It's a tricky thing, this writing business.

I'm so grateful for this life, the chance to stretch my creative muscles and give you heart-pounding stories that keep you up at night.

But there are parts of this job that make my heart pound and keep me up at night: namely, sending my book out into the world.

Oh sure, we authors know that a by-product of creating something is that people will see it. Heck, that's part of this whole "getting paid to write" gig. But it's one thing to create something in solitude and yoga pants, and quite another to send it out into the world. And no matter how many times my characters shock me as I type, no matter how many times I hit Send on a finished manuscript, no matter how many revisions I go through, I still have this voice in the back of my brain niggling at me:

What if they don't like it?

Hey, I can't feed the kitties if y'all don't like what you read. Mama's gotta bring home the catnip.

But not only that, there's artistic integrity at stake. I have so much fun creating characters like Taylor, Sam, and now Aubrey. But I want you guys to have fun, too, to experience new places and characters, to be thrilled and excited by the books, and maybe to think a little bit. Art exists to move us, to challenge us, and I want my work to mean something to someone else, too.

As such, I'm completely overjoyed when I receive positive words on a story from someone who's not my editor (c'mon, these book babies belong to both of us, so they're just as biased as I am...).

Publishers Weekly has just printed some thoughts on NO ONE KNOWS, and I'm so pleased to share them with you:

"This riveting Nashville-set standalone . . . is a skillfully plotted story that's equal parts mystery, psychological thriller, and cautionary tale . . . Ellison's twists are fresh, and the novel's action-packed conclusion will shock . . . Artful and evocative prose complements the fully fleshed and realistically flawed characters."

Thank you, PW. I'm grateful for your kind words.