“You Know Why” by J.T. Ellison
“I am very much a gardener… I go into the backyard with some seeds and some fertilizer and some soil, and I dig up a plot of ground and I put down my seeds and fertilize them and water them and walk away and come back and see what comes up. Sometimes I get roses and sometimes I get tomatoes, and I just never know which it's going to be. And then I have to work with what comes up. Then I'm either making marinara or I'm making flower arrangements and those are two very different books.”
J.T. Ellison is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 30 novels of psychological suspense. She’s also the Emmy-Award winning co-host of A Word on Words, the literary television series on PBS. In this episode of Narratives & Nightcaps, we had the honor and privilege of chatting with J.T. about her latest domestic suspense thriller and her journey through two decades of storytelling.
The narrative: about You Know Why
Brooklyn Locke is headed to Italy for the holidays with her husband, Trey, and their two kids. But before their flight makes it across the pond, Trey disappears from the airport. Brooklyn is positive something is very wrong — Trey wouldn’t just leave her like that, would he?
Eden Barrow is on the same flight as Brooklyn and wants to help. However, she has shocking news to eventually share with Brooklyn. She knows Trey… He was married to her sister 10 years ago and has long been the main suspect in her sister’s murder.
Everyone has something to hide, and someone is out for revenge.
The nightcap
It’s possible you’ll read You Know Why in one sitting. So your nightcap needs to last; it must be one you can sip from cover to cover. And what better pairing than a favorite of J.T.’s—the Dalmore 14 Year Single Malt Scotch. A finger, or a snoot, is all you need to accompany you through every jaw-drop and twist of this domestic suspense thriller.
Dalmore also describes their story and history with: “In a world of possibility, we are virtuosos, always in the pursuit of new perspectives.” We think this makes it a true complement and toast to J.T.'s incredible 20-year career and the stories, perspectives, and possibilities she’s shared over 30+ novels.
In the episode
Get to know J.T. in this episode of Narratives & Nightcaps. We chat about:
Gardeners vs. architects (not pantsers and plotters) – J.T. shares her a bit about her writing process, the surprises along the way while crafting You Know Why, and her door analogy to explain the craft of perspectives. Here’s a peek:
“So domestic suspense is different from police procedural/thriller because of the door. In a thriller, in a police procedural, if your main character is a cop, even in the scenes where your main character is a cop, they are coming to your door to knock on it to probably give you the worst news of your life. They're either coming to tell you somebody has passed away and they're doing an investigation. They're coming to arrest you. You don't want a cop knocking on your door. That's not necessarily a good thing.
The domestic suspense side of it is the other side of the door. Your door is the one being knocked upon. And your world is being rocked.
So between the two, the thriller, we're with the characters on the outside of the door. The suspense, we're with the characters on the inside of the door. And it's about vulnerability. Right? It's, you know, the thriller is the the pace and the excitement and catching the bad guy. The suspense is about the vulnerability of your home being violated by whatever horrible thing has happened and suddenly you're not safe in your own home. You're not safe in the one place that you need to be safe.”
The mixture of hope and anxiety during release week.
Her core theme of women finding their power in thrillers, but there is another genre she’d consider trying some time.
The one piece of advice she’d go back and give herself at book one, if she could.
Even before this interview, a bookish group chat of ours couldn’t stop talking about You Know Why. The layers of buried secrets, dark pasts, hidden identities, and revenge kept us guessing and hanging on until the very end. To then sit down with J.T. and hear her explain the craft she’s honed and the brilliant passion behind her storytelling was truly remarkable. You Know Why is certainly a suspensful thriller, but this conversation will is filled with lots of joy, laughter, and expertise.
Thank you to OTRPR for coordinating this chat!
Listen to the full author interview on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Purchase your copy here.