Josh Lanyon's Blog, page 17

Advent Calendar Day 6

 

So This is Monday. ;-) 

So This is a giveaway. Though it's really for those of you who are newer to my work or just never got around to picking up the Christmas stories. 

The thing is, mystery and suspense are my passion, no question, but there's just something about Christmas stories. The SO teases me about my loathing for "heartwarming," but every hardboiled dame has a sentimental streak, and I'm no different. I like puppies and hot cocoa (pref with brandy) and old fashioned Christmas cards with sparkly glitter that somehow ends up on your cheeks for the rest of the day. I don't deny it. 

I like writing Christmas stories, so take that.  

Enywhoo I'm giving away 200 copies of The Dickens with Love, (which is possibly my all time favorite Christmas story), on Prolific Works. Click here. The password is happyholidays1 (space and case sensitive) and it would be super  nice of you if you signed up for my newsletter (you can always unsubscribe). 

What the Story is About...

Three years ago, a scandal cost antiquarian book hunter James Winter everything that mattered to him: his job, his partner, and his self-respect. But now the rich and unscrupulous Mr. Stephanopoulos has a proposition. A previously unpublished Christmas book by Charles Dickens has turned up in the hands of an English chemistry professor by the name of Sedgwick Crisparkle. Mr. S. wants that book at any price -- and he needs James to get it for him. There's just one catch. James can't tell the nutty professor who the buyer is.

Actually, two catches because the nutty Professor Crisparkle turns out to be totally gorgeous -- and on the prowl. Faster than you can say "Old Saint Nick," James is mixing business with pleasure -- and in real danger of forgetting that this is just a holiday romance.

Two hundred copies, and when they're gone, they're gone. So get 'em while the gettin's good.

And when you've read the story, here's the coda I wrote for James and Sedgwick. 

Advent Calendar Day 5

 ARE WE THERE YET?

It's the 5th day of Christmas and I have a holiday song for you: "Snow Flower" by BTS (featuring V).

If you've never heard of BTS, well, among other things, they're the Office Elf's fave band in all the realm. I like them too, luckily. ;-) 

I love the jazzy Charlie Brown's Christmas vibe to this. What's your favorite holiday song this season? 

Advent Calendar Day 4

 

According to my compass, it's Saturday, and you know what that means: HERE THERE BE DRINKING.

I have a confession. Despite its prevalence in literature--possibly even my own--I've never actually had a Hot Buttered Rum. 

The Office Elf found it for me, so I don't know how good it is, I'm pretty sure the Office Elf has also never had a Hot Buttered Rum. So we can try this recipe out together. 

If you know a better variation (or a better cocktail) feel free to share in the comments below. 

Ingredients

2 teaspoons firmly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon softened butter

1 splash pure vanilla extract

1 dash ground cinnamon

1 dash ground nutmeg

1 dash ground allspice

2 ounces dark rum

4 ounces hot water

Garnish with a cinnamon stick

Place the sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and spices into the bottom of an Irish coffee glass or mug and mix well. Pour in the rum and top it with hot water. Garnish with cinnamon stick.

Can that really be it???

Advent Calendar Day 3

 Good morning! 

Or is it evening?

Or is this your lunch break? ;-) 

Did you ever see the Rankin/Bass Production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? 

Once upon a time watching Rudolph was a holiday tradition. So much so, that I remember showing it to the SO our first Christmas together. He was...well, it probably wasn't noir enough for him. All that snow and singing elves. ;-) 

We do have a holiday movie tradition, and that's watching The Thin Man with William Powell and Myrna Loy. 

I don't know if the 1967 film Cricket on the Hearth is one of your holiday classics or soon-to-be holiday classics, but here it is for your viewing enjoyment (it's just over half an hour long, so grab a cuppa or a glassa and relax for a little bit).

Advent Calendar Day 2

 Good morning! I'm half-way through my holiday shopping (see spreadsheet #10024) and that is SUCH a relief. Until I think about wrapping all this stuff. :-D :-D :-D  THANK HEAVENS FOR THE OFFICE ELF. 

But since I'm in a I'll-think-about-my-credit-cards-tomorrow mood, I thought we'd do a little bit of a giveaway. 

I have two copies of the charming 100 Christmas Wishes: Vintage Holiday Cards from The New York Public Library, which I'll give away to randomly selected commenters. 

All you have to do is share one of your favorite winter holiday memories below.

As for me, we used to spend Christmas vacation at my grandparents' mountain cabin. Every year we prayed for snow, but I think that actually only happened once. ;-) At first, there was no TV, so we spent our holiday break hiking and exploring, playing with paper dolls or games like Mystery Date (I kid you not), baking MOUNTAINS of sugary deliciousness, and listening to Christmas music on this very old portable record player. I was the only one of my friends who was familiar with the entire oeuvre of the Mills Brothers and the Andrews Sisters. ;-) So yeah, it was pretty old school. There was even an outhouse for those occasional emergencies when the only bathroom was already in use. In fact, it was too old school for my grandparents, who quickly got cable and built on another bathroom. ;-)

I think I was in college when my grandparents moved back to "civilization," and we started celebrating the holidays at home like regular folk. There's a lot to be said for central heating! But I have to say, those rough and ready cabin Christmases were kind of magical. 

Share your magical holiday memories below.

 

Advent Calendar Day 1

Happy Holidays!



What. A. Year. 
I have no idea where 2021 went. It started out well enough, but kind of unraveled midway through, and that was that. Wherever those 336 days went, they're gone forever, and all we can do now is make the most of the thirty-one sunrises and sunsets remaining. 
(Actually, we already had today's sunrise, so that's thirty sunrises, and...yeah. It's the quality, not the quantity, right?)
I went back and forth on whether to do the Advent Calendar this year. I'm certainly feeling better than I did a few months ago, but I'm still writing so flipping slowly, so I can't promise that there'll be any codas this year (my focus has to be on finishing these final long-promised books). However, I can still do my part to start you off each day with a little bit of Christmas cheer. It's such a busy, hectic, and (too-often) stressful time of year, it's great to take a few moments each day just to...take a breath. 
That's the point of this calendar, really, to give you a moment or two of Happy Holidays! To say Thank You. 
Thank you for buying and reading (and re-reading and re-re-reading) my books. Thank you to those readers all over the world who consume my stories in languages I can't speak! Thank you even-sort-of to those of you who are so impatient for the new stories, you get a little, er, cranky sometimes.
Seriously, I appreciate you all very much. Writers write for themselves, but we publish for others. I publish for you. I want to give you the best books I can because I want you to love the books. I want you to love the way the books make you feel--ideally, kind of the way the holidays make you feel. ;-)
(Er, I mean the good holiday feelings, not the way you feel when your parcels are misdelivered or the liquor store runs out of cake-flavored vodka.) 
So what's ahead this month? As in previous years, I'll probably share a couple of favorite holiday songs or a poem or a some inspirational photos or a vintage cartoon or a cocktail recipe (or three). There will likely be giveaways. And maybe one of our talented and generous previous contributors will pop in with some fiction or art? I honestly don't know. I think we'll just take it one day at a time.  
This morning I want to share a YouTube video that my friend David Warner shared with me. It's tender and crazy and altogether lovely.  I hope you enjoy it. It's called When Harry Met Santa. ;-) 





 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 No question this was a rough year, so it's good to take a day to celebrate all there is to be happy about and grateful for--from the little things like remembering the whole jellied cranberries for my dad, to the big things like having more than enough to eat, a roof over our heads, people I love who love me back. 

I hope you have a wonderful day--and that every day brings you lots and lots to to be grateful for.

Okay, Here's What's Happening

 I mean, to the best of my knowledge, this is what is happening. 

Because, honestly, this year. 

I no longer have any kind of schedule because everything is so far out of whack. The problem with stacking so many preorders SO close together is, if one slides, it starts an avalanche, and that's kind of where we are now. 

(Which is why there is so little scheduled for next year. It's not that I don't plan to write, but I'll be mostly writing without deadlines. Because right now, at this moment in time, the very concept of DEADLINES ratchets up my anxiety and stress like nobody's business.)

Obviously--I mean, I hope it's obvious?--I'm doing my best to complete the final three projects of the year: Body at Buccaneer Bay, The Movie-Town Murders, and Hide and Seek. But I'm not going to offer release dates anymore, beyond saying, I'm going as fast as I can. Having made everyone wait, I'm trying to make sure the books are the best I can make them. I don't want to slop them out just because I'm dreading missing another deadline. I mean, if I was going to do that, I could've put these books out months ago and saved everyone a lot of exasperation.

The good news is, I just got back from two weeks of vacation, and I feel better than I have in, literally, years. Two years, to be exact. So I'm WAY calmer and a lot more optimistic. I'm even, dare I say it, productive. Or at least, I've had a very productive week. 

The bad news is, I can't magically fix the mess I'm in as far as missed deadlines and not enough time to do All The Things. I'm tackling the projects before me one at a time. I really, really do not want anything to slip into 2022. But there's a lot to do and we're entering the manic distractions of the holiday season. I'm trying to be optimistic but realistic, which is why I'm making no promises. Or at least, no promise beyond the promise to do my best.

One thing at a time. That's my mantra. 

I will say, this is a weird position to find myself in. I mean, I've missed deadlines before, I've been through burn out, I've struggled with anxiety and depression, but I've never been through anything like the past two years. And I know I'm not alone, I know my situation is not unique, I know that the angrier and more frustrated with myself I get, the deeper the hole I dig. I know these things. I accept these things. 

The only way out is one word, one sentence, one paragraph, one page at a time. So that's what I'm doing. That's where we are. 

Thank you for listening.

Happy Halloween!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Shop Like a Pirate

 Smashwords is hosting a Talk Like a Pirate Day sale this weekend and the first four books in the Secrets and Scrabble series are currently listed at $2.99 each thru September 21st (the books are normally priced at $5.99).

It's a great time to catch up on the series before the fifth book comes out.