Luesse, Valerie Fraser: - Valerie Fraser Luesse is the bestselling author of Missing Isaac, Almost Home, The Key to Everything, and Under the Bayou Moon. She is an award-winning magazine writer best known for her feature stories and essays in Southern Living, where she recently retired as senior travel editor. Specializing in stories about unique pockets of Southern culture, Luesse received the 2009 Writer of the Year award from the Southeast Tourism Society for her editorial section on Hurricane Katrina recovery in Mississippi and Louisiana. A graduate of Auburn University and Baylor University, she lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband, Dave.