Smatterings: For Love of ASMR Rooms

Thunder booms. Lightning flashes. the rain pummels the windows. But inside, you are safe, warm, womblike in the library. The fire crackles, candles flicker, the sconces on the wall glow gently. A clock ticks, and the susurrus of a pen scratching on paper lulls you into an almost hypnotic state. In this place, you can enter a flow state that allows your mind to genuinely focus on your tasks. 

ASMR, or autonomous sensory meridian response, is a relatively new phenomenon. And, from my quick bit of research, it doesn’t work the same way for each person. That makes total sense to me--what I find lovely and relaxing in person (cozy interiors with snow or thunderstorms outside) might cause someone else great distress. The whispering ASMRs meant to comfort make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. There are thousands of ASMR rooms to choose from, to each their own.

I bring this up only because I’ve been doing work with my life coach recently focusing on rewiring myself to let go of internal blocks and accept the flow state, and I’ve combined it with my favorite ASMR rooms this week to great success. Here are a few of my favorite ASMR feeds if you want to give it a try yourself. Just be warned, it truly is hypnotic, and you might just create something magnificent!


Royal Library

Writing Library

Thunderstorm at Hogwarts

Everything from My Ambience especially Crackling Fireplace


I think you’re going to love working with some of these in the background. Let go and let it flow! Onward…


Links 🔗

I’m up this week on A WORD ON WORDS interviewing Patti Callahan about her new book ONCE UPON A WARDROBE. I rarely get a chance to interview close friends on the show, and Patti and I have a tendency to finish one another’s sentences, which made for a fun, intimate conversation. 

An interesting piece about the influx of AI in the audiobook sector. What do you think?


Scott Young talks about goal setting and the science of achievement.


Susan DeFreitas spent a year reading Ursula LeGuin novels, and it blew her mind.


Another Worlde story, but with a nice look at all kinds of word puzzles.


The February Newsletter went out this week, with some fun news…


Reads 📚


A good reading week in between the Olympics coverage. Finished THE WIFE STALKER (5 stars for creativity), moved on to Jennifer Armentrout’s FROM BLOOD AND ASH, dabbled a bit in SWAN DIVE by Georgina Pazcoguin, and made good progress on a galley from thriller author Adam Hamby. 

Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥️ I hope you’ve had a great weekend with a wonderful book!

J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 25 novels, and the EMMY® award winning co-host of thJoss Walkere literary TV show A WORD ON WORDS. She also writes urban fantasy under the pen name Joss Walker.

With millions of books in print, her work has won critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Her titles have been optioned for television and published in twenty-eight countries.

J.T. lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville, where she is hard at work on her next novel.