Daily Tao ☯ 7.17.17

And… we’re back! Did you have a fabulous couple of weeks? We did. Amy had a blast on her travels, I got a ton of writing done, and now we’re back to regularly scheduled programming, albeit it with a bit of fantastic news to kick off the week:

LIE TO ME received a Starred Publisher’s Weekly review today!

★ Publishers Weekly

Successful authors Ethan and Sutton Montclair, the married couple at the heart of this exceptional domestic thriller from bestseller Ellison (No One Knows), lead a relatively quiet life in Franklin, Tenn., where they each work on their respective books. Then Ethan wakes up one morning to discover a note from Sutton telling him that she needs some time away and doesn’t want him looking for her. Distraught, Ethan contacts Sutton’s mother and her friends, yet all of them claim not to know where she is. When Ethan finally decides to get the police involved in searching for Sutton, he falls under suspicion. Witnesses claim that Ethan physically abused Sutton and was even responsible for the death of their infant son. Might Ethan, emotionally devastated as he appears, be a psychopathic killer? Ellison keeps the suspense high with chapters from the point of view of someone very evil. The person responsible for Sutton’s disappearance remains a mystery right up to the surprising finale. This standalone may be Ellison’s best work to date.

I cried. Of course I cried. A — it’s an incredible review. B — sometimes, you don’t believe what the people around you are saying, and you need affirmation from an anonymous stranger. Isn’t that how art works?

The hardest part for me is always when the book is no longer mine, and it’s gone out into the world to belong to others. You hope and pray it stands up straight, showers daily, puts on fresh underwear in case there’s an accident, comports itself with compassion and grace, doesn’t get drunk and fall down and skin its knee, but you never know what’s going to happen.

So I was incredibly excited when I saw the review. And then I opened my laptop and wrote, because the only way to deal with good news is to remember the way the good news came about, which is hard work. But all day, I kept looking at that star with a secret smile. I put myself out there with this one. It's the book of my heart, and to have this recognition means everything to me. 

Later, we celebrated as we do, with GF pizza and excellent champagne, and the last episodes of House of Cards and The Handmaid’s Tale. All in all, it was a perfect day. 

So all is right in my world at the moment. 

Now, I have a favor. There’s an incredible book about to make its debut in the world tomorrow. It’s called BLAME, and it’s by a good friend of mine, Jeff Abbott. I would have been sharing this news with you regardless, but I’m banging the drum a bit harder than usual because the Abbotts lost their house to a terrible fire last week, and the only thing I can do to help is spread the word. Supporting an artist in his time of need is the most worthy cause. You can get BLAME everywhere fine books are sold. Jeff's signing at Book People tomorrow night, so you can even get one personalized and shipped. Click here for more info!

Here’s what I had to say about it -- I give it 5 Stars!

“BLAME is a masterful suspense novel, full of dread, lies, and deceptions. Abbott is one of our finest writers, and BLAME takes his talents to new levels. Sinister and twisting, this is hands-down the best book you’ll read — and re-read — this year. Absolutely top-notch.”

Have a fabulous evening, chickens! It's good to be back.

Daily Tao ☯ 6.29.17 - Gone Fishin'

Remember the old signs you used to see on the doors of your favorite local establishments when they closed shop for a break? Well, Amy and I are hanging up our Gone Fishin’ sign, and will be incommunicado from July 1 - July 17. Amy is taking a well-deserved vacation, and I decided to shut down too, partially so she wasn’t worrying about the boss mucking things up whilst she was away (trust me when I say our machine is well-oiled, and I can break it) and partially because I’ve been on the road so much lately that I need to catch up on writing and rest. I’ve finally kicked the lingering bronchitis crud, and the renovations are done for a while, and there’s no travel until we head to the RITA Awards ceremony at the end of the month. Still, I’m feeling behind on things, so this is perfect timing. 

But I didn’t want to leave you high and dry, so don’t be surprised to see the tweets and Facebooks still rolling (I LOVE being able to schedule in advance for moments like this) and of course, a quick reminder of our news from yesterday, if you missed it—there is a brand new short story never before published available on all e-reading platforms (now including Google Play!).

THE ENDARKENING is part romance, part horror, and utterly surreal, all with a Scottish backdrop. I hope you love it, because it was a blast to write. If you love it too, please don’t hesitate to leave a review. If you hate it, send me a note, instead. (LOL) I just thought we needed a little Halloween in July...

Here's where you can get it:

So with that, I bid you adieu for a couple of weeks! Have a fantastic celebration of our independence on the 4th of July, wave your sparklers high in the air, and we’ll see you in a couple of weeks!

New Story THE ENDARKENING On Sale Now!

A couple of weeks ago, I asked if people would freak out if I wrote a dark romantic horror story. I was very heartened by the response (especially because I already had the story finished and it’s been sitting on my computer, waiting to go to a good home, for months.) So here’s a treat for you — a brand new story called THE ENDARKENING!
 

Art is her refuge, her passion—and her hell.

American art student Evie Williams is studying abroad in Edinburgh and having the time of her life—especially when she falls hard for Thomas MacBean, a sexy art dealer with a Highlander's brogue. But as Thomas and Evie’s romance heats up, so does Evie’s fascination with a special exhibit of dark art at a local gallery. Normally frightened by sinister subjects, sensitive Evie finds herself entranced by one painting in particular, and soon, can’t pull herself away. 
 
Who, or what, has she really encountered?
 

The story was inspired by a show I saw on the BBC in which brilliant Scottish crime fiction author Ian Rankin was interviewed whilst attending an exhibit at the Dovecot in Edinburgh. The installation was called THE SCOTTISH ENDARKENMENT: Age and Unreason from 1945 to the Present, and featured very dark art indeed. One of the paintings looked like a Rothko, but I couldn’t identify it, so I reached out to Ian, who sent me to the Dovecot, and they helped me find the painting, which was actually by William Turnbull.

As I watched the super cool video the Dovecot had put together to show off the installation, seeing painting after painting, a completely surreal idea surfaced. What if there was a painting that was actually a serial killer?

I outlined the story at that moment, and wrote it soon after, quite quickly, in big swaths of time. It simply poured out of me, and when you read it, I think you’ll understand why that was at once exciting and horrifying. 

Writing is always a gift, but sometimes it has a bit too much of The Red Shoes in it, don’t you think? 👠👠

I hope you enjoy this dark little tale! Available in ebook at all e-retailers!
 

Daily Tao ☯ 6.28.17

“After the writer’s death, reading his journal is like receiving a long letter.”

— Day One Inspirations

Interesting creative day today. Reworked a scene that’s been bothering me in the manuscript, then dealt with a lingering annoyance. I’ve had a To Do on my Wunderlist for a few months called “Create a mental inventory.” I don’t know why lunch today became the moment to tackle this, but tackle it I did. You see, I’ve been offloading ideas as they happen into my Day One journal, but I’d neglected to mark any of them in a specific (read searchable) way. Well, now they are. Thirteen solid, doable, interesting story ideas, all coded and tagged so I can pull them up at a moment’s notice. And offloaded, and backed up, and printed out.

Maybe it was the malware attack that launched yesterday, maybe it was some weird premonition that my computer might freak out, but I knew I needed to do this immediately. I feel much, much better now. (Hello, OCD.)

I used to write these ideas down in a notebook, but with the advent of Day One, which syncs across all my devices, being able to access this anywhere is too cool, and so it became my go to for story creation. 

I blog in it, too. I actually have entries dating back to 2004. You know what that first post is? My first major rejection, by a leading NY editor, on the book that 12 years later was published as FIELD OF GRAVES. (Awww… admittedly, poor kid J.T. was pretty well crushed that day.) 

It’s kind of nice to be able to look back and see this, and know that things were soon to change. It took another year, but things did pick up. And here we are now, a career underway, more ideas than I have time to write. Pretty cool.

I have to admit, though, when I opened Day One to do today’s blog, I was a bit shocked to see the weird quote at the beginning of the blog. It’s true, absolutely. These daily entires,my daily devotions, whether I share them online or keep them private, really are a love letter, left behind. 

On that note, sweet dreams — and be sure to come by the blog tomorrow for some fun news!

Daily Tao ☯ 6.27.17

We have such a huge surprise for you later this week I can hardly stand it. But stand it I shall, because time is fleet and in just a couple of days I’ll be sharing some very fun news. 

First day home was a good one. Dentist this morning, so I’m all bright and shiny, but the gas always makes me sort of dopey for the rest of the day, so I’ve been handling business stuff and emptying email and prepping for the big Internet vacation that starts Saturday AM.

In wonderful news, my BFF is coming to stay this weekend, and my tiny little writing group will be joining us at the house for a retreat this weekend. I expect tons of words, a few great movies, some scotch and champagne, boatloads of salami and cheese and fruit, and bonding time that is long overdue. 

Writer bonding is very important. This group in particular is very small and very intimate, and we keep each other on track to meet our deadlines and push ourselves to new heights. I’m so incredibly blessed to have these women in my life. They are the place I go to celebrate, to cry, to gnash my teeth. We are separated so much of the time––physically, by our genres, by our familial obligations––that having almost everyone together in person will be amazing. (One of our brethren can’t make it. We are crushed and will miss her dreadfully. ☹️)

So no new fiction words, though I did do some editing, and thinking, and bullet journaling, and transcribing of notes for the scenes to come tomorrow. I feel big word counts ahead…

Sweet dreams!