Josh Lanyon's Blog, page 92

Small Press Writers: What do you look for in a publisher?

As some of you may or may not be aware, Jessewave is doing a series of How To articles for aspiring (and perspiring) m/m writers. I volunteered to do a post on what to look for in a publisher -- I feel qualified to talk about this since I've made both good and bad decisions in choosing my publishing partners.

Keyword there: publishing partners. That gives you a clue what I look for in a publisher.

But of course the article will be of far more use to our peers if it isn't just about me and my ...

They All Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano

Good writers take risks. 

I’m not talking about the risk of drinking too much at writing conferences and going back to your hotel room with the wrong people -- person -- and…er…yeah. Nor am I talking about signing contracts you know damn well you shouldn’t sign (although I’ll be posting in detail on that topic in June at Jessewave’s. I’m not talking about the worry of where to spend your hard earned promo pennies or the difficult decision of who to partner up with in anthologies (yes, it does ...

Reading as Team Sport

fic•tion

   /ˈfɪk ʃən/ Show Spelled[fik-shuh n:] 

–noun
1. the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, esp. in prose form. 2. works of this class, as novels or short stories: detective fiction.
3. S omething feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story: We've all heard the fiction of her being in delicate health.
4. the act of feigning, inventing, or imagining.
5. an imaginary thing or event, postulated for the purposes of argument or explanation.
6. Law. an allegation...

Letter to a Reader

Just a quickie link to this month's Loose Id blog for those of you who wonder whether it's okay to write your favorite authors -- and aren't sure what to say.

The Darkling Thrush

New this morning from Loose Id. The Darkling Thrush, a fantasy novel set in an AU Britain -- largely Scotland.

Fed up with his desk duty in the Imperial Arcane Library, book hunter Colin Bliss accepts a private commission to find The Sword’s Shadow, a legendary and dangerous witches’ grimoire. But to find the book, Colin must travel to the remote Western Isles and solve a centuries’ old murder.

It should be nothing more than an academic exercise, so why is dour -- and unreasonably sexy -...

Edit for Ego

Sorry to be scarce. I'm deep into deadlines at the moment. When I'm not writing, I'm gobbling down the ARC of Lord of the White Hell, which is Ginn Hale's new fantasy novel.

Jesus, that woman can write.

And for those of you who've mentioned that it's been a while since I handed out any gratuitous writing advice, here's a link to a very short little essay on editing I did for the NaNoEdMo folks. 

And that's it for me -- sorry to be so brief. I've got a lot of projects coming due fast. 

Hope you're...

That it might as well be spring

I think the cover for The Darkling Thrush (by Croco Designs) might be my new favorite cover from Loose Id. Maybe it's a bit more shamrock green than Hebridean green, but it's still got this wonderful vibe. It's such a nutty story -- and I feel the cover is perfect. Anyway, I'm just finishing up the line edits.

Here's a little taste:

The island was in sight, a haze of gold and purple against the bluest sky I had ever seen, when I heard the captain of the Ròs na Mara singing.

The words were...

The Dark Farewell (and some other news)

Cranking through the edits for The Darkling Thrush. Will someone please, please, PLEASE remind me that the next time I set out to write a fantasy, spec fiction...whatever you call it, that I leave myself way more time than I think I'll need?

Magic is not easy.

Housekeeping...I've signed (as of fifteen minutes ago) three contracts with Samhain for this year -- including the ebook rights for Strange Fortune. It is such a gorgeous book I can't imagine not wanting it in print, but for those of yo...

What's New, Magoo?

Can it be spring already?

It looks like it from here. The sun is shining, rain drying, the doves are back...it has that hard-to-describe spring feeling in the air. I know sunshine doesn't have a scent, but it smells like sunshine.

I've been chopping the hell out of my yard. Pruning roses -- and just about everything else that falls in the path of my trusty scythe. And I'm working on the edits to The Darkling Thrush. Someone pointed out how many titles I had/have with "dark" in them, so this is...

A favor to ask. Okay, maybe three.

I don't typically ask for this stuff for myself -- not least because so many of you are generous about doing this kind of thing whether I ask or not -- but I need a couple of favors if you have the time or inclination.

1 - Reviews and tags at Amazon. Now, don't get me wrong, I actually find it quite funny that there are authors out there who have more tags for "Josh Lanyon" on their titles than Josh Lanyon does, but...seriously. The tags help in Amazon searches, and the reviews help potential...