4.10.16 - Sunday Smatterings

Hi, chickens!

I hope you had a fabulous week! Things are starting to get back to normal around here, post-NO ONE KNOWS. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I'm able to get back to the page, to begin writing in earnest again. Writing is my happy place. 

I've started laying the foundation for the next Taylor/Sam book (yep, they're TOGETHER in this one!). It's called ALL FALL DOWN, and you should see it in stores sometime next summer. Wanna see how I start a book? 

I know. I'm a sadist. But don't pretend you hate it.

Anyway...

 

Here's what happened on the Internets this week:

This is the coolest story. On Pen Pals, Brussels, and Hope: to Brussels and Back Again. The author, Roy Burkhead, is a good friend here in Nashville and the editor of 2nd & Church Magazine. You're going to love this. 

GONE GIRL author Gillian Flynn is working on an HBO show for her novel, SHARP OBJECTS, and it's bound to be ridiculously good. SHARP OBJECTS is my favorite of her books. 

Y'all know how much I love my adopted hometown of Nashville. This article does a pretty good job of chronicling why it's so great—and how much it's changed lately.

I know you enjoy good books as much as I do. Here's a whole slew of them: nominees for 2016's ITW Thriller Awards!!!

From Anne Shirley to Samwise Gamgee, these are the best travel companions in literature.

Wine and cheese: it's the perfect pairing after you've outgrown PB&J (or, for some of us, a great pairing in addition to PB&J). I'm always a sucker for a good pairing, and this article breaks it down for us.

In super crazy news, just in time for Shakespeare's 400th death anniversary, a new copy of the First Folio was found. In a house. During an estate inventory. Can you even imagine??? This is why you always check your books before you take them to Goodwill.

The secret of life from Steve Jobs in 46 seconds. Need I say more?

The age-old question: how many grapes are in a bottle of wine? 

And closer to home:

In the middle of all the NO ONE KNOWS promo hullabaloo, I got word that my first little book, the one I hid in a drawer for ten years, FIELD OF GRAVES, was chosen as a SIBA Spring Okra Pick. Y'all. I can't tell you how much this means to me. It will be in your hands June 14. Taylor's back!

I wrote a blog from the heart this week: How Loss Shapes Us & Makes Us Stronger. I hope it helps you find some solace, to move past whatever is weighing you down.

I got to talk to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Geraldine Brooks, for A WORD ON WORDS, and she was so delightful! Why a war correspondent chose to write about an ancient king was quite fascinating.

That's it from me! I hope you have the loveliest spring week, and I'll talk to you soon!

Xoxo,
JT