April 2026
Vol. 280
The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day.
—Robert Frost
Ah, April. Sometimes hot, sometimes cold, always wet. Also, my birthday month. A wonderful time to reflect on the year that’s just passed, and look forward to what I want from the year to come. When you move into new demographic categories, that will absolutely happen.
I am a Taurus through and through. Stubborn. Bullheaded. Earthy. Grounded. And this year, extremely grateful to be here, talking to you. It’s been one of the most challenging and frustrating years of my life. But it’s also given me the chance to explore my word of the year—perspective.
But I didn’t think that “perspective” was going to include my actual vision.
Since November I’ve been fighting an issue—reading white, or backlit screens, gives me wicked migraines. We know the reason why and it’s been dealt with, and it’s gotten better and better, especially with the advent of inverted colors and dark mode. I built templates that used dark grey backgrounds with light grey text, the absolute best, most comfortable set up, for both Scrivener and Word. My Kindle was set to reverse contrast which meant I could read on it with little issue. The actual print books, though, with their bright white pages? Not so great. My iPad, which was a smaller screen and thus less impactful on the eyes, was still a little difficult. My laptop was an absolute no no. I started hand writing my new novel on a digital notebook, a device I’ve had for years but never really fell for until now. That ended up being kind of fun, and very helpful, because even a notebook with its bright white paper was too much.
And then I had a follow-up visit with my opthamalogist. Eyes checked out, all good, everything’s working great now. But. I explained how the matte screens were so much more comfortable to work on and she looked at me and said you might try a glare free screen film. And the other was a mention that if that didn’t work, I could try some light sensitivity lenses. Not the ones for blue light glare, but pink lenses.
Oh. Well then. Solutions abound.
Me being slightly desperate at this point to get back to normal work, I did both. The glare free screens installed on both iPad and laptop solved a lot. But I still couldn’t do several hours a day on them, which I need.
But the pink lenses, a special light sensitive version I got from Zenni, was the trick. (This is not an ad. I was genuinely thrilled when I realized I could work comfortably on my screens for hours again.)
Who knew that pink lenses—literally rose colored glasses—would be the solution?
Lest you worry that this newsletter is becoming a catalog of all my strange physical ailments of late, let me assure you, it’s not. The rose-colored glasses have changed everything.
The first time I wore them, my whole body relaxed. For the first time in months, my eyes weren’t straining. My nervous system, which had been in a pretty constant state of stress since November, reset. Rested. Rebooted.
And then I took them off. And realized the world is bright. Harshly so. Blue and yellow, so intense I gasped aloud. The stress crept back in. I put the glasses back on. Relax. Off. Tense.
I know there are physiological reasons the pink lenses are a help for the backlit screens. But looking at the world through them makes everything calmer. They filter out blue, amber, and green. And until you have those colors filtered from your brain, you can’t imagine how intense they are in our world. From our screens to our lightbulbs, I am convinced the constant artificial light is rewiring our brains—and not for the better.
We’re so angry now. So combative. Happy to jump on a thread and denigrate a stranger just because we disagree with their thoughts. Take pride in the take-down, the oneupmanship. We thought it was the pandemic, that it broke humanity. We blamed…heck, I’ll stop without making a list, because that’s almost prophetic, those two words. We blamed.
A lot of us felt a deeper connection to our people and our earth during the lockdowns. We spent more time outside, more time with our families, grateful for those moments, when everyone either lost someone, or knew someone in their intimate circles who did. One to two degrees of separation, not six. It gave us compassion in excess.
Maybe we gave it all away. Maybe we used up our lifetime resource of empathy. Or maybe, we came back from that time to our harsh yellow offices and stores, our bright blue screens, and fell into the well of glare, and it’s driving us mad. It’s permeating our brains, our psyches, and rewiring our very perception. We thought it was the like button, all those little hearts and thumbs up, that ruined us. I am starting to think it’s actually technology itself, the leaps forward—720, 1080, 4K, ultra high def—blue light blue light blue light, deep into the night, our cortisol and dopamine all messed up in favor of the endless scroll. Our brains haven’t evolved quickly enough to adapt to these lightning fast changes.
Is it too late? Have we altered our paths inextricably for the joy of convenience?
It’s not like we didn’t have issues when we lived with candlelight and fire as our only sources to break the shadows of the night. Power hungry despots have been waging war since the hunter gatherers. So don’t worry, I’m not naive enough to think that looking at the world through rose colored glasses will fix everything about our crazy timeline.
But if you’ve been feeling stressed or tetchy, and spend a lot of time online, you might consider getting a pair of FL-41s. Seeing life with a rosy tint might just help. If it were up to me, I’d be passing them out like candy.
Let’s talk about Taylor Jackson.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the lyrics of my bad country song…When I moved to Nashville in 1998, I did not have the best go of it. My only job experience had been in presidential politics and aerospace marketing, not exactly high desire skills in the Nashville market. I couldn’t find a job, I was not plugged into any communities so finding friends was proving difficult, and my 19 year old Siamese was ill. So ill that we had to send her over the rainbow three weeks after we moved. It was awful.
But life is cyclical. We got a new cat. I found a job. We made friends. Then I blew out my back and had to have surgery. Also not ideal. But during rehab, I discovered John Sandford’s Prey series. And three books in, I knew I wanted to try writing again, after an (extremely) extended hiatus.
Taylor Jackson was born on I-40, driving downtown to rehab. She leapt into my brain fully formed, half cop, half rock star, this stunning beauty with a heart of gold and a moral code that meant anyone who bent the rules or got in her way regretted it. Nashville’s Athena, the warrior goddess protecting us all. To say I was influenced by Sandford, by Cornwall, by Gerritsen and Kava and Spindler and Connolly, is an understatement. My idols wrote these amazing crime stories, and I wanted to as well.
It is hard to believe that the week we start rereleasing Taylor will be 20 years almost to the day that I sold those first three books. What a way to celebrate an anniversary!
I love Taylor, and I can’t wait to introduce her to those of you who haven’t met her yet. And for those of you who’ve been along on the ride these past 20 years, don’t you worry. More to come…
You can preorder the first four Taylor books now, just click the covers. They start dropping May 5!
And of course, my next standalone thriller, YOU KNOW WHY, which is releasing August 25. Talk about a wild ride. Some of the early reviews are starting to come in, and it seems to be hitting the mark.
From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a suspenseful domestic thriller about identity, revenge, and the dangerous secrets kept hidden from the ones we love most.
It’s the holidays, and photographer Brooklyn Locke is bound for Italy with her husband, Trey, and their two children. But when Trey vanishes from the airport, missing their connecting flight, their impromptu vacation—and life as she knows it—begins to unravel.
Desperate to find her husband, Brooklyn accepts help from a stranger on the same flight, Eden Barrow. But Eden soon makes a shocking claim. She is the sister of Trey’s first wife, and ten years ago he was the main suspect in her murder…
And last but not least, A VERY BAD THING is on sale this month. If you don’t yet know who killed Columbia Jones, here’s your chance.
Not surprisingly, newsletters are your favorite way of keeping in touch. 🥰
This month, I’m curious how and if you tailor your reading to the seasons?
It’s been a somewhat quiet reading month, but I still have some great picks for you to consider.
Devney Perry - RITES OF THE STARLING
If you’re a romantasy fan, this series is spectacular. Full of unique magic and clever twists, it has a lot of potential. I loved the first book, SHIELF OF SPARROWS, and I’m certain the second book will not disappoint.
Robyn Harding - STRANGERS IN THE VILLA
Nothing like a good gothic to kick off the summer reading season, right?
Sue Monk Kidd - WRITING CREATIVITY AND SOUL
An absolutely wonderful read for writers and readers alike. Fans of Kidd will enjoy the insights into her world, and writers will see a lot of themselves in her trials and successes. A lovely work.
Lili Taylor - TURNING TO BIRDS
Because I am in my birdwatching era… a must read on par with last years fave of mine, RAISING HARE.
I was at my friend Gin Phillips's (RUBY FALLS, get it!) house a few years ago, and she prepared this incredible gluten-free dessert so I’d have something to nibble on after dinner. I’d never heard of Pavlova, but now it is my favorite to make and bring to parties, because everybody loves it. It’s easy to make, tastes great, and you can make it sugar-free with stevia one-for-one! Just a suggestion… I’ve also made the lemon curd from the egg yolks, and it’s DIVINE. Enjoy!
You can find all of my recipes on The Wine Vixen.
You can watch new episodes on Nashville PBS Sundays after Tennessee Crossroads, on the PBS app, or on our website here, and listen to the full interviews on our podcast here.
Time for this month’s chance at winning a gift card!
Last month's giveaway winner: Congratulations to MollieKatie! Check your email...
Simply click the button below to be automatically entered in this month's drawing.
Well, that was a lot! I’ll be back in May (a few times, to announce on sale days, so please forgive me in advance…). In the meantime, get offline, read a good book, and maybe take a look at life through some rosy lenses. We’re all going to be okay.
xo,
Are you still here?
Here’s a spring kitten for your troubles!
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