Happy Sunday, y’all!

I read something this week that gave me pause. An indie author wrote—and I’m paraphrasing—that readers just don’t care about the authors’ writing process. They don’t care about the authors’ day-to-day existence, how we write, how we think. That the finished product is all that matters, and even that is transient and will only stay in the readers’ consciousness for a hot minute unless it’s something truly unique. 

Now parts of this I’m sure are totally true—no one wants to hear writers whining about how hard their work is. But I am a reader, and I’m always interested in how the writer mind works, especially how a writer built a story. 

So I’m curious, and if you’d take a moment and record a response, I’d appreciate it. Sometimes it does feel like I’m writing into the void, and since I’m getting ready for my annual sabbatical, I’m deciding what I’m going to be doing over the break—and that includes blogging. This is totally unscientific and totally anonymous, so don’t worry. I’m just curious.

Or click here to answer the poll.

And since nevertheless, she persisted, here’s what happening in my world.

My publisher tells me GOOD GIRLS LIE is doing well out in the world. The reviews and the ratings make a HUGE difference, so if you get a chance to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads, please do. If you’re planning on reading it, but haven’t yet, please add it to your Goodreads shelf. Many thanks—these things matter tremendously, more than you know. 

For the first time in a long while, it’s been a quiet weekend. I’m at home, which is a huge bonus. I’m working on the new book again, another huge bonus. I had grand plans about writing on the road, but I think I managed 300 words on my first flight and another small chunk two days in when I had a couple of hours between events, but after that, I was in tour mode and I found it too much to try and focus for tiny increments. I finally threw up my hands and said c’est la vie! 

So now the laundry is done, the bags are unpacked, the house has settled back into a normal biorhythm. The cats are so freaking happy to have both of us home at once again (DH had travel in the middle of tour, so that meant kitty sitting) that they keep waking us in the night, chirping and purring. This too will settle down in short order. 

The daffodils are trying to bloom, which means I need to start thinking about the garden. We need to do some work on our laundry room. And oh, yeah, I need to finish the new book. It’s going to be a nice, quiet start to the year. Hurrah!

Speaking of starts—Season 5 of A WORD ON WORDS has begun! Check out my interview with investigative reporter Jeremy Finley about his amazing book THE DARK ABOVE.

On to the links…

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

It’s a terribly sad weekend in the literary world, as we’ve lost a legend. RIP, Mary Higgins Clark.

A Veteran Screenwriter Makes Jane Austen Sexy. Have you watched Sanditon yet? What did you think?

The 11 Best Hotels for Book Lovers. Let’s go! I’ve actually stayed in several of these, including the Sheraton in Edinburgh which is as divine as they say.

Jack Reacher series author Lee Child ‘quits and lets brother step in.’ What an interesting development! I know Andrew will do Lee and Reacher justice, he’s a fantastic writer.

20 Books to Read in 2020. Amazing list—so happy to see GOOD GIRLS LIE on it!

How to Make Balanced Non-Alcoholic Cocktails, According to Bartenders. For my fellow Dry January peeps... some seriously cool combos. I’m missing several of these fun bases in my bar, but will be adding them soon.

Oh what a night! Twitter brings £1,000 worth of orders to empty bookshop. This is marvelous! Support indie bookstores however you can.

Five ways to recycle your unwanted books. Great ideas! I love donating mine.

10 Fascinating Facts About the Thesaurus for National Thesaurus Day. The more you know… I’ve always been a huge fan of the thesaurus.

How Three Bestselling Authors Boost Book Sales By Writing Collaboratively. Love seeing authors support each other. It’s more important now than any other time that we stand together and not tear each other down. Our industry is in flux, and we must, we MUST, work together.

8 Bequests By Famous Authors to Libraries. Makes you think about what you'd want to leave to your library...

WHAT I’M READING:

THE THIRD TO DIE by Allison Brennan

Look at this amazing cover! The book is riveting, terrifying, and simply fantastic. Brennan ratchets up the tension to the breaking point with her new FBI MRT team chasing a devious killer. This is classic crime fiction at its best. With deep characterizations and a truly scary villain driving the twisted plot, this is the start of a brilliant new series from the queen of the thriller. It comes out on Tuesday so be sure to get your preorder in!

What are you reading?

That’s it from me. Thanks for taking the poll! Take an afternoon and hit your favorite indie, work on a new project, be it garden or book, clean out a drawer, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.