Local author focuses on Nevada history

Jay Crowley has a passion for writing about Nevada, though Jay isn’t her real name. The Jacks Valley resident and prolific author said those in Carson City probably know her as Judie Fisher.

“It’s Judie Fisher-Crowley,” she said Oct. 19 at the Appeal office. “When I switched to Jay, I didn’t have trouble getting published.”

In that chosen pen name, there might be a whole discussion about sexism in the publishing industry, but Crowley didn’t want to talk about that. She didn’t want to talk much about her upbringing in Virginia City, her Irish mining family that came over to Nevada in the late 1800s, or exactly how old she is.

“I age like fine wine,” she said.

The long-time Nevadan wanted to talk about Nevada history and how it intersects with her passion for storytelling. Since retiring as the Carson City human resources director in 2002, she has written and published more than a dozen books that all, in some way, incorporate Nevada history.

“I’m a storyteller,” she said. “I like to tell a story but then let the reader use a little bit of their own imagination.”

Crowley had plenty of stories to tell about growing up in the Silver State and running personnel for the capital city, but she was more interested in explaining how she made the jump to literature.

“After retiring, I had to decide what to do,” she said. “I wasn’t going to watch The View or Dr. Phil, so I decided I was going to write.”

Writing came naturally to her. As a young woman, she had gravitated toward classic poetry, finding time to read in a somewhat wild environment.

“I was raised by my grandmother, and when all of them were yakking, I’d read,” she said. “Kids didn’t interrupt adults back then.”

Crowley said her own mother was “a honkytonk piano player.”

“She played at the Bucket of Blood Saloon for years,” she said.

That early reading would serve Crowley well. Even before working for Carson, she worked as a personnel technician for the state.

“I traveled all over Nevada testing people who wanted to work for us,” she said.

She can still name the places that fascinate her—Soda Lakes, the Forty Mile Desert, Sutro Tunnel. It was this formative experience of the state that mingled with her literary sensibilities to produce a storyteller.

“The reason I decided to write about Nevada is we have so many people here who are new, and we have so much history,” Crowley said.

Her books create a kind of Nevada mythos: tales of treasure, murder, and intrigue in the high desert. Lahontan City, for example, takes place in the ghost town of the real settlement that was built during construction of the Lahontan Dam. Treasure Stuck in Time has a modern plot that revolves around lost gold from an 1885 robbery near Carson City.

“I love to research,” she said, giving a shoutout to Nevada archivist Guy Rocha. “People need to get away from the TV and videogames and learn about where we live.”

Some of her books explore dark subject matter. Drum of Hope is about sex trafficking, and A Ship in the Desert explores post-traumatic stress disorder. She said her lightest read is probably The Cabin in the Meadow, set in Hope Valley.

“All my books are standalone,” she said. “I hate series. Sure enough, they never finish them.”

Besides authoring books, Crowley proofreads and edits for clients and has been published in anthologies. She regularly reads and signs books at local events.

“I’m just an everyday person,” she said. “I’m no different than anybody else.”

She added to this with a wry smile.

“I get to murder people on paper,” she said.

For information about Crowley and her books, email jaycrowleybooks@gmail.com or visit www.sweetdreamsbooks.com.