Writing alone can give someone the confidence to share personal, emotional pieces of themselves that can be translated through fiction or non-fiction. Author David Ellis compares that first time of showing somebody that writing to “putting your heart on a chopping block and handing someone a cleaver.” He recalls the first time he shared his writing, hoping he would not be told to find a different hobby. Instead, he became an award-winning author of crime fiction novels.

A typical day in the life of Ellis starts around 3:30 in the morning. A few hours before his wife and children wake, he sets aside this time to write. For the rest of the day he is a husband, father and judge of the Illinois Appellate Court. His legal background gives him an understanding of the legal system, courtroom dynamics and criminal behavior that contribute to the intricate details of his stories.

Another topic that he is familiar with is the city of Chicago, so it comes to no surprise that it is the primary backdrop of his novels. From growing up in the western suburbs to living and working in the heart of the city, Ellis enjoys incorporating the places that he knows and loves.

“Chicago is a great place to set a story in my opinion because it’s both a big city and a small town,” he said. “You still have a lot of people in Chicago with midwestern values, but it’s a huge city where anything is possible and any crime is believable.”

His latest book, The Best Lies, showcases both of those topics as protagonist Leo Balanoff finds himself in a predicament as his fingerprints show up on a murder weapon. The crusading attorney has two principal traits: he has an outsized sense of fairness and justice, and he is a diagnosed pathological liar. When he will stop at nothing to wrong a right, that includes not always being truthful.

When writing his first novel, Line of Vision, Ellis had no prior knowledge of the publishing industry. His finance degree did not involve creative writing or literature courses. He did not know a single writer, publisher or editor to ask for advice. Instead, he wrote and rewrote until he felt like he was seeing an improvement. He was willing to put in the work to see what all he could accomplish.

One of the most important lessons Ellis has learned is to put the reader first. He credits co-author James Patterson for making sure the lesson stuck, saying that thinking about the reader at all times will determine whether or not what is being written will be positively received. The key is to not overwhelm the reader with too much information on a particular subject because they might not share the same level of interest as the writer.

That was his thought process as he researched pathological liars for The Best Lies. That area of psychology is not concrete, so it allowed Ellis to have some freedom in his writing without the worry of misleading or misrepresenting.

“I don’t mind challenging the reader, giving them tough issues to deal with, as long as it’s done in a way that’s entertaining,” he said. “There are all these decisions you have to make as a writer constantly; in every chapter, on every page, you’re making decisions. When is the reader going to get bored? When do you cross that line between giving them enough until they feel like they’re really in the moment or they really understand but without saying too much?”

What is paramount to Ellis is that the reader has fun. It may sound like an elementary task, but it took him a while to get to a place where he recognized the importance of enjoyment. His books are giving the reader an escape in a world that is currently quite complex and difficult. In whatever way he can deliver that, he will try his hardest.

That is not to say that writing is not an enjoyable experience for him. In fact, it is his sheer love for writing that keeps him motivated to pursue it as well as serve for the First District. He admits that the pace can be difficult, but certainly not impossible.

“I am willing to do whatever I have to do so that I can have jobs that I love,” he said. “I can’t even tell you how lucky I feel about that, and I think about that every single day. On my worst day as a writer or my worst day as a judge, I still think this is better than anything else I can do.”