J.T. Ellison is the author of the new novel A Very Bad Thing. Her many other books include It's One of Us. She lives in Nashville.
Q: What inspired you to write A Very Bad Thing, and was your character Columbia Jones based on a particular writer?
A: Ironically, it was a conversation with one of my dear friends, bookseller Barbara Peters, owner of the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale. We were talking about Agatha Christie, and she told me she’d visited her house once.
Her description of the interior was fascinating, and a story idea hit me like a lightning bolt—a young woman inheriting the home of an author who’d died under mysterious circumstances.
As happens with nascent ideas, they grow and change and morph, and the end result doesn’t resemble this original idea in anything but spirit. Happily, though, I’m using those first concepts to write another story.
The way I view Columbia: she is an amalgamation of every bestselling household name—the blockbuster authors whose fan bases are limitless—rolled into one.
She is beloved, respected, inspirational. She is the author we all dream of becoming, one who transcends the act of publishing to become an icon. We all buy her books, we talk about them with our friends, we watch the movie adaptations. Columbia is a full-blown publishing legend.
Q: The writer Heather Gudenkauf said of the book, “In A Very Bad Thing, Ellison delves into the complex nature of mother-daughter relationships, the price of fame, and the danger of long-held secrets in this addictive, impossible-to-put-down thriller.” What do you think of that description?
A: I think it’s perfectly said, and I’m so honored that Heather both offered her endorsement and so succinctly identified what the story is about.
It’s sometimes hard to define a story for yourself, so seeing another’s description really makes you sit up and say wow, that it’s exactly. She’s hit on the three most important themes of the story, exactly what I wanted the reader to be thinking about as when they pick up the book.
Heather’s an amazing author in her own right; I highly recommend everyone reading grab her latest, Everyone Is Watching. It’s great!
Q: How would you describe the relationship between Columbia and her daughter, Darian?
A: Fraught. Complicated. A true mother/daughter relationship. They love each other so completely that they allow for tension to rise between them because they know that no matter what, they can’t destroy their love.
Everything Columbia’s done, she’s done for Darian, but Darian only knows what Columbia’s allowed her to see. She is her right hand, so of course, working for her mother creates another layer of this complicated dynamic. But Darian is devoted to Columbia and will do anything to protect her. It was fun to play with those tensions throughout the story.
Q: In the book’s author's note, you write, “I don't like killing people.” How do you manage to kill off your characters, and what was it like to write the murder of Columbia Jones?
A: I had a terrible time with this story for a couple of reasons—one is a major spoiler I can’t discuss, but the other was the idea of losing Columbia. I knew she had to be murdered in the opening pages because that’s what creates the plot. But I was very, very attached to her.
I think being an author in this world is part of it, the idea that we curate our lives for our readers plays into it too, but just the idea in general of losing anyone to violence made me hesitant.
And she’s such a cool character. She’s overcome so much, found her power, and risen up in the world, only to be struck down in her prime… that’s a nightmare.
I wanted to get to know her more, not just through the eyes of those surrounding her, so I ended up adding some chapters from her POV during revision, and I think that made the book work much better. The reader gets to understand why I’m so attached to her. She’s a magnificent creature.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: As it happens, I’ve just begun revising my 2025 novel. It’s the story of two sisters: one with a dark past who goes missing from a writer’s retreat, and her much younger sibling, who will do anything to find her—and not for the reasons you might think.
It’s twisty and chock full of dark secrets and explores the way our lives can be altered in a heartbeat. I probably need Heather to read it and give me a better view of it—ha!
I’ve also been doing a live writing exercise about the 2025 book on my blog, delving into what turns out to be the 22 Steps to writing and publishing a novel. I hope to turn this into a nonfiction craft book of its own. (https://jtellison.substack.com)
A few more projects, including two books under my Joss Walker pen name and the continuation of a short story releasing later this year, are waiting impatiently for my attention.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I’m just so excited for people to read A Very Bad Thing! Come find me on the socials—I’m @thrillerchick—if you love it!
Thank you so much for having me!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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