Hello, my dears.

Four score and seven years ago… I left my house. Actually, I went for a walk yesterday, but you get the gist. I’ve actually been home for a month now. I was at a conference at the end of February with people from Washington, Toronto, and Boston, and since the outbreaks were starting there, I decided to stay home, just in case. Now it’s a month later and I’m. Still. Here. And to be honest, I’m anticipating another month. Eight weeks is a long time, but I have plenty of work to keep me busy.

I do hope you’re well. I know this week has been incredibly difficult for so many of you, and my heart goes out to you, it truly does. If you’re getting too bummed, you know to reach out, yes?

I’m trying for normalcy myself, and that means writing. HER DARK LIES is (finally) getting some real traction here. I anticipate sending some pages to people who read tomorrow. I have several chapters left to write, but things are coming together, finally. It is so strange how every book has its own lifecycle. I came up with the concept of this one almost exactly a year ago. DH took me to dinner to celebrate finishing GOOD GIRLS LIE, and over the course of that evening, we hammered out a new story. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have tried to latch onto another idea so quickly, but there you go. You live, and you learn.

And as it happens, the story has morphed so much that the original concept is practically unrelated, and can be used for another book. Which is cool. 

But sometimes, books just resist. THE COLD ROOM was one of those for me. It simply refused to cooperate. Then, like now, I was experiencing a serious life upheaval, though it was confined to my home, instead of the world. Eventually, I lost myself in the book and was able to use the work to claw my way out of the doldrums. Then its editorial process dragged on, we changed titles, cover directions, everything. In the end, it took 14 months from start to finish. And I released and toured another book in that time period. Crazy.

This one feels much the same, though looking back through my notes, I see that the new concept only started to gel May 6, 2019, and it wasn’t until June 29 that I found my male lead properly. And even then, the story was morphing, and I didn’t truly land the essence of it until December (when I had 67,000 words and had to toss them and go back to the beginning... OUCH). 

In the end, it will be the book written by a thousand cuts. Think of a bubble floating by, how if you poke at it, it pushes off the other way, but if you hit it just right, it pops. Or... okay, I’m wiping my tears away from laughing so hard as I envisioned this, but it is fitting -- think of a million sperm heading to an ovum.  Only one gets in. That’s what happened with this. I had a million tries at it, and finally got one through.

With that earthy vision, I’ll leave you to the links.

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

A WORD ON WORDS is back! I had the privilege of interviewing  Ruta Sepetys about her book THE FOUNTAINS OF SILENCE. We had a fantastic time. #KeepReading

Emily St. John Mandel on the Forces That Shaped Her Writing. This is a great interview with one of my favorite writers.

Between Books. “Every day you skip takes six days to make up.“ Isn’t that the truth? Writing is a muscle, and needs regular training to stay in shape. That’s why I want everyone to at least try to work while they’re home.

So Soothing .... Live Video Streams From the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

#read99women. So happy to participate in this amazing challenge from Greer Macallister. You really need this book, too…

My dear friend Patti Henry, whose brand new enhanced paperback version of BECOMING MRS. LEWIS released this week, is one of the many authors whose tour was cancelled, and she came up with a brilliant replacement that benefits her many readers—asking her writer friends for advice on how to manage our new stay-at-home statuses. This is my contribution, with ways to keep your mental health balanced in these stressful times.

You Can Totally Work From Home With These Playlists. Lots of great options out there. What’s your favorite?

When School Gets Sinister: 11 Books That Deliver Suspense in Academia. Love seeing GOOD GIRLS LIE on this list!

Publishers report sales boom in novels about fictional epidemics. Not entirely surprising.

Host a Remote Movie Night With This Handy Netflix Browser Extension. Very cool!

These Women Are The Biggest Book Influencers In 2020. “If there’s one prevailing theme in the literary world right now, it’s that the industry’s most influential members — from behind-the-scenes publicity powerhouses to the biggest authors to prominent critics to podcast hosts to, you know, supermodels — are overwhelmingly women.” 

29 Podcasts For Readers Who Love Mysteries, Thrillers & True Crime. Great list!

In 1899, Arthur Conan Doyle Took Dictation for His Dying Friend’s Mystery Novel. This is a cool story.

VIRTUAL BOOKSTORE TOUR:

Bookshop is an online bookshop that supports independent bookstores. It’s so easy to use! Much easier than IndieBound so it’s no surprise IndieBound and Bookshop are merging. Use it to treat yourself to one of these amazing titles below… And yes, you’re seeing that top row correctly—THE LAST SECOND mass market paperback is coming out on Tuesday!

CODE NAME HELENE by Ariel Lawon (March 31) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

THE LAST SECOND (A Brit in the FBI #6) by Catherine Coulter and J.T. Ellison (March 31) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD by Sarah J. Maas (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

BECOMING MRS. LEWIS (expanded version) by Patti Callahan (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

CUT AND RUN by Allison Brennan (March 31) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

CHOSEN ONES by Veronica Roth (April 7) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

THE CITY WE BECAME by N.K. Jemisin (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

A CONSPIRACY OF WOLVES (Owen Archer #11) by Candace Robb (March 31) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

FAKE TRUTH by Lee Goldberg (April 7) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

THE GLASS HOTEL by Emily St. John Mandel (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

A BEGINNING AT THE END by Mike Chen (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

THE HERD by Andrea Bartz (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

HE STARTED IT by Samantha Downing (April 28) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

A MURDEROUS RELATION (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

PRETTY THINGS by Janelle Brown (April 21) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

THE SEA OF LOST GIRLS by Carol Goodman (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

THORN by Intisar Khanani (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

THREE HOURS IN PARIS by Cara Black (April 7) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

THE WIFE STALKER by Liv Constantine (May 28) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

YOU CAN’T CATCH ME by Catherine McKenzie (June 9) (Barnes & Noble | Bookshop)

That’s it from me. Be safe, be well, and enjoy your enforced time at home! I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.