Sunday Smatterings

Smatterings - August 23.png

Hello hello hello, and happy Sunday, friends. I hope you’re doing well this week.

How are you? Hanging in there? Gearing up for Fall? Kids back in school? We were on the porch last night and there was actually a hint of coolness in the air. Soon enough we’ll be voting and having fires and staying inside. Normally I’d be thrilled by this prospect, but I admit to being a wee bit concerned about heading into the cold and flu and election season with a pandemic at hand. But after flying this week, and feeling relatively safe, I’ve committed to getting back into the world. With my mask, and my spray, and my gels, of course.

What this really means is I’m going to get a haircut, and schedule a dentist appointment, and I had a huge treat today—a Sonic diet cherry limeade. (It’s the little things.)

Now that GOOD GIRLS LIE max is out in the world (see the little video below), it’s about time to start sharing the cover and story for HER DARK LIES. I have a final cover, and I have final copy, and I promise I will reveal both shortly. The Literati on Facebook get to see it first, (so you might want to join us there) and it will be in next month’s newsletter. By the way, when you open the newsletter you get entered into a giveaway for a $30 gift card to the bookstore of your choice, so if you’re signed up and don’t see it in your inbox, check your promotions or (egads) junk folders. I’ve been having some deliverability issues with my current service, and I promise to work on that shortly.

The (next) new book is starting to speak, as well. I’ve been trying to tell it to hold on, because I have a VERY big September ahead and I don’t want to start until October 1, but I heard a song today that embodied the story, and that was it, my main character started talking. What are you gonna do? 

I’m committed—committed—to outlining this new book. I’m using THE ANATOMY OF STORY by John Truby, whom my brilliant friend and fellow author Ariel Lawhon has been trying to help me conquer for years. Did I mention I am committed, friends? After the craziness of the past 14 months, I’m ready for a nice, smooth writing process. Since I’ve been a committed pantser forever, it should be a very interesting few months. Would love to hear from some of my writer friends—have you ever used Truby? What do you think?

And with that… onward!


GOOD GIRLS LIE got max’d!

GOOD GIRLS LIE is now available in mass market paperback max! Get your copy today.

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I recorded a video to show you what the new edition of GOOD GIRLS LIE looks like, talk about my inspiration for the book, and also give you a glimpse of where I grew up in Colorado. And deer!


THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

Listen Up: The Benefits of Audiobooks for Your Heart and Mind. This is great. I am a fan. What’s the best audiobook you’ve listened to lately?

10 New Thrillers That Will Keep You Awake During Hot August Nights. Hank Phillippi Ryan’s THE FIRST TO LIE was excellent and I’m looking forward to Amber Garza’s WHEN I WAS YOU. Have you read any of these yet?

4 of the Best Campus Novels to Get in the Spirit of the Fall Academic Year. Thrilled to see GOOD GIRLS LIE included on this awesome Book Riot list!

These 3 Practices by Bill Gates Will Change How You Read. "It’s about what and how you read that will improve your life’s quality and enhance your mind."

This Twitter Account Rates Zoom Backgrounds, and It Hates Your Color-Coordinated Books. Uh oh. Fie, I say. Fie!

More Fascinating and Free Things From the Library of Congress Website. Very cool.

The Joys of Mystery Fiction's Most Enduring Tropes. Tropes serve a purpose. Do you have a favorite?

If you haven’t read WHERE ALL THE DEAD LIE from my Taylor Jackson series, you can enter to win it in this Lethal Attraction: Romance Suspense giveaway!


That’s it from me. The minions send their best and say take a walk, buy some new kitchen towels, dust your bookshelves, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

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.

LIE TO ME is today's Audible Daily Deal!

If you’re itching to try a new audiobook, may I humbly suggest you give LIE TO ME a try? Not only is it the Audible Daily Deal today (yay!), it’s the first book of mine I could ever listen to all the way through, because the actors did such an outstanding job of embodying the characters I forgot they were reading my words! I can’t give higher praise.

Sutton and Ethan Montclair are supposed to be living out their dream. Both writers, they’ve just bought a beautiful house to restore in quaint Franklin, Tennessee, have an adorable baby boy named Dashiell, and have settled in for a wonderful life together. But their happiness is at an end. Faced with challenges no parent should have to go through, they break under the pressure. When Sutton goes missing, leaving behind a note that says don’t look for me, and a body is found, Ethan is immediately the primary suspect.

But what has really happened behind the closed doors of the Montclair’s lovely new home?

With deepest thanks to Matthew Waterson, Saskia Maarleveld, Sarah Naughton, and Julia Whelan for bringing Sutton’s and Ethan’s world to life.

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.

GOOD GIRLS LIE is now available in Max!

It’s here! GOOD GIRLS LIE is getting the max treatment today for its mass market release, and you should be able to find it in all your favorite retailers. And it has a biiiig surprise in it, a cover reveal for my next book. What is Max? This is an exciting new size for paperback books—larger compared to regular mass markets and easier to hold. So grab your copy today, and let’s see what releasing a book in the time of COVID is like!

I loved writing this book. It took me back to my days at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, a wonderful, life changing few years. I used a lot of my stories and remembrances, and embellished a few more. I mean, the school was haunted. What a wonderful canvas to draw from.

Ash Carlisle came to me as I was reading Yoga Journal on a flight, my tall, cool Brit who isn’t at all what she seems. I wasn’t supposed to be working on a book at the time, I was taking a break, and yet... there she was, my Oxford native, screaming to be let out. I had no choice but to allow her room, and she crashed into my life just like she crash lands at The Goode School.

And Dean Ford Westhaven, my headmistress and frustrated writer, trapped in Marchburg, staring at the mists over the Blue Ridge Mountains, longing to break free, move to New York, and follow her dream of being an author, is one of my favorite characters ever.

I hope you love this story. I hope you love my very good girls. Let me know what you think!

Get your copy!

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About the book:

Goode girls don’t lie…

Perched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. Its elite status, long-held traditions and honor code are ideal for preparing exceptional young women for brilliant futures at Ivy League universities and beyond. But a stranger has come to Goode, and this ivy has turned poisonous.

In a world where appearances are everything, as long as students pretend to follow the rules, no one questions the cruelties of the secret societies or the dubious behavior of the privileged young women who expect to get away with murder. But when a popular student is found dead, the truth cannot be ignored. Rumors suggest she was struggling with a secret that drove her to suicide.

But look closely…because there are truths and there are lies, and then there is everything that really happened.

J.T. Ellison’s pulse-pounding new novel examines the tenuous bonds of friendship, the power of lies and the desperate lengths people will go to to protect their secrets.

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.

Sunday Smatterings

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Happy Sunday, friends. Greetings from the western command, aka my hometown in Colorado! 

Yes, I bit the bullet and made the trek to see my parents. My dad’s birthday is today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!), and I decided not to miss it. Hey, 86 revolutions around the sun is something to celebrate. We’ve had a great, quiet, socially-distanced, antibacterial-laden few days. Plus... THE NEW BOOK IS DONE! I turned in the final draft, and now the book is going to galleys and out for review. (GULP) We still have to do a proper copyedit and final page passes, but it’s time for me to look forward to what’s next.

And maybe get back to reading. I’ve struggled with my reading all year. COVID and deadlines have conspired against me. I’ve found some amazing books that I really connected with, but there has been a surprising number that I’ve started, then abandoned. Even titles from some of my all-time favorite writers are failing to keep me engaged. It’s not them, it’s me, without a doubt. I’ve even slowed on my movie and TV consumption. There has been so much upheaval this year, with more to come, for sure. (More on that next week 🙂)  I hope that in the weeks ahead, I’ll find the connection again. Do you ever have dry spells like this? 

That said, we watched one of my favorite movies last night—DAVE—one of those perfectly idealistic views of what Washington, DC and the presidency could look like, littered with the reporters and pundits and politicians of my youth in cameo appearances. If you haven’t seen it, I highly encourage you to try. It’s sweet and one of the better interior White House settings (though the presser at the end breaks with the real press briefing room.) Hollywood rarely gets the interiors right—take West Wing, for example. Nope. Not even close. Welcome to my random weird pet peeve. 

Big week ahead, with the release of GOOD GIRLS LIE in mass market Max (buy links below). I LOVE the new size and shape. It sits well in the hand and falls open in the way of a beloved, well-read book. What’s also cool is there is a monster of a secret surprise in it—so grab your copy and get in on the secret!

Onward!


Book News

GOOD GIRLS LIE comes out in mass market paperback max on Tuesday! I got my copies and I absolutely love this new format. So easy to hold! Make sure you preorder your copy—you’ll enjoy a nice surprise in the back.

AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
BOOKS-A-MILLION
BOOKSHOP
INDIGO
TARGET

Only one day left to get LIE TO ME for $2.99!

If you haven’t read WHERE ALL THE DEAD LIE from my Taylor Jackson series, you can enter to win it in this Lethal Attraction: Romance Suspense giveaway! Plus 50+ exciting Romantic Suspense novels from a great collection of authors and more.


THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

Rebecca Movie First Look Images Show Off Netflix’s Hitchcock Adaptation. October 21 can’t come soon enough!!! I’m so, so excited about Armie Hammer as Max.

How to Start a Long-Running Mystery Series From Scratch. Great advice! I’m curious, do you prefer standalones or series?

It's Time to Radically Rethink Online Book Events. What have you liked about the virtual book events you’ve attended?

To Live Alone in the Woods and Write. The dream, right? Or is it… our reality???

It's Time to Demystify the Serial Killer. Great piece from wonderful writer Catherine Ryan Howard.

8 Thrillers Told From Multiple Points of View. Great list! Do you prefer multiple POVs? I can’t seem to write without them.

How Many Books is Too Many? Ask the World's 10 Biggest Libraries. Jaw-dropping numbers, but really, such a rhetorical question.

Joan Didion’s Favorite Books of All Time, in a Handwritten Reading List. I love this kind of thing.

Hemingway’s Advice on Writing, Ambition, the Art of Revision, and His Reading List of Essential Books for Aspiring Writers. So much inspiration here.

Meg Tucker Talks With Author J.T. Ellison. Loved this book club chat with my pal Meg!


August 2020 TBR.jpeg

Speaking of reading… Here's how my TBR is shaping up for August! So many amazing books. Which one should I read next? I’ve already conquered CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45, which was one of the books that really landed with me.

What are you reading?


That’s it from me. Wish my dad a happy birthday, reminisce about your hometown, wish me luck on the big week ahead, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

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.

LIE TO ME is on sale!

LIE TO ME is on sale for $2.99! For anyone looking for their next page-turning read, NYT bestselling author Mary Kubica said LIE TO ME is "a wickedly good thriller about a picture-perfect marriage that is anything but."

Grief, jealousy, betrayal and murder destroy the facade of the perfect literary couple. What really happened to Sutton Montclair?

Get your copy!

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GOOGLE PLAY
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About the book:

Domestic noir at its best. Readers will devour this stunning page-turner about the disintegration of a marriage as grief, jealousy, betrayal and murder destroy the facade of the perfect literary couple. New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison takes her exceptional writing to a new level with this breakout novel. 

They built a life on lies.

Sutton and Ethan Montclair's idyllic life is not as it appears. They seem made for each other, but the truth is ugly. Consumed by professional and personal betrayals and financial woes, the two both love and hate each other. As tensions mount, Sutton disappears, leaving behind a note saying not to look for her. 

Ethan finds himself the target of vicious gossip as friends, family and the media speculate on what really happened to Sutton Montclair. As the police investigate, the lies the couple have been spinning for years quickly unravel. Is Ethan a killer? Is he being set up? Did Sutton hate him enough to kill the child she never wanted and then herself? The path to the answers is full of twists that will leave the reader breathless.

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.