Tao of J.T. is the online blog of New York Times bestselling author and EMMY-award winning television host J.T. Ellison.
Hello, friends, welcome to Friday. What's on your reading docket this weekend?
(Bonus points if it's THE SIXTH DAY, but we can still be friends if you're finishing up your current read before moving on to mine. 😜)
Share your book with me in the comments!
P.S. You only have to leave your name to comment! The adding your email address and URL is optional.
Having a new book baby out in world is a mixed bag of emotions. It feels a bit like jumping off a cliff with no parachute: sheer excitement coupled with abject terror. Why? Well, because the book is no longer your own. It’s one thing to build a book. It’s something different to have strangers read it.
So let’s talk about building a book. THE SIXTH DAY hit shelves Tuesday, and the research that went into it was astounding.
For me, writing an international thriller with historical components is sort of like making French onion soup out of apples — in other words, an uphill battle. Or magic. I like the magic analogy better, let’s go with that.
Even though I’m not doing it alone, this magic gets its essence from the minute details. Elizabeth George just did an interview in which she described the moment a piece of her latest book came together for her:
“Seeing the place is really helpful in developing the plot, because if I don’t go, there are things I simply won’t know,” she explains. “For example, for the new book I went to Ludlow, and when I visited the police station, it was closed. There was an intercom and video-camera setup at the building which connected people with the police and emergency services. That became a hugely important plot point in the book.”
For me, physical proximity is the secret behind good research. You can study everything, read all the books, read all the articles, but if you can actually go to the spot you’re writing about, plot points can appear out of the ether. I can give you oodles of moments this has happened to me, book after book. Heck, a trip to Scotland saved WHERE ALL THE DEAD LIE — I had the winter colors all wrong. Trees, grass, flowers, skies… How embarrassing would that have been?
I know travel isn’t always possible, so at the very least, a few hours spent on Google Earth will go a long way. You won’t get all five senses (and trust me, how someplace smells creates all kinds of interesting ideas), but you’ll at least see what people wear, what it looks like when it rains, etc.
And the facts you see in the novel are fractional compared to the work done on the back end. There’s a reason we call research an iceberg, after all. You only see the tip. I’ve literally spent days on certain topics in order to put one single fact into the manuscript. I like to joke I get a Ph.D. on every book, but it really is true.
I have a somewhat organized way of researching my novels.
If I’m working on research online, as I’m going deep into a topic, any link that I touch that has any sort of relevance to the book immediately gets bookmarked. If I know it’s relevant, it goes into its own folder in Evernote. If it’s possibly relevant, it goes to Instapaper, and then gets shuttled into Evernote if I find anything worthwhile. I also sign up for newsletters, subscribe to online magazines, join Facebook groups. Anything that will allow me hands-on experience with the people who actually do the work or live in the world I’m researching. (Dark Web for hacking info, anyone? 😈)
Once the research is conducted, I usually print it out and put it in a huge Circa binder. That way, if the internet crashes, I have my research. And of course, let’s not forget the books — easy to work with there, just slap a Post-it note and write it up in my notebook. Same for movies and television shows related to the story. I have two massive bookshelves in my office that cover everything from the occult to FBI to falconry. I call it the database.
For THE SIXTH DAY, I have over 200 individual links in my Evernote. From hacking to falcons to the Voynich to hemophilia to LSD, they are a roadmap of memories to building a book. I love that record, too. It’s as evocative as a playlist for me. I can remember the exact moment I saw a certain story and what idea it triggered — and often, I make a note about that in my files, for posterity.
Hopefully, I get it all right. But as huge as these novels are, sometimes I blow it. A fact gets reversed, or the source material is incorrect, or I just plain read and interpret wrong. Hopefully, those mistakes are minimal. Because ugh! Fingers crossed it’s all perfect in this one.
I hope you enjoy all the crazy research that went into THE SIXTH DAY. Catherine and I had a blast with it.
Now, on to book 6! (It only has 130 links bookmarked so far…)
Writers, how do you do your research? And Readers, is there anything that drives you crazy on research-heavy books? What do you love to see?
It’s here! THE SIXTH DAY is on sale today at all retailers in all formats!
I’ll be the first to admit, naming the 5th book in the Brit in the FBI series THE SIXTH DAY shows a small lack of foresight on our part, as now that the 6th book is underway, I keep finding myself saving files to the Sixth Day folder. A small price to pay, though, for what I think is the most intricate, intense ride of the series thus far.
Set in London, Nicholas and Mike are up against a villain who thinks he’s a descendent of Vlad the Impaler, and believes the lost pages of the Voynich Manuscript hold the answers to save his twin brother from the grips of severe hemophilia. (Get it - vampires, hemophilia…) Plus, there is some high-tech madness, and a drone army, and falcons named after the original Cabal. Trust me when I say Nicholas and Mike have their hands full.
You might wonder how Catherine and I cook up these crazy plots. Normally, we meet at her place in California, but for this book, we set up shop in a lovely hotel in Manhattan, with oodles of tea and bacon (the staples of life) being brought by room service, and started throwing ideas against the wall. We had two basic concepts to start with — the Voynich Manuscript and Vlad Dracul — and we tossed out plot twists until they began to gel into a plausible story.
We had so many cool ideas for THE SIXTH DAY I often wondered how we would manage to fit them all in. But we did, and the result is a mind-bending thriller that will leave you breathless.
A part of this book’s inspiration was a family affair. I have to give props to my dad and my brothers for inspiring the falcons in the book. We were walking on the beach last year and my eldest brother mentioned a documentary he’d seen about a falcon hospital in Saudi Arabia. My dad had forwarded me a story about the French using eagles and falcons to take down drones just days before … and my middle brother mentioned he’d recently seen a story about a Saudi Prince booking seats for 80 of his falcons on board a plane. I was hooked on these ideas and ran to Catherine and said — Roman has to be a falconer. She bought in immediately, for which I will be forever grateful.
In that vein, I also have to give props to Helen Macdonald for her incredible book H IS FOR HAWK (recommended to me years ago by my very first editor, so how’s that for full circle), and Deborah Harkness for introducing me to the Voynich in her incredible DISCOVERY OF WITCHES series. These inspirations truly helped bring this book to life.
Thanks to all!
I hope you enjoy THE SIXTH DAY – let me know what you think!
AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE | SIGNED COPY
BOOKS-A-MILLION | SIGNED COPY
INDIEBOUND
INDIGO
TARGET
Welcome to another glorious Sunday! I hope you're having a great weekend. It's been chilly here in middle TN, so we've been snuggled inside, reading, eating, and catching up on chores, and of course, taxes! Have you been a good dooby and filed already? Bravo!
The Nashville Predators are heading to the playoff this week, and I couldn't be more excited. Two years in a row! Nothing better than having your home team get home ice throughout. And NHL playoff hockey is incredible. Going to be a fun first series of games -- especially playing the Avalanche.
I'm gearing up for a big week ahead— Tuesday is release day for THE SIXTH DAY! And I'm heading to visit my folks, which means lots of golf, laughter, and good food to come.
Now, on to the links!
Super cool piece on Elizabeth George, journaling, and the value of research. I've experienced this several times myself — it takes only one tiny fact or experience to alter the course of a novel...
My friend and brilliant writer Lisa Gardner gives her Top Five Writing Tips in the Strand Magazine. This is utter gold, and definitely someone to emulate.
Hey, Lefties, Jet Pens has a set of notebooks especially for you. The Kokuyo Soft Ring Notebooks are specifically designed to make it easier on your wrists.
Why heart attack symptoms are missed in women. The more you know... spread the word, ladies!
This was fascinating — Why Ron Howard joined 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' in its time of upheaval. Taking on a legendary epic prequel had to be very hard. So glad to see him step in!
From the well, that was inevitable files — Lawyers Faced With Emojis and Emoticons Are All ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ with a hat tip to the Passive Voice Blog.
From Agatha Christie to Tana French, Mystery's Menacing Homes: The 7 Creepiest Manor Houses in Mystery. I am in a gothic mood right now, so this was well-timed.
6 Things You Need to Recover From Every Day – Benjamin P. Hardy's latest Medium essay is really thought provoking... I might have more on this soon.
Elephants & Bees This project is so cool! Innovative, safe, and kind. I had no idea, either.
Introducing the revamped blog: Momentary Lapses of Reason! Yes, I've renamed my writing/observation entries to more closely match what I think the writing process is all about. We have a tweaked new look, new branding, and have reopened the comments for conversation, community, and general merriment. Please join us!
And of course, Tuesday's the big day for THE SIXTH DAY!!!!! You can get your copies here, because you aren't going to want to miss this ride. I mean, London, falcons, drones, the Voynich Manuscript... it's a fun book. And maybe grab one for a friend, too...
That's it from me. Watch some hockey, read a good book, get out and take a walk in the gorgeous spring sunshine (with your allergy medicine on board, natch) and I'll see you net week!
xo,
JT
Welcome to another Friday, my friends! What are you reading this weekend?
Share the next book on your TBR in the comments!
