Sunday Smatterings

Happy Sunday, friends! It’s Jameson and Jordan’s 7th Cativersary today! We brought home our little minions on November 1, 2013. Good grief, it feels like yesterday. Their story is a fascinating one, and we are so blessed in their company. Sweet, sweet girls, both.

If you’ve ever renovated a house, or even done a major home improvement project, you know how disruptive that can be. Boxes. Dust. Strangers in the house at all hours, many of whom down gallons of coffee to wake up and then embarrassingly need to use your facilities. (Pro tip: don’t schedule any appointment before 10 am...) The uncertainty that results from the paradox of choice—you can do ANYTHING to your home now, in any style, with any design, color, or detail. Choosing between 14 incredibly similar but totally different French country-style dining tables can be a bit...overwhelming. Add in coordinating schedules of multiple vendors, making plans to lock up the pets, and the added stress of COVID safety measures, and it can be a wee bit challenging. 

The house we bought needed a LOT of work. But, having renovated our last house, we knew we were up to the challenge. We focused on the envelope first—foundation to roof, then moved inside: restoring the hardwood floors, painting everything a neutral gray, re-carpeting a few rooms, installing new bookshelves, and designing a master bath. I’ve acted as our general contractor inside, Mr. E handled outside. We’ve been blessed with incredible craftsmen the whole way—you know a project is only as good as the contractors and vendors you’re working with. 

Meanwhile, we were staging/selling our house, which involved moving out half the furniture and all the books, then moving what we needed to live and work into the new house while leaving behind the bulk of the furniture, then, because the closing moved up 2 weeks, getting out entirely, quickly, hiring and directing movers, and finally, bringing to the new house all the things we moved out to stage the old. 

This was not the easiest path, nor the measured and thoughtful retreat we had in mind when we set ourselves upon these stormy seas, but it’s nearly over. We’re a week away from completion, and that is only an hour job once things arrive. Everything we own is at long last in this new house. The cats have found the places they like to sleep. My books came today, and that makes me oh so happy. The end of the chaos is upon us.

So, since I am, at last, expecting no one, I am taking the next week off. I am going to hunker down and do a week-long writing retreat to kick off my new creative life in our new home. I plan to stay far, far away from anything that doesn’t serve my current story. It is going to be a difficult book to write, and I need to sink into its warm waters and soak myself. 

Wish me luck, and be good to each other. We’re all we have. 

Onward!

---

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

The Best Books of 2020 (So Far). Soon it’ll be time to put together my favorite books of 2020 list…

Where Do Reading Lists Come From? (And Why Do We Love Them?) “The more you think about what a reading list should be, the more you’re likely to reflect on how you and your subject have shaped one another.”

A Reader That Never Sleeps: 9 Thrillers Set in New York. It’s both a great city and a great setting.

If you want another spine-chilling read to add to your TBR pile, you can enter to win my book THE COLD ROOM on BookSweeps—plus 50 exciting Dark Mysteries, Thrillers, and Horror novels from a great collection of authors. And the Grand Prize winner gets an eReader!

35 Completed Book Series Guaranteed to Keep You Reading. I love a good binge-read.

A bookstore that dwells in darkness, literally. I don't know about this...

Top 10 books about creative writing. Great list, especially for anyone starting NaNoWriMo today.

Candy Corn: America’s Most Contentious Confection. I love candy corn! What about you?

The Longest Book Series In Romance, SFF, And Mystery. If you’re looking for a long series to get you through the winter, this is the list for you.

Best Travel Books and Podcasts. In case you’re looking for ways to satisfy your wanderlust.

The Reason It's So Hard to Spot Your Own Typos. Thank God for proofreaders.

---

That’s it from me. Don’t forget to vote, and I’ll see you next week! 🇺🇸

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

Sunday Smatterings

Happy Sunday, friends! How are you this fine day?

I’ve been looking at the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year, curious to see how I’ve done meeting, exceeding, or failing to launch. Obviously, many plans have gone awry thanks to the pandemic, but I’ve still accomplished most of what I set out to do. I’ve written 150,000 words so far, with a goal of 200k. I’ve read 50 out of my 80 books. I’ve definitely pulled back on my social media time. My move streak is at 140 days, so I’m getting more exercise and fresh air. I’ve kept up with my Smatterings, and I’ve made strides into reclaiming my work/life balance. 

2020 was dedicated to the word ENOUGH. When I wrote my annual review, I was saying ENOUGH OF THIS

Now, I’m saying it slightly differently. “Enough” means it’s time to make changes. 

And with change comes loss.

This—with change comes loss—has become  my 2020 mantra. I have changed a lot about my life, both professionally and personally. I have changed dramatically this year. Things that used to bother me to the point of distraction are now totally irrelevant. Shallow concerns have been replaced with much more serious actions to ensure our bodily safety. We even went so far as to take advantage of an opportunity to move so we would be safer, and more secure.

As we forge ahead into an uncertain fall and winter, I take the habits I’ve built over the past several months into my new office. I sit at my desk with my steaming hot cup of tea and start to write as the morning sun spills into the room. It feels good, this new day, this new view, this new perspective. 

I suspect this is the same for most of us, considering. When is a pandemic a blessing in disguise?

And with that, I say, onward!

---

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

8 of the Best YA Books About Witchcraft for Halloween. I love books with witches! One of my besties has a book coming out next year that will fit this list perfectly.

The Pandemic Proves That Society Was Wrong About How to Live Life. As I was saying…

Mother-of-four 'mortified' to discover toddler sent picture of her bare bum to all her contacts. This is hands down my favorite story of the week…

Five Thrillers That Explore “Mean Girl” Culture. So cool to see GOOD GIRLS LIE included here!

Climactic Moments in Literature Rescheduled as Zoom Meetings. That would definitely change things.

Just Write: Outstanding Literary Pencils. The grammar pencils might be my favorite.

9 Micro-Habits That Will Completely Change Your Life in a Year. Small changes do make a big difference.

The Book Behind Netflix's Rebecca Is the Perfect Halloween Read. One of my all-time favorite novels, and I’ve enjoyed the movie this week. Armie Hammer FTW.

17 Crime Fiction Series That Use Real Historical Figures As Sleuths. See any favorites here?

All The Shakespeare Mugs. Great gift idea! But don’t send me one. I am DROWNING in tea mugs… LOL!

---

That’s it from me. Look at your goals for the year, give the kids and furkids a hug, HYDRATE, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

Sunday Smatterings

Happy Sunday, friends! I hope today’s missive finds you well.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about creative passion. 

I purposefully took off the month of September to get us prepared for the move and get the new house renovated. It was good timing—I’d just finished the revision of HER DARK LIES and knew it would be in production for a few weeks at least before I got copyedits. I also knew that as much as I like to pretend to myself that I finish one book and immediately launch into another, my actual pattern of behavior is finish one book, immediately start another, then spend a month messing around while the new idea pushes away the previous one. There’s a real period of grieving every writer must go through when they finish a book. You’ve lived with these characters and this story for so long, it’s hard to simply shut the door and walk away without a proper goodbye.

I decided to take advantage of my month of lying fallow and accomplish something instead of surfing the web letting the new idea work its way into my subconscious. And for the most part, I’ve accomplished my goal. As with all great plans, I neglected to budget an extra 25% of time to accomplish all I set out to do, which is why it’s mid-October and we’ve just moved, the old house still has a few things to be cleared out, and I haven’t gotten past the first chapter of the new book. But I’m here at my desk, and I worked on a short story yesterday, and I know how it ends, so that’s nothing to sneeze at.

All of this to say... I’ve ben itching to get back to writing. This break feels much too long. My writing muscles haven’t atrophied, but they’re sore from disuse. Which brings me full circle to the creative passion thing.

Wanting to write isn’t enough. Thinking about writing isn’t enough. Talking about writing isn’t enough. If you actually want to be a writer, to have a career, to sustain yourself financially, to have a modicum of success, however you define it—you have to write. You must create. You must let YOUR passion for YOUR work drive you to the keyboard or pen every single damn day. It doesn’t matter if it seems too hard. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think it will get published. It doesn’t matter if you’re worried about reviews or reader response or how much money you can get out of it.

No more excuses. Just do it. Stop worrying about the business side of writing, and get to work on the business of writing.

Just write. 

Onward!

---

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

How the Pandemic Has Changed Our Reading Lives. Do you relate? I’ve had a terrible slump this year.

13 Thrillers to Keep You Up This Halloween Season. Thanks to The Book Mama for including LIE TO ME!

How the USPS Chooses Its Literary Stamps. I had no idea!

The 22 Most Exciting New Releases Hitting Bookshelves Throughout October. So many good books!

Honoring Indigenous Peoples: 20 Recommended Reads. Great list.

Ten American Masterpieces That Are Actually Crime Fiction. Don’t get me started on the idea that crime fiction is or is not literature…

24 Witch Books That Are Perfect for Spooky Season. MY TBR just got longer… I LOVE a good witch book.

Why Are We Obsessed With Other People’s Bookshelves? Because they tell us so much!

The Insidious Rise of the Author Photo. I’m curious what my fellow authors think about this. I love this piece.

How COVID-19 is changing the English language. Fascinating.

8 of the Best NaNoWriMo Prep Books for Writers. NaNoWriMo is right around the corner. Are you joining in this year?

---

LEGENDBORN by Tracy Deonn

What a magnificent book. I've spent the past week recommending LEGENDBORN to everyone I know. It's got everything: a complex new magical system, grounded in Arthurian legend; a sassy protagonist who is destined to become an iconic hero in her own right; important, thought-provoking themes; and a burgeoning love triangle that feels inevitable but right. Seriously, y'all, this book is a blast! Tracy Deonn is now on my always pre-order list.

What are you reading?

---

That’s it from me. Clean out your junk drawer, buy some shelf liners and clean your fridge, write something, even if it feels hard, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

Sunday Smatterings

Happy Sunday, friends!

Many of you know Jameson, the smaller of the two thriller kittens, managed to get a chunk of toy mouse lodged in her duodenum and needed a surgical intervention to remove it. She is currently asleep by my side on her heating pad, dressed in a surgical suit (aka an infant onesie) and healing well.

I have a new appreciation for the phenomenon I’ve heard about that second babies are easier than the first. We went through this five years ago, when, on New Year’s Eve, we returned home from Christmas at my parents only to have to rush Jameson to the emergency vet. That was a full blockage caused by 6 inches of Christmas ribbon and a chunk of plastic. She’s malingered for so long she was put on ten days cage rest. She was in an E-collar,  and every three hours I had to feed her, hold her tail whilst she used her cat box, feed her pain medication, and otherwise try to love and entertain a two year old torpedo without letting her rip her stitches. 

It was like having a newborn. Except after ten days, it was over. Mad props to you new parents out there, BTW.

But the second time around... the onesie is a VAST improvement over the E-collar. She has a donut collar for overnight which acts like a pillow, and she likes that. She is not on cage rest, nor does she need me to hold her tail. The pain meds are every 8-12 hours, which means sleep is possible. It’s been easier on all of us. 

But my GAWD, will she ever learn? 

It’s good timing for moving. I will not be bringing any of her old toys that have any kind of plastic or chewable parts to the new house. We’ll be able to find the hundreds that have been lost (or partially digested) over the years and dispose of them. If you have any suggestions for all natural soft, edible cat toys, do let me know! I’m going to put her back on crunchy dog bones for something hard to chew on. 

You can imagine how much writing I got done this week. But I’m not worried. I’m cogitating. Lots going on in the background means lots of words getting ready to spill out.

Onward!

---

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

11 New Thriller and Mystery Books That Will Make You Want to Stay Inside This October. Are any of these on your TBR?

'Utopia' Showrunner Gillian Flynn Isn't Interested In Writing Likable Women. "The question should be less, 'Is this character likable' and more, 'Is this character interesting'? Do you want to talk about them? And do you want to see what they do next?"

Mark your calendars for the Friends & Fiction event with me and Hank Phillippi Ryan! On November 18 at 7pm ET, we’ll meet up with Mary Kay Andrews, Kristin Harmel, Kristy Woodson Harvey, Patti Callahan Henry, and Mary Alice Monroe to talk about writing, books, and life--and offer you some special opportunities. Hope to see you then!

Beyond Good Writing: Two Literary Agents Discuss What Matters Most. “Querying is a little bit like dating. You’re trying to find the person who falls in love and can champion your work.”

James Patterson Donates $2.5 Million to Teachers During Covid-19. What a great guy.

The Best New Movies Based on Books Premiering in 2020-2021. Taking notes. Rebecca is at the top of my list.

Top 10 books about social media. Have you read any of these?

38 Great Books To Read This Fall, Recommended By Our Favorite Indie Booksellers. I love seeing which books booksellers are excited about!

More Than 650 New Words Have Been Added to Dictionary.com—Here Are 50 of Them. Language is always evolving. Do you have a favorite new word?

The Futura Is Now: Why YA Cover Design Looks The Way It Does. So interesting.

This Goodreads giveaway of HER DARK LIES Advanced Reader Copies ends this week. (US only.)

---

CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger

I've been a fan of Lisa for years, because she just keeps getting better and better at her craft. Last year's awesome THE STRANGER INSIDE blew me away, and this new one, CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45, didn't disappoint either. Fans of the long con will love this book, and those of you who think everything is okay at home will rethink every interaction you have. A wonderful, twisty, engaging read.

What are you reading?

---

That’s it from me. Burn some leaves, play with your fur babies in a safe and responsible manner, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.

Sunday Smatterings

Happy Sunday, friends!

2020 keeps serving up the plot twists, doesn’t it? I’m telling you, if a writer were to pitch this story to an editor, they’d get shot down for being too melodramatic.

I can honestly say I have zero idea where we’re headed. That is, of course, the conundrum we all face—an uncertain future. I touched on the idea of personal earthquakes in the newsletter this month, and now I want to explore the idea of why the uncertainty we’re facing today is any different than the uncertainty we face any day. Since there is little to nothing we can ever do to anticipate the future, why does this particular moment in time feel so out of our control? Nothing is in our control. Basic certainties exist, obviously: the sun will rise and set, we will need sustenance and shelter, companionship and love.  But as for the uncertainty of tomorrow? We’ve never really have any idea what’s going to happen next. 

Perhaps it’s that we’re all in this together, and that’s why it feels so much bigger than our usual day to day lack of clairvoyance.

This is comforting to me. I hope it’s comforting to you. 

I took a fun virtual writing class this week with several of my writing buddies, conducted by John Truby, entitled Why is There Philosophy in My Movie. It was all about the ways writers can use philosophical concepts to deepen their work. It spoke to me on many levels—me, the Plato devotee—and has given me all sorts of ideas about the new book. 

It feels so funny to say that. I’ve just turned in my copyedits and already, I am off to the next idea. I have an opening for two characters and am deep diving into the third. I haven’t made any decisions yet about structure, or POV, or tense, but that will come. I’m feeling very blessed that I can step away from the nonsense of the real world to focus on my craft and characters. As awful as COVID has been, it’s given me a real sense of what’s vital and important to me, and that’s creation.

What have you learned about yourself since the pandemic started? 

Onward!

---

ON WRITING: ASK US ANYTHING

I spend a lot of time talking with NYT bestselling author pals Patti Callahan Henry and Ariel Lawhon about the craft of writing, about theme and plots, and character development. We send each other articles, inspiration, encouragement…and questions. Lots of questions.

We realized that we each responded to the same question from different perspectives and personalities, influencing and deepening the answers with our varied outlooks.

And we thought — why not answer some of your questions? 

So now we are starting a monthly ASK US ANYTHING ABOUT WRITING. Each of us will answer two questions every month in our newsletters.

Send your questions to jtellison@jtellison.com. To read all of the answers, make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter and then subscribe to Ariel and Patti’s newsletters to get their input along with mine!

---

THE LATEST ON THE INTERNET:

Banned Books To Read During Banned Books Week. Do you have a favorite banned book? Also… how crazy is it to ban books? I’ve never understood the concept.

22 Spooky New Books That Will Put You in a Halloween State of Mind. ‘Tis the season! What’s your favorite Halloween read?

Native American & Indigenous Peoples Literature Starter Guide. This is fantastic.

25 boarding school novels that are better than your class reunion. Thank you to Modern Mrs. Darcy for including GOOD GIRLS LIE!

A Wordless Way to Write a Novel. Brilliant! For those of us who love just the right emoji…

Rare books stolen in London heist found under floor in Romania. Amazing discovery!

A Cybersecurity Expert Explains What To Know If 'The Social Dilemma' Freaked You Out. Have you watched yet? What do you think?

Seven Medical Thrillers That Go Beyond the Emergency Room. What a great list.

The Power of the Reread. What books do you read again and again? I’ve been re-reading the Outlander series via audiobook and it is such a treat.

---

THIS SECRET THING by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

A deeply satisfying story of secrets, scandal, and the repercussions of the decisions we make, THIS SECRET THING is brimming with menace and hope, and showcases Whalen’s talent for bringing her multi-layered characters to life. An impressive page-turner with heart and soul.

What are you reading?

---

Phew. That’s it from me. Don’t forget to send in your burning questions for the On Writing newsletter, and I’ll see you next week!

Peace and hugs,
J.T.