Montgomery, Jess: - JESS MONTGOMERY writes a Writer's Digest magazine column, "Level Up Your Writing (Life)" and was formerly the "Literary Life" columnist for the Dayton Daily News. Based on early chapters of the first book in the Kinship Series, The Widows, Jess was awarded an Ohio Arts Council individual artist's grant for literary arts and named the John E. Nance Writer-in-Residence at Thurber House in Columbus. Jess lives in her native state of Ohio.