1.16.14

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Well, despite my best attempts, I seem to be toying with the idea of catching Randy's flu. After a quick run out this morning, I settled in with orange juice and tea and tissues, and found my brain was all full of cotton. I managed a few hundred words, edited everything I wrote yesterday, fought for an hour with a recalcitrant scene, then gave it up as a bad job and switched over to business stuff for SHADOWS, because there wasn't any creative juice in the brain. No Nyquil for me tonight; it makes me quite stupid the next day.

Off to do some book research in the form of Casino Royale and to down some Jewish penicillin of my own. I refuse to get sick. Positive thinking, right?

Sweet dreams.

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J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

1.15.14 - On Patience

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I read an interesting piece today by author Jill Jepson on the importance of cultivating patience in your writing life. Patience isn't something we discuss very often when we talk about writing, because it so often seems frenetic, and deadline driven. I know I'm one of the worst at this, too, I feel like I'm almost always writing with my back against the proverbial wall, careening headlong into deadlines. It's one of the reasons I post my daily word counts, to help keep my pedal to the metal.

But I do approach my work with a great deal of patience. As Jill discusses, there are many uncontrollable aspects to your writing life: the editors who don't get back to agents, the agents who don't get back to queries, the reviewers and magazines who don't respond to publicist. One must learn great patience, and strength, to deal with these issues.

There is also the traditional publishing phenomenon of completing a book, then having to wait three to six months to a year for it to arrive on bookshelves, which trust me, takes a LOT of patience, and has helped turn indie publishing into very viable alternative, especially for those writers who write fast and don't want to move at the traditional world steamship pace.

But there is also the space you must create for your brain when you are in creation mode. When you are pushing hard, writing daily, pouring words like honey all over the page, you must allow it time to recover, time to power up again after you deplete its stores. This is cultivating patience.

The creative's brain is very much like a battery, one that will run for a very long time, but also needs breaks to recharge. It's hard to be patient in those times, when you're rushing toward a goal, and all you want is to finish, but the words won't come properly. Your brain needs to be shut down and plugged in to build up the power stores again.

But on deadline, patience is the last thing on your mind. And yet, by taking a breath, giving yourself some space, some time away -- even if it's only a day, or a few hours -- you help the creative process tremendously. So don't be so hard on yourself, fellow writer. Cultivate patience with yourself. 

2100 today, and now I'll shut down for a bit to give my own brain some time to recharge. But not for long -- I have a chat tonight at Writerspace.com to talk about the new Sam book, WHEN SHADOWS FALL. So much for cultivating my own patience, right? I hope I'll see you there. 

Sweet dreams.

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J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

1.14.14

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One of those days. Discovered a silly mistake I'd made and had to go back through the whole book and fix it, which took time. And truth be told, it just wasn't happening today. I made such a huge leap in thought yesterday that I think my brain just needed a minute to recover. So I edited some, and will come back to it later. Had a bunch of business things pop up unexpectedly, so I at least accomplished something today, though it wasn't any appreciable increase to the word count.

Which brings me, as it always does, to something I discussed at length over the weekend. Kris Rusch put it into perfect acronym form - WIBBOW - Would I Be Better Off Writing?

And the answer to that is always, ALWAYS, a resounding yes. And on days like today, when I step away from writing to do other writing-related activities, I want to tattoo it on the back of my hand, so I can have a nice visual to remind me to switch to the other side of my computer, already, and get back to work!

But there are non-fiction things that need to get done, especially coming into a release. Interviews and blogs and events to plan, and that really takes away from my focus. And I am on a seriously close deadline, and so WIBBOW takes on a new meaning. I must admit to myself that resistance is playing a part these days - it always does when I get this close to finishing a book. But I refuse to allow it reign. 

So off I go to therapy, and I will come back to the page this evening with a strong shoulder and a clear mine, and make something happen, whether the book is willing or not. 

Sweet dreams!

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J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

1.13.14

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1600 words today, after some realigning and really fun research. I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel, though there is still much work to be done. But those small little details that tie threads together are beginning to make themselves knows, always a good sign.

The class I taught over the weekend was wonderful. Sometimes it's a great refresher for the teacher, as well as good information for the students. This was a jumpstart class, so over the nine hours they did quite a bit of writing -- and so did I. 2300 on Saturday, in snatches of five minutes here, five minutes there. It was fun, and I think I may have even helped, so all in all, a weekend well-spent.

Poor DH has been laid low with a rebound cold that sounds suspiciously like bronchitis, so he's pumped full of drugs and is being plied with cups of Jewish penicillin. To whit, I'm off to shove some more down his sorry sore throat.

Sweet dreams!

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J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.

1.10.14

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I am a liberated woman. An intelligent one, I hope. A wife, a daughter, a kitty mother. A writer, a reader, a professional. Connected to the world, and sure of my place in it, most of the time.

So you'd think I'd notice that I spent a large portion of the day wearing my pants inside out. 

Thank all that's holy I realized BEFORE I left the house.

Aside from that bit of loveliness, I am now happily ensconced at the Tennessee Mountain Writers conference. A nice drive over the mountain - ahem - hill - lots of fog and pretty things to look at. I go on early in the morning, so it's off to bed for me. Tomorrow is a dress. Which I will definitely check to see i have on right side out. Sigh.

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J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.