Sunday Smatterings

/

Hi, chickens! How's it going? Are you ready for April showers to give way to May flowers? 

This week, I'm getting ready to meet up with the brilliant Catherine Coulter to plot Nicholas & Mike's 5th (5th!!?!?) Brit adventure! Hanging out with CC is always a blast. We eat good things, we shop, we watch Harry Potter. Oh yeah, and we write. 😜 I couldn't ask for a better creative mind to partner with, let along hang out with. I always look forward to these weeks!

Anyway, without further ado...

 

Here's what happened on the Internets this week:

What are your mornings like? Are you running around, chasing kids who've transformed into banshees overnight, taking out the dog with a bursting bladder while burning the toast and praying, for the love of everything holy, that by some miracle you actually chose to put your keys in your purse instead of flinging them who knows where when you got home last night? Sounds like your morning routine may need a minimalist makeover. Here are 6 minimalist routines that will help you calm the morning chaos.

In the same vein: this woman has worn the same outfit every day for a year. Capsule wardrobe, uniform, whatever you want to call it: she's brilliant.

Book-to-TV lovers, this one's for you [spoiler police says to proceed with caution]: 4 things about HBO's BIG LITTLE LIES that need to be addressed.

If this isn't click bait, I don't know what is: this 75-year-old Harvard study found one secret to living a fulfilling life. Curiosity abounds...

I'm in the middle of remodeling/redecorating my house, and I'm on the hunt for a new way to arrange my bookshelves. There are tons of beautiful bookshelving ideas in this article from British Vogue (those classy Brits!).

Important: you can now purchase your very own Hobbit hole! (jury is out on whether second breakfast is included)

How good are you with synonyms? After this quiz, you might realize you're not as good as you think. (it's a tricky one!)

 

And closer to home:

This week on the Tao, I wrote about why it's important to finish what you start (I honed in on writers, but it's applicable to almost any task or career, really).

Also on the Tao: my intrepid A WORD ON WORDS co-host Mary Laura Philpott takes the reins and chats with literary wonder Yaa Gyasi about her brilliant debut novel, Homegoing.

Oh. And LIE TO ME got its first review, and it's glowing, and don't worry about me, I just have something in my eye... (spoiler alert: it's a detailed review, so steer clear if you want to be COMPLETELY surprised, but if you're hungry for a few details, by all means, go read!)

 

That's it from me! Welcome May with open arms, stop and smell a rose or two, and we'll talk again soon.


xo,
J.T.

/ /
, , , ,

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.

A WORD ON WORDS with Yaa Gyasi

/
"If I had known how much research it was going to take when I started writing this, I never would have written it."

This week, my intrepid co-host Mary Laura Philpott takes the reins and chats with literary wonder Yaa Gyasi about her brilliant debut novel, Homegoing. Gyasi's novel tells the story of two half sisters born in Ghana in the 18th century. The girls grow up never knowing each other, then their lives diverge even further—one marries a British slaver, the other is sold into slavery—and the book follows their descendants to the present day. 

Yaa and Mary Laura talk how this novel was born, the importance of family lineage, and about LeVar Burton. 🦋 Check it out!