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Joyce K. Ellis
249 ratings | 150 reviews | avg rating:3.96

Joyce’s Year In Books

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Joyce’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Joyce’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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Joyce K. Ellis’s Followers (19)

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Joyce’s Bookshelves

to-read (109)
currently-reading (3)
read (315)
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Sharon Rose
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427 books | 371 friends

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381 books | 47 friends

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John Grisham
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Jane
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J.B. Sisam
J.B. Sisam
285 books | 60 friends

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DiAnn
659 books | 3,346 friends

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Joyce K. Ellis

Goodreads Author


Born
in St. Louis MO, The United States
August 31

Website

Genre
Nonfiction, Fiction, Children's

Member Since
July 2016


Joyce K. (Krohne) Ellis, popped onto this world's scene in St. Louis, Missouri, born into a family with a strong faith and--obviously--a great sense of humor. "I loved the laughter at home and at extended-family gatherings," she says, "where uncles tried to outdo each other with the funniest jokes and puns." So it's no wonder that faith and humor permeate much of what she has written in more than five decades of writing articles and books, including The 500 Hats of a Modern-Day Woman. And it's that quirky sense of humor that makes what she teaches in her writing classes and seminars stick with the attendees, they tell her. One conferee recently told Joyce, "Only you could write a grammar book that's a great 'beach read.'" This woman was ref ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What books are on your summer reading list this year?
Joyce K. Ellis I'm trying to finish a number of books I've been in the process of reading--off and on (always have several going) for months! But I hope to get to th…moreI'm trying to finish a number of books I've been in the process of reading--off and on (always have several going) for months! But I hope to get to the following this summer--unless something else entices me and "barges right in" to my reading list. :)
As You Wish: Inconceivable tales from the making of The Princess Bride
by Cary Elwes with Joe Layden
Saying It Well: touching others with your words by Chuck Swindoll
The Power of a Praying Grandparent by Stormie O'Martian
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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
Joyce K. Ellis After editing and critiquing manuscripts from wannabe writers for about four decades, I started identifying common errors in grammar, punctuation, and…moreAfter editing and critiquing manuscripts from wannabe writers for about four decades, I started identifying common errors in grammar, punctuation, and style. I was also mentoring writers via correspondence course at the time, and I was seeing some of the same issues with my students.

Then at a writer's conference where I was teaching, I heard a writer say that her husband said she read grammar books as if they were novels.

Bottle rockets fired off in my brain. Why couldn't a grammar book read like a novel--or at least be more engaging? And why couldn't I write with a bit of my signature humor to draw the readers in and keep them reading?

I approached Lin Johnson, editor of the Christian Communicator magazine, with the idea of filling her recently vacated grammar-columnist spot with a new column (mine) called "Your Writing GPS: Grammar, Punctuation and Style." A standing column would give me a monthly deadline to write the chapters for my book, and I could address issues I was seeing in the manuscripts I was reviewing.

I thought I would only write the column for two or three years, but it ended up being more than five years! And when I met some of my readers at conferences, they told me how much they had learned from the column and kept bugging me about when the book was coming out. So I knew I was onto something. One writer said she wrote in black marker on the front cover of each issue of the magazine what I dealt with in that month's column so she could find the information quickly!

Now it will be even easier for her with this book--a compilation of those columns--with many extras. Write with Excellence 201 will be a fun read and a handy reference for anyone who wants to write excellently. Enjoy!(less)
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 3.95 · 84 ratings · 27 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors
The Fabulous World That God...
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4.56 avg rating — 16 ratings
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The 500 Hats Of A Modern Da...
4.25 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 1999 — 7 editions
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Tiffany (SpringSong Books #16)
2.72 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 1996
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Our Heart Psalms
4.69 avg rating — 13 ratings — 2 editions
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Write with Excellence 201: ...
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 5 ratings
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The big split
4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions
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Writing So Heaven Will Be D...
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Snowmobile trap
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions
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Saved by a Broken Pole and ...
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Joyce is Currently Reading

Phantastes
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Feb 14, 2026 10:01PM
The Metropolitan ...
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by Jocelyn Green (Goodreads Author)
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Jan 11, 2026 10:14PM
Chicken Scratch: ...
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Jun 13, 2023 03:06PM

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Joyce’s Recent Updates

Joyce Ellis entered a giveaway
All Booked Up by Melody Carlson
All Booked Up
by Melody Carlson
10 copies available, ends on March 16, 2026 Enter to win »
Feb 20, 2026 08:37AM  ·   · see giveaway
Joyce Ellis is currently reading
Phantastes by George MacDonald
Phantastes
by George MacDonald
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Feb 14, 2026 10:01PM  ·   ·  preview book
Joyce Ellis is currently reading
The Metropolitan Affair by Jocelyn Green
The Metropolitan Affair (On Central Park, #1)
by Jocelyn Green (Goodreads Author)
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Jan 11, 2026 10:14PM  · 1 like ·   ·  preview book
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Skipping Christmas by John Grisham
Skipping Christmas
by John Grisham (Goodreads Author)
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A huge Grisham fan, I read this when first released. So, of course, I had to see the movie, Christmas with the Kranks, which I found disappointing though entertaining. And we still watch it almost every Christmas. But after watching it this year, I d ...more
Jan 10, 2026 05:38PM  ·   · see review ·  preview book
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Wedded to War by Jocelyn Green
Wedded to War (Heroines Behind the Lines, #1)
by Jocelyn Green (Goodreads Author)
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Sep 02, 2025 05:23PM  ·   ·  preview book
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How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson
How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method (Advanced Fiction Writing, #1)
by Randy Ingermanson (Goodreads Author)
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Sep 02, 2025 05:21PM  ·   ·  preview book
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How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson
How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method (Advanced Fiction Writing, #1)
by Randy Ingermanson (Goodreads Author)
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Jun 20, 2025 10:13AM  ·   ·  preview book
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Critical Reaction by Todd M. Johnson
Critical Reaction: a novel
by Todd M. Johnson (Goodreads Author)
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Nov 22, 2024 10:13PM  ·   ·  preview book
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Winter Fire by Ryan Whitaker Smith
Winter Fire: Christmas with G.K. Chesterton
by Ryan Whitaker Smith
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Nov 22, 2024 10:07PM  ·   ·  preview book
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Hand Me Another Brick by Charles R. Swindoll
Hand Me Another Brick: Timeless Lessons on Leadership
by Charles R. Swindoll (Goodreads Author)
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Sep 03, 2024 04:52PM  ·   ·  preview book
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Joyce’s Quotes

Corrie ten Boom
“Books do not age as you and I do. They will speak still when you and I are gone, to generations we will never see. Yes, the books must survive.”
― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom
tags: books
46 likes

“Never doubt in the DARK what God told you in the LIGHT.”
― V. Raymond Edman
tags: depression
25 likes

Joyce’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-3)    post a comment »
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message 2: by Joyce
Dec 31, 2016 01:12PM

Joyce Ellis Beth wrote: "Hi Joyce! Can you believe I'm first responding to your friend notice? I did't realize I needed to do that. Did I miss a Write-to-Publish class on those social amenities??? Ah, well. We've been frie..."

Happy to call you my friend. I'm still learning about this site too. :)


message 1: by Beth
Dec 31, 2016 08:19AM

Beth Ziarnik Hi Joyce! Can you believe I'm first responding to your friend notice? I did't realize I needed to do that. Did I miss a Write-to-Publish class on those social amenities??? Ah, well. We've been friends for many years, so you know me well. Thank you for friending me on Goodreads. Love ya!


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