By JT Ellison

How many good things can I say about Alex Kava? I was a fan of her books long before we became friends. When I signed my first deal at Mira, I was wildly full of myself because I was at the same house as Alex Kava! We had the same editor! I knew this boded well for my future as a thriller writer, because Alex does it right, every time. Her Maggie O’Dell FBI books are insanely good, deep, intense thrillers
with just the right amount of scary reality to them. I kept telling my editors I wanted
them to emulate her – in covers, in promotion, everything.

We met at Thrillerfest in Phoenix, hit it off, and stayed in touch. In 2008, she kindly invited me (ME!) to a conference called Mayhem in the Midlands. It was incredibly generous – she hosted several authors I greatly admired, including Erica Spindler, Jeff Abbott and Shane Gericke, among others. Alex and her manager Deb Carlin arranged books signings, dinners, panels. They ferried us about, fed us, watered us, introduced us to all their people. Forever friendships bloomed over steaks and spilled wine. It was one of the best weekends of my career, nay, my life.

We’ve been fast friends every since, and business partners (along with Erica Spindler, who will be here later this month with another fun interview.) I count myself so incredibly lucky to have her in my life. And now she’s breaking out with a new series, featuring Ryder Creed, an ex-Marine turned K-9 search and rescue (another topic near and dear – my cousin is K-9 S&R) which is going to kick as much
ass as Maggie.

I’m honored to say – Here’s Alex, y’all!

Set your music to shuffle and hit play. What’s the first song that comes up?

Silence. I know, boring. Right? I can’t listen to music and work.

Now that we’ve set the mood, what are you working on today?

I start my book tour this week so my day was spent packing, confirming travel itinerary with my publicist, scheduling interviews, Facebook posts and answering emails. No writing was done today!

What’s your latest book about?

BREAKING CREED is the first in a new series. Ryder Creed is an ex-Marine and dog handler who takes abandoned dogs and trains them to sniff out drugs, cadavers, bombs and also to do search and rescue.

Where do you write, and what tools do you use?

I have a writing room I added to my house several years ago. One wall is floor-to-ceiling bookcases, two walls are floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over my patio. It’s a great retreat but I still prefer the screened-in porch when weather permits.

As for tools – I love my MacBook Air, but I’d rather write in longhand. I fill two to three six-by-nine spiral notebooks with pages and pages of research, bits of dialogue, pieces of chapters and lists of things I want to include.

What was your favorite book as a child?

HARRIET THE SPY by Louise Fitzhugh

What book are you reading now?

A STRING OF BEADS by Thomas Perry

What’s your favorite bit of writing advice?

If you want to be a better writer: read. A lot.

What do you do if the words aren’t flowing?

If I’m on deadline I make myself write whether the words are flowing or not. If it really isn’t happening, I try to get away from it for a while.

What would you like to be remembered for?

I guess it would be nice just to be remembered.

Alex Kava is the New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Maggie O’Dell series and a new series featuring ex-Marine, Ryder Creed and his K9 dogs. Her stand-alone novel, ONE FALSE MOVE, was the 2006 One Book One Nebraska and her political thriller, WHITEWASH, was one of January Magazine’s best thrillers of the year. Published in over thirty countries, Kava’s novels have made the bestseller lists in the UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, Italy and Poland. She is also a co-author of the e-novellas SLICES OF NIGHT and STORM SEASON with Erica Spindler and J.T. Ellison. Her novel STRANDED was awarded both a Florida Book Award and the Nebraska Book Award. She is a member of the Nebraska Writers Guild and International Thriller Writers. Kava divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska and Pensacola, Florida.

Here’s a bit about BREAKING CREED, now available in bookstores everywhere!

Ryder Creed and his dogs have been making national headlines. They’ve intercepted several major drug stashes being smuggled through Atlanta’s airport. But their newfound celebrity has also garnered some unwanted attention.

But Creed and his dogs have a few surprises in store on their compound in Florida. Will it be enough to stop a ruthless cartel determined to remove the thorn in its side once and for all?

And Alex’s BREAKING CREED Book Tour includes stops in: Scottsdale, AZ; Panama City, FL; Pensacola, FL; Mandeville, LA; New Orleans, LA; Minneapolis, MN; Omaha, NE; Seward, NE; and Greenville, SC. Details can be found at alexkava.com.

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

“Unlike Alice, Garp was a real writer—not because he wrote more beautifully than she wrote but because he knew what every artist should know: as Garp put it, ‘You only grow by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else.’ Even if these so-called endings and beginnings are illusions. Garp did not write faster than anyone else, or more; he simply always worked with the idea of completion in mind.”

~ John Irving, The World According to Garp

(hat tip to Richard Cooper)

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

“I ride over my beautiful ranch. Between my legs is a beautiful horse. The air is wine. The grapes on a score of rolling hills are red with autumn flame. Across Sonoma Mountain, wisps of sea fog are stealing. The afternoon sun smolders in the drowsy sky. I have everything to make me glad I am alive.”

-Jack London, John Barleycorn (Century Co, 1913)

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

For the past several years, I’ve been doing annual reviews of my life and work, based on the format from Chris Guillebeau’s wonderful Annual Review on his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity. Chris’s system is exceptionally detailed, more so than I really need, but the gist is there. It’s a great system for those of us who are self-employed and want to do an assessment of our work for the year. I don’t know about you, but I like accountability. I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when I look back over the past year’s worth of work and see what worked, and what didn’t. Here’s the link to the actual post. Go on over there and take a read. I’ll wait. And if you’re interested, here are the links to my previous annual reviews for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The Year in Review – 2014: The Year of Making Do

2014 was the year I was going to slow down. The year I was going to cut back on my writing, limit myself to 2 novels and a short story. And instead, I wrote the most fiction words I have ever written, surpassing last year’s epic word count by 24,000.

And instead of filling me with joy (which it does on many levels, don’t get me wrong), I wanted to cry. No wonder I’ve felt so frazzled. No wonder I’ve felt so overwhelmed.

You see, as far as executing my goals and sticking with my theme for 2014, I failed. Failed miserably.

Here’s what I set out to do.

Recognizing how much we have and how little we actually need, 2014 is the year of making do with what’s on hand. Not buying new books, but reading the ones I already have. Not buying new clothes and shoes; I already have a closet full. Use the food in the pantry instead of buying more and throwing so much away. Letting the work be focused on quality, instead of quantity.

My spreadsheet writing goal this year was 200,000. I blew through that in August, and revised upward to 250,000. Early October for that one. I hit 290,114 on New Year’s Eve, and felt guilty when I stopped writing for the year.

Sheesh. I need to realign my priorities. But this is the right kind of problem, isn’t it?

In addition to all the writing, it was a very good year for the books. I released four – WHEN SHADOWS FALL in hardcover and later in paperback, THE FINAL CUT in paperback, and THE LOST KEY in hardcover.

I wrote two full novels and revised two others. THE FINAL CUT mmpbs and THE LOST KEY were big New York Times bestsellers. THE LOST KEY was a lovely critical success as well, receiving a Gold Top Pick from Romantic Times, multiple starred reviews, was named one of Books-A-Million’s Best Books of 2014 and a Library Journal Best Thriller of 2014, and tested the boundaries of social media PR campaigns.

I did a major revision on a beloved short story for release in a new anthology this coming June. I signed a new two-book contract with Catherine and Putnam for more Nicholas Drummond novels.

My first solo hardcover, WHEN SHADOWS FALL, released to a starred PW review, a starred Booklist review, an RT Top Pick, was on two end of year best of lists, and is a RT Reviewer’s Choice nominee for Best Suspense/Thriller of 2014. Very cool. I’ve now had the same editor for two Sam books in a row, and the continuity has helped my career tremendously.

I was asked to participate in Brenda Novak’s box sets to raise money for juvenile diabetes, and decided to release CROSSED, the first Taylor Jackson novel that landed me my agent back in 2005 but was never published (with a light revision, of course).

And remember the secret project I’ve been hinting at? I sold my standalone, at long last. NO ONE KNOWS has been four years in the making, and having it finally get the attention it deserves is the absolute capper on a banner year. I worked with my very first editor to make it the best book it could be before it went out on submission, and all that work paid off. I can’t wait to dig into the edits and get it into your hands in 2016.

I met some major goals on the personal side as well. I redid my guest room into a yoga studio, and practiced much, much more. I lost seventeen pounds. I stopped eating wheat, and feel better than I have in years. We did major house renovations and traveled a lot, including a phenomenal surprise birthday trip to Paris. I was a good wife, a good daughter, a good friend and a good kitty mommy. I actually left the house and got together with friends in person, and started attending a fun Friday morning writer’s group at the Coffeeshop. Jameson and Jordan continue to be a blast, making our hearts bigger and fuller than I thought would be possible for another pet after losing Thrillercat. And I realized it was time to hire a local personal assistant to help me juggle the insanity that is 2015. Her name is Amy, and she is utterly divine.

I loved 2014. It was a year of firsts, of great love and wondrous insights. The blessings were innumerable. Looking back, it went so fast, so very fast, and I was very stressed for much of it. I want to fix that this year.

The Nitty Gritty (aka Nerdology)

My goal was 200,000, and as I mentioned, I blew past that in August. 290,114 is a massive number for me, considering I struggled to make the 270,000 from last year. But that number is misleading, because when I look at the totals, 19,000 of it was in my miscellaneous category. Which means I overwrote and the words were not used in final products. I’m always an underwriter, so I attribute most of this discrepancy to the co-writing, where it’s better to give more rather than less.

Novel-wise, I wrote the second half of THE LOST KEY, all of WHAT LIES BEHIND and the first half of CHECKMATE. I did two major revisions of NO ONE KNOWS, wrote 3,000 words of Sam #5, did a major revision of THE NUMBER OF MAN, adding 3,200 words to the story. I wrote some things I can’t talk about, too, 9,000 words of “other.”

I attended RWA in San Antonio, the Military Book Fair in San Diego, traveled to California to meet with Catherine three times. I spoke to the Alabama Library Association, and met some amazing librarians who are working so hard with so little, and taught the January Jumpstart fiction track for the Tennessee Mountain Writers. We spent two weeks in Colorado for our annual retreat, though much of it prostrate, as CC and I had just finished THE LOST KEY.

And of course, Paris — and I’ve just realized I haven’t counted the fiction I wrote while there, as for some unfathomable reason (ha-ha) I was completely inspired and began writing another standalone, by hand in a Moleskine, whilst sitting in the cafés of Montparnasse drinking champagne. This is the kind of cliche I want to be! (1,000 words there, and thank goodness I remembered! I need to get that transcribed ASAP.) (And this is why I do this, so I can capture everything…)

I worked closely with Nicole Robson at Trident, Catherine and our team at Putnam to develop an awesome social media campaign for THE LOST KEY. Nicole took my research files from Evernote and photos from my research trip to Scotland to create the awesome collateral. Yet another reason to work with an online capture system like Evernote.

I spoke with several bookclubs and had an awesome launch party for WHEN SHADOWS FALL at B&N Cool Springs, and did a fun event in Nashville at the Cheekwood botanical gardens with Parnassus Books. I also worked a shift for Indies First with my buddies and fellow novelists Ariel Lawhon and Paige Crutcher. I’m not sure Parnassus has recovered.

All in all, I did a LOT. Wrote a lot, read a lot (55 books) blurbed several wonderful ones, had 15 authors on my blog for interviews, sent 12 newsletters and wrote 100 blogs. The super interesting number is email, which continues to be consistent in the 330k range. That’s 3.3 novels worth of email. Yikes. My non-fiction did grow this year, up 21,000, but can be attributed to more newsletters, the 7 Minutes With blogs, and the speech I had to write for the ALLA keynote. And we gave away tons of books and giftcards on the contest page – with such thanks to Writerspace for all their amazing help!

2014 Word Total: 814,529
Fiction Total: 291,114
Non-Fiction Total: 189,529
Email: 334,000
Fiction Percentage: 36%

2013 Fiction Total: 270,000 (Fiction 34%)
2012 Fiction Total: 265,000 (Fiction 34%)
2011 Fiction Total: 252,300 (Fiction 35%)
2010 Fiction Total: 198,383 (Fiction 32%)
2009 Fiction Total: 135,738 (Fiction 27%)

The Year Ahead – 2015: The Year of No

2015 is the year I will begin setting real boundaries for myself. As much as I love to say yes, it’s beginning to hurt me. I need to back off traveling for conferences, back down my non-fiction writing, focus more on fiction and being creative at home. I need to work to be more present and more internal — journaling and exercising and meditating regularly. Finding a real writing schedule, the discipline to stick to it, and continue growing great relationships with my readers and fans. Hiring out more professional/business tasks to allow me a deeper focus on my fiction. Have a greater focus, be more present, be more creative, read more books, do more yoga, spend more time with friends, and continue working toward my mantra – calm, kind, graceful, focused, strong. And make sure to have more queso dates.

After so many years, I realize these annual intentions are easy to say and hard to execute. This year’s theme is going to be especially hard. I am a yes girl. I love helping others, whether it’s a blurb, or a read, or advice. It’s part of who I am, and I have no intention of changing my fundamental being. I’ve realized I can help people more if I help myself first. I’m not doing anyone any favors being so scattered and intense all the time. It’s stressing me out, and it’s stressing out everyone around me who has to help me reign in and keep focused.

One of the ways I hope to accomplish this is developing a real writing schedule. For many years, my daily goal has been write 1000 words a day, five days a week. WHEN I wrote those words didn’t matter so much as getting them done. If I look at the metrics, writing 260 days a year (that’s 5 days a week) I averaged 1115 words a day. Excellent. On paper, I met my goal. But it didn’t work like that. Some days I wrote 10,000 words, some days I wrote 100, or none at all. Yes, I wrote a buttload, more than ever before, but at what cost?

I had stories that wouldn’t work, books that wouldn’t end, more days with nothing accomplished until 4 or 5 in the afternoon than I’d like to count. As many commitments as I have, I think a little more discipline is in order. I’ve looked to my lovely co-writer as an example, who is a bastion of creative habit skills, and am revamping my day to emulate hers.

Ergo, I’m going to start writing in the morning. Which means no appointments, no classes, no Facebook and Twitter, no email outside of my VIPs (agent, editors, assistant, CC…) none of that until noon. I want to write from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m., five days a week. Three hours a day. Instead of looking to meet a word count, I’m going to work toward uninterrupted, focused writing time.

Yes, I want my 1000 words, but this way, no matter what, I have words done before the rest of the day begins. If I’m on a roll, I can break for lunch and come back to the page. If not, I’ll walk away knowing I did my best. This seems like a major win-win. I know many writers already do this, and they’re super smart. I’m going to get smarter about how I work. It’s my big, overarching goal of 2015.

Of course, I want to sell more books and reach more people. I’m really looking forward to the releases of both CROSSED and WHAT LIES BEHIND. It will be fun to get Taylor and Baldwin’s meeting out in the open, and the new Sam book is tight and scary and Sam’s really coming into her own. CHECKMATE comes in the fall and will be a totally blast, and you’re going to love BASED ON. More on that closer to release. I’ve contributed a recipe to the MWA Cookbook, and KILLER YEAR will be re-released in paperback in June.

All in all, there is a LOT going on this year, and it’s going to be an amazing 2015. I hope your year is blessed, you reach your goals, and you’re kind to yourself. I know I’ll be trying to do the same.

In case you’re interested, here are the tools I use to keep track of my world:

• Daily word trackers (excel spreadsheets) from graphic artist Svenja Liv
• Scrivener – their Project Target tools allow me to set a deadline and see exactly what my daily word count needs to be.
• Day One – journaling, keeping track of major events and minor triumphs, idea capture
• Squarespace – my web platform, where I host this blog, Tao of JT
• Wunderlist – the very best online To Do list
• iCal – I have both online and paper calendars. I don’t like carrying a day planner, so I use my phone when I’m out and traveling
• Journal 21 – my dayplanner, annual planner and logbook
• Clairfontaine and Moleskine notebooks – idea capture, notes, book notebooks, research, planning
• Pilot Knight Fountain pen – beautiful, sturdy, a real workhorse
• MacAir – the all day battery life is essential to my well-being.

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

I have waited so long to write this blog post. I have a big surprise for you.

I wrote a standalone, a suburban thriller. Gallery, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, bought it. It will come out in the spring of 2016.

From today’s Publisher’s Marketplace:

Fiction: Thriller

NYT bestselling author JT Ellison’s first standalone novel, NO ONE KNOWS, a suburban thriller pitched in the vein of Gillian Flynn and Harlan Coben, to Abby Zidle at Gallery, for publication in Spring 2016, by Scott Miller at Trident Media Group.

Wha-hooo!

Of course, there’s a story behind the news. This book was four years in the making. I pitched it in early 2011 and started writing in that June. It is based on a dream I had several years ago, in which many odd things happened, including my husband disappearing, and Harlan Coben giving me sage career advice.

It was one of those dreams you wake up from and know you have something. I pitched it to my agent as “a suburban thriller, something dark and unexpected. Think Harlan Coben meets Gillian Flynn.” He loved the idea. I started writing it. I poured my heart and soul into this novel, six months of really-stretching-myself bliss. It’s the story of a perfect marriage interrupted, of a young widow grappling with her new reality after her husband disappears. It opens the day she receives the letter from the State of Tennessee declaring him dead, five years after he went missing.

My agent liked the finished novel. A lot. We were prepping it for submission, doing the requisite revision to make it perfect, when Catherine Coulter came into my life and hired me to write the Nicholas Drummond novels with her. That was May 2012.

I shelved the edits on the book for the time being, assuming I’d return the moment I finished the first Nicholas book. Of course, things happened. And then this chick named Gillian Flynn, who I so greatly admired, published a smash novel that was on everyone’s lips. I read it, so excited, and while I loved (most of) it, I closed the cover with a major issue on my hands.

My novel was no longer the first of its kind. There really are no original ideas.

So I rewrote NO ONE KNOWS a couple of times (five) until it was an original story again. It took forever to get it right (two years), working nights and weekends, a week here, a week there, getting editorial input from several sources (eleventy-billion), rewriting and revising and reworking (eighteen drafts, five titles) until it became the book Abby Zidle fell in love with. A book I am incredibly proud of, which will go down in my publishing history as my first standalone. I think it’s worthy of the title, because, after all, in this world, NO ONE KNOWS….

Abby publishes some of my friends, too, writers I greatly admire, so I’m doubly thrilled she was the one who loved my baby like her own.

More news as it comes, but thanks for sticking with me through all the hints, and late nights, and time away from Taylor and Sam and Nicholas. I think it will be worth it in the end.

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

Testing to see where the problem is…

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

Jaden Terrell and I go way back. Way back. Nearly a decade now, before either of us had book deals, and were both ardent Sisters in Crime, working hard and praying to get noticed. There is nothing better than seeing your old friends succeed, and succeed wonderfully. Her Nashville-based Jared McKean mysteries are a delight – smart and unique, with lots of local flavor. It’s kind of an alternate universe from my Taylor series; the characters walk the same streets, know some of the same people, yet never cross paths. Cool, huh? Jaden is one of the most dedicated writers I’ve ever met, and juggles an unholy load of work, writing, running the local Sisters in Crime and SEMWA chapters, is the executive director of Killer Nashville, board member of MWA – the list goes on and on. It takes great stamina and creative spirit to keep up with her. So enough of my blathering, here she is!

___________

Set your music to shuffle and hit play. What’s the first song that comes up?

The opening theme from GAME OF THRONES. Very epic.

Now that we’ve set the mood, what are you working on today?

I’m working on the fourth Jared McKean novel, which is about the Tennessee Walking Horse industry.

What’s your latest book about?

The newest release is RIVER OF GLASS. It’s about two people: Jared and his half-sister, Khanh, each of whom wishes the other didn’t exist, but they form an uneasy alliance to save Khanh’s daughter from human traffickers.

Where do you write, and what tools do you use?

My favorite place is on my laptop on the living room couch, with a Papillon on each side and a Tibetan Spaniel at my feet. It’s just terrible for my back and posture, but I love being able to snuggle with the dogs while I write. I also carry a spiral notebook and a pen so I can take advantage of the inevitable hang time between appointments and obligations. You know, those times when there’s not enough time to go home, but it’s too early to be at the next place.

What was your favorite book as a child?

Such a hard question! I think it must have been CALL OF THE WILD. (Yes, dogs again!) I carried it everywhere and read it over and over again until the binding fell apart. I actually went through three copies of that book.

What’s your favorite bit of writing advice?

There are two. The first is “Resistance always has meaning.” If I’m stuck, there’s a reason for it. I just have to figure out what it is. The second is, “You can’t edit a blank page.”

What do you do if the words aren’t flowing?

I pull out a pen and a spiral notebook and start asking Jared questions. I usually start with, What happened next? I write down whatever he says, which at that point is usually pretty sketchy. Then based on what he said, I ask whatever other questions come to mind: How did you feel about that? What did it look like/smell like/taste like? What did she say? What did he do? What was she wearing? And then what? And then what?

I tell myself I’m not writing, just brainstorming. Eventually, I find myself writing a scene and I can just keep going. If not, it usually means I’ve gone astray and something that happened earlier isn’t working. (“Resistance always has meaning.”) I keep writing in the notebook, but this time asking myself “what if” questions. What if x is really a bad guy? What if y betrays Jared? What if this thing in Chapter 3 happened another way? What if Sara and Donald were secretly in love with the same person?

What would you like to be remembered for?

Kindness. But I would also like to be remembered for writing something thought-provoking and wonderful, something readers love enough to read until the covers fall apart.

Jaden Terrell is the Shamus Award-nominated author of three Jared McKean mysteries and a contributor to NOW WRITE! MYSTERIES, a collection of exercises published by Tarcher/Penguin for writers of crime fiction. Terrell is the special programs coordinator of the Killer Nashville conference and a recipient of the Magnolia Award for service to the Southeastern Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. She is currently working on the Million Books for Freedom project to benefit victims of human trafficking. Visit her blog at http://killerconversation.wordpress.com.

Here’s a bit about RIVER OF GLASS, now in bookstores everywhere:

Nashville private detective Jared McKean has spent his whole life trying to live up to the memory of the war hero father he barely knew. Then the body of a young Asian woman is found in Jared’s office dumpster clutching a yellowed photo of Jared’s father. A few days later, another Vietnamese woman, Khanh, appears on his doorstep, claiming to be his half-sister and begging him to help her find her daughter, Tuyet, who has been taken by human traffickers. While the police have their hands full with a renegade bomber, Jared and Khanh form an uneasy partnership to find Tuyet before she’s killed or whisked into a violent world beyond their reach.

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

Happy New Year! I posted this on Facebook today. The note is for my followers there, but the deeper message of love and squishy stuff is meant for all my people, whether on social media or this blog or through my books. So I thought I’d share.

And a programming note – lots upcoming, so stay tuned!

________

Author Maggie Stiefvater posted a really interesting open letter to Facebook. There is so much in it I agree with, and some that I don’t. Now, my page isn’t nearly as big as hers, but the essence is there. You’ve come to this page, you’ve liked this page, yet only a small percentage of you see the posts.

There are ways to increase your chances of seeing posts from me – by clicking above on the “like” button and clicking on “Get Notifications.” But it’s still hit or miss.

We’ve been hearing rumors Facebook is going to start a subscription service for “business” pages, which Maggie discusses. And while the idea has its appeal, I find it a bit squidgy for Facebook to ask me to pay to reach the very people who have opted to follow me. Because to me, you’re not a number, or a statistic, or a “like”. You’re a friend, or a reader, who wants to be a part of my little corner of the world.

Listen, my goal here is to talk with you. To share my writing life with you. Whether it’s a silly meme or a heartfelt rant (ahem) or a fun poll or finding out what you’re reading, I’m genuinely interested in our interactions. While it would be awesome if every one of you rushed out and bought my books the moment you found out about them, our Facebook page – because it is OUR time together, and OUR conversation, right? – isn’t all about book sales and metrics. It’s about family, and community. A safe place to post how you feel, what you think, and strike up a conversation with your fellows. To get a glimpse into my world, and my creative life. I want it to be fun and inspiring and thoughtful. You’re my chickens. You’re my peeps. You’re my people.

If you’re only in it for the news, contest, etc., that’s cool too!

But I’m not reaching all of you who’ve chosen to reach out to me, because FB meters the engagement. Hey, they’re a business. We’re guests on their platform. They can change things at will. They could close my page and I could lose my conduit to you. What to do?

Here are a few ways to make sure you’re getting what you’re looking for from me:

1. To see my posts here – make sure you’ve checked on “get notifications” above

2. Don’t rely solely on seeing an update pop up in your newsfeed. If you make an effort to drop by the page regularly, I promise to make it worth your while.

3. Join my monthly newsletter http://jtellison.com/subscribe

4. Spend some time on my blog. http://jtellison.com/tao-of-jt/ Leave me comments. I’ll answer them.

5. Leave happiness and snowflakes and daisies in your wake everywhere you go. Karma will appreciate it.

Deal?

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

It’s time to publicly share the big news from my December newsletter. Here we go!

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I will be contributing a story to SWEET DREAMS, Brenda Novak’s thriller box set. The box set will be available for $9.99 for a limited time, starting May 1, 2015. And here’s what I will be bringing to the party:

From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes the long awaited prequel to her Taylor Jackson series. CROSSED, the story of a madman trying to create his own end-of-days apocalypse, introduces Lieutenant Taylor Jackson to the young, troubled FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin.

A brand new, never before published TAYLOR NOVEL, y’all! Just like you’ve been begging for! And they say I don’t listen…

A little background on CROSSED. This is the very first book I ever wrote. It’s the book that landed me my agent back in 2005. I will rewrite a bit (she says, hopeful it’s not utter crapola), to improve the craft aspects and some story updating, but it’s high time y’all get to see how Taylor and Baldwin met and fell in love.

I can’t wait to share CROSSED with you. And just look at the lineup of authors! This is going to be the box set to end all box sets.

Now, this book is not going to be in bookstores in this iteration. It will be available in the digital box set only from May 1- July 1, and then I have plans for it, which we’ll discuss in 2015. And don’t worry, if you don’t have an ereader, all the platforms have a version that allows you to read on your computer.

So … surprise! I will give you pre-order links when we’re closer to release. I’m honored to be included with all these incredible writers, and really excited to share Taylor’s first adventure with you at last.

And if you’re interested to see the places behind the books, check out Placing Literature, where all month long I’ll be geolocating scenes from my books!

So what do you think? Does this sound like something you might be interested in????

Via: JT Ellison

By JT Ellison

Back in the saddle. 2037 today on Nick #3. Also cleaned up email, updated addresses, made a few adjustments to my 2015 planner. I’m at that weird time of the year when I can’t wait to switch over, to start my annual review process and dig into next year’s goals. I already know what my overarching theme is, and it’s beginning to leak into my last few weeks of 2014.

Speaking of planners, the December contest is live. The prize is a Moleskine 2015 planner! See, I’m even starting to tidy up YOUR lives, too!

Personally, I am switching to a Quo Vadis Journal 21. It is a daily planner instead of weekly, the format I’ve been using for YEARS. I started keeping a daily logbook of sorts back in October, and realized I loved having all that space to write, record, and otherwise plan things out. So the Journal 21 it is. And… it fits into my (very old) Coach leather day planner cover. WIN!

So my combination of Day One for journaling and blogging, and the handwritten day-to-day stuff – this is where I’m heading in 2015.

What sort of planner do you use?

Via: JT Ellison