Why do you write the genre that you write?
Crime fiction was the genre that I liked to read – any sub-genre but I especially enjoyed traditional mysteries.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
So many of them have quirky personalities that is hard to pick one but readers find it interesting that my sleuth, Meg Daniels, does not drink coffee. She will get some morning caffeine in a “morning Coke.”

Tell us how you got into writing?
A friend mentioned that she was going to write a mystery and kill a nemesis from college. I had a boss I wanted to kill. So, I did. On paper.

What jobs have you held before, during and/or after you became a writer?
I worked in the online information industry before the Internet existed doing development, marketing and training for products used by all types of libraries (public, academic, legal, corporate, medical) worldwide. Since I started writing, I tried a variety of jobs that I would not take home with me. It took a long time to find one. I worked part-time and then slipped into retirement.

Where do you write?
I prefer to write in a public place. The ideal situation is eating breakfast in an old-fashioned coffee shop with a water view.

What is your favorite deadline snack?
Peanut butter crackers of the sort usually found in vending machines.

Who is an author you admire?
I admire any author who can make me laugh and cry within the same book, paragraph and, most amazingly, sentence. Dave Eggers is an example.

What’s your favorite genre to read?
I like to read traditional mysteries and historical non-fiction. I am trying to read more general fiction.

What are you reading now?
Fiction: Fly Away by Kristin Hannah, Non-Fiction: Listening to When France Fell by Michael S. Neiberg

What is your favorite beverage to end the day?
Water

What is next for you?
Another Meg Daniels mystery probably set in Wildwood New Jersey.

Where can we find you?
My website at janekelly.net and on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Now to have some fun . . .

Chocolate or vanilla
Vanilla

Cake or ice cream
A recent switch to cake

Fruits or vegetables
Vegetables

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Breakfast

Dining in or dining out
Dining out

City life or country living
City life

Beach or mountain
Beach

Summer or winter
Winter

Short story or full-length novel
Full length novel

Extrovert or introvert
Extrovert

Early bird or night owl
A recent switch to early bird

And even more fun . . .

What’s your favorite movie?
So many but I love the rom-coms of the 1980s and 1990s. I’ll pick Notting Hill.

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
Assuming I can’t be stranded on an island with wireless , I will go with Chapstick, Chocolate Chip Cookies (light on the chips) and a preloaded Kindle.

My bio:
Jane Kelly is a native Philadelphian but no matter where her career took her – New York, Washington DC, Boston, Chicago or Phoenix – at least once a year she managed to visit the Jersey Shore where the Meg Daniels mysteries are set. Jane is a graduate of Chestnut Hill College, has an MS from Drexel University in Library and Information Science and an MPhil in Popular Literature form Trinity College, Dublin. She currently lives in the Philadelphia area where her “Writing in Time Mysteries” and “Widow Lady Mysteries” are set. She is a past-president of the Delaware Valley Sisters in Crime chapter and has served on the board of the New York City Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Her fourth and sixth Meg Daniels mysteries from Plexus Publishing, Missing You in Atlantic City (2015) and Strangers in the Avalon Dunes (2023), won Independent Publishers Book Awards for mid-Atlantic fiction.