Daily Tao ☯ 5.26.17

So guess who forgot to blog last night?

I remembered at 10:30, whilst watching the Penguins v. Senators game, and decided you know what? It’s okay. I figured y’all wouldn’t mind. 

But I should have done it early, before we went to dinner for my MIL birthday, so shame on me. I didn’t get as much work done yesterday as I wanted either, for various reasons, mostly to be blamed on fellow scribe Sarah J. Maas, whose utterly brilliant and captivating A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN has me between the Scylla and Charybdis of work and reading. 

I haven’t enjoyed a book so much in months. All I want to do is gobble it up. So when my normal reading during breakfast and lunch accidentally stretch into my writing time, and I’m up well past midnight reading, I have to simply bow in Sarah’s direction, and recognize that refilling my well is sometimes as important as expending its contents. 

In addition to writing, learning that it’s called a “cast” of falcons (dangling editorial carrot, there) I did do something else awesome yesterday — picked the audio narrators for LIE TO ME. My God, the talent on this book — you’re going to love it!

And today I took a lunch break and did a long, fun, intricate, and exciting interview with Hank Garner from THE AUTHOR STORIES podcast. We covered everything from my humble beginnings writing weird short stories of astronauts left behind on Mars (yes, I went there first) to a very extemporaneous discussion of creativity and inspiration to my favorite topic, the need for strong female leads in fiction. He made me so comfortable that I was actually doing voices. Which is a thing. My friends can tell you I slip into characters all the time, but I sometimes do it unknowingly, and only when I’m utterly relaxed. So… impressions by J.T., coming next Friday on Hank’s awesome podcast. I’ll put up links.

And then, the afternoon calmed, and I managed 1500 words. That's better.

Have a wonderful long weekend! Be safe, be smart, and have fun.

THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE Roundup

Dear reader, it has been a happening time for Nicholas Drummond.

Not only did Catherine and I have a blast writing Nick & Mike’s newest adventure, THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE, we also enjoyed launching it into the world. And it appears y'all had a lot of fun launching it with us—because you made the book debut at #1 on the Wall Street Journal’s bestseller list, and #2 on the New York Times and USA TODAY! 🎉🙌💕

We are (book) party animals. Aren't we wild?

I've gathered a few links as a digital scrapbook of sorts, so in the coming days we can look back and see what fun we had. Enjoy!
 

Recognition

• #1 on Wall Street Journal's Best-Selling Books, E-Book Fiction
• #2 on New York Times' Best Sellers List, Combined Print & E-Book Fiction
• #4 on New York Times' Best Sellers List, Hardcover Fiction 
• #2 on USA TODAY'S Best-Selling Books
• Booklist Starred Review
• Romantic Times Top Pick!

Reviews

• AP
• Military Press
• Criminal Element
• The Real Book Spy
• Journaling on Paper
• Harlequin Junkie

Features

• Book Riot – New Books March 14
• BookBub – The Biggest Thrillers Coming Out This Spring
• The Big Thrill – How to Match Imaginations

Interviews

Praise

"This fourth in the A Brit in the FBI series is hard to put down . . . as Coulter and Ellison continue, on a roll."
– ★ Booklist, Starred Review

"Coulter and Ellison are really on an amazing roll with their outstanding A Brit in the FBI series. Wildly creative and twisty plots that take readers on crazy rides around the world are anchored by a core cast of unforgettable characters . . . Thrillers do not get better than this!"
– RT Book Reviews

An "adventure-filled fourth thriller in the Brit in the FBI series . . . Fans of popular culture will appreciate the references to such icons as the Star Trek Romulans, Harry Potter, and Sherlock Holmes."
– Publishers Weekly 
 

"There are action and thrills aplenty in Coulter and Ellison’s new addition to their Brit in the FBI series." 
– Kirkus Reviews

Daily Tao ☯ 5.24.17

Great news, y’all — commenting on the blog is fixed! From here on out, to comment, you click on the word “Comment”, which opens a nice, clean box. You write me a love letter, click “Post Comment”, and the following box will appear. All you have to do is put in your name, and click “Comment as Guest” and voilà!  

*Ignore the Log In to Comment. It shouldn’t be there, but at least now there’s the guest option. Still working on eliminating any more confusion with the service, but this is a good start.*

So. With that fixed, which took up a lot of time today, I was able to turn to the manuscript, edit what I did yesterday, and eek out another almost 1000. I'm over 6k now... I also did a big print interview (which you’ll see next month, fingers crossed) and did some last minute travel arrangements for BEA. 

A good day, all in all. And tomorrow, it’s manuscript only. And kitties. Who really do love to distract mom the moment she gets going with her words…

Oh, did y’all see the great news from my BFF, Laura Benedict? She sold her new novel, and it’s going to be incredible — I’ve read the book and it’s fantastic. Many congrats to Laura today!

Sweet dreams!

Daily Tao ☯ 5.23.17

A stellar start to the book today, 2300 words. I could have kept going, but there were a ton of distractions, too. My fault, I forgot to turn on Freedom and ended up dealing with an issue that should have waited until after work hours. My goal is to average 2000 per day 5 days a week, and I’m feeling confident enough in the story that I think this is very doable.

I am back in my zone, only taking appointments and calls on Mondays and Fridays, which allows for deep work Tuesday through Thursday. It worked for the last book so well I’m excited to try it again. If it continues to work, it means I can almost double my usual weekly output, which makes my brain (and my publishing partners) very happy, because there are so many stories begging to get out. 

Last night was historic in Nashville. My beloved Predators won the Western Conference title, and will be playing in the Stanley Cup for the very first time. And I will be there, in my nineteen-year-old practice sweater, cheering them on. The Preds came to town the same year I did, and I’ve always been a fan. My parents took me to Colorado Rockies and Washington Capitals games growing up, and darling husband continued in their stead, so this is a lifelong quest, for me to see my team make it to the big dance.  

And at the same time, my heart is breaking for the families in Manchester, England. It’s a terrible thing, and I was so torn last night, filled with great pride and great sorrow. It feels like the world should stop turning when these horrible events happen, but it doesn’t. All I can do is offer a prayer, and make sure the godless people who commit these atrocities are forever stopped in my novels. You wonder why I write crime fiction? So I can stop the bastards in their tracks. 

And on that rather vicious note, sweet dreams!

Daily Tao ☯ 5.22.17

It's so nice to be home! Darling Husband and I had a lovely afternoon yesterday, the kitties were super excited to see me, there was even a block party (not for me, but fun to catch up with everyone.) Today I got up, poured my tea (oh, the joy of having the tea already made when you arise) and settled in to work. I haven't been alone for a few weeks, and as cool and fun and everything has been, the travel and interacting for days on end has gotten to this introvert. 

Nothing fixes me up like a nice day puttering around cleaning, doing laundry, and listening to podcasts, then writing! After a fun call with CC, in which we refined a bunch of the ideas I worked on last week, I am cleared to start writing this book. Which is good, because I'm antsy to create.

Speaking of creating, I received a cool email this morning from Chapter 16, Tennessee's premier online literary magazine, which you really should be reading, because they review all the best books. Here's a link! Chapter 16 came into existence when all of the local newspapers dropped their book coverage (boo-hiss!). Sponsored by Humanities Tennessee, and run by the indefatigable Margaret Renkl, it's a veritable treasure trove of book info. Today, she did a roundup of the upcoming workshops and conferences that are great for writers of all stripes, and I asked for permission to share. Get thee writing, people! 

Editor's Note

It's summertime and the living might be easy somewhere else, but here in Tennessee summer is the time when writers flock to conferences and workshops to hone their craft. Here's a list of upcoming opportunities across the state, the location where each is held, and the dates of the event. Please keep in mind that registration deadlines for many of these workshops are right around the corner, so take a moment now to click anything that looks interesting.

Sundress Academy for the Arts summer writing retreats (Knoxville, dates vary beginning 5/26)

Classes at The Porch Writers' Collection (Nashville, dates vary beginning 6/2)

Clarksville Writers' Conference (Clarksville, 6/2-3)

Mountain Heritage Literary Festival (Harrogate, 6/9-11)

Manifest Voices, a free workshop for teens (Chattanooga, 6/12-24)

Humanities TN's Appalachian Young Writers' Workshop (Harrogate, 6/18-24)

Utopiacon (Nashville, 6/22-25)

Humanities TN's Tennessee Young Writers' Workshop (Lebanon, 7/9-15) 

Crosstown Arts' Zine Workshop (Memphis, 7/15)

Belmont "Writing for Your Life" conference (Nashville, 7/18-19)

Tennessee Writing Workshop (Nashville, 7/22)

Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference (Nashville, 8/24-27)

I'm off to a retirement party this afternoon, and then the week stretches before me, unformed, perfect for diving into a new story. I can't wait!

Sweet dreams!