Sunday Smatterings

Happy Sunday! I’m en route to Raleigh as you read this. Book tour for Good Girls Lie has begun. I get to spend the night with my maid of honor/best friend from high school tonight, then tomorrow, I will put on my author clothes and author smile and break out my Marvy’s, and it all begins.

We had a fantastic launch at Parnassus Books in Nashville Tuesday night. I did what we call an “in conversation” with my dear friend and fellow author Ariel Lawhon. We talked about life and writing and the book and had so much fun! Thanks to all of you who came out, it was a wonderful way to kick off the tour. Almost all my events this tour are “in conversation” so do come out, because you’ll get to meet and hear some incredible authors. I’ll be with Barbara Claypole White (NC), Emily Carpenter and Kimberly Belle (GA), Alma Katsu (DC), and Hank Phillipi Ryan (MA) - all brilliant authors and friends.

I admit this is the moment in the process I’d like to go off-grid, build a cabin near a stream, and disappear. Once I get going, it will all be fine, but the few days leading up to a big tour is a little stressful. There are so many moving parts, so much packing and prepping. Printing of itineraries, double-checking of routes. Of course, the thriller kittens know something is afoot, and Jameson has made sure to bless every piece of black clothing I’ve planned to take with a luxurious nap. That is just a natural cat instinct, I think, to keep us close, to keep us home. I understand this instinct completely.

I hope I get to see you out of the road. That’s what this is about, after all, sharing the book that’s lived in my head and heart for over a year with you. 

Two housekeeping notes—the January newsletter went out Thursday, so if you don’t have it, check your promo/bulk mail folders. And I posted my Annual Review this week, too.

With that, on to the links!

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Welcome to The Goode School

A few of the places GOOD GIRLS LIE has popped up recently:

-Fresh Fiction January 2020 Fresh Pick

-The Big Thrill: Up Close: J.T. Ellison

-Chapter 16: The Best Literary Citizen

-J.T. Ellison and Lisa Unger, In Conversation. This was a fun pen pal conversation about the writing life.

-CrimeReads: The Lure of the Board School Mystery. I really enjoyed putting this together.

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THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

The Turkish Novelist Elif Shafak Wants You to Read More Women. Here, here!

What I Accomplished In the Last Decade: Classic Literary Characters Edition. Too funny.

Here's how you can help Australia's bushfire victims. Sending love and prayers to all who are affected.

5 Books That Changed My Life In 2019. A very interesting, meditative list.

How Chinatown’s public library is adapting to its senior population, along with others around the country. This is great to see!

There’s A Way To Make Your Creativity More Efficient. It’s Just Not What You Think. Lots of great tips here.

Like People, Ghosts Come in Many Colors. Lovely and fascinating, the way the artists think.

13 Book Club Questions To Energize Any Meetup. These questions are great!

'It's not going away': Vets still seeing cases of dog heart problems linked to grain-free food. Careful with your baby’s diet...

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WHAT I’M READING:

STRONG IS THE NEW BEAUTIFUL by Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn is one of my heroes, and I thoroughly enjoyed this glimpse into how she keeps her body running at world champion level. If you have been dieting, or exercising, and aren’t seeing results (or are starving to death) read this. It’s a wonderful, simple, straightforward way to look at our health, and how we nourish our bodies.

What are you reading?

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That’s it from me. Pack an umbrella, polish your shoes, oil your leather goods, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

Sunday Smatterings

Happy Sunday, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 🥂

Smatterings is going to be short this week, because I’m deadlining and working on the Annual Review. But wow, what a week! It was a blast seeing Good Girls Lie launch into the world. Next week is the official launch party at Parnassus, and the following 2 weeks I’m out on tour. I am so, so grateful to all of you for buying the book, sharing it with your fellow readers, and spreading the word. THANK YOU!

Now that GGL has released, my focus has shifted entirely to writing the next book, getting the story rebuilt. It’s funny, how we let go of the angst and worry about a book once it’s out. It’s too late to fix anything, too late to change anything. So we let it go. 

Case in point, I wrote a friend the other day whose book I was reading and made mention of a tiny moment between the characters in her novel. She wrote back laughing—it took her a minute to place who I was talking about. 

That happens all the time. I had it happen with an edit, once. My editor called and said “We need to talk about Jane,” and I said okay, took notes, then hung up, still trying to figure out who the hell Jane was. (She was a tertiary character, a roommate of a victim.) I was already so deep into the writing of the next book that I had to search the manuscript for any mentions of a Jane.

That’s how things go. Writers are sharks. We can only move forward, look ahead. Sideways or backward and we die.

And with that, I give you the links! Annual Review coming this week!

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It’s here!

GOOD GIRLS LIE is here! Did you get your copy yet?

A few of the places GGL has popped up recently:

-Secrets prove deadly in J.T. Ellison’s latest thriller: “The truth is terrifying, and while it appears to be a straightforward story with obvious thriller elements, it’s a manipulative journey that is completely unpredictable. “Good Girls Lie,” and Ellison is the best one of them all.”

-Fresh Fiction: “Unnerving surprises through out each chapter. Just when you thought you had the story figured out it, it smacks you with another twist.”

-The Big Thrill: “Ellison takes readers on a twisty-turny journey through the halls of a school that is the perfect backdrop for ghost stories, cruelty between teenage girls, and secrets and lies.”

-Paul’s Fantasy Writings: Interview With An Author: J.T. Ellison

Podcast interviews:

• The Inside Flap

• Biblio Happy Hour

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THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

The 50 most anticipated books of 2020. It’s hard to believe that a new year of reading is upon us. How many of these are on your To Be Read list?

The Best Books Of The 2010s, According To 30 Of The Decade's Debut Authors. I love hearing about the books other authors love.

Megan Abbott on Her Book 'Dare Me' Becoming a TV Show. Great piece. I absolutely can’t wait - this is one of my favorite Megan Abbott books.

EduHam: The Educational Component of Hamilton: The Musical. What a remarkable program!

Why Americans Are Always Running Out of Time. Interesting piece. My husband and I came at it from completely different angles, too. Trust me, if someone did all my housework, laundry, and cooking, I’d have more time.

Emma Watson has hidden 2,000 copies of 'Little Women' around the world. This is really cool! Have you seen the movie yet? It’s on my list!

Bookish Bullet Journal Supplies for Readers. This is a great resource.

How ‘The Godfather’ Became an Unlikely Holiday Classic. Fascinating.

7 Bookish Tea Blends to Pair With Your Perfect Book. Bookish tea! What a clever notion.

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WHAT I’M READING:

BAG OF BONES by Stephen King

My friend and fellow author Jeremy Finley has taken it upon himself to educate me in the ways of the King, and this was my first foray back to his world since THE SHINING scared my pants off. Since I enjoy King’s accent and inflections, I chose to listen to the book. At 18+ hours, it was a commitment, but the writing is gorgeous, and the story so intriguing—it’s a mystery, and a love story, with a ghostly backdrop. I don’t know how much scarier I can go with King, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

What are you reading?

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That’s it from me. Tell me what your resolutions are, give yourself an afternoon off for a movie, see that holiday spirit intact, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

Sunday Smatterings

Happy Sunday, compadres! Here we are, the last Smatterings of the year, the decade, and I find myself at a loss for words. I’ve actually been staring at this screen for an hour (in between playing with my parents’ cat) trying to decide how I want to end the decade here. It always feels like “the last of” needs to be momentous, not oh hey, the m key decided to stop working on my laptop so I’ve had three days of no M or double M. (Trust me, that sentence took a while.)

But fall back on the banal I will. We had a lovely Christmas. I took three days off. Now I’m back to work, lap desk in place, driving a new plot through the new book. Yes, at the 11th hour, I’ve had to shift gears entirely. The book will be better for it, but the deadline... alas. 

And that is how 2019 has been. It was quite a year. Major highs, major lows. New deals and new books, new friends, new paths to follow. I’ve laid the groundwork for my next few years, and that feels very good indeed. My knee is healing, getting stronger, the pain less and less. The new book isn’t as far along as I’d like, but it’s working again, which is a very good thing. Everyone around me is happy and healthy. I read many, many excellent books. These are all reasons to rejoice. 

And of course, I end the year with a book release. GOOD GIRLS LIE comes out tomorrow. I’ve poured an awful lot of energy into this book this year, from the truncated period it took to write to the PR, and every high and low in between. I can’t believe it’s finally here. 

It will be yours tomorrow. No longer mine. I’ve spoken before how this feels like sending a child out of the nest. I’ve always equated it to sending said child to college, but after experiencing the fear and joy of a child getting behind the wheel of a car for their first solo drive with friends this year, the tumult of emotions watching their child strapping in and driving away, I think that comparison is more apt. You’ve trained them, cautioned them, given them all the tools, and now you have to hope and pray they listen to you, keep the radio turned down, their seatbelt on, their eyes on the road and their hands upon the wheel. 

Yes, that’s what this feels like. It’s gifting freedom into a machine that could hurt them if not operated properly. 

In other words, sheer, unadulterated terror.

I know its just words. But the people inside the covers are alive to me. The story I’ve told is like blood from my veins.

I hope you love it. 

And I hope the decade to come brings as much joy as the decade past. May the road rise up to meet you, always.

And with that, off we go…

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It’s time!

GOOD GIRLS LIE comes out tomorrow!!!

A few of the places GGL has popped up recently:

-Crime By the Book’s Best Psychological Thrillers of 2019: “Blending drama worthy of Pretty Little Liars with layered, intricate plotting and seriously sinister secrets, GOOD GIRLS LIE is, simply put, a heck of a lot of fun to read.”

-Chatelaine: 9 New Thrillers For Chilling Fall Reading: “Who doesn’t love a prep school/secret society/inexplicable murders tale?”

-BookRiot New Release Tuesday: Rincey highlights GOOD GIRLS LIE!

-J.T. Ellison, December’s Rogue Recommendation, Goes Rogue. I love going rogue, and was so honored!

-Heather Gudenkauf: Boarding Schools, Ghost Stories & New Year’s Resolutions ~ A Pen Pal Conversation with NYT Bestselling Author, J.T. Ellison. This was such a great conversation!

Paul from Paul’s Fantasy Writings interviewed me about the book and the writing life

Don’t forget to check out the Events page to see if I’ll be in your town for book tour. I would love to see you! If I’m not coming to your area, you can preorder a personalized copy from Parnassus Books.

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THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

How reading has changed in the 2010s. Always interesting to see the trends that emerged. I was sure domestic suspense was over… thank heavens I was wrong!

Bats Are Hanging Out in the Library. What Gives? Super cool! Trust me.

Writing through fear. Such a wonderful piece, really hit me where I needed it.

Something to Chew On: Tracking Down the History of the Library Cake. This is so neat! And a good reminder to give credit where it's due.

'I thought you’d like to read this': the etiquette of gifting books. Great tips!

Neil Gaiman Talks Dreamily About Fountain Pens, Notebooks & His Writing Process in His Long Interview with Tim Ferriss. Lovely interview.

This 'Harry Potter' Christmas Pop-up Bar Is Basically the Yule Ball. I want to go!

How I Found the 4 Hardest-to-Find Bookstores in the World. Sounds like a good challenge…

I dropped my Top Books of 2019 list this week. I chose 13 out of the 85 I’ve read. It was a good reading year, for sure.

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WHAT I’M READING:

NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro

I found this slim volume when I was looking for boarding school mysteries. I saw the description of the three friends as Hailsham School and bought it without a second though. I had no idea what I was getting into. Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel for Literature in 2017, and I’ve experienced other works of his, but nothing as deeply disturbing as this. The movie of the same name is an excellent adaptation, though it’s more up front about what’s happening than the book is. The slow reveal of Hailsham’s true purpose shocked me, troubled me, and hasn’t let me go. I suppose the title couldn’t be more perfect.

What are you reading?

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That’s it from me. Grab a copy of Good Girls Lie for you and a friend, think about your goals for the future, take a nice, long walk, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

Sunday Smatterings

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas...

Which ain’t going to happen, no matter how much I dream, because I don’t get to spend Christmas in Colorado anymore. But I remember how much I used to love getting up on Christmas morning to find out Santa had brought a lovely storm. It was so magical. Christmas Eve, we always watched the classics—Charlie Brown, The Grinch, and Rudolph. If you recall...the final plot twist in Rudolph is a terrible winter storm that’s going to cancel Christmas. Because of his big, beautiful red nose, Santa realizes he’ll be able to deliver all the gifts after all—and of course, the stop to the Island of Misfit Toys never failed to leave me sobbing into my pillow at the injustice of the very concept of unwanted toys, with every toy I owned on the bed so none of them—NONE—would feel left out. (Even as an adult, I can’t watch that scene without crying. It’s so wonderful, the message of inclusion, of gratitude, of little joys, and not taking love for granted.)

And then, spent, I’d fall asleep and wake to a winter wonderland, evergreens bowing under the weight of the snow, the gentle susurring of branches shaking themselves free of their white blankets, the deep silence only a snowfall can bring, and I’d know Santa had come. It was glorious.

So now you know what I’ll be doing Tuesday night...

We have some other family traditions, one in particular that’s very important to our Christmas Eve. We light bayberry candles at sunset and let them burn down all night in remembrance of those loved ones who are no longer with us. As the youngest in the family, I always have the honor of lighting the candles. I keep promising myself I will loop some people in my world into this tradition, but always end up with the usual seasonal overwhelm. It will happen, eventually. 2020, The Year of Enough, is going to see some major changes in how I approach the whole commercial side of my life in addition to my perfectionism, so this seems like a great time to get started.

Do you have any holiday traditions—new or old—that you just will not miss?

And with that, off we go…

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Closer To Home:

GOOD GIRLS LIE comes out one week from tomorrow!!!

You can imagine my delight at seeing this wonderful snippet in ELLE Canada this week: “If the Succession prequel series of our dreams actually existed, we imagine it would find Shiv Roy at a private school similar to the one where J.T. Ellison’s latest novel, Good Girls Lie (out on December 30), is set. The twisty psychological thriller follows Ash, who quickly makes friends with the popular crowd at her elite new prep school. But when Ash falls out of favour and a student ends up dead, she becomes the clear suspect. Enter secrets, betrayal and general mistrust—all of our favourite things (to read about).”

I am obsessed with Succession, and Shiv Roy, and I admit to absolute delight at this comparison. Also, when I first started writing, I was reviewing for the Elle Book Club, and Elle Magazine was my very first byline. This has a bit of a full-circle feel to me. 🥰

A few of the places GGL has popped up recently:

-Providence Journal: “A bracingly original thriller set inside the ironically named Goode School that reads like a female-centric A Separate Peace spiced with murder.”

-BookTrib: Good Girls Lie, Cheat and Murder … Or Do They? “A whopper of a dark tale, a nail-biter bound to keep you reading beyond the midnight hour.”

-Mystery Scene Magazine: “A dark, moody, surprising, well-wrought psychological thriller that evokes the best of Agatha Christie and Patricia Highsmith.”

Don’t forget to check out the Events page to see if I’ll be in your town for book tour. I would love to see you! If I’m not coming to your area, you can preorder a personalized copy from Parnassus Books.

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THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

Cozy cabin was custom-designed for reading. What an amazing getaway!

Best mystery books of 2019. This is a fabulous list, including two of my best of 2019 reads, Laura Benedict’s THE STRANGER INSIDE and Michael Kortya’s IF SHE WAKES. My full list of top 2019 books is coming soon!

Shop Less, Give More: 4 Ways to Give Bookish Experiences as Gifts This Holiday Season. Great ideas!

How Reese Witherspoon Took Charge of Her Career and Changed Hollywood. This is so inspiring! I know I speak for all of us when I say - GOOD FOR HER!

New owners and location for Mysterious Galaxy in 2020. Wonderful news! Welcome to the family, Matt and Jenni.

Video of a Delivery Man Discovering Snacks Outside a House. This is so lovely - putting together my basket this weekend.

'The Silent Patient' Wins Best Mystery of 2019. And it’s incredibly well deserved. I loved this book and I appreciate the effort that went into it.

My favorite gifts to give and receive. A superb gathering of goodies to gift and receive this holiday season, from Anne Bogel.

(Almost) Every Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV or Movie Adaptation in the Works Right Now. Lots of good stuff ahead!

104-year-old woman celebrates birthday with a children's book drive. How remarkable!

Writing Inspiration: Turning Good Reading into Good Writing. Good tips here.

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WHAT I’M READING:

THE KILL CLUB by Wendy Heard

A chilling, clever plot combined with highly original characters makes Wendy Heard's THE KILL CLUB a surefire winner. Relentlessly paced, elegantly written, diabolically twisted, you will not be able to put it down. Heard is a true talent. And a really, really cool chick.

What are you reading?

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That’s it from me. Watch a classic, listen to one of the awesome new book podcasts, take a few days off this week, and I’ll see you next week!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Season’s Greetings, Happy Holidays, Happy Kwanzaa, heck… MERRY EVERYTHING!!!!!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

Sunday Smatterings

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

That’s about how my week has gone. In the best of times category, I crossed off two of my primary annual goals this week. I set a goal of 200,000 fiction words, and I hit it. It’s nice to realize that I’m going to surpass it by quite a bit, though how much of it will be kept is a whole different story.

I also finished reading my 80th book. Last year, I set a goal of reading 80 books and blew past it in October, so revised up to 100. It became a point of honor to hit that 100 books, and I did hit it, at the last possible moment, on December 31.  

I decided then and there never to do that again. As much fun as it was to have a huge goal, I got a little frayed around the edges trying to meet it.

I’m little wigged out about what my non-fiction number will be this year. The double-dose of anesthesia made fiction difficult but non-fiction much easier. Whenever I started to struggle with the books, I slipped here, to the blog, or drafted a newsletter. I’ve found talking about writing fiction engenders writing fiction for me, so this is time well spent. But I predict that with PR and blogs and newsletters, the non-fic number will be off the charts. I used to let it bother me, that I write 2 - 3 times as much non-fiction as fiction, but since I did get 200,000 of fiction, I can’t be too upset.

The worst of times, though… it’s been a seesaw editorial week, with a lot of holiday goings-on, all capped with a cortisone shot and an RX for 6 more weeks of physical therapy. The knee is doing really, really well, but there’s a spot that simply refuses to heal and it causes pain. I don’t like pain. No one does, naturally, but I’m just ready for the poor thing to be 100%. 

Have you watched the Lindsey Vonn documentary on HBO? If not, watch it. The girl’s my hero anyway, but watching her make career decisions after I too spent months with a messed up knee, having to make decisions about what I can and can’t do that affect everything from travel to tours to deadlines, really hit home for me.

The December newsletter is in your inboxes (or Bulk Mail, or under the Promotions tab) so give your inbox a gander. Or you can read it here. Lot’s of good stuff.

And today is the last day to get LIE TO ME for only $1.99! Such a deal.

And with that, off we go…

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Closer To Home:

GOOD GIRLS LIE comes out two weeks from tomorrow!

We had a great new review this week from The Free-Lance Star: “An exploration of deception and betrayal—and the caring-and-cruelty rollercoaster of adolescent friendships—“Good Girls Lie” represents a gripping read that simultaneously mesmerizes and disturbs.”

A few of the places GGL has popped up recently:

-The Real Book Spy’s December 2019 Reading Guide. Thrilled GOOD GIRLS LIE is the Featured Selection!

-Booktrib: 6 December Thrillers That Will Give You the Chills. “J.T. Ellison plows new ground on familiar land with Good Girls Lie, a bracingly original thriller set inside the ironically named Goode School that reads like a female-centric A Separate Peace spiced with murder.”

-When a Writing Break Turns Into a New Novel: J.T. Ellison. I’m so excited to have this essay on writing breaks on The Kill Zone, compliments of Laura Benedict. Have you ever had to take a creative break?

-Gumshoe review. “Kudos to Ellison for helping to revitalize the boarding school nightmare genre.”

-Christina McDonald Author’s Corner interview. Such a fun interview - and if you haven’t read Christina yet, you’re in for a treat!

Don’t forget to check out the Events page to see if I’ll be in your town for book tour. I would love to see you! If I’m not coming to your area, you can preorder a signed copy from Parnassus Books.

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THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

Check out 7 of Canada’s most impressive libraries. Now I need to visit all of them.

The History Of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. It’s always interesting to hear how classics came to be.

How Social Media Hacked Civic Conversation. Can we save the sinking ship? Do we want to? I say yes, we do, and there are many of us who are working on that.

Literary Dinner: The Secret History. Spectacular! I wish I could have been there!

Vintage books discovered inside the walls of a flood-damaged Utah library. It’s amazing how things can survive! What an unexpected time capsule.

Pizza Hut's ‘Little Free Libraries’ Look Exactly Like Mini Pizza Huts. Darling idea!

Meet the man adapting your favorite childhood book. “Thorne says that the first thing he does when adapting a work is try to understand everything about his source text. ‘You eat the books,’ he explains, ‘and then you try and regurgitate them in a way that feels right for the medium you’re writing.’”

Museum of Miniature Books. Pretty cool!

20 Personal Development Books For Your Best 2020. Great list! Get to thinking about those resolutions!

Shakespeare and Co: The world’s most famous bookshop at 100. One of my fondest memories, doing my Hemingway walk of Paris and stepping inside the store for the first time. Incroyable!

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WHAT I’M READING:

THE FAMILY UPSTAIRS by Lisa Jewell

I don’t often close a book and say “brilliant”, but that’s exactly what I did when I set down Lisa Jewell's latest. What a story! I read this in one gloriously long evening, captured from page one, and now I’d like to get it on audio and experience it again. A superb, insidious, compelling, compulsive read.

What are you reading?

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That’s it from me. Preorder GOOD GIRLS LIE, won’t you? It would mean the world to me.

Meanwhile, smile at a stranger, just five more minutes on that exercise bike, start planning a little vacation, even if it’s just a cozy weekend at home, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.