It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Why not celebrate this American hero and work on your storytelling craft—by watching Selma?   I’ve been doing a breakdown of the movie for my online Screenwriting Tricks for Authorsworkshop. The film has a wildly ambitious goal: to depict the monolith of U.S. racism; Read Full Article

Happy Sunday, friends! I hope you had a good week. It’s a nice, quiet day at Chez Ellison. Jordan is having a snack on my desk, Jameson is sound asleep in my reading chair. The sun streams boldly in my window—the new house is filled with sunlight, so much more Read Full Article

Happy Sunday, friends! Welcome to 2021. We certainly got off to a rocky start. I’ve gotten very little work done since Wednesday. Like many of you, I watched the events unfolding this week with absolute horror. I think when you’ve worked in DC and walked the hallowed halls of the Read Full Article

Oh, 2020. What a long, strange trip you’ve been. The space-time continuum has been out of whack. It feels like I just sat down to write my 2019 year-end review, and also feels like a year since Christmas last week. Fridays are Mondays, weeks are minutes, days Read Full Article

I know it’s the New Year, and the temptation to start completely fresh is huge.  But hear me now. That does not apply to writing books.  If you're in the middle of a book, you DO NOT WANT to stop to run after a shiny new idea. That is a great way Read Full Article

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! I didn’t read as many books as I wanted this year, but so many of the ones I did were so good I had a hard time singling out a top ten. I watched a lot of TV, and listened to many, many podcasts. Read Full Article

2020 was a hell of a year. I’m know I’m not the only one to be glad for a chance to take out the trash and start fresh. I actually got a lot done last year. I launched an online writing class. I had Covid in the spring Read Full Article

Looking for a thrilling read? TEAR ME APART is on sale for $2.99! New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner called it “perfect stay-up-all-night, bite-your-nails-to-the-quick suspense.” Get your copy:KINDLE NOOKAPPLE BOOKSKOBOGOOGLE PLAYEBOOKS.COM

About the book:The follow-up to her critically acclaimed Lie to Me, J.T. Ellison’s TEAR Read Full Article

Did you get a bookstore gift card for the holidays? There’s a great deal on the ebook for my standalone thriller GOOD GIRLS LIE. Download your copy for $2.99!KINDLE | NOOK | APPLE BOOKS | KOBO | GOOGLE PLAY

About the book:Goode girls don’t Read Full Article

Coming in summer 2021: a sexy new thriller CHOOSE ME, written in collaboration with my old pal Gary Braver. It’s a story told from both a man’s and a woman’s points of view, and who better to tell that story than both a man and a woman? The post Cover Read Full Article

Happy Sunday, friends! Welcome to the last Smatterings of 2020!The holidays are in full swing, and almost all of publishing is taking off the two weeks between now and the holidays. And team JT is doing the same! You will see some pre-programmed sales and posts, including Read Full Article

Happy Sunday, friends! When I opened my computer this morning, my screensaver had rotated to a road cutting through shadowed mountains. I immediately began singing “We’re on a road, to nowhere...” which I’ve now decreed the theme song of 2020. But it’s also the most perfect place Read Full Article

I’ve contributed a story “What My Father Never Told Me” to a collection of short stories called IN LEAGUE WITH SHERLOCK HOLMES. I had a fun time exploring the question: what if Professor Moriarty was the real hero? What if Conan Doyle got it all wrong? The post In League Read Full Article

Happy Sunday, friends! It’s been a blessedly quiet week here on our little hill. We had a lovely snowstorm to start the week—the perfect kind that lasts all day but doesn’t accumulate on the roads or need shoveling away. Watching it snow (with a cup of cocoa, Read Full Article

Happy Sunday, friends! One of my greatest joys is the day after Thanksgiving. Not because of Black Friday, but because it is sanctioned from on high that we eat pie and bacon for breakfast. I know that sounds like a silly thing to feel joy about, but Read Full Article