Sunday Smatterings (The Kerr Edition)

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Hi, guys! It's me, The Kerr. Did you have a good week? Everything is getting so green again, I wake up to a brilliant blue sky every morning, and the evening sun hangs out much longer after work than it used to.

I love spring. I love feeling the warm breezes, working by an open window, seeing the joggers and stroller-pushing mamas out again. I feel a bit brighter, too, full of energy and possibility. I hope you're feeling it too!

Here's what I've been up to this week.

 

What I'm Eating

Confession: this is kind of like guacamole. But not really.

I had this avocado salad at a little brunch place near my house, and I order it every time I go—it's so simple, yet so delicious. Diced avocado, shallots, grape tomatoes, lime juice, olive oil, salt & pepper. That's it! Gentle tossed together, it's a perfect little salad to serve for Easter brunch, or placed on spinach with some chicken on top. 

Alas, I have no photos of said salad, because...

Another Confession: I am not a professional food blogger. This is evident by the way I consume everything I eat without taking photos of it. What can I say? When it comes to food, I have trouble with the word no. 🤷‍♀️


What I'm Playing (on my headphones)

I'm a sucker for a good podcast. This week I blazed through S-Town, from the producers of Serial and This American Life.

Murder, mayhem, a treasure hunt, a clock maker, small town Southern politics, a backyard maze with 64 permutations of escape, Kant and Plato. This seven-part series is all over the place—I mean that in the best way possible. Every spare bit of downtime I had—cooking, cleaning, dog walking—I was listening to this riveting show. It has the intrigue of Serial Season 1 without having to wait weeks for the next episode. I highly recommend it.

If that didn't convince you, here's a lil' preview.

Um, yeah. Go listen to it.

 

What I'm Reading

Remember last week, when I talked about my favorite, must-pre-order-book-as-soon-as-I-see-it-and-wait-in-breathless-anticipation-for-release-day authors?

Anne Lamott is one of those authors.

This week, her new book HALLELUJAH ANYWAY showed up on my Kindle. I have gleefully been reading a chapter every morning over coffee—it's my motivator to get out of bed and get through a workout, actually. The sooner you get this over with, I think, the sooner you can go read Anne.

I always need a kick in the pants, and Anne is always there to give me one—and a laugh or two along the way. Filled with thoughts on mercy, why we all need it, and how to spread it around, it's a lovely way to start each day, a goal to aspire to. I fail miserably, but I'm still practicing.
 


What I'm Watching

This. This video from Harlequin is hysterical. The 75 seconds are worth your time, I promise. 


Dog of the Week

Crockett the ridiculous greyhound

This week's winner is my greyhound, Crockett, for being this week's #1 office distraction. He can't understand why anyone would ever stop snuggling with him. 

I know, buttercup. But Mommy's gotta bring home the rawhide somehow.

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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 John Hart

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"Humans are flawed creatures. The things that make them great aren't always bright and shiny."

So true, John Hart. So true.

Watch this brilliant interview with my co-host, Mary Laura Philpott, and her Davidson College co-alum, thriller novelist John Hart. Redemption Road is a phenomenal book, go check it out!

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, , ,

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.

What I'm Into (March & April 2017)

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Welcome to Spring, y'all! Storms are popping, pollen is invading (trust me, I can't breathe) and it's time for another edition of What I'm Into this month -- a special double issue since I lost the March version and found it again... March 31. Oops! Off we go! 

Roomba

Last year, after a terrible kitchen leak, we put hardwoods throughout our house. I soon had a crick in my back from trying to keep them clean. Did I mention we did *dark * hardwood? It’s absolutely gorgeous, but the upkeep is incredibly rigorous. My folks gave us a Roomba for Christmas, and I have never been so happy with a gadget in my life. A remarkably clever device, it has our floors looking just mopped all the time now.
 

Happy Tales Humane

A little over three years ago, when we were looking for a kitten to adopt, we were divinely led to Happy Tales Humane in Franklin, Tennessee. They are a wonderful no-kill shelter, doing an amazing job of helping homeless animals in Middle Tennessee. When we lost both my brother’s cat Miraj, and my parents' cat Jamocha, in a four-day span last month, I had to do something, so I made donations in both of their memories to this great organization. I’ll tell you, when Jade passed, a reader of mine made a donation in her name to their shelter, and I can not begin to tell you how touched I was by the gesture. It opened the door to a beautiful friendship, too, so win-win for everyone.

I wish I could donate to every shelter, everywhere. Drop a few dollars at your local one this week—or even take them some old blankets, towels, newspapers. Anything helps.

Colorado is the best

Mountains

I spent part of the month out west on a writing retreat. I was hoping for some major snow: the brisk air, snow-capped peaks, evergreens and frozen lakes are always a true balm for my soul. It was not to be, though. It was warm, really warm, like take a wander in the woods in shorts and hope the bears aren't waking up warm. Even my research trip to Viail was done in short sleeves. But, it didn't matter. It was gorgeous out, and I locked away, and just the mere thought of snow possibilities helped me write a TON––and the first draft of this book will be done next week!

Grahams 20 Year Tawny Port

I’ve always used sworn that I don’t like anything but Vintage port, and boy, was I wrong. We had dinner at Flemings Steak House a few weeks ago and our server, who was exceptionally knowledgeable, even for a decent wine restaurant, talked me into it. I am so glad she did. It’s sheer perfection—and to be honest, I think I like it better than the Vintage. Old cat, new tricks…

Reading Glasses from Zenni Optical

Don’t laugh. A few years ago I switched to progressive lenses for my full-time glasses, and I have to say, it’s been lovely not to have to remove my glasses every time I need to read a book or a label. The thing is, I still have a little trouble reading in them for prolonged periods, most especially print books, so I get straight readers from Zenni and use them if I’m settling in for a few hours reading.

Nordstrom NYDJ Jeans

Soft. Stretchy. LONG ENOUGH (a problem I have with everyone’s jeans—hello, 34” inseam). Tons of colors and styles. I am in love with these jeans. I’m trying—trying—to get “dressed” to go to work each day, as part of my home streamlining. In order to empty my closet, my new rule is—if I can’t leave the house in it, it’s time for it to go. But… I refuse to sacrifice the comfort of my yoga pants for daily wear. These jeans fit the bill, and I don’t feel weird running around town in them. 

 

Newton

I have a new email program. Part of my personal workflow is a commitment to digital minimalism, and that means I don’t introduce new apps unless they are going to solve a need I have, not one I might have in the future. Last year, Gmail suddenly started sending all my website email to trash, so I missed a bunch of fan letters. Not good. I moved everything to Outlook, which, while powerful, I hated, because it’s just so busy. So Apple Mail became the default, and it works great except for two things: the font on the sidebar is about 8, which is ridiculously small (see reading glasses above), and you can’t hit Undo once the message is sent. I have a tendency to write and hit Send, then proof as the message goes out, which means, yep, you guessed it, errors everywhere. In Gmail I could click undo and fix, but in Apple Mail, I can’t.

Welcome to Newton. It’s like the Sparrow of old looks-wise, but even more minimalist. It has Undo Send. It has Snooze. It’s integrated into everything I do, so it lessens my work time. It’s freaking brilliant. And so elegant, and easy. It’s a solution I’m happily PAYING for — yes, instead of a free email program, I actually forked out some cash for this puppy because it’s so powerful and clean. A big win for us zen minimalist emailers! 

What are you guys into these days?
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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.

Sunday Smatterings (The Kerr Edition)

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Hey, peeps! It's me, The Kerr. How's it going? Anybody play a good April Fool's joke on you yesterday? I have quite a few pranksters in my life, so I'm always on high alert on April 1. Nothing's happened . . . yet. There could be some aftershocks that I just don't know about. We'll see. 🤔

Anywho, let's get onto the links!
 

What I'm Eating

You guys. I got ridiculously good strawberries from Costco this week. Once again, all hail Costco. 🎉

I like mixing savory with sweet. Scratch that—I love it. I'm from West Tennessee, where we know our barbecue, and we make our sauce pretty sweet. I've carried this into adulthood, and on Monday, I accidentally threw together the best savory/sweet salad: spinach, sliced strawberries, goat cheese, avocado, pecans, and chicken breast—and it's topped off with balsamic vinegar and basil olive oil.

I have eaten this salad every day since. I'm not sorry about it.

PS: I've also been chugging Earl Grey like mad. Because if I drank coffee all day, I would never sleep.


What I'm Playing

While I've been working this week, I've tuned into Spotify's Your Favorite Coffeehouse station. Mellow and unobtrusive—that's what I like when I'm doing non-writing work. (confession: I can't listen to music with words and write at the same time. Cannot do it.)

If you like singer/songwriter or acoustic-y things, check that station out.
 

What I'm Reading

I'm a sucker for narrative nonfiction. I found STRANGERS TEND TO TELL ME THINGS by Amy Dickinson on a whim after I read fell down the bowels of the Internet and found an Ask Amy column that make me giggle something fierce. The book's on my Kindle, ready for me to dive into. I'll let you know how I feel about it soon.

Bonus read: this brought me to tears. 


What I'm Watching

You know those authors who, when they tease a new book cover, you drop everything you're doing, hop to your favorite retailer, and click Pre-order?

That's how I feel about Liane Moriarty. 

I. Love. Her.

So it's no surprise that I've watched her novel-turned-HBO-mini-series, BIG LITTLE LIES, faithfully on Sunday nights right when it comes on. (When's the last time you watched a scripted show on broadcast television right when it aired? Yeah, me too.) It's 90% faithful to the book, which I and the rest of America loved. Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Laura Dern are remarkable in this, as is Alexander Skarsgård, who does not have the easiest role to pull off (just watch it—you'll see what I mean). And truly, between the luscious scenery of coastal Monterey, CA, the beautiful homes on the ocean, and the gorgeous clothes, it's a lifestyle junkie's dream. 

The plot also happens to be top-notch, full of twists and turns and psychological thrills. I bet you'll probably like it, too. If you haven't read the book, go get it.
 

Dog of the Week

The story in the caption speaks for itself. Nellie the Jumping Greyhound, for the win! 😂


That's all I've got this week! You guys have a good one, enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and I'll be back again soon.

Warmly,
The Kerr

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, ,

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 Jacqueline Woodson

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"I think what people need to realize is that not only do they have a story, but they have a right to tell that story. And the more specific that story is, the more it’s going to speak to a lot of people."
 

Wise words from brilliant National Book Award winner, Jacqueline Woodson. Watch her phenomenal interview—her "books as windows, not mirrors" metaphor is so powerful. We had a blast meeting her, and could've listened to her talk for hours! #keepreading

Author of BROWN GIRL DREAMING, Jacqueline Woodson, talks about her new book, ANOTHER BROOKLYN, with host J. T. Ellison. Watch all A WORD ON WORDS episodes here: http://awordonwords.org/ #KeepReading