Jeanne Meeks
AUTHOR

Jeanne Meeks

Literature & Fiction | Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
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Outdoors woman, author, publisher, late bloomer, and cheerleader for women who try. Through her mystery fiction, Jeanne inspires women to do more than they thought they could. "A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water." -E.Roosevelt. Jeanne Meeks began backpacking in 2005 and hiked across the Grand Canyon where a tragedy prompted her to write "Rim to Rim." Another hiking trip landed her on Isle Royale and inspired a second backcountry mystery, "Wolf Pack." The ladies on her tennis team enjoyed her novels so much, they urged her to write the tennis team into the next mystery. "Gator Bait- A Tennis Team Mystery" and "Killer Serve - A tennis Team Mystery" are the happy result. Since then Jeanne and several adventurous friends bicycled unsupported across Illinos and then Missouri the following year. Their trek across Ohio in 2018 was cut short by a crash that put Jeanne in surgery for a shattered shoulder and broken elbow. While recovering, she's trying to figure out how to create a novel from the experiences. In the 1990s Ms. Meeks was committed to poetry, belonged to Poets and Other Writers, and gave poetry performances as part of that group. Her work appeared in several anthologies. She also self-published a book of poetry, My Sister's Quilt. Ms. Meeks' short story, Eternally Yours, was published in 2013 by HK Books in the UK in "The Other Side-An Anthology of Fiction Talent." She recently won first place in a Midlife Collage contest with a slice-of-life short story, "A Kind Word." "Rim To Rim" was nominated for Best First Novel at the Mystery Writers' 2014 Love is Murder convention in Chicago. It was also nominated for the Illinois Author's Project by the Librarian Association. After twenty-eight years in business, Ms. Meeks and her husband sold their security surveillance company. Ms. Meeks was recognized by the Illinois governor as the Small-Business Person of the Year. She was the Tax Collector for her township and has been the President of the Chamber of Commerce, on the board of a local bank, and on Silver Cross Hospital's Community Trustee Board. Ms. Meeks now writes full-time and belongs to Mystery Writers of America and writers' groups in Illinois and Florida. She reads extensively, edits for other authors, and writes a blog at www.jeannemeeks.com about Learning to Write and other things she loves. This year a band, Eve&Me, asked her to write a ballad based on "Rim To Rim" and turned her lyrics into beautiful music. When not writing, Jeanne backpacks, kayaks, entertains the grandchildren, volunteers with the local historical society, and plays tennis (lots of tennis), pickleball, or golf. Married in 1969, she lives with her husband on Florida's gulf coast and in a suburb of Chicago. From the Author Herself I got hooked on writing when my fourth-grade essay, The Meaning of Courtesy, won a contest. I loved the prize and the attention, though the trip to the principal's office scared me to death. My college essays sometimes surface and still give me a thrill. Later, while I worked full-time in our family business, I satisfied my craving to write with the most finely crafted business letters you'd ever find. On the side, I wrote poetry, but vowed one day to write a book. Ten-chapters of a non-fiction, how-to-survive-the-family-business book now sit in a box somewhere. Once we sold the business, I had the time to write, but didn't. During a trip to the Grand Canyon in 2007, rumors made their way down the trails that a four-year-old girl had fallen from the rim to her death. The tragedy haunted me. I needed to write something, to speak from my heart, but I could not write that story. Instead, I wrote a fictional mystery adventure set in the canyon and killed off a few bad guys. My sorrow for that little girl and her family is in there--in between the lines. Now I write everyday. What started off as a lonely pursuit with a pen and a spiral notebook, blossomed like wildflowers in a summer field. I'm intimately familiar with my laptop computer. I have a website, a Facebook page, and accounts on Goodreads, Linkedin, Pinterest, istock, etc. etc. I know how to format for Kindle from a Mac. I can hyper-link, download, and bookmark. Other authors seek me out to critique their stories. I've met dozens of authors with books on the New York Times bestsellers list. With story ideas for the tennis team series spinning in my head, there is suddenly too little time. My bucket list keeps refilling, and I'm having a wonderful life.
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Product List
  • Rim to Rim Audiobook By Jeanne Meeks cover art

    • Rim to Rim

    • Death in the Grand Canyon
    • By: Jeanne Meeks
    • Narrated by: Betsy Beard
    • Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
    • Release date: 12-06-16
    • Language: English
    • 4 out of 5 stars 24 ratings

    Regular price: $24.95 or 1 credit

    Sale price: $24.95 or 1 credit

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  • Gator Bait Audiobook By Jeanne Meeks cover art

    Regular price: $24.95 or 1 credit

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