenue.  During the twenty-two years I called Twin Falls home—four of these college summers—I lived in just two houses, one right next door to the other.

Write What You Know, or Going Back to My Backyard

May 6, 2014

Writers are often advised to “write what you know,” but personally I’ve always resisted. My first book was inspired by a set of medieval tapestries,

Then and now . . .

April 24, 2014

When I was twenty years old and about to start my junior year in college, I bid my parents farewell at the Greyhound depot in Twin Falls, Idaho. We wouldn't see each other, or even talk on the phone, until late spring the following year. After taking the bus to Salt Lake City, I flew to New York where I met up with other classmates. We got on a boat (yes, a boat!) and ten days later we arrived in Europe, ready to start our year abroad and our adventure as students at Gonzaga-in-Florence.

The Pope Who Didn't Show Up

April 18, 2014

 

When Do You Take the Trip?

April 14, 2014

 Early in my writing career I realized how much fun it was to set my novels in places far from my home in Idaho.  Readers often ask, “Do you visit the settings of your novels?”

Booking A Trip

March 27, 2014

Before we take off on a trip, we do our homework—travel books, online research. My husband is the family tour agent and organizer and always books our flights, land travel, and rooms. I read the fiction. A good novel can often set the scene better than the guidebooks with their lists of things not to miss, places to stay and eat. To put me in the mood and introduce me to the setting, I love a good work of fiction, whether it’s historical or contemporary. We’re off this spring to visit Italy. Here are some of my favorites, set in my favorite Italian city, Florence:

A writer's journey in reading, writing, and searching for stories around the world.

March 20, 2014

Yes, I'm starting a blog. This surprises even me. Many of the blogs I read are very personal and I’m not one to rip myself open, pull out my heart and present it on a platter for the world to see. Some bloggers—