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4.10.16 - Sunday Smatterings
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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
4.7.16 - On Having That All Is Lost Moment
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Several years ago, during a very trying time in my life, I was watching a documentary on the Buddha. Ostensibly, I was doing research on a novel I was planning to write. But something happened to me that day. I heard the following quote:
“There is no knowledge won without sacrifice,
and this is one of the hard truths of human existence:
in order to gain anything, you must first lose everything.”
It stuck with me.
I was having an "all is lost" moment, and I felt such peace when I realized:
Okay, I have to do this, I have to hit bottom in order to find a way to rise any further.
This idea compelled me to find a way to drag myself back to the page, and I ended up reading THE ARTIST’S WAY, which I’ve discussed here before.
Slowly but surely, I pushed myself back into a seated, then standing, position and started writing again.
I found my lost voice.
It was soon after this that I found yoga, in the form of a lovely writer friend who offered to teach me privately in her home.
To say the experience was revelatory is an understatement.
My body did things I wasn’t aware it could do. My guru was kind and gentle and calm and funny, and I was hooked. Absolutely hooked. I felt like I’d connected with myself, with the universe, with the bloody earth, in a way I never had before. I could actually feel my feet touching the floor for the first time. The third session, as I lay weeping on her floor in savasana (a rather common thing, I’ve learned), I felt lighter than I had in years.
That particular session, my guru told me something wildly profound — the universe will give you what you’re seeking. Not only that, the universe wants to give you what you’re seeking.
Had I gained this wisdom when my world was falling apart, there was no way I would have been able to understand or appreciate it. On the other side of the empty crevasse, it was more than inspiration. It was the path back.
I watched a stunningly beautiful short video this week about a dog named Denali, and the impact he had on his master-human person-best friend’s life. The video is from Denali’s point of view. It is about loss, the kind of soul-wrenching loss reserved for losing best friends, whether human or animal. It is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
We are all marked by loss. We are made by loss.
It is how we handle loss that allows us a path forward when we get mired. It is how we bear loss that proves to us we’re capable of anything.
We will not be broken. We will not be torn asunder. We will breathe through this pain, hug those we love, and fight our way back to the page and share our feelings with another. In that, we will conquer loss.
If you can find your peace, wherever it might be — meditation, yoga, a book, a song, sex, pizza—if you find your peace, you will find your voice. Find your voice, you will find your heart. Find your heart, you will be able to share it. Share it, and you’ve done your job on this earth — to love, and be loved. To care and be cared for. To breathe. To create.
My guru lost her best friend today. I know she is in pain, is beyond devastated. I dedicate this piece to her, and to her Sunnie, in the hope that this loss gives her another path to her incredible voice.
As she once told me, when I was holding on by a thread, “Don’t try to steer the river.”
Wise words for us all.
4.3.16 - Sunday Smatterings
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Happy Sunday, chickens!
How were your weeks? Did you get April Fools'd that much??
It's been an interesting week in Nashville. Just wanted to do a PSA: I gave my fur babies some Advantage Multi (by Bayer) for fleas/ticks, and a few hours later noticed the kitties just seemed...off: dilated pupils, drooling, ataxia, lethargy, etc. I called their vet, then poison control, and we ended up at the emergency overnight vet. As it turns out, bad reactions to this product are common. SO common, in fact, that Bayer Veterinary has a quick-dial option on their answering machine to report this very problem. Thankfully, Jameson and Jordan are ok, but I'm livid. Why is this product still available!?!?? It's beyond me. So be vigilant, pet parents.
Anyway. PSA = over. Without further ado...
Here's what happened on the Internets this week:
It's always such a pleasure to talk to ITW about my latest book, and James Ziskin was no different. Here's our interview, where we talk Nashville, switching narrative POV, and TV.
Fellow winos, here's something Amy and I will be sipping on this spring: Grüner Veltliner! They say it's like sipping spring in a glass (grüner, after all, is German for "green").
This I love: author Beverly Cleary is turning 100 years old, and she's just as sassy as ever.
What does it take to launch something new into the world—and get people to hear about it? You'd be surprised. Creatives, you should tune into this one.
JK Rowling published some of her rejection letters on Twitter, and it's a great reminder to budding creatives to never give up.
An intriguing editorial in The Washington Post: eBooks are not the answer to a literacy crisis.
This TED talk by Brené Brown was a huge inspiration for me this week, and I hope it is for you, too! WATCH: "The Price of Invulnerability"
Also inspiring: Why Your Critics Are The Ones Who Count
QUIZ: can you name the most commonly used words in English?
These are the top 10 bookstores in the world, and they're breathtaking.
What's really going on when someone seems "too sensitive"? The answer may surprise you.
And closer to home:
My A WORD ON WORDS interview with author Geraldine Brooks aired this week. In honor of her retelling of King David's story in her book The Secret Chord, we discussed how to live like a king (minus the murder). She's delightful!
And on the Tao, I did a roundup on all the things (well, at least all the things at that moment) that'll been said/written about NO ONE KNOWS. As crazy as it seems, there's more to come! Like the fact that two days ago, my lovely friend and brilliant author Ariel Lawhon and I got word that both of our books were selected as Book of the Month Club picks for April!!!!
We are just a teensy bit excited.
Alright, y'all, that's it from me! Enjoy yourselves, stay out of trouble, and I'll talk to you soon.
Xoxo,
J.T.
3.31.16 - NO ONE KNOWS Roundup
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Whew!
For me, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind—but in the best kind of way. My beloved five-year project NO ONE KNOWS is finally out into the world, and I'm so tickled/thankful/relieved that you guys are enjoying it.
You just never know what'll happen when you switch gears, ya know?
At any rate, for your entertainment, I've gathered up the articles, interviews, endorsements, and some of my favorite reviews of the book. After collecting all of this in one place, I can see how I actually wrote 1/4 of a novel in nonfiction about this book (20,000 words, folks).
Enjoy!
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Recognition
Book of the Month Club – April 2016 Selection
She Reads Spring 2016 Book Club Selection
Written Interviews & Features
CAFTAR: What I'm Reading, Page 69 Test, and My Book, the Movie
The Fresno Bee's Library column
When I met with TN Ledger journalist Zack Barnes, I had no idea he was going to do three articles about me: three. But he did. And I'm so honored to be young journalist's first cover story. Here are articles one, two, and three.
BookBub has been giving the book all sorts of love, naming it one of Ten New Thrillers to Read this Spring and one of 16 Books Compared to 'Gone Girl'
Fresh Fiction included NO ONE KNOWS in their quarterly mystery box
A nice feature on 2nd & Church online
XOXO After Dark featured the first chapter of the book
On Criminal Element, I talked about the dream that inspired NO ONE KNOWS. It may have included my husband, Opryland Hotel, and Harlan Coben.
For Southern Writers Magazine's Suite T blog, I wrote about my fears and journey to writing a standalone novel.
I also had a delightful conversation with Lori's Reading Corner!
It's always an honor to be part of The Big Thrill. I appreciate all the love ITW has thrown me over the years!
*We still have a couple more things in the works... I'll let you know as they pop up!
Audio Interviews
It's been a while since I've been on Suspense Magazine Radio, but it was such a blast!
It's always lovely to talk to my friend, Libby Hellemann. On Second Sunday Crime, we chatted about NO ONE KNOWS, writing, and the best wine out there.
I loved the premise of the Creative Push Podcast. Host Youngman Brown was a delight to talk to. Creatives, this is a podcast for you.
Reviews
Some of my favorites were:
Dream by Day Book Reviews (she knows how to style a photo—so elegant!)
And here are the trade reviews you've seen:
“Riveting . . . a skillfully plotted story that's equal parts mystery, psychological thriller, and cautionary tale. Ellison's twists are fresh . . . and the novel's action-packed conclusion will shock.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The unreliable female narrator is all the rage, and Aubrey Hamilton is up there with the slipperiest of them all.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“The reader becomes enthralled with Aubrey and her life while also desperate to learn answers. The payoff succeeds in surprising.”
—Booklist
Endorsements
“You think GONE GIRL couldn't be topped, try Ellison's web of betrayal, lies and deceit. And wonder --”
—Catherine Coulter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of NEMESIS
“Enthralling! Ellison's twisty, turny thriller is my kind of novel; interesting characters, complex plotting, and an ending you'll never see coming. Suspense at its finest!”
—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of FIND HER
"J.T. Ellison's stand-alone thriller is a slow burn suspense that heats up, page-by-page, until the shocking end. NO ONE KNOWS is unputdownable, a gripping story that begs to be read in one sitting."
—Allison Brennan, New York Times bestselling author of NO GOOD DEED
“Clever and compelling, JT Ellison’s NO ONE KNOWS is a page-turner full of unexpected twists and surprises. Pour a glass of wine, settle down in your favorite chair, and get ready for an entertaining roller coaster of a read. JT Ellison is a fast-rising star.”
—Jeff Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of THE FIRST ORDER
“Reader beware: In NO ONE KNOWS J.T. Ellison has created a masterful game of cat-and-mouse—with Ellison being the cat and us readers her prey. My favorite kind of story—I loved it.”
—Erica Spindler, New York Times bestselling author of THE FIRST WIFE and THE FINAL SEVEN
“NO ONE KNOWS grabs you from the start and doesn’t let go. A compelling thriller about loss, betrayal, and buried secrets, it’s a book you’ll devour, trying to guess what’s going on and what will happen next. The twists are genuinely—and satisfyingly—shocking. J.T. Ellison has written another winner.”
—Meg Gardiner, Edgar Award-winning author of PHANTOM INSTINCT
“J.T. Ellison has created one hell of a brain-bender. NO ONE KNOWS is a masterfully written shell game in which a grief-stricken woman is forced to reckon with her past until everything she believes about love, hope, and trust is tested. Ellison’s storytelling powers are on sharp display in this literary thriller, proving that no one is who they claim to be and everyone has secrets worth protecting. Compelling, perceptive, unsettling and with an ending so on point I wish I could read it again for the first time. I inhaled this novel.”
—Ariel Lawhon, author of FLIGHT OF DREAMS
“Like a nerve-shredding trip through a carnival house of mirrors, NO ONE KNOWS left me breathless. Ellison's deft, seamless prose makes her devilish twists look effortless, and her sleight-of-hand with the facts of Aubrey Hamilton’s troubled life keeps the tension wire-high. NO ONE KNOWS is razor-sharp, shocking, and delicious.”
—Laura Benedict, author of CHARLOTTE’S STORY
