Friday Reads
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It's Friday and that means it's time to discuss books!
What are you reading this weekend?
Archive
- Sunday Smatterings 216
- links 110
- Journal 73
- book news 40
- News 32
- Smats 28
- Writing 26
- 7 Minutes With... 24
- A Word on Words 23
- books 23
- reading 23
- Taylor Jackson 22
- writing process 21
- The Cold Room 19
- A DEEPER DARKNESS 18
- writing habits 18
- LIE TO ME 17
- Catherine Coulter 16
- book releases 16
- Annual Review 15
- Tuesday Funny 15
- WHERE ALL THE DEAD LIE 15
- Links 14
- Productivity 14
- sale 14
- Edge of Black 13
- Two Tales Press 13
- Creative Entrepreneur 12
- Lie To Me 11
- New Releases 11
- No One Knows 11
- The Immortals 11
- WHEN SHADOWS FALL 11
- All the Pretty Girls 10
- TEAR ME APART 10
- The Kerr 10
- Zeitgeist 10
- short stories 10
- Author Assistant 9
- DEAD ENDS 9
- book sale 9
- contests 9
- creativity 9
- giveaway 9
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- Friday Reads 8
- GOOD GIRLS LIE 8
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- Nicholas Drummond 8
Sunday Smatterings
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Hi there, chickens! It's time for our first Sunday Smatterings of June, and it's chock-full of links and news, perfect for taking a break today. It's been a busy week at Chez Ellison, with lots of writing and preparing for new releases, but you'll be proud of me -- I snuck off Thursday evening and played a little golf. Well, let's put it this way, I showed up on the course and had fun. The play... well, it's early in the season, right? Plenty of time to get this girl's swing back into shape.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the latest bookish goodness!
Here's what happened on the Internets this week:
Lifehacker Asks The Motivation Expert. An absolutely fantastic shortcut to success from Mel Robbins. You can find a more in-depth version here.
Don't Take Fake Breaks (And Two Nonfiction Books To Frame Your Summer Reading.) Superb advice that will help you feel more settled.
Advice To Writers: The Process Begins By Actually Sitting Down. This really is a no-brainer headline, but even I have trouble with this sometimes.
Music City Reads: Six Local Authors You Need To Be Checking Out. Wonderful list of a few Nashville authors in a very special place -- The Contributor, which benefits our homeless, and written by a great guy, local author and educator Zack Barnes. Honored to be included.
Lauren Groff: By The Book. How can you not love this? So sassy... (Lauren was a guest on the first season of A WORD ON WORDS, too. Check out her interview here.)
The Biggest Psychological Thrillers Coming Out This Summer. I couldn't help myself... Look what made an appearance on BookBub's list! And seriously, what a list -- I can't wait to dive into so many of these...
And closer to home:
A new book!
For my British, Australian, and Commonwealth readers, I'm exceptionally excited to announce that a brand-new version of NO ONE KNOWS is now available in both digital and print. It's your very own edition, too, and as such, has a slightly different ending. (How's that for a tease?) I did this through Two Tales, so it won't be in your local store, but you can order it online.
Get yours today! Here's the ebook and here's the paperback.
More JT-related bookish goodies, Goodreads has a giveaway for TEAR ME APART. Good luck!
And last, but not least, on my weekly Momentary Lapse of Reason, I discussed how music inspires me, and has for a very long time. I think you might enjoy this insight.
That's a wrap! I hope June has gotten off to a wonderful start for you. Here's to a great summer!
xo,
J.T.
Friday Reads
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TGIF, y'all! I hope you have fun plans in store and plenty of time to sit down with a good book.
What are you reading this weekend? Let me know in the comments!
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Where does a writer get their inspiration?
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This first appeared on Sirens of Suspense...
I’ve started a new novel, and I was writing along to Classical today (as I am wont to do; I am especially adept at red-pencil conducting), listening to an I Heart Radio station out of Minnesota, and was about to change the station when the host said the magic word: Berlioz!
Now, for me, there are several magic words when it comes to classical music: Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Dvörak, and Rodriguez among them, but Berlioz is the one that sets my heart a-flutter, because it is almost always followed by the chill-inducing words Symphonie Fantastique, which guarantees I’m going to stop what I’m doing and turn up the volume.
I think I may have been a conductor in a past life, the way classic music affects me. It is my preferred writing noise of choice, and several of my favorite symphonies have made it into novels along the way, sometimes in good ways, sometimes in creepy ways. (See THE COLD ROOM for a perfect example.)
But the Fantastique holds a special place in my heart. I spent my late teen years in Washington, D.C., and my father is a classical nut, so there were many fine evenings at the Kennedy Center, listening to the National Symphony Orchestra breathe life into the music, riding the strains of my favorite composers as they lilted through the breathless air. Berlioz was always a favorite, but it wasn’t until a fateful day in traffic that it truly became an anthem.
I was nineteen, and deep into my second internship at the White House. Cabinet Affairs, to be exact. We oversaw all the communication between the White House and the Cabinet members, including setting up Cabinet meetings. One of my jobs was laying out the pads and pens in Cabinet Room prior to events. The Oval Office was a handsbreath away, and it was not lost on me that I was rubbing shoulders with the most powerful people in our nation and the world on a daily basis. It’s a heady place for a kid to work, for sure.
Heading home, I got stuck in traffic on the WhiteHurst Freeway. I was a football field away from the Key Bridge, and getting very impatient: There was an incredible storm brewing over Virginia, and I wanted to get home before the worst of it hit.
It wasn’t meant to be.
For ten minutes, traffic didn’t move an inch, and the storm swept in, with incredible forked lightning and earth-shattering booms of thunder, all the noise that makes you understand why the Greeks and Romans named, and feared, their gods.
As it happened, Symphonie Fantastique was playing on the radio, WETA (90.3) still one of the best classical stations out there. As if on cue, as the worst of the storm overtook us, on came the Fantastique’s fifth movement, “Songe d'une nuit du sabbat” (Dream of the Night of the Sabbath). The long, tolling bells, mournful clarinet, and deep notes of the bassoon and tuba always gives me chills, but in concert with the dancing lightning, the thunder shaking the car, the pelting rain, it became the world around me. An embodiment of the piece, literally ringing through the very air.
I was unable to run and hide, so I sat, mesmerized by the storm, feeling the world, and myself, becoming one with the music.
It was such a visceral, present moment that I relieve it every time the piece comes on. I drop everything, listen to the fifth movement, and I’m back in the moment: A young, proud teenager, serving her country, stuck in traffic, praying the roof doesn’t collapse on her car, the wings of the music lifting her higher and higher. I think Berlioz must have appreciated a good storm.
Don’t be surprised to see the Fantastique somewhere near the beginning of this new book. A thunderstorm, and the music, and the feels. I think it’s high time, don’t you?
How does music affect you?
Sunday Smatterings
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Hi there, chickens! Welcome to Sunday Smatterings on this glorious Memorial Day weekend. Let's take a look at the latest bookish!
Here's what happened on the Internets this week:
Enormous Smallness: The Sweet Illustrated Story of e. e. cummings and His Creative Bravery. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
Creative Incubation. This hit me hard. It’s so true. Create that space for yourself. Without it, your work will suffer. We all need a room of our own without distraction.
How Things End Ending really is almost harder than beginning. But necessary. You don't want to leave a trail of half-eaten sandwiches around the house... though your mice will love you, your readers won't!
Ready Player Productive: On Virtual Reality and Cognitively Demanding Work. Very interesting to consider. There's nothing from Cal Newport that isn't fascinating.
In an 8-Hour Day, the Average Worker Is Productive for This Many Hours. I know my mental productivity is limited to a solid three hours, mostly in the afternoon. Makes sense the business world should start cutting back.
The Gorgeous Reality of Having People Not Like You. "Caring too much about what others think of you stifles your ability to take risks and disrupts your social satisfaction." Love yourself. The rest will come. It doesn't matter if you're liked. Be true to you.
Marie Kondo Shows How to Tidy Your Office. When’s the last time you cleaned your office? I need to get on this...
What Makes a “Great American Read,” Anyway? The brilliant mind behind NPT's A WORD ON WORDS, Linda Wei, tells us. Have you voted for your favorite yet??
Tiny Luxuries. Amazing what we can do when we’re mindful.
And closer to home:
The ebook for ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS (Lt. Taylor Jackson #1) is on sale for $1.99! This a great deal for anyone looking to get lost in a book this holiday weekend.
Revisit Book #1 in J.T. Ellison's heart-racing, fan-favorite Taylor Jackson series!
When a local girl falls prey to a sadistic serial killer, Nashville homicide lieutenant Taylor Jackson and her lover, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, find themselves in a joint investigation pursuing a vicious murderer. The Southern Strangler is slaughtering his way through the Southeast, leaving a gruesome memento at each crime scene—the prior victim's severed hand.
Ambitious TV reporter Whitney Connolly is certain the Southern Strangler is her ticket out of Nashville; she's got a scoop that could break the case. She has no idea how close to this story she really is—or what it will cost her.
As the killer spirals out of control, everyone involved must face a horrible truth—that the purest evil is born of private lies.
Download the eBook
KINDLE
NOOK
iBOOKS
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That's all for now! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend and that the sun is shining wherever you are. Blessings and deepest thanks to those we've lost. 🇺🇸
xo,
J.T.
