J.T. Ellison's Blog, page 6

Friday Reads 1.24.25

This month is certainly scampering along, isn’t it? Happily, that means the days are getting longer. No more having to set alarms to remind me to stop working and make dinner; nightfall is at a reasonable time and feels much more normal. It’s the perfect sort of weather for a cozy sweater and some blissful winter-scented simmer on the stove. My dearest Laura gave me a package for Christmas, complete with rosemary, sliced oranges, cinnamon sticks, and cloves. It smells amazing and releases some much-needed humidity into the house.

All right, all right. You know what I’ve been doing this week.

Dragons!

I am trying very hard not to consume ONXY STORM in just one day. I blocked off Tuesday-Friday on my calendar so I could do just that, but now that it’s here, I’ve been taking it slow. It’s a beautiful book with delightful sprayed edges. When it showed up on my doorstep (and on my Kindle) Tuesday, it took all of my willpower not to drop everything and get reading. I’ve been successful so far, because I started a new book last week, so I have a deal with myself. If I can make a thousand words appear, I am allowed to shut down and read.

This book isn’t disappointing me. It picks up literally moments after the previous book ends, launching us right into the story. It is so great, and is setting up an entirely new storyline, which the middle book of a series absolutely must do. There is one weird thing I’m having an issue with, just a point of magic that I’m not sure translates, but it’s given me an idea for a craft post, so I’ll discuss it there. Regardless, I am INVESTED.

But it’s not just dragons for us this week. James Rollins has a new book out in his Moonfall Saga, so I bought THE CRADLE OF ICE and THE STARLESS CROWN to have as backups when I finish.

I snagged a research book called THE PSYCHOPATH INSIDE, about a neuroscientist who was trying to understand the minds of psychopathic murderers only to realize his own personality traits fit much of the criteria he had laid out. I’m making some decisions about my main character, you see, and it fits with the theme of the new book quite well.

From the paid side of this newsletter, Step Fourteen, The Copyedit went up earlier this week. It ended up being more complicated to discuss than I expected. This entire process of live-writing a book is complicated. It’s challenging me to think differently about each stage of the process, to try and untangle my own process while making it accessible and informative for those who are already writing, or finding their way to the page for the first time, or readers who are following along because they’re interested in seeing how the sausage is made.

Because writing books really is a lot like making sausage. You have to take all the bits and grind them up, add in spices and salt, put everything into a seamless package, then send it to market, where it will be bought, and hopefully enjoyed. With luck, you’ll get some repeat customers who come back time and again.

And…now I’m hungry. Anyway, here you go…

Big congrats to all the Edgar nominees, especially the amazing whose excellent short story about the mother of modern forensics, Barriers to Entry, was nominated! I was happy to see THE GOD OF THE WOODS on the best novel list, too, as it was one of my favorites last year.

Oh, and one last thing… I’m moving the monthly newsletter over to Substack, so any of you fantasy lovers can check it out here. Lots of sales going on right now.

Busy week, considering I wasn’t supposed to do anything but read….

That’s it from me today. What are you reading this weekend? Do you have any great recommendations?

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Step Fourteen: The Copyedit

Here we are at the next step in the process, the venerable copyedit. This is the point in the book’s lifecycle that generates a lot of work but also turns your manuscript into a book. A good copy editor is worth their weight in gold. Any author who’s gone through an excellent copyedit knows what I mean, and any who’ve gone through a not-so-great one can attest to this truth: the copy editor makes or breaks this stage of the book.

I was lucky enough to be copyedited old school the first few times. Now the standard is to use Track Changes in Word, which automatically fixes many of these issues for you. But in the dark ages of the late 2000s, you used to get the physically copyedited manuscript back with all those lovely little codes all over it, and you had to rework your manuscript by hand. It was challenging, to say the least, especially when you had exactly no idea what all those marks meant.

It’s been nearly eighteen years since my first “official” copyedit, and I still remember the moment that red-tinged physical manuscript landed in my actual mailbox and made me realize that everything I thought I knew about writing, grammar, syntax, punctuation, consistency, vocabulary, and just plain storytelling was severely lacking. And that was with a degree in creative writing and years of book study under my belt.

Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash

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Friday Reads 1.17.25

Hello friends. Hope this missive finds you well!

It’s been a good, quiet, creative, and literary week here. I started a new novel, read two books, and maintained my social media sabbatical. Y’all, it’s been unbelievably restorative. Only two weeks away thus far, and everything is working better. So much so that I am going to have to redefine my relationships with the endless scroll entirely. Granted, I am coming off a massive promotional push that meant I was online constantly for two months, so any pullback would feel good. But the slow social of Substack is what I’ve been craving for years. I am not a quippy person. I am a terrible photographer. I am superb at Canva, but perfectionism means I spend twice as long as I should making things. It’s not healthy to try and be something you’re not. What I am is a writer, and that means exploring ideas long form is my jam.

I miss my friends, and I miss some of the soothing feeds I follow. But I am an all-or-nothing kind of person. I’m afraid nothing is the path this year. Nothing but this space, this forum. A slower, gentler way of communicating. Plus, a little mystique is a good thing. Nothing much has changed here except I managed to get all the books off the floor and onto the shelves, and the cat continues to sleep adorably. Scintillating content, let me tell you.

I am watching the potential TikTok ban coming Sunday in the US with interest. BookTok is obviously a huge conduit for readers to find books that might otherwise fly under the radar. Many of my authors friends (Jeneva Rose, I’m looking at you) have absolutely crushed it there. I couldn’t handle the sensory overload and eventually just deleted my account. In light of the upcoming ban, I’m happy I didn’t go all in. The idea of having years of investment in growing a following taken away arbitrarily is another reason I’m building my community here. Facebook has done this to authors for years. Someone hacks your page, and poof - the thousands of people you’ve amassed are gone. I’ll say it again and again: find ways to control the path to your audience. Newsletters might seem stodgy, but no one can take them from you.

I’m skimming over the actually important part of the week. A new book! I have exactly zero information to share except it’s underway, I’ve written 10,000 words on it so far this week, and I’m happy drafting sans outline. It feels so good to be back to work. I’m also working on the copyedit post for 22 Steps. Everything is moving slowly this month. Apologies.

On to the books. As anticipated, I read Lisa Jewell’s DON’T LET HIM IN, and I have to say, it’s another winner from one of my favorite writers. Lisa has the ability to take something seemingly banal and twist it into a terrifying thriller. This book is very much an homage to Tom Ripley, but I think even Ripley himself would be impressed with the twists and turns.

I also am deep into Jayne Ann Krentz’s SHATTERING DAWN, another fabulous entry in the Lost Night Files. I love how Jayne’s books just grab you from page one. She is the queen of the strong opening.

➡️ A quick reminder — I will be chatting today with Jayne; we’re doing a Facebook Live on her page at 5 PM ET | 2 PM PT. We’ll talk about her latest as well as A VERY BAD THING and my new fantasy, THE BOOK OF SPIRITS! Our chats are always loads of fun. Do stop by!

Finally, in anticipation of next week’s blockbuster release of ONXY STORM from Rebecca Yarros, I’ve been rereading FOURTH WING. I know, I know. I’ve read it before. But the mark of a great book, in my mind, is one you want to reread to see what you might have missed the first time. (Or the second - ahem.) Also, when the world looks bleak, escaping into a war-torn land with brave young women and hot enemies and dragons makes it a little less awful. Plus, my dad loves them—I can’t wait to read book three for our two-person book club.

Rebecca fascinates me on many levels, not only because we share a chronic illness. Here’s an article from ELLE that is very insightful. There’s an especially wonderful and salient quote: “Social media is like living in a hall of mirrors, and no one should look at themselves that often.”

Amen, sister.

That’s it from me today. What are you reading this weekend? Any great recommendations? What do you think about the TikTok ban? Will it hurt book sales?

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Friday Reads 1.10.25

To start, my deepest sympathies go out to all our friends in Southern California — these fires are horrifying. I hope you and yours are safe, and you will let us know if you need anything.

And, of course, wild Santa Anas translates to wild weather everywhere. As in… it’s… SNOWING here! Like, for real. Right now. POURING down. Not just white rain, the real deal. (Can you tell how thrilled I am? ☃️)

When it might snow in Nashville, we like to make fun because even with the tiniest threat of flakes means they close schools. Growing up in Colorado, where it took a foot or more to even make a dent in anyone’s day, I find this hysterical. But when we get real snow, accumulating snow, it’s not as funny because that means the entire city shuts down. We’re completely locked in place for days at a time.not enough winter weather infrastructure. And to top it off, we’re on a hill, and the cars don’t like sliding down them. I, in particular, don’t like being in said car whilst it slides out of my driveway.

So I am parked today. Wrapping my copyedits with a tidy little bow, then transitioning to cozy mode.

We had a storm like this last year, and I took full advantage—movies, cocoa, quiet reading time by the fire, lots of birdfeed for homemade ASMR rooms. It set the tone for the year, and I’m happy to have a day or two of quiet now to remind me how much I enjoy this. The best gardens come from rested soil, right?

Last weekend, I read a scary near future speculative fiction book that won’t be to y’all’s taste, and am very happy to be back in the realm of fantasy again. I’ve almost finished my book for this week, a galley of V.E. Schwab’s BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL. It’s insanely good. V has been telling me about this one for a long time, and it lives up to its promise. It does have a sense of the voice of her mega-hit, THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE, but utterly unique at the same time. V’s mind is a fertile place. Happy to have spent the week in it. Plus, she signed the entire first printing. Unbelievable…

Next up is another galley, Lisa Jewell’s DON’T LET HIM IN. I am almost done with my copyedit, and this will be my reward.

And also, Jayne Ann Krentz’s last book in the Lost Night Files trilogy, SHATTERING DAWN, came out. Tuesday and will be winging its way to me from Poisoned Pen. On January 17, Jayne and I will be chatting on Facebook Live on her page, talking about her new book, my new book, and whatever else fun stuff pops up. Always love our chats. I’ll remind you next week, too.

More Book Birthdays

A few more books came out this week that I want to read. Liv Constantine’s MY SISTER’S DAUGHTER — an audio original — is in my queue. I always enjoy these stories.

Also, Adrienne Young’s SEA OF UNSPOKEN THINGS — there’s nothing Adrienne writes that I don’t love. I’m excited to get that one in my hands.

Adam Ross’s PLAYWORLD came out Tuesday too, and it is a tour de force. We talked for A Word on Words and believe me, this is a personal, heartfelt novel you won’t be able to put down.

From the Archives:

Lastly, I published another step in our ongoing series…

That’s it from me today. What are you reading this fine flurry-filled weekend?

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Step Thirteen Point Five: Cover Copy

For those newcomers who aren’t familiar…welcome! This post is part of my paid craft series delineating the 22 Steps of a novel’s lifecycle from concept to publication day, following my journey as I write my new novel, LAST SEEN. Start here if you’d like to follow along in order, and upgrade your subscription to get the entire series as it releases.

Well, shame on me. Remember back in the beginning when I said 22 Steps, give or take? Well, here’s the give. I forgot to put in a step for a vital part of the process: the cover copy. And because it’s been finalized, I’m so excited to debut the cover copy for LAST SEEN here today!

First, let’s talk about what this actually is. Some people call this the blurb, which is the common term in indie publishing and in the UK. But in the US, it’s commonly known as back cover copy. Sometimes even promotional text.

Regardless of the nomenclature, this vital step isn’t one we can overlook. It’s the marketing hook that gets everyone excited about buying the book. It is the path through the proverbial woods that leads you, the reader, to the heartbeat of the story, hopefully enticing you to part with your well-earned cash or save to your library queue.

You’ll see this copy on book flaps (hardcover) or back cover (trade/mass market), as well as online, as this description is the primary summary metadata for the book (digital and audio). It goes everywhere. It is your books calling card. You guessed it—good cover copy is a huge deal. You can imagine how exciting it is for an author to hit this moment in the process, too. Suddenly, months of work are distilled down to a few short paragraphs, and that means it’s go time. The copy goes up online, and the book is suddenly real.

On the surface, it looks simple. There’s generally an intensive, catchy log line, sometimes establishing the author’s bona fides as well as describing the overarching plot of the story, followed by two to three short, punchy paragraphs describing the story itself. But trust me, encapsulating a 400-page story in a few evocative paragraphs that will entice the reader without giving anything away is a genuine challenge.

Photo by John Mccann on Unsplash

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Friday Reads 1.3.25

Happy New Year, all! Welcome to all of the new folks who signed up over the holidays, and warmest New Year’s greetings to my friends who’ve been here all along! May 2025 be a year of great peace and joy for everyone!

There's nothing like thinking the first Friday in January is really Thursday and happily settling in to start your Friday Reads post only to find that A, it is really Friday, and you’re hopelessly late, and B, your account has somehow been flagged, and you’re not allowed onto Notes. A rough start to my Substack year, for sure.

But here I am, with some book recommendations, awaiting a note from the Substack powers-that-be about what’s happening. Interestingly, I can access Notes on the app, just not on my desktop. Nope, no idea what’s happening, so I’m going to roll with it. The only real issue is… I’m on a social media sabbatical and kept Substack Notes as my one allowed scroll. Sigh. Good deeds punished and roads to hell, all of that.

I know I am not the only one who’s feeling the weird what day is it? sensation. Middle of the week holidays always throw us, and to have two in a row, plus having Christmas and Hannukah at the same time? The universe is a saucy minx and loves the trickery. Because really, who are we to try and apply the concept of “time” and “holidays” to a millennia of sunrises and sunsets? It’s just to stress ourselves out.

I read a couple of great books over the holidays. One, Rebecca Yarros’s VARIATION, was a most of the way hit for me. I loved the ballet, loved the romance, loved the characters. I have a problem when there’s more than one first-person point of view—and the two main characters, male and female, were both first person, so that detracted a smidgeon from the story. Nothing that anyone but me would take issue with, though. A solid romance that I couldn’t gobble quickly enough.

I also read and enjoyed Tessa Bailey’s Amazon Original short MERRY EVER AFTER. On a plane. Next to a stranger. Who was, and I swear to you I’m not making this up, reading a religious text. I was utterly blushing and mouth agape, holding my hand up to the screen so my seatmate wasn’t scandalized. It has sexy times, people. Like… reaaaaaalllllly intense sexy times. With all the naughty words and everything. 🫢 Made for a fabulous holiday story.

I just finished my first (and last) blurb book of the year, a wonderful new entry from Rachel Howzell Hall, FOG AND FURY. It’s not coming out until May, but I enjoyed it. Rachel has a wonderfully unique voice and always finds a new plot to play with. Very refreshing.

I read a small short story by Madeline Miller called GALATEA about a statue sculpted by a talented artist who manages to breathe life into her stone and marry her, and the lengths she’ll go to for freedom. Fascinating.

Gifted holiday books included WRITING DOWN THE BONES by Natalie Goldberg and THE NOTEBOOK: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen. The former is something I’ve been wanting to read in lieu of redoing THE ARTIST’S WAY by Julia Cameron. The Allen book is one I heard Cal Newport mention on his blog as an interesting read. You all know how much I love a good notebook…

I’ve also been searching my shelves to queue up Anne Lamott’s BIRD BY BIRD. I know I have a print copy, but I don’t know what color the spine is, so… I think I have an older Nook version, so I’ll dig that one out.

All to say, I’m trying to start some new writing habits, and this is the path I’ve chosen to help refocus my attention on morning pages and more introspection. Part of the sabbatical goals.

My darling husband gifted me with another book—a set, actually. My very own 4-volume Shakespeare’s Folio. After seeing the Dunvegan Castle version, I have been bereft I’m not to the manor born with something so glorious passed down for generations… and he surprised the heck out of me with my own version. I am officially collecting old books now. And anticipate a Shakespeare reread this year!

Lastly, I published my Annual Review on Tuesday. This year’s word is… CULTIVATE. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, here you go.

That’s it from me today. What did you read over the holidays, or give, or get? Anything fabulous?

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2024 Annual Review

It’s that time again! My annual review has become a time-honored tradition, and I love getting to share a snippet of it with you. I keep the public version mostly business-related, but this process goes deep into all areas of my life. I’ve been doing this for 15 years now, and if you’d like to see the previous years’ posts, I have them all under the navigation header Annual Reviews. I originally modeled these after Chris Guillebeau’s Annual Review from his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity, and over the years, I’ve distilled this down to exactly what I need. This week of reflection and goal-setting is an essential part of my year. Thank you for joining me for this introspective exercise!

Looking back on 2024, The Year of Balance

My operating system has been hacked and it’s time to restore to the base version, deleting all the bugs. I have been off-kilter for a few years, and 2024 is the year I bring myself back into balance. Respecting my time, admitting when I’ve done too much and need to rest, saying no to everything that doesn’t spark immediate excitement and joy, and focusing on my creative health as well as physical health will hopefully allow me to slow down a bit. Minimizing distractions and blocking out my time more effectively should allow me to meet my fiction and nonfiction goals, and relearning how to work out without hurting myself will allow my physical being to grow stronger. I want to write more, read more, and get smarter, improving my creative health. Allowing the balance of my time to be focused on my needs will give me the depth I’ve been searching for.

How Did I Do?

Well…not too bad. Especially for the first three quarters of the year, where I was deeply focused on the writing of LAST SEEN and the complementary series here as the novel grew from a concept to a finished book. What a fun process! I’ve always felt that writing about writing gives me focus and enlightenment on my current WIP, and this was no different. I know several non-fiction authors who do this, using their newsletters and podcasts to discuss and refine their nascent ideas. That’s what happened to me. The more I thought about the book, the easier it was to write. Granted, I outlined and hit a wall, subsequently tossing it out, but I wrote faster than normal, back at a pre-standalone pace. I liked the process so much that I might do it again, sharing my steps as they happen, though on a smaller, less “official” scale this time. Of course, I need to finish the series as LAST SEEN goes through the editorial and production process, but this added content will hopefully be fun.

I ended up turning the book in a month early, so you know this isn’t hyperbole. To be able to focus on one project only meant I moved through it all faster than usual. But it also meant a lot of work I’d typically be doing at the same time pushed off to Q4…and that’s when things got nutty. The peace and calm of the first 3/4 of the year went out the window. I started juggling again and got really stressed out. When I’m stressed, everyone is stressed—definitely something to pay attention to next year.

All in all, I managed a full eight months of focused attention. 2025 will hopefully see an even better track record for this.

What Went Right

The release of A VERY BAD THING was the fall’s priority. It went very well. AVBT was selected for Amazon’s First Reads program, which meant the digital version was on sale early and for free. It went to #2 overall and stayed there for several days, then spent several weeks in the top ten. I couldn’t ask for more. It was interesting to see how the new publishing metrics added up to sales, downloads, reviews, and ratings. The book seems to have made you, the reader, happy, and that’s really all I can ask. Tour was very fun—I visited several of my favorite bookstores and wrote more than 24,000 words of interviews and essays—and then it was over in what felt like the blink of an eye. In truth, it was only two months ago, so I’m still a little shocked by how fast it’s all gone.

I was also very pleased by the entire publishing process. I love being given a schedule that is followed because that allows for a lot of planning and balance. The entire editorial team was stellar, my publicist was outstanding, and I’m feeling real synergy with the whole house. It definitely goes in the plus column.

I wrapped the Jayne Thorne series, as well. The series was always meant to have a six-book arc, and I finished book six just before the holidays. It’s in copyedit now, which means it will be out in 2025 Q1. I’ve been incredibly emotional about this. I love these characters, love the worldbuilding, love the gorgeous new covers. I love fantasy writing in general, the idea that magic can unstick even the most problematic plot issue. Bring in a man with a gun becomes spin up a spell. It’s so much fun. And I do love the complete control over the publication process. But without my full attention on growing this brand, which is impractical and a significant cause of my stress levels, it’s time to wrap it up with a nice big bow.

The 22 Steps series is going strong thanks to your engagement with this newsletter! It will eventually become a book on the craft of writing a thriller, which has been a goal of mine for years. Friday Reads continues to be a lot of fun, and I love the community we’ve built here. It makes writing the monthly newsletter more challenging than I’d like, so I am considering revamping a little, doing less chit-chat about my week and more about the books I read. And I will back off more if I’m not feeling it. There are weeks when I don’t get a lot of reading done. And that’s okay!

A Word on Words continues to bring me so much joy. We had a wonderful slate of authors this year, and celebrated our 10th anniversary with a special broadcast episode. The whole team at Nashville PBS makes this so much fun. Special thanks as always to Suzy, Paul, Armando, and Matt for all their hard work making us look and sound so good!

We went to Scotland with our travel besties and had such a wonderful time traipsing through castles and moors, up mountains and by lochs, taking ferries to remote islands, climbing ramparts where movies were shot, and nestling in by the River Ness with a cozy fire and good book. The weather was incredible, too. We had several 80-degree days, unheard of for a Scottish fall.

We also took a trip to NYC for the World Series! Seeing our beloved Dodgers win in Yankee Stadium was too cool for words.

Thrillerfest was amazing, as was Bouchercon. It was so good to see friends and catch up! It was such an honor to have two nominations for the Thriller Awards, and to be a Guest of Honor at Bouchercon. Highlights of the career, both.

I keynoted an event in Alabama, the Vive the Livre annual fundraiser. It was the largest crowd I’ve ever spoken to, and it went much better than I expected. You know how I love to give speeches. It ended up being a wonderful evening, with amazing folks.

Physical health was a major part of my year. After the hEDS diagnosis at the end of 2023, I’ve spent much of this year in various kinds of physical therapy, learning how to move my body in ways that don’t injure me. You can imagine this slower, more intentional movement is challenging for this former athlete to comprehend, but it works. Fewer injuries means more creative time! I also adopted a strict ketogenic diet that’s had unbelievable results. Much of the long-COVID heart issues I’ve been challenged by are improving; my brain fog is gone; I lost weight and gained strength. It’s made everything better, and I’m sticking with it. I’ve learned a lot about how pain manifests in the body and adopted several methods that help knock it down and keep me functional. Recognizing when I’m in a flare allows me to back off, and that’s been a huge boon.

As for the rest, we had multiple international sales of several books, Hollywood interest, and revamped our living room and my office to be cozier. I spent time with writer friends near and far, had lots of family time, and finally bid farewell to my childhood in Colorado. Except for that, it was a pretty good year.

What Went Wrong

The fourth quarter was challenging. Between illnesses and travel and conferences, there was too much time feeling less than optimal.

There was a lot of travel this year. On the surface, that sounds like fun, but I was gone from home 104 nights. That’s…disruptive. I can write on the road, and I absolutely love airports and flying, so that’s not an issue. It’s just the constant packing and unpacking, planning, expenses, and general hit to the habits and rituals I crave. Some of these were our usual summer decamping from Nashville and visits to my parents, but there was quite a bit of work travel for us both, and the fantastic Scottish vacation with friends. I’m committed to traveling less this year. We’ll see if I can pull that off.

The other issue with the frantic Q4 was I felt like my creativity plummeted. Even though I was fully engaged with four different books in various stages of editing and publishing, it didn’t feel right. My fiction numbers for this year are lower than normal, and that always makes me itchy. Last year, I had an epic number of releases—this year, only two. Next year, because I was committed to balance and the idea “do less,” that’s also down to two. On the surface, it meets my goals of 2023 to do less and do it better, but for someone who measures success by a single metric—finishing—I don’t feel like I finished enough this year. I have higher expectations of myself still. Empirically, I understand writing and finishing a novel and touring a book is more than enough, and yet… it doesn’t feel like enough. Need to work on this, for sure.

I had a fall in September in on the Scotland trip (the last day, thank goodness) that really hosed up my knee, but it turns out it broke apart some scar tissue and my therapist has been able to shift the bones a bit, untwisting the tibia and allowing me a more normal stride. Having that pain resolved is the biggest blessing of the year, and I’m looking forward to continuing this journey. hEDS doesn’t go away; it’s a lifelong condition, so the more I can do emotionally and physically to support my body, the better things are going to go.

I have a very hard time not getting myself stressed out with too much work. This year, the cultivation of good habits, less extraneous work, more words, and plenty of rest and exercise should help keep things on track.

NITTY GRITTY: AKA NERDOLOGY

2024 Total Words: 315,174
Fiction Total: 168,604
Non-Fiction Total: 146,570*
Fiction Percentage: 55%
Books Read: 75
Creative Projects as J.T. Ellison: 3
Creative Projects as Joss Walker: 2

*(Excludes Email and Trello, which total ~160,000)

MAJOR PROJECTS WORKED ON:

JT Novels:

A VERY BAD THING (2024 Standalone) - Released

LAST SEEN (2025 Standalone) - Completed and in copyedit

YKW (New Standalone) - Proposal completed and submitted

JT Short Stories:

O Murder Night (Edge House) - Edited and released

JT Non-Fiction:

22 Steps: Watch A Novel Come To Life - In progress, estimating a 2026 release

The Creative Edge Substack

Joss Walker Novels:

THE BOOK OF SPIRITS (Jayne #5) - Completed and released

THE SCROLLS OF TIME (Jayne #6 - the final book in the series) - Outlined, completed, and in copyedit

A Word on Words:

Taped 9 episodes

Premiered the 10th Anniversary Special

Nominations and Honors:

IT’S ONE OF US Nominated for the ITW Best Thriller of 2024

These Cold Strangers Nominated for the ITW Best Short Story of 2024

Bouchercon Local Guest of Honor

Vive le Livre Keynote Speaker

2025: The Year of Cultivate

Words. Relationships. Mind. Health. Habits.

I am creating a garden comprised of the words above, and can’t wait to see it bloom. This year is going to be very straightforward, with two simple questions to be examined: What’s working for me? What isn’t working for me? Approaching the five buckets in terms of a literary garden will allow for more binary decision-making. I’m going deep into the creative soil this year, watering a number of seeds that have lain fallow for too long. That means cultivating a sanctuary for my creative life that gives space for growth and joy. No more doing things because I feel obligated or want to make someone else happy. What happens in this house, in this office, in this metaphorical garden, takes priority. If something doesn’t work for me or spark joy, it will be exorcised without guilt or explanation. Reading goals have been upped, as well as daily habits and limits on social media. Creativity, education, reading for fun, health, rituals—all of these fundamentals will be nurtured.

I had a very specific goal for this year’s theme. I wanted a word that would denote hygge and contentment, respect for solitude and a safe, cozy sanctuary, routine and focus, deep work and self-care. I wanted something like “Structure,” but that wasn’t as harsh. I already have a lot of structure and discipline. What I need is a softening of that drive so I can accomplish all of my goals without stressing myself out. It's great to make and hit goals, but not by sacrificing everything else.

It was a hard one, but ultimately, “Cultivate” was the winner. The idea of my creative life as a garden is very appealing on a number of levels. The idea of “Cultivate” has several components that are integral to making this creative garden flourish. The most important is eliminating the things that tear at my focus. I say yes too much, and that really pulls my attention away from my work and goals, so I’ll be practicing dropping that word from my vocabulary. To cultivate this year’s goals, I intend to:

Respect habits and balance creative and personal time

Designate and defend time blocks for deep work

Create physical and mental spaces conducive to focus

Establish rituals that signal transitions between different moments in the day

Curate an environment that supports both productivity and peace

Maintain boundaries that protect concentrated reading and writing time

Continue my wellness journey post-long-COVID and hEDS diagnosis with a good balance of personal and work goals

Add an education module to the year, breaking the year into quarters for self-schooling deep dives on a few topics of interest

Declutter physical and digital spaces

Limit travel

Spend more time with IRL friends, cultivating the wonderful friendships I haven’t had much time to enjoy lately

As you’ve heard me say countless times, my only true creative goal is finishing, and I’m excited to be able to work on that exclusively this year. I’ve been in a career pivot for the past couple of years that is nearly complete, which means my focus can return to just my crime fiction writing. My agent loves to point out that large supercargo container ships take two miles to stop and turn around… my boat is finally pointing in the direction I’ve been shooting for. I’ve moved to a new house, have too many ideas to count, and, now that the Jayne Thorne series is nearly wrapped, I’m putting fantasy on hold for a bit. I doubt that will hold forever, but at least for this year. I like writing fantasy too much to give it up completely. All things to their season, eh?

I want to revamp “doing less” to mean “doing less extraneous non-writing.” I want to pull back on social media this year, starting with a Dry January—Social Media Edition. Also on the chopping block is blurbing. I have too much reading to do for the show now, and a massive TBR stack of books I want to read for fun. It’s not something I embark on lightly but it has to be done.

With less extraneous work, my fiction word count should rise. I have several short story ideas I want to explore in addition to a couple of new standalone novels. Being solely in the J.T. world should help them come to fruition. It’s a good year to fill the pipeline again.

My physical habits are still front and center, and I’m working with a health coach to reinforce some of the lessons learned and take things to a whole new level. Health coaching is more than diet and exercise, it’s all aspects of a life well lived, and I’m enjoying the process so much. I’m certain the habits and rituals we’re working on will help me meet all my goals this year.

2025 Creative Goals

200,000 fiction words

Go deep into the writing space

Develop and complete the next standalone (YKW)

Develop a new story for a follow-up standalone

Expand the Edge House universe into a full-blown novella

Explore a possible new series concept

Explore some ideas in a congruent genre (not fantasy 💌)

Write two new short stories

Continue the 22 Steps writing series following the development and writing of LAST SEEN, and continue writing Friday Reads

Wrap the Jayne Thorne series with the publication of Book #6 in March

Read 80 Books

Tape 10 episodes of AWOW

Focus on Substack writing and limit the rest of social media

Quarterly study on a topic of my choosing

JT New Releases:

LAST SEEN (September 2, 2025)

Joss New Releases:

THE SCROLLS OF TIME (Jayne #6) (March 2024)

I’m curious to see how this plays out this year. I will do a mid-year review, and I’m planning to focus on some monthly wrap-ups on my own to keep better track of what’s going on.

As always, thank you for joining me on this journey. This community is a never-ending source of joy!

2024 DEETS:

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The 2024 Friday Reads Round Up

It’s been a great year for books, and I thought I’d share the list of all the books I’ve recommended, read, and/or discussed on Friday reads! I’m astounded by how many books there are on this list. Week after week, they add up. Two hundred of them, actually.

Thank you for joining me on the path this year! I hope you found a new book (or three) to enjoy. Note: this list is *very* long so your email will probably cut it off, so come here for the whole shebang.

Happy New Year!

Elin Hilderbrand - THE BLUE BISTRO

Ruth Ware - ZERO DAYS

Robyn Harding - THE DROWNING WOMAN 

Kate White -  BETWEEN TWO STRANGERS

Helen Ellis - KISS ME IN THE CORAL LOUNGE

Rebecca Yarros - FOURTH WING

Jess Lourey - UNSPEAKABLE THINGS

Liz Nugent - STRANGE SALLY DIAMOND

Sara DiVello - BROADWAY BUTTERFLY

Georgina Cross - ONE NIGHT

Stacy Willingham - A FLICKER IN THE DARK

Ariel Lawhon - THE FROZEN RIVER

Allison Brennan - NORTH OF NOWHERE

Rea Frey - THE OTHER YEAR

Lisa Jewell - NONE OF THIS IS TRUE

Boyd Morrison - THE LAST TRUE TEMPLAR

David Grann - THE SQUID HUNTER 

Claire Eliza Bartlett - THE WINTER DUKE

Tom Felton - BEYOND THE WAND: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up A Wizard

Scott Alexander Howard - THE OTHER VALLEY

V.E. Schwab -  THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER

Paige Crutcher - WHAT BECAME OF MAGIC

Breanne Randall -  THE UNFORTUNATE SIDE-EFFECTS OF HEARTBREAK AND MAGIC

Stephen Buoro - THE FIVE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES OF ANDY AFRICA

Lester Del Rey - THE MAN WHO INVENTED FANTASY

Christine Coulson - ONE WOMAN SHOW

Mary Beard - EMPEROR OF ROME

Tess Gerritsen - THE SPY COAST

Emily Ley - NEAR IN THE NIGHT and SURE AS THE SUNRISE

John Truby - THE ANATOMY OF GENRE

Vanessa Lillie - BLOOD SISTERS 

Ashley Winstead - MIDNIGHT IS THE DARKEST HOUR

Steve Urszenyi - PERFECT SHOT

Lisa Unger - CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

Rebecca Yarros -  IN THE LIKELY EVENT

Allison Brennan - YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME

Cara Hunter - MURDER IN THE FAMILY

Merlin Sheldrake - ENTANGLED LIFE

Peter Wohlleben - THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES

Adrienne Young - SPELLS FOR FORGETTING

Nora Roberts - INHERITANCE 

Rebecca Ross - DIVINE RIVALS

Sabaa Tahir - AN EMBER IN THE ASHES

R.F. Kuang - YELLOWFACE

Jayne Ann Krentz - THE NIGHT ISLAND

Lauren Thoman - YOU SHOULDN’T BE HERE

Catherine Gildener - GOOD MORNING, MONSTER

Emily Pennington - FERAL: Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America’s National Parks

John Krakauer - INTO THE WILD

Robert Frost - The Road Not Taken

Rainer Maria Rilke - I Live My Life in Widening Circles

Lord Byron - Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

Rachel Hawkins - THE HEIRESS

A.J. Whitney - SOVEREIGN 

Ashley Elston - FIRST LIE WINS

Katia Lief - INVISIBLE WOMAN

Emma Gannon - THE SUCCESS MYTH

Abbott Kahler - WHERE YOU END

Hank Phillipi Ryan - ONE WRONG WORD

A.E. Gauntlett - THE STRANGER AT THE WEDDING

Kemper Donovan - THE BUSY BODY

Samantha Bailey - A FRIEND IN THE DARK

Mark Greaney - THE CHAOS AGENT

A.J. Finn - END OF STORY

Jesse Q. Sutanto - YOU WILL NEVER BE ME

Rick Rubin - THE CREATIVE ACT: A Way of Being

Sarah J. Maas - HOUSE OF FLAME AND SHADOW

Cal Newport - SLOW PRODUCTIVITY 

Michael Finkel - THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS 

Hilary Mantel - WOLF HALL 

Heather Gudenkauf - EVERYONE IS WATCHING 

Stuart Turton - THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD 

Robinne Lee - THE IDEA OF YOU

Kristen Bird - WATCH IT BURN

Lisa Scottoline - THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DEVLINS

Liv Constantine - EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK

Chris Bojhalian - THE PRINCESS OF LAS VEGAS

Jess Lambert - THE STRANGER AT BLACK LAKE

Lisa Gardner  - STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE

Mary Kubica - SHE’S NOT SORRY

The NEVER TELL collection of short stories, featuring Liv Constantine, Loreth Ann White, Andrea Bartz, Rachel Howzell Hall, Ivy Pachoda, and Carolyn Kepnes.

Kate Alice Marshall - A KILLING COLD

I.S. Berry - THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW 

Erik Rickstad - LILITH 

Alex Finlay - IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME 

Karen Olsen - AN INCONVENIENT WIFE

John Sandford - TOXIC PREY 

Nathan Hill - WELLNESS 

Patric Gagne - SOCIOPATH 

Don Winslow - A CITY IN RUINS

Olivia Barry - MORNINGS IN 50 WORDS: Change Your Life One Word at a Time

Leif Enger - I CHEERFULLY REFUSE

Leif Enger - PEACE LIKE A RIVER

Alexandra Bracken - SILVER IN THE BONE 

Alyssa Cole - ONE OF US KNOWS 

Mark Edwards - THE DARKEST WATER

Andrew Ludington - SPLINTER EFFECT 

Kerry Lonsdale - FIND ME IN CALIFORNIA 

Ruth Ware -  ONE PERFECT COUPLE

Ira Levin - THE STEPFORD WIVES 

Holly Black - THE STOLEN HEIR 

Suzanne Collins - THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES

Wendy Walker - MAD LOVE

Georgina Cross - MY PERFECT HUSBAND 

Sarah Pearse - THE WILDS 

Jeneva Rose - HOME IS WHERE THE BODIES ARE

Helen Ellis - EATING THE CHESHIRE CAT 

Genevieve Sly Crane - SORORITY 

Ashley Audrain - THE PUSH 

Georgina Cross - NANNY NEEDED

Riley Sager - LOCK EVERY DOOR

Karen Armstrong - A SHORT HISTORY OF MYTH

Freida McFadden - THE TEACHER 

Miranda July - ALL FOURS

Ira Levin - ROSEMARY’S BABY 

Victoria Helen Stone - FOLLOW HER DOWN 

Erica Ivy Rodgers - LADY OF STEEL AND STRAW

Meg Gardiner - SHADOWHEART

Riley Sager - MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Wanda Morris - WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND

Liv Constantine - THE NEXT MRS. PARRISH

Rachel Griffin - THE NATURE OF WITCHES 

Chris Whitaker - ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK 

Emily Henry - HAPPY PLACE

Sir Salman Rushdie - KNIFE

Mason Currey - DAILY RITUALS: How Artists Work

Catherine Coulter - FLASHPOINT

Robyn Harding - THE HATERS

Paula McLain - WHEN THE STARS GO DARK 

Deborah Harkness - THE BLACKBIRD ORACLE

Daniel Silva  - A DEATH IN CORNWALL

Lev Grossman - THE BRIGHT SWORD

Abbott Kahler - EDEN UNDONE: A True Story of Sex, Murder, and Utopia at the Dawn of World War II

Kristy Woodson Harvey - A HAPPIER LIFE

Rebecca Yarros - ONYX STORM 

Yasmin Angloe - NOT WHAT SHE SEEMS

Deborah Harkness - BLACK BIRD ORACLE

Alyssa Cole - WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING

Rachel Howzell Hall - WHAT FIRE BRINGS

Emma Dues - RETURN TO MIDNIGHT

Paige Crutcher - A CIRCLE OF UNCOMMON WITCHES

Rachel Howzell Hall - THE LAST ONE

S.A. Cosby - ALL THE SINNERS BLEED

Liz Moore - THE GOD OF THE WOOD 

Ariel Lawhon - CODE NAME HÉLÈNE 

Rachel Kushner - CREATION LAKE 

Marybeth Whalen - EVERY MOMENT SINCE

Gillian Macallister - WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME

Tony Wirt - PIKE ISLAND

Marie O’Regan & Paul Kane - O Murder Night” in the DEATH COMES AT CHRISTMAS 

Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez - TÌAS AND PRIMAS: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

Renée Watson - skin & bones

Sloane Crosley - GRIEF IS FOR PEOPLE

Lisa Unger - THE NEW COUPLE IN 5B

Sabaa Tahir - HEIR

Martha Waters - CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND

Emily Henry - FUNNY STORY

Sara Blaedel - A MOTHER’S LOVE

Danielle Trussoni- THE PUZZLE MASTER

Danielle Trussoni - THE PUZZLE BOX

Amy Tintera - LISTEN FOR THE LIE

Ali Hazelwood - CRUEL WINTER WITH YOU

Kaira Rouda - WHAT THE NANNY SAW

Liv Constantine - EVERYONE IS A LIAR

Ruth Ware - THE WOMAN IN SUITE 11

Morgan Bolling and Toni Tipton-Martin - WHEN SOUTHERN WOMEN COOK: History, Lore, and 300 Recipes, with conversations from 70 women writers

Signe Pike - THE FORGOTTEN KINGDOM

Signe Pike - THE SHADOWED LAND

Madeline L’Engle - A WRINKLE IN TIME

John Le Carre - TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY

Joss Walker - THE BOOK OF SPIRITS

Patrick Bringley - ALL THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD

Stephen King - 11/26/63

David Grann - THE WAGER

Percival Everett - JAMES

Rebecca Yarros - VARIATION

Jeneva Rose - YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE COME HERE

John Scalzi - STARTER VILLAIN

Anna Lembke - DOPAMINE NATION: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence

Adam Ross - PLAYWORLD

Jason Rekulak - THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING

Lee Child - KILLER YEAR: Stories To Die For

M.J. Rose - THE REINCARNATIONIST

M.J. Rose - THE VENUS FIX

Alexandra Kiley - KILT TRIP

Pip Drysdale - THE CLOSE UP

Carter Wilson - THE FATHER SHE WENT TO FIND

Kimberly Belle - THE PARIS WIDOW

Jennifer Silva Redmond - HONEYMOON AT SEA

Meredith R. Lyons - A DAGGER OF LIGHTNING

Patti Callahan Henry - THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND


Many, many thanks to for helping compile this list!

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Friday Reads 12.13.24

Happy Friday, friends. This is my last official Friday Reads of the year. At COB today, I turn in a tiny reindeer with a red nose and fly away for the holiday break. I can’t remember the last time I was able to take the last two weeks of December entirely off work. Granted, I have been working VERY hard to get to this point, working feverishly to wrap multiple projects in a happy red bow, so it’s going to be an especially lovely break.

That means no post next week, but I have queued up something special for the 28th, a year-end roundup of ALL the books discussed this year. It’s a monster list and a fabulous way to cap off 2024. And then, we resume in the new year, with both Friday and Reads and 22 Steps continuing, amd with luck, my annual review. I still haven’t landed on a word, but I’m homing in.

It’s been a sad and poignant week. Wednesday, I finished the final revision of the final Jayne Thorne novel and sent it in for copyedit. I love these books so much, but it is time to move on. Doesn’t make it easier, but I do love the way it’s ended — a surprising yet inevitable conclusion. I will admit, I cooked up a bit of new magic at the very end, so if a window opens…I will respect that urge and give things another look.

And then, on Thursday, we woke to the terrible news that a vital member of all our lives had passed away unexpectedly. M.J. Rose is a name everyone in our community knows. She was hugely instrumental in my debut year. She took one look at what we were doing with Killer Year and sat us down, offering advice and, ultimately, adoption by the nascent International Thrillers Writers organization. That meant doors opened. We were given mentors (mine was Lee Child!) who guided us through the debut year. These incredible luminaries in the field blurbed our books, answered our questions, advised us, and bolstered our careers in innumerable ways. It changed all of our lives.

Ultimately, Killer Year became the outstanding ITW Debut Author’s Program, that vibrant rite of passage for all debuts in our field. When we put together an anthology, our mentors wrote introductions to our stories and essays of their own. MJ wrote a fantastic essay about the experience of mentoring an unruly group of baby creatives. She always recognized how vital industry education is for a new author.

But I was a fan of her work most of all. A luminous writer, her books crossed the gamut of thrillers. She was a self-published author before that was really a thing, and her body of work starts there with her indomitable spirit and moves through to traditional success, co-writing success, publishing success, and a marketing organization everyone wanted a part of.

I’ve included two of my favorites in the roundup today. THE REINCARNATIONIST is spectacular. If you like archeology, history, mythology, and Italy, this is right up your alley. And an early favorite is THE VENUS FIX — a dark, seductive thriller set at the Butterfield Institute; this whole series is outstanding.

If you haven’t had a chance to read her, these are a good place to start. And if you didn’t have a chance to know her, believe me when I say MJ always made an impression. RIP, Melisse.

I have a slew of new books to recommend this week to get us to the end of the year. First up is the lovely Pip Drysdale. We did an event together where she read the opening of THE CLOSE UP and I literally ordered it during the event. If the first page is any indication, it’s going to be outstanding!

Keeping with the California theme, friend of the blog Jennifer Silva Redmond sent me a copy of her memoir HONEYMOON AT SEA. Can’t wait to dig in!

My next rom-com is Alexandra Kiley’s KILT TRIP. I am missing my Scottish landscape, and I’m hopeful this will plunge me back into the brogues and mists and mysteries of the highlands.

Carter Wilson has a new one out called THE FATHER SHE WENT TO FIND. It's an evocative title, and Carter is a great writer. Plus he has a very cool show called Making It Up that I’ve been lucky enough to participate in.

Kimberly Belle’s THE PARIS WIDOW is now in my sights, too. I’ve been saving it for when I was ready to think about writing a new thriller, because I love her twisted mind.

Meredith R. Lyons's first book in a superb fantasy series, A DAGGER OF LIGHTNING, is coming out. I was lucky enough to get a first look at it and offer my thoughts. I can’t wait to see where she takes Imogen’s story!

And the last recommendation of the year belongs to my sweet friend Patti Callahan Henry whose outstanding new book, THE STORY SHE LEFT BEHIND, is out in March. I am madly in love with this story, the cover, the whole thing.

And… that’s it from me. How about you? Do you have a whole stack of books to get through this holiday season? I’d love to hear about them!

In the meantime, Merry Everything!!!

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Interim Step Eight: What To Do While You're Waiting

I always forget how much waiting there is in publishing. I’m in one of those odd fallow moments right now, as you can probably tell by the multiple “Interim Step” posts. Part of that is my own doing—the proposed schedule for my copyedits landed on the day I’m leaving for the holidays, so my amazing, incredible (I am madly in love with you for not making me work over Christmas) team pushed off to January 1. Hence, there has been a gap in the 22 Steps process.

This is actually perfect because this allows me to address a few things, like planning and the deep life, wrapping up the Jayne series, and otherwise doing some dreaming. But since this happens regularly in the project process as well as in the creative life in general, I thought it was a good idea to talk about what to do when there’s nothing to do. What to do while you’re waiting to get feedback. What to do while you’re out on submission, looking for an agent, or even just waiting out the lag time between editorial and production to the epic timeframe that is the end of production to release.

Photo by Daria Shevtsova on Unsplash

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