December 20, 2020

Sunday Smatterings

December 20, 2020/ J.T. Ellison

Happy Sunday, friends! Welcome to the last Smatterings of 2020!

The holidays are in full swing, and almost all of publishing is taking off the two weeks between now and the holidays. And team JT is doing the same! You will see some pre-programmed sales and posts, including my best of 2020 list, but I’m putting up my away message and diving into the holidays (and a big stack of books.)

I’m rather excited about this little vacation from the day to day business. I’m still going to write, just so I don’t lose momentum on the manuscript, but I won’t be sitting down at my desk at 10 am and writing through until 5 or 6. It’s been a really great writing month, but now it’s time to do some editing, and of course, start analysis for my Annual Review. It’s going to be interesting to look at the goals I set at the beginning of the year, the mid-year shift I made to accommodate the pandemic, and what actually ended up happening.

This is a good time to start thinking about what I want to accomplish next year, too. As I’ve discussed many times here, what may have seemed vital last year is no longer important, which is something I think we’ve all experienced, and I can’t imagine we aren’t better for it. Solitude has a way of opening the senses, allowing enlightenment, bringing peace. I hope that 2020, despite it being the worst year many of us have ever experienced, has also brought a certain amount of sanctity to your life. Whether it’s learning to bake bread or providing for a front line warrior or donating to a shelter or finding new ways to interact with your loved ones or homeschooling or adopting a pandemic puppy or even creating life (y’all, the 2020 pandemic baby boom could be the stuff of legends) whatever you’ve done this year to find joy and happiness in the midst of our chaos is a good thing.

I want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to the front line workers in hospitals and grocery stores and factories and schools and delivery services who have put themselves in harm’s way this year. You are selfless, and brave, and every time I put on my mask, it’s a salute to you.

And you, my friends. You are amazing. Keep taking care of yourself. “Put your mask on first” has never been more relevant. Find your self care. Take a moment to recognize you’ve been through a trauma — we all have — and it’s okay to want to do something for you, and you alone. Take some quiet time today and reflect on the year, and then let out a whoop of joy because there is hope, and you are loved.

May your holidays be safe, happy, uneventful, and I’ll see you in 2021.

Onward!

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

Those Bogus Bookcases for Zoom Calls Aren’t Fooling Anybody. Ha! I have seen quite a few bookshelves and trust me, we are all putting our best foot forward. I mean, who thought we were going to have to merge our business lives with our private lives?

The Best Crime Novels of 2020. See any of your favorites here? I do!

15 Must-Read Books If You Loved These Fantastic TV Shows. Such interesting pairings!

'Unscheduled, Delightful Conversations': Book Biz Shares Memories of BookExpo. This brought back good memories. I hate that we’re losing BookExpo, which has a raft of wonderful memories for me.

The Southern Bookseller Review. An exciting new endeavor from SIBA — a full-blown review site!

43 Great Books For Everyone On Your Holiday List. How is your shopping coming along? I’m almost done…

15 Thriller Novels To Read If You Breezed Right Through HBO's "The Undoing." This list is for me!

Famed mystery writer G.K. Chesterton proudly, sincerely believed in Santa Claus. This is sweet. I still believe in Santa. Do you?

16 Books About Princess Diana That Pull Back the Curtain. Perfect for anyone watching The Crown. I know it’s a fictionalized version of what happened, but no one can deny Diana had a rough go of it.

20 Gorgeous Book Sleeves To Keep Your Books Safe. So many great options!

Oh, and by the way… The first three books in my Taylor Jackson series are on sale!

That’s it from me. Love one another, and I’ll see you next year! Merry EVERYTHING!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

December 13, 2020

Sunday Smatterings

December 13, 2020/ J.T. Ellison

Happy Sunday, friends! When I opened my computer this morning, my screensaver had rotated to a road cutting through shadowed mountains. I immediately began singing “We’re on a road, to nowhere...” which I’ve now decreed the theme song of 2020. But it’s also the most perfect place to start a day of creative writing.

I had a major realization during an interview the other day — I can work without a net on a series title, but a standalone must have a plan, a structure, an outline. I’ve been writing like mad all week, racking up daily word counts that normally don’t show themselves until the end of a book, but this time are coming at the beginning — and it’s because I’ve been thinking through the plot points and characters since August. I have a partial outline of 48 scenes that I know I need to touch upon, and despite all of that, new people are showing themselves and new scenes are evolving. But it’s all organic to the storytelling, instead of me sitting down and winging it. I don’t want to say I’m a convert, but I’m definitely seeing the value in the process.

Two things in particular helped me edify my 40 scenes planning: Victoria Schwab’s Story Corpse metaphor, and James Patterson’s MasterClass, in which he discusses how he outlines a book. Both are variations of the 40 scenes, both are worth checking into.

And with that, I’m off to write... always respect a streak, right? Lots of amazing stuff below, including a HUGE review for HER DARK LIES. Hint… 🌟

Onward!

BOOK NEWS:

HER DARK LIES got a starred review from Publishers Weekly! It completely blew me away. My jaw literally dropped when I saw it. Thank you, PW, for helping me end 2020 on the highest note possible!

Publishers Weekly also included HER DARK LIES in the Spring 2021 Adult Mystery and Thriller list! I'm incredibly grateful.

This giveaway is almost over: Goodreads is giving away 25 Advanced Reader Copies of HER DARK LIES.

The audiobook for GOOD GIRLS LIE is on sale for $5.99 at Chirp!

The first three books in my Taylor Jackson series are on sale, too.

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

10 Captivating New Thriller and Mystery Books Coming Out in December. Are any of these on your TBR?

Women and Crime Writing: We’ve Always Been Detectives. “If social media has challenged us to talk about the secrets we thought we had learned to live with, our fiction has since reflected that as well. If the mansions of Big Little Lies and the tract homes of Little Fires Everywhere seem familiar it’s that the issues faced by their occupants haven’t changed.”

Betsy Wade, First Woman to Edit News at The Times, Dies at 91. How indebted are we to the wonderful Ms. Wade?

Oxford Dictionaries: 2020 has too many Words of the Year to name just one. That sounds about right.

9 Micro-Habits That Will Completely Change Your Life in a Year. Great tips.

Five Great Psychological Thrillers Set in Isolated Places. Setting can be everything, and this list is perfect!

Jason Reynolds Plays Santa Claus for D.C. Readers and Indies. This is so cool!

10 Untranslatable Words That Perfectly Describe How You're Feeling in 2020. Which one do you most relate to?

See What the World’s Reading Habits Look Like in 2020. I’m always fascinated by how our cultural mores shift alongside literature. Chicken and egg, though - which comes first?

Jane Austen's House Virtual Tour. Very cool.

That’s it from me. Create something this week, even if it’s just tying a bow on a gift for a friend, and I’ll see you next Sunday!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

December 06, 2020

Sunday Smatterings

December 06, 2020/ J.T. Ellison

Happy Sunday, friends!

It’s been a blessedly quiet week here on our little hill. We had a lovely snowstorm to start the week—the perfect kind that lasts all day but doesn’t accumulate on the roads or need shoveling away. Watching it snow (with a cup of cocoa, natch) is so soporific. It takes me right back to childhood, lying on the couch in the living room next to a roaring fire with a book in my hand. Idyllic.

We closed on the old house, as well. Talk about a bittersweet moment. We’d had a much earlier closing in October that fell through hours before we were meant to sign, and having to wait another 5 weeks was quite stressful. I don’t know how many times we said goodbye. I loved our little house so much, and I hated seeing her sit empty, with no books, no laughter, no creativity to fill her to the rafters. That is all over now, and she has a new family. What a relief!

The rest of the week has been taken up with the “write” stuff — lots of work on the new book, research in the form of movie, podcast, and books, notebooks being filled and word counts piling up. It’s too early to even hint at what this story is, but it feels good to be settled into a rhythm and working hard again. This story has been with me for many years, and my characters are shouting to get onto the page. It’s the best feeling, waking up with their words on the tip of my tongue.

We’ve done a few little decorations and I’m putting together my lighted birch trees this afternoon, something we’ve started doing in lieu of evergreens since the girls like to munch on them, but I’m still more focused on getting the house unpacked. Room by room, we’re getting closer and closer. Randy keeps pointing out that most people take 6 months to get fully unpacked. I’m hoping we don’t drag out that long, but who knows. Words are more important right now.

Have you decorated for the holidays yet? What’s your favorite part of December?

Onward!

LAST CHANCE: GOOD GIRLS LIE IS ON SALE:

This deal is almost over! Get GOOD GIRLS LIE for $2.99.

Get your copy:

KINDLE
NOOK
APPLE BOOKS
KOBO
GOOGLE PLAY

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

The Tennessee Solution To Disappearing Book Reviews. Wonderful write up on Chapter 16, one of the best review sites out there.

42 (More!) YA Books We're Desperately Looking Forward To In 2021. My TBR is never going to recover, is it?

The true and untold story behind the novel Surviving Savannah. I’m currently reading this brilliant book by Patti Callahan Henry and I’m blown away. Put this on your must buy list!

How to Improve Your Reading Comprehension as an Adult. It’s never too late to start!

To celebrate Small Business Saturday, here is a list of books recommended by your favorite authors! A wonderful way to build a holiday shopping list to take to your local indie. Bravo to Pamela Klinger-Horn for the idea.

Holiday movie season is upon us! What are some of you favorites?

22 Books for Fans of The Queen's Gambit. This was such an incredible show and I want more in that vein. It was smart, well-adapted, evenly produced, and I can’t wait to read the book!

6 of the Best Snowy Thrillers to Chill Your Bones. Have you read any of these?

Q & A with Holly Black. I always love hearing about what she’s working on…

32 Books Becoming TV Shows in 2021 — Including the Gossip Girl Reboot. Will you be watching any of these?

6 Books to Check Out if You’re Fascinated by the Voynich Manuscript. This list was made for me!

Oh! Don’t forget: Goodreads is giving away 25 Advanced Reader Copies of HER DARK LIES.

That’s it from me. Decorate a bit, have a cup of cocoa ( I particularly love this one), adopt an angel from the Salvation Army, and I’ll see you next Sunday!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

November 29, 2020

Sunday Smatterings

November 29, 2020/ J.T. Ellison

Happy Sunday, friends!

One of my greatest joys is the day after Thanksgiving. Not because of Black Friday, but because it is sanctioned from on high that we eat pie and bacon for breakfast. I know that sounds like a silly thing to feel joy about, but I am firmly in the camp of if it makes you happy, do it, especially this year. The day after birthdays also sees this familial dispensation, when we enjoy cake and bacon. It feels like such an indulgence, and such a wonderful way to ease out of a holiday/special event. The leads ins are so dynamic and chaotic, I feel like it’s improper not to give the day a farewell kiss, preferably on both cheeks.

I was telling my dad that thanksgiving dinner is analogous to novel writing in so many ways.

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(Oops - Jordan wanted to say hello. I figure cats don’t often have a voice, so why not let her words stand?)

Let’s try that again. Novel writing analogous to Thanksgiving dinner. Right. You spend hours making a dinner that’s consumed in less than 15 minutes. Authors spend a year(s) writing a book that a reader consumes in a day. All that work for such a short period of enjoyment.

And yet...

How many holiday meals stay with you? And I don’t mean on your hips.

How many books have stayed with you?

Quickly, off the top of your head, tell me five works that stand out to you, that you will always remember reading for the first time, that you think about regularly—days, weeks, years after you’ve finished them?

I’ll go first:

Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

Critical Space - Greg Rucka

Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

The Eagle - Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Hills Like White Elephants - Ernest Hemingway

Well, that was an interesting exercise. I should really include Plato’s Republic, specifically Chapter VII, the allegory of the cave, which spoke to me so deeply in college and continues to resonate with me all this time later, but that’s more of a concept... no, it counts because it shaped how I approach the page. So that’s six stories, poems, books, and theories that have shaped me as a writer and a person.

What about you?

In other news, the bookcases are done, the boxes unloaded, and my library ladder installed (though I still need to stain it.) Trust me when I say I am inspired every time I enter my office, which is EXACTLY what I needed from my new space—an inspiration wall! I’ll post a pic on my Insta feed later today.

Lots of fun links this week, so…Onward!

GOOD GIRLS LIE IS ON SALE:

Kick off your holiday season with GOOD GIRLS LIE! It’s on sale for $2.99. At The Goode School, secrets and lies are just the beginning.

Get your copy:

KINDLE
NOOK
APPLE BOOKS
KOBO
GOOGLE PLAY

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

Dolly Parton, Rachel Bloom & More Of Your Favorite Celebs Have New Memoirs. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what’s been published this month. So many books I want to read…

Your Local Bookstore Wants You to Know That It’s Struggling. “We’re really trying to get the message out, to help customers understand that not just for bookstores but local retailers and local restaurants, if they want them to be there when the pandemic over, they have to support those businesses now.”

Also, for Small Business Saturday, here is a list of books recommended by many of your favorite authors! (Hint: WORLD OF WONDERS is in there…)

On Becoming Grateful. I love the story of the glass being too full.

46 Books Our Favorite Indie Booksellers Were Grateful For This Year. I love seeing the books that booksellers highlight!

12 YA Thrillers Perfect for Any Time of Year, Not Just Halloween. These sound great!

The Gift Of Time. "Creativity is a boost to mental health. By creating something fresh, you will not dwell endlessly on negative thoughts and will take pride in your accomplishments."

Here Are All 56 Original Nancy Drew Books, Ranked Worst to Best. Brilliant, hilarious, and totally on-point.

Training Facial Recognition on Some New Furry Friends: Bears. Fascinating! My brother sent me a bear sighting near his neighborhood this week - it hurts me that we’ve invaded their habitat so thoroughly.

Virtual Library Tour: Newnham College, University of Cambridge. Beautiful! I love Cambridge, so much. I would love to live there for a few months…

15 Gifts for the NaNoWriMo Writer in Your Life. Some tangible ways to encourage NaNoWriMo writers...

Don’t forget: Goodreads is giving away 25 Advanced Reader Copies of HER DARK LIES!

That’s it from me. Let me know what works stand out to you, don’t forget how much your local animal shelter needs helps this winter, and let’s show our bookstores some love this weekend! I’ll see you next Sunday!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

November 22, 2020

Sunday Smatterings

November 22, 2020/ J.T. Ellison

Happy Sunday, friends!

A quick(ish) smatterings today, as the weather is fine and the To Do list is overflowing.

It was a heavy on the work and house side of things week. Four Zooms in two days, which, for me, is a lot, and takes a huge outpouring of creative energy.

The bookcases and ladder are installed in my office at last, the kitchen table arrived, and that’s the end of renovations. Now we just need to hang the curtains, hang the rest of the art, and unpack about 20,000 boxes, and we’ll be done. It’s so easy to let the minor things slide, especially since we’re just plain exhausted with the whole process. With luck, I’ll get the books unpacked this week. They are really taking up too much space in the dining room.

It’s funny, I was so discombobulated when we first moved in. My kitchen seemed alien and difficult; I couldn’t find the right path from office to teapot. Changes in the nighttime routine meant I was forever remembering things I’d forgotten to do (change the cat’s water, arm the alarm) and a new gas fireplace meant I was constantly checking that I’d turned it off. Not being able to use the master bath for a month was a pain, but it too is complete.

Now, a month in, there’s a groove again. A rhythm forming. I moved the silverware and that solved the weird feeling in the kitchen. I swapped my desk direction to face the office doors instead of the window, and now the rug isn’t bunching up and the flow feels better. The cats certainly seem to love this place. They travel through the house on sunbeams, finding warm spots to curl up and snuggle. I think we’re all feeling more settled, and that’s a very good thing.

Now to turn back to a quieter creative life. The new book is percolating. I have a short story to finish. I have time to read again. Christmas cards are ordered, the turkey is in the freezer for our lone Thanksgiving. We are hunkering down, hoping to ride out the storm until the vaccines come. It’s all we can do.

Change is not easy. Change that we choose is tough enough — moving and renovating is high on the list of life’s major stressors. That we’ve all been forced to change our lives, our lifestyles, at once is remarkable. Any time I start feeling frustrated or sad that we can’t do something that in our past life we’d do without a second thought, I remind myself that you, too, are feeling exactly the same, and it truly helps.

And with what turned from a quick note to a blather, onward!

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

I had a blast with Friends & Fiction! You can catch the full replay if you weren’t able to join us live.

Best Books 2020 — Goodreads Choice Awards. The final round is up! It's hard to pick favorites among all these amazing titles but I sure am rooting for V.E. Schwab’s THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE.

As the Shannara Saga Ends, Terry Brooks Looks Back...and Forward. A fascinating look into how an author approaches a long-running series.

5 Comfort Book Recommendations To Escape Reality And 5 Books We're Anticipating In November. I’m all for comfort reads.

8 of the Best Mysteries and Thrillers by Black Authors. Great list! I have Alyssa Cole’s book queued up…

Goodreads is giving away 25 Advanced Reader Copies of HER DARK LIES! Big giveaway!!

The History of Dust Jackets: From Disposable to Collectible. How do you feel about dust jackets? I had a brief moment of thinking maybe I’d shelve the books without them… a brief moment.

Stephen King on how to properly adapt his books and which project went ‘entirely off the rails.’ Masterclass from Uncle Steve...

Literary Tourism: Edinburgh. I can’t wait to go back again someday…I miss Edinburgh so much.

Data Science, Psychology Reveal Why the 'Game of Thrones' Books Are So Riveting. Fascinating.

What to Write in a Book As a Gift: 40 Bookish Inscription-Ready Quotes. Do you write in books you give as gifts? I do…

The Ultimate Guide To Book Socks For Readers. So many cute options!

That’s it from me. Consider adopting a pet from your local shelter, buy yourself some flowers, read a great book, and I’ll see you next Sunday!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.