J.T. Ellison | The Joys of the Mass Market Paperback

Long before I was a writer, I was a reader (I’m sure this comes as a shock to you all). But I was a reader on a serious budget. Though I have always been a library hound, I also love, LOVE paperbacks. Using my meager funds, I’d stand in the book aisle in the grocery store or drugstore (remember them?) and decide what I was going to buy that week. Though I read like a fiend, I could only afford to get one. So I used a time-honored decision making process: I bought the thickest ones I could find.

I discovered so many incredible authors this way. Tami Hoag, Nelson DeMille, John Connolly, Stephen White, Erica Spindler, Alex Kava, Mo Hayder, Karen Harper, Catherine Coulter, Lee Child, Allison Brennan, Jeff Abbott, Harlan Coben . . . I could go on and on and on. It was a special, private joy for me, this buying of paperbacks. I adore books, and I simply couldn’t afford more than the mass market at the time. The library didn’t cut it—I wanted the tangible proof in my house. My husband became alarmed at one point and said, “Honey, you gotta stop, we can’t have bookshelves in every room.” Imagine my shock at this outrageous statement! “Of course we can,” I replied with a huff. “As a matter of fact, I was thinking . . . since we rarely use the dining room, why don’t we make it into a library?” Cue horrified silence from my better half.

Well, we didn’t do that, but I will say, proudly, that there are bookshelves in four rooms now. They are (mostly) contained, and there are more hardcovers than paperbacks, but my book buying has not, and will never, abate. I still grab a nice thick paperback when I go to the store. And though I now recognize most of the names, I’m always looking for a new-to-me author who has a wad of backlist titles, and off on the merry-go-round I go.

When I got my first deal, I was incredibly excited when they told me I’d be mass market original. Imagine going from buying these books to having one of my own on the drugstore shelf! I had six books release in mass market before I was moved to trade paperback, and now I’m in hardcover. One of the cool things about hardcover, I’ve discovered, is I also get to have a paperback. Hurrah!

In those early days, I never knew the difference between hardcover, mass market, trade, all that jargon. All I knew was I wanted a book I could afford, that had a cool cover and a great story, and if I liked the author, I went back for more and more, regardless of format.

Well, WHAT LIES BEHIND, my 4th Samantha Owens novel, is coming out in paperback November 24. It does have a cool cover, and an awesome story. I hope many of you who haven’t read my Sam Owens series will pick up the paperback and give her a shot. Sam is a fabulous character to write: she is a lapsed medical examiner who teaches forensic pathology at Georgetown, a consultant with the FBI, and has overcome grave difficulties in her life. She’s funny and smart and kind, and when faced with evil, will do anything in her power to eradicate it. If you’ve read my Taylor Jackson series, you will recognize the name. Sam’s a changed woman now, and I hope you’ll get to know her.

Giveaway

Tell me, who have you discovered through paperbacks? Leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy of first book in the Samantha Owens series, A DEEPER DARKNESS. 3 winners; US shipping only.

About J.T. Ellison

J.T. Ellison is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of fourteen critically acclaimed thrillers and is the co-author of the Nicholas Drummond series with #1 New York Times bestselling author Catherine Coulter. With over a million books in print, Ellison’s work has been published in twenty-five countries and thirteen languages. She is also the co-host of A Word on Words, Nashville's premier literary TV series, which airs on Nashville Public Television.

She lives with her husband and twin kittens in Nashville.

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About WHAT LIES BEHIND

Critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling author J. T. Ellison delivers another riveting novel featuring the incomparable Dr. Samantha Owens

Waking to sirens in the night is hardly unusual for Samantha Owens. No longer a medical examiner, she doesn't lose sleep over them, but a routine police investigation in her neighborhood has her curious. When her homicide detective friend, Darren Fletcher, invites her to look over the evidence, she jumps at the chance and immediately realizes the crime scene has been staged. What seems to be a clear case of murder/suicide-a crime of passion-is anything but. The discovery of toxic substances in hidden vials indicates that something much more sinister is at play.…

As Fletch and Sam try to understand what and who they are dealing with, they are summoned to a meeting at the State Department. High- level officials are interested in what they know and seem to be keeping secrets of their own. It's up to Sam and Fletch to uncover what lies behind the deception as the threat of bioterrorism is exposed, and her boyfriend, Xander Whitfield, may be in the line of fire.

Unsure who to trust, Sam and Fletch find themselves up against very powerful people at every stage in the investigation. No one is who they appear to be and with every minute that passes, the danger escalates. It's Sam's most complex case yet and the terrifying reality is beyond anything she could have imagined.