It’s so nice to meet you!

I’m Jessica Noll and I’ve been writing since the day I could hold a pen in my hand. Starting with doodles and scribbles, soon turned into short stories, essays and poetry. But I almost didn’t become a writer. My journey to today, began with changing my college major from nursing to English.

After earning my bachelor’s in English, with an emphasis in professional writing, I joined a small newspaper group in Dayton, Ohio, where I found my passion for telling others’ stories. I got a two-year crash course in journalism at the newspaper and decided I wanted to learn everything I could about my chosen field. So, I went to graduate school at Columbia College Chicago and earned my master’s degree in journalism. I spent the next two decades as an investigative journalist — both in TV and print/digital, discovering a calling within my field: crime and justice.

I covered murder trials and executions, sat face-to-face with victims’ families, and reported on just as many injustices as justice served. I’ve interviewed convicted death row inmates, criminal psychologists, forensic scientists, medical examiners and detectives from small towns and big cities — all to investigate unsolved, cold cases that begged for answers.

Nearly 20 years into my career, I shifted my focus, my curiosity and the way I chose to craft a story, after listening to and being inspired by S-Town. That’s when I started true crime podcasting — creating, producing, investigating, writing and hosting stories involving unsolved murder and missing persons cases in need of a voice.

I’ve already had a writing journey of a lifetime working with some of the best in the biz — like Josh Mankiewicz from Dateline NBC, who I now have the pleasure of calling my friend. Sure, I have been honored with several awards and accolades for my work. But that’s never been my reason. YOU have always been the catalyst for what I do. And my journey with you — and my story — is far from over. Because I’m turning the page and starting my next chapter, so to speak.

Now, I’m venturing into the world of fiction. I’m ready to give myself the voice I’ve been lending to others for nearly a quarter of a century. So, here I am currently writing and revising my debut thriller novel.

Why now? When my brother, Randy unexpectedly passed away two years ago, something inside me shifted. Grief is a powerful, painful journey. It comes in small bursts of sharp pain, and some days, it devours you with all-encompassing waves of destruction. Somewhere along the way, between my vivid dreams, blurry tears, and long runs to shake it away or make sense of it, I saw a vision of what was next. It was something I had wanted to tackle for years, but always pushed it to the side. Next year, when I have more time. After I finish this story, that podcast. Guess what? Time doesn’t last forever. And my brother always took the bull by the horns and jumped into his next adventure with both feet. The only failure was not doing it.

For me, writing has always been a therapeutic outlet. This time, was no different — except I was jumping in with both feet too. It began to heal the cracks inside me, helping me to leverage myself from falling to deeply into a black abyss of despair. And for as long as I can remember, I’ve had this story burning inside — gnawing at me to get it out on paper when the time was right. …and that time is now. My brother has been my guiding force, my creative muse, my North Star when I’m lost and spiraling inside real life and need to escape into my fictional world.

And can I tell you something? I’m loving every second of this new journey. I have spent my whole career honing skills that relied on facts. Now? I get to make shit up. But it’s more than that. It’s using and validating so much of my own personal and professional experiences in this and in my future novels. I’m not sure I had this whole story inside me before. Now, I do. And now, it’s finally on paper. That’s empowering. And I know my cheerleader up above is so proud. He shows me with black butterflies on my runs. But that’s a story for another day.

Aside from writing, I love running, so much so, that I’ve run the Chicago Marathon three times. I fall asleep to The Golden Girls or Forensic Files. And my earliest memory of crime fiction is watching Matlock and Murder She Wrote with my Grandma Jane. I love anything leopard print. And I adore my three pups, Sophie, Charlie and Max.

So, that’s me in about 800 words. Tell me all about you! If you love reading or watching mysteries or thrillers — or you’re a writer or dog lover or runner, I would love to hear from you! What are you writing? Reading? Binge-watching? What upcoming race are you training for? And don’t forget to tell me about your pups!

In the meantime, join me on my challenging, scary-but-exciting, new writing journey by following my social media, below!

Until we meet again in the pages of my debut novel…

XO,

Jessica