Hello, chickens, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope you rang in 2016 exactly the way you wanted to: with gusto and bubbly, or lots and lots of sleep. Both are perfectly acceptable methods of facing the year ahead.

The week between Christmas and New Year's is always a wonderfully slow, sleepy time. I catch up on lots of reading (The Between Week 2015 will forever be known as The Year I Binge-Reread Harry Potter), which means I stayed off the web and immersed myself in story, so there aren't as many links here.

But without further ado . . .

Here's what I found on the Internets this week:

USA Today named Paula Hawkins (of GIRL ON THE TRAIN fame) the Author of the Year. This was such a great read — you never know what'll become a smash hit.

A headline you didn't think you'd see today: Bob Vila is trying to save Hemingway's legacy. I think that's very cool.

If you don't know about the Nashville-based nonprofit Thistle Farms, you should. They continue to restore the lives of women who are victims of the sex trade. It's a hard, thankless work, and that organization does it tirelessly and with much compassion.

Every writer should read this wisdom-filled post on career from Allison Brennan. Allison has been a friend and mentor to me from the very beginning of my career, and this essay on her 10 year anniversary as a writer struck a LOT of chords in me, and I'm sure it will in you, too.

This is why authors need to understand their contracts: "Stop Forcing Authors to Take Unlimited Financial Risks." There is nothing that makes me cringe more than when an author tells me they let someone else read their contracts. Read them, and learn how to understand them.

Another great from Kris Rusch: "Writing During Storms and Holidays." I especially love her patchwork quilt analogy for writing a novel. One of the best I've heard.

And closer to Chez Ellison:

If you like emojis and literary classics, Two Tales Press has discovered the most delightful quiz for you.

This week, The Wine Vixen brought us the Kool-Aid of wines and a creamy, bubbly, delicious alternative to Champagne that'll save you a nice chunk of change.

And I was so excited that WHAT LIES BEHIND was selected as one of The Reading Frenzy's Top 20 Novels of 2015 (and the book, Deb says, "will scare the bejeezus out of you," which, of course, I just love). If you're looking for some good reads, there are some fantastic choices on that list! (I especially loved THE MARTIAN.)

And here's my Goodreads Challenge tally -- I read 62 books this year!

That's it from me, kids. Stay out of trouble, and I'll see you soon!

Xoxo,
JT