JT ELLISON Bestselling Author
August 2013
Vol. XXVI

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The last newsletter of the summer. I’m partially sad, and partially elated. August is always a fun month for me. I get to visit my parents, and my DH and I have our annual honeymoon. And this year, I’m throwing in a trip to San Francisco to visit with my brilliant co-writer. We’re getting ready to start writing the second Brit in the FBI novel — YARD OF GRAVES. Great title, eh?

So there will be tons of food and wine, and baseball, and loads of time working and writing in Scrivener, and great views, all month long.

WHEN SHADOWS FALL is finished, and has been submitted to my new editor in Toronto, Nicole Brebner. Nicole is very awesome and I’ve got my fingers crossed she loves the book. With the help of my beta readers, I’m very pleased with how it turned out. And I have really exciting news to share with you about WHEN SHADOWS FALL. It’s going to be in hardcover. I am over the moon about this format shift. It means big things ahead for Sam, and for me.

I also sold the next three Sam books to Tantor Audio. It’s going to be so exciting picking a new voice for Sam, and getting the audio into the libraries and into your hands!

And for my UK friends, A DEEPER DARKNESS releases August 2. I hope you enjoy this first installment in the Samantha Owens series! One last tidbit, Erica Spindler, Alex Kava and I sold our short story collections to Sphere UK, so you’ll be seeing SLICES OF NIGHT and STORM SEASON very soon.

Tours

I checked the calendar, and you know what? I have no in person events for a while. And this is a very good thing, because I need to stay home and write my tush off for a while. But, I am hosting an online chat at Writerspace August 21, 2013, at 9pm EST. Stop by, ask me anything, and win cool stuff!

Get Thee to a Bookstore

August is perfect for recommending beach reads, so here we go! These are the books I’m saving to read on vacation this month. Can’t wait!

Erica Spindler — JUSTICE FOR SARA (This one I’ve already read, and it is FANTASTIC!)
Susanna Kearsley — THE FIREBIRD
Lauren Weisberger — REVENGE WEARS PRADA
A.S.A. Harrison — THE SILENT WIFE
Veronica Roth — DIVERGENT
Christopher Rice — THE HEAVEN’S RISE

I’ve made a commitment to track all my reading this year, so if you’re on Goodreads, friend me, and follow along. I’m always interested in what you’re reading, too!

Contest

Every month there’s a new contest on my site. The August contest is live now — enter to win a signed copy of Surreal South ’09, a compilation of excellent, surreal short stories from a wonderful group of authors.

August Recipe — Sticky Toffee Pudding

As a nod to both the royals and their adorable new baby boy, and my new UK release, here is my favorite British desert. I scored this recipe whilst touring Scotland; we met up with some awesome Brits in Fort William, shared a few pints, and they shared their family recipe. It’s DIVINE!

Ingredients

  • 8 oz fresh dates, stoned
  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter (softened)
  • ¾ cup caster sugar (AKA superfine sugar, Domino works well)
  • 2 large brown eggs
  • ¼ tsp ground pumpkin spice
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp Ovaltine or Hersey’s chocolate powder
  • 2 tbsp natural yogurt
Toffee Syrup
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • ½ cup Moscovado sugar (or you can use molasses and brown sugar, ¼ cup of each, to get the same taste and consistency)
  • ½ cup double cream (Whole Foods will probably have imported double cream. If you can’t find it, don’t use all heavy cream, mix with regular)

Directions
  • Preheat over to 350
  • Butter and Flour a cake pan (Or cheat with Pam for baking, like I do!)
  • Cook dates and baking soda in boiling water until soft, let stand for a few minutes.
  • Cream butter, sugar, eggs and yogurt in a large bowl.
  • Combine dry ingredients, add to the butter mixture
  • Puree the dates and baking soda, add to the batter
  • Pour into baking pan, cook for 35 minutes or until firm
Meanwhile, make the topping
  • Over medium low heat, combine the butter and the sugar until smooth.
  • Slowly add in the cream, stirring until its thick enough to coat the spoon.
Cut cake into squares, drizzle topping, and devour. Serve warm.

That’s it from me, chickens. Get that last vacation in, worship the sun for a while, and of course, read a good book!

xoxo,

J.T.