Sunday Smatterings
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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…
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.
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!
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?
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.
