Sunday Smatterings
/
Well hello, chickens! Having a good weekend, I hope? There's been lots of sunshine here in Middle Tennessee this week. Our daffodils are almost bloomed out, the trees I have no name for are all budded, but there's no forsythia (they seem to have the edge when it comes to getting overly anxious and blooming too early--slow and steady, the forsythia) so I doubt it will last. Have you ever heard of Blackberry Winter? $10 it's coming...
This week I looked up and realized I was more than halfway done with my next standalone novel! 🎉 Considering it kicked my tush from one end of the house to the other for a few months, I'm heartened. There's nothing better than feeling a story quicken under your fingers, the characters coming to life on the page. It means there's hope the story has a chance of being what I want it to be. You never know though. Sometimes, books have minds of their own.
Now on to the links!
Here's what happened on the Internets this week:
One of my favorite reasons to travel? I get to catch up on my TBR list! But what happens when you're not feeling anything on the pile? Buzzfeed has compiled their 27 books to read while you travel. What say you, reader—do you concur? What's been your favorite travel read?
This quote from George Bernard Shaw will make you think deeply on how you live your life, and how much of it has changed in the 21st century. (spoiler alert: it's about how we communicate)
Does your schedule feel packed to the gills, even though you still have goals you'd like to achieve? More reading, more moving, more volunteering? Here's a thought: altering your morning and evening routines can help you achieve those seemingly impossible goals. All it takes is a few minute a day.
Merriam-Webster recently added 1,000 new words to their dictionary. These are a few fun ones.
Do you like Romantic Suspense? Join this giveaway, where you could win 50+ novels! Countless hours of steamy thrillers, y'all. Just sayin'.
And closer to home:
Last week, I talked about how I'm trying to untether myself from technology a bit in 2017. This week, I continued the series, and discussed how and why I'm systematically turning of my retweets.
If you love food and happen to hit the lottery someday, The Wine Vixen has found the perfect foodie road trip for you!
I'm so pleased to share that Season Two of the EMMY-Award-winning TV show I cohost, A Word on Words, is now airing! This week, brilliant novelist and bookstore owner Ann Patchett talked with my divine cohost Mary Laura Philpott about Ann's new novel, Commonwealth. Ann has done such a great thing for this city, giving us Parnassus Books as our literary hub, and it was lovely to kick off our new season with her.
P.S. Catherine and I got our finished copies of THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE in the mail this week and OH MY are they BEAUTIFUL!!! A thick, fat book with a gorgeous cover (that should've been on Maria's favorite things list, huh?). Barnes & Noble still has a few signed copies left, and it's the cheapest I've seen it yet. Go get one for you and a friend!
That's it from me. Talk a walk or two outside, be kind to restaurant servers, hug your fur babies, and I'll talk to you soon.
xo,
J.T.
