J. T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty novels and the Emmy Award–winning cohost of the 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.

Ellison's new novel is A Very Bad Thing.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

I think it’s a rather straightforward title, quite literal and easy to understand, as it sets the stakes for the whole story from the jump. It was not the first title I entertained—mine rarely are—but it was one of the first lines I wrote for the book. It starts with a letter. My darling daughter. Many years ago, I did a very bad thing. Even I wanted to know what that very bad thing was, and what I thought wasn’t what it ended up being. So I tricked myself! Columbia Jones is an author, and she’s killed in the opening pages of the book. The letter gives us a peek into her mind, one of the few we get, as the story revolves around the people closest to her, the ones with motive to kill her.

What's in a name?

I have exactly zero idea how or why, but I was starting to think about my next book, and I tend to journal quite a bit as I do so. There’s an entry on November 26, 2021, that says only Columbia Jones. It just appeared, handed to me by the writing gods. I followed on quickly with Who killed Columbia Jones? Columbia Jones. Totally unique first name coupled with a very common last name—it’s actually the perfect moniker to represent the two sides of my main character—public and private. I do like a unique androgynous name, though. It allows the reader to create an impression of the character in their head right away. Naming all my characters I something I take seriously. They’re your children in many ways. They need just the right one.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

I think my teenage self would be shocked, honestly, because she would be so thrilled and grateful to realize she’d fulfilled her lifelong dream of being a writer on such a big stage. She was still writing poetry and just learning how metaphor and simile worked. To see a complete manuscript—and know it was the 30th published novel? I think she’d be pretty darn happy and proud.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

The beginnings are always harder—in that they take longer. Setting the stage is everything for a crime fiction novel. You must open with a question, establish the stakes, introduce the characters, and if you’re doing it with a standalone, you’re recreating the wheel every time. It usually takes me six months to write a book—five months for the first half and a month for the second half.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Every character, the good, the bad, the sinister, the sweet, is a little piece of me. They have to be; they live in my head and talk all the time. My challenge is to allow myself into the heads of characters who are nothing like me. I lead a quiet, boring life. I’ve been married to a great guy for 30+ years; I have a wonderful family, loving parents, and a simple, regular existence. But there’s drama in the edges of everything, and I have to go searching to find it, make it mine, identify with it, and bring it to the page in a relatable way.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

  Everything influences my writing, from the news cycle to cold cases to overheard snatches of conversation. Music is always a big player, from lyrics that create titles to sweeping symphonies that encapsulate the story for me. I read and watch everything I can, too, which helps!

Visit J.T. Ellison's website and follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

The Page 69 Test: Edge of Black.

The Page 69 Test: When Shadows Fall.

My Book, The Movie: When Shadows Fall.

My Book, The Movie: What Lies Behind.

The Page 69 Test: What Lies Behind.

The Page 69 Test: No One Knows.

My Book, The Movie: No One Knows.

The Page 69 Test: Lie to Me.

My Book, The Movie: Good Girls Lie.

The Page 69 Test: Good Girls Lie.

Writers Read: J. T. Ellison (January 2020).

--Marshal Zeringue