After giving up on my dream to become a detective after overdoing my fixation with Nancy Drew, a series of novels for young girls written in the1930s, a time when cars still had rumble seats, I decided to become a writer instead. I was ten and thought the best way to make this a paying profession was to write a newsletter about the neighborhood dogs. Of course, my neighbors had to buy copies because how do you say no to a ten-year-old? I’ve upped my game since then and am a freelance writer, author, columnist, and photographer who specializes in travel, food, book reviews, personalities, culture, archit4ecture, wine, spirits, traditions, and lifestyles.

My Travel/Food blog, janeammeson.com, now gets about 250,000 views. I also write about books for my shelflife.blog which also features my interviews with authors. I am a book reviewer for the New York Journal of Books and a panelist for Voyage. My travel and food podcasts are available on Spotify. My weekly book column and bi-weekly travel column for the Northwest Indiana Times, the second largest paper in the state and the third largest in the Chicagoland area. I also write a weekly food column for the Herald Palladium, the largest paper in Southwest Michigan. My other outlets include Long Weekends Magazine, Great Lakes Boating (destination pieces), Ohio Magazine, MexConnect, Southland Today (a suburban Chicago newspaper), Get Healthy, Edible Michiana, Edible Indy, and Chicago Life magazine.

I love to travel and write about destinations and do updates for Lonely Planet as well. I am a former James Beard Tasting Judge and currently a Citizen Judge for the Taste Awards and Design Den. I have written 16 non-fiction books on such varied subjects as historic true crime, restaurants, and history. My book "Lincoln Road Trips" published by Indiana University Press won the Bronze Award in the Lowell Thomas

Journalism Awards for Best Travel Book. My books cover such diverse topics as food and historic true crime. I am the editor of the Midwest Travel Journalists monthly newsletter, have contributed to USA Today’s Best of series, and have written several travel apps.

Among the people I have interviewed for my book blog, columns and magazine and newspaper articles include Erik Larson, Kirk Herbstreit, John Grisham, John Meacham, Drew Barrymore, Harlan Coben, Chris Bohjalian, Perez Hilton, Reggie Brooks, Kate White, Karen White, Merrill Markoe, Michael Ian Black, Pete Buttigieg, Ginger Zee, Scott Turow, President Jimmy Carter, Alexandra Petri, Lisa Gardner, Anthony Horowitz, Chuck Hogan, Madeleine Albright, Kristen Doute, Ruth Ware, David Bell, Louise Candlish, Reagan Pasternak, David Baldacci, and Lee Child.

For my food and travel blog as well as my food column, Edible magazines, and other newspapers and magazines, I have interviewed such chefs/cookbook authors/ restaurateurs as this year’s James Beard Best Chef Southwest Andrew Black and Sherry Pocknett of Sly Fox Den Too in Charlestown, RI who became the first Indigenous woman to win a James Beard Award. I’ve also interviewed Ina Garten, Alex Guarnaschelli, Jacque Pepin, Abra Berens, Melissa King, Stephanie Izard, Buddy Gail Simmons, Andrew Zimmern, Scott Conant, Tara Bench, Jerrelle Guy, Mark Bittman, Janet Fletcher, Katie Parla, Anne Willans, Justin Chapple, Adam Richman, Paul Saginaw, Abra Berens, Dorie Greenspan, Valerie Bertinelli, Tiffani Thiessen, Danielle Walker, Lisa Ludwinski, Emeril, Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich, Marcella Hazan, Lorenza d’Medici, Geoffrey Zacharian, Giada de Laurentis, Carla Hall, Ree Drummond, Nigella, Judson Todd Allen, Fabio, Jose Pizarro, John Besh, Kristin Cavallari, and Mindy Segal among others.