Lots of people dream about dumping their day jobs and setting out on some wildly successful artistic career. The problem is that the dumping part is usually much easier than the wildly successful part. But not for celebrated mystery writer Louise Penny.

Seventeen years ago, she left a spot as a CBC Radio broadcaster in Quebec that she’d held for almost two decades and went off to create Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the star detective in a string of mystery novels that has grown more popular and admired with each installment.

Penny brings her latest tale, A Long Way Home, to a special Vancouver Writers Fest event next Wednesday (September 3) at St. Andrew’s–Wesley United Church downtown. See the Vancouver Writers Fest website for details.