9.13.11

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Yippe! Words! Words, spilling and glowing and ripe for the picking, all OVER the page.

I woke up early this morning, full of ideas. I'm working on two projects right now, both of which I can't talk much about, but both are widely different from one another. Or so I thought.  This morning, when I woke with two intense, detailed character sketches in my head, I knew I needed to write them down immediately. So I got up, typed them up, and sent them off and realized - hey, what I just did there is totally applicable to what I have to do next.

So I opened the manuscript, and off I went.

Interesting revelations today. I never thought I could work on two projects at once. I hear you, I hear you, of course I can. I just need to focus. But finding the kind of focus that lets me play with two different sets of characters in two different settings isn't something I've ever been good at. I've always admired writers who can bounce around through their ideas. Working on one story here, one story there, shorts and manuscript and scripts- that's just not my forte.

But, the process for one has rubbed off on the process of the other, and suddenly, I have rich characters coming out the wazoo.

This is a Very Good Thing.

Second revelation, in the sandwich book, one of the characters who had paraded onto the scene and really tripped me up is there to tell the story of another character. Aha!

Word, glorious words!

Over 2k on one project and 1K on the other for a total of 3K today! And that's before the blog.

It feels good to settle down and be a writer again.

I had to take a quick break to do a live radio interview, which was lots of fun - I adore radio. There's something so very intimate about it. Tomorrow morning I have a taping for a local TV show, so I need to pick a dress.

And tomorrow evening I head to Bouchercon. For those of you who don't know, it is the largest mystery convention in the world. We're talking hundreds of authors and thousands of readers.

Bouchercon is pretty much our Prom.

Books, panels, parties, dinners.... I am full up with commitments. I'll do my very best to stop in and give updates, because I still have a lot of work to do while I'm gone, so I will be sneaking off to my room to write.

If you're coming, please say hi. Don't be shy, grab me in the hall if I'm blowing past, or come to one of the panels or signings. Bouchercon is a true whirlwind, so remember to hydrate, wear comfortable shoes and stop to smell the roses a few times.

Here's my schedule - so honored to be a part of all three of these:

September 15, 2011 1-2 pm
Panel: TIMEBOMB
When the clock is ticking.
Laura Benedict (M), JT Ellison, Meg Gardiner, Adrian Magson, Daniel Palmer, Simon Toyne

September 16, 2011 2:30-3:30 pm
Panel: MONSTERS
Investigating crime in the age of social networking, google, technology, etc.
Hilary Davidson (M), J.T. Ellison, Chris Knopf, P. J. Parrish, Sam Reaves, Mark Russinovich

September 17, 2011 3-4 pm
MURDER IN THE STACKS:
St. Charles City County Library Mystery Event
Middendorf-Kredell Library
2750 Highway K, O'Fallon, MO
"Thrillers": JT Ellison, author of the Taylor Jackson series; Julie Compton, author of "Rescuing Olivia" and "Tell No Lies"; and Hank Phillippi Ryan, author of the Charlotte McNally series.

Now, off to fold clothes, and pack, and find places for all the shoes I think I'm taking. Have a great night!

9.12.11

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It has been a Monday.

I've been scattered, smothered, and covered with Stuff. Fighting with iPhoto. Firefox crashed at least six times while I was trying to write a blog for next week answering some of Rachel's questions. (No, I haven't forgotten - you raised two interesting points that are blogs unto themselves, so I'm posting them next week for the launch-a-palooza.)

I started an interview multiple times, and kept finding myself in the midst of other things. My iPhone doesn't have the right capacity to handle all my music, so as I was making a smaller playlist for it, I hit the wrong button and erased all the music, so it's in massive sync mode. A firetruck plowed into the neighborhood, scaring me half to death, but it was a false alarm at a neighbor's house. (And much too early to see said neighbor in boxers, and nothing else.)

There was a full moon last night, wasn't there?

Sometimes, these crazy, disquieting days are helpful, because you manage to get bits and pieces of multiple projects done. Like laundry, and email, and kitty cat skritchies, and more email, and now this blog.

Only took three hours, but I finally settled my ass down and got things taken care of. Finished the interview. Wrestled the pictures I need together. Managed to have Firefox stay open long enough to get a few other things done. Got the phone synched and working. Wrote this.

So. With that. Here's a link to an interview I did with Lorna Suzuki - she was very kind and asked all kinds of fun questions!

And I'm doing a live radio interview tomorrow with one of my favorite people - Kim Alexander from Siruis/XM Cover to Cover. So tune in!

3 pm EST/ 2 CST/ 1 MST/ 12 PST   Sirius/XM Channel 80

Now need to fold clothes, get manicured and pedicured, pack and charge things, and, and and and and....

See you tomorrow. Hopefully there will actually be a word count! Because really, I is a writer.

9.9.11

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Are you a scrapbooker? Good at collecting all those little mementos: ticket stubs and photos and pieces that define your life?

I'm not. I'm actully terrible at it. Having digital photos, and online photo albums was possible the single best invention of my life, because I can finally have some semblance of rhyme and reason to my pictures.

When I first started out in publishing, I saved EVERTHING. If it had my name on it, I saved it. But I never organized any of it, so it simply grew into yet another unmanageable pile of magazines and newspapers and photos and clippings that ultimately got stashed in a storage footstool.

In the back of my mind, I told myself I'd sit down one day, cut everything out, put it in a scrapbook, and have it as a keepsake.

And the pile grew larger. Years passed. I couldn't put the top on the footstool anymore, so I started offloading into plastic bins. THAT'S when I knew I needed to do something. But my time is short enough right now. I couldn't do it myself.

I needed a professional.

I told Randy that I wanted to hire a professional scrapbooker, and he had a solution. He'd seen Project Girl on Facebook, and suggested I give her a call.

I did just that. Project Girl came to the house, saw the mess that was my stuff, showed huge enthusiasm for the project, set me a task of culling the piles into 6, one for each book. I followed her instructions, she retrieved said stuff, and with a whip of her hair and what I think must be a magic wand, she produced three incredible scrapbooks.

She brought them by Wednesday. Here is a small sample of what they look like - but let me assure you, the pictures don't do them justice. It made me cry, actually, seeing all of these moments in one place. When I'm old and gray, I'll be able to flip open those pages and be transported back in time to the beginning of my writing career. Trust me, that is a Good Thing.

Do you need some help? Project Girl can handle most anything you need, from scrapbooks to decorating to moving to home repair to landscaping. She is a Jill of all trades. Get in touch with her here, and tell her JT sent you!

9.8.11

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I have not been writing.

God, I hate to admit that.

But it's true.

And it's becoming readily apparent to the folks around me, because I've been getting grumpy.

It's the two weeks leading up to the book launch, and as such there are many things to do. Blogs to write, newsletters to send, speeches to give. Hair to color, nails to get manicured, outfits to plan. Appearances and television and radio and signings and a conference - all in the span of two weeks. I'm already sick of myself, and I've been at it for exactly 24 hours.

It's crazy making, especially for introverts like me who get very run down being on, on, on. Sparkle! Author Girl is in da house! I adore it while I'm doing it, but when I'm done, I literally collapse.

And in all that, I sometimes lose sight of the end game. The only real responsibility I have is planting my butt in the chair, opening the manuscript, and writing.

I took the opening chapters of the sandwich book to my critique group last night. They loved it. Loved it so much that all I wanted to do was run home and dive into the pages and create, create, create!

But right now, my time is not my own. For the next few weeks, my time belongs to you - you lovely creatures!

I had my first major event yesterday - I spoke at Ingram - and a more wonderful group of people you can't ever hope to meet. They were fabulous - laughed in all the right places, made me feel like I sort of knew what I was talking about. I signed a ton of books and felt like maybe I could pull this off after all.

Because truly, if you're an introvert writer like me, you have a tendency to worry that you'll say or do something idiotic at just the wrong time. Hmm, is that introversion, or just being a geek?

The first time I talk about a book in public is terrifying. Terrifying. But it went really well. I was bummed that I didn't remember my very funny making anecdote until today.... but at least I'll have it for the rest of my talks. 

I'm off to create the newsletter, in which we will have a contest, and a prize, a simple one this time, but a prize nonetheless, and put together the photo slideshow, and... and... and....

And maybe, just maybe, I can sneak in some actual writing time this weekend. : )

Anything y'all are particularly interested in hearing about related to WHERE ALL THE DEAD LIE? Ask away!