Happy Sunday! So who else screwed up and bought the on sale Halloween candy last week? I’m telling you, I’m not much of a candy person—I normally only ever eat chocolate on the golf course when I need a boost, a frozen Milky Way on a hot day is divine—but the combination of sheer boredom and walking practice means I keep strolling past the damn bag. From Costco, ergo: it’s massive. I have it stashed away, but I guess my willpower is weakened by the months of recovery. I asked Randy to disappear it for me this morning, or else the kiddies aren’t going to have any treats!

Are you big on Halloween? I love it, but I also have weirdly mixed emotions. When I was a kid, I had a lot of bad luck on Halloween. One year I fell in a cactus, and spent the remainder of the night having spines picked from my backside. Another year, after a knock-down drag-out fight with my mom because I didn’t want to ruin my awesome Peter Pan costume by wearing snow boots, my ankle was run over by a car. Without the boots it would have surely been crushed, as it was, it was badly sprained. There were other bizarre occurrences, too. So you can understand why I tended to shy away from too much spooky celebration.

But now, Halloween is fun again. I usually carve a pumpkin, make a big pot of soup or stew or chili, we light a fire, toast marshmallows, light some candles to honor the ones we love who are no longer with us, and watch something seasonally appropriate. I don’t like super scary movies, but something psychological is always fun. 

Do you have any special Halloween traditions? Do you dress up? Go to parties? Scare the neighborhood children with a spooky house display? Have a favorite childhood costume you wish you could recreate? Sound off, I’d love to hear about it.

And then, November 1, we get to celebrate our cativersary with the minions! We brought them home six years ago—astounding to think of. They are as sweet and goofy as the day we adopted them.

Before I send you off to the links, a quick reminder. Tomorrow night (Monday, October 28) is a huge, exciting online event—TEAR ME APART is being featured on the Brenda Novak Book Group! Brenda will be here at Chez Ellison to interview me about the book, the minions, life, and anything else that might pop up. You can watch us live on Monday, the 28th at 5:00 p.m. PST/ 8:00 p.m. EST right here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/brendanovaksbookgroup/

This also means I’ll be straightening away all the kitty pillows and toys and blanket tunnels the girls use, so my house will look like adults live in it. So exciting! I can’t wait, and I hope you’ll join us. 

On to the links!

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

Pitching for Bookstores. Great story about Washington Nationals star reliever Sean Doolittle and his love of independent bookstores. I mean, combining books and baseball? How can you not love him?

Harry Potter book sells for £50k after being kept in code-locked briefcase. But how can they part with it?!

The Stories We Tell Ourselves. Joshua Becker speaks some lovely truth. Our minds are so easily pushed into thinking one way or another. Really like his attitude about how to handle the messages on kid’s clothing, too.

8 Fun Facts About Mary Shelley Just in Time for the Spooky Season. Mary Shelley was pretty badass.

A Rundown of V.E./Victoria Schwab’s Books and Upcoming Adaptations. If you haven't read Victoria yet, you're in for a treat!

As a rule, I don’t read my reviews, but when I heard Abby at Crime By The Book really loved GOOD GIRL LIE, I had to read it. And I was blown away by the analysis of the story and characters. There’s nothing cooler than when a reader “gets” your book. I hope you enjoy her review, and you really need to start following her instagram and blog, She’s the real deal.

The Reason Why The Great Gatsby Isn’t In the Public Domain (Yet). Fascinating history! What do you think the first big pull qoute will be?

15 Quotes That Will Remind You of the Joy and Power of Books. I love a good quote list.

Just in time for Halloween, here’s a great podcast with bestie Laura Benedict on The Monster Professor talking about her gothic inspirations, writing supernatural stories, and her superb creepy storytelling skills.

WHAT I’M READING:

Boxing The Octopus by Tim Maleeny

With a fascinating caper, a twisted mystery, a grizzled PI with a kick-ass Ninja chick sidekick, and a complex plot worthy of Leonard's heir, Tim Maleeny bursts back onto the crime fiction stage with a surefire winner. BOXING THE OCTOPUS features a dizzying array of well-developed characters both friend and foe—and cephalopod, of course—who catapult the story forward. Thrilling, amusing, and thought-provoking, I couldn’t stop reading! Can’t wait for Cape and Sally’s next adventure. And how cute is the octopus???

What are you reading?

That’s it from me. Carve an elaborate pumpkin, just for fun, make a big pot of turkey chili, kick back with your favorite spooky movie, and I’ll see you next week. Happy Halloween! 👻🎃

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

PS: Please bear with me over the next few weeks — I am moving email and newsletter services and there might be a few glitches. Will do my best to keep everything in line. If you see something wonky, feel free to shoot me an email and let me know.