Josh’s Comments (group member since Jun 17, 2010)

Josh’s comments from the Q&A with Josh Lanyon group.

Antonella wrote: "Thoughts by Alexis Hall about NetGalley:

NetGalley for normal people
https://quicunquevult.com/netgalley-f..."

Well, yes and no.

Speaking as a publisher who's paid for NetGalley for the past couple of years, it IS personal when I reject a request for a book. :-D

But seriously.

I pay a over $300 dollars a month for NetGalley and the thinking is that I will get better quality reviews. Professional quality reviews. THE KIND OF REVIEWS I USED TO WRITE.

THE KIND OF REVIEWS THE SO WRITES.

(I'm tempted to post quotes from some of the reviews I've received, but that would be unkind and I'll refrain.)

So yes, I have a long list of "reviewers" I've "muted," meaning they don't see the new books I've listed, or if they somehow do see the new listings, they get an automatic rejection.

I could elucidate (and did) but I'll leave it there.

Is NetGalley worth it?

Well, the truth is reviews don't matter nearly as much as we authors (and reviewers) want to think they do. For a time Amazon hinted that the number of reviews was connected to the success of a book, but in the past couple of years, the information has slowly filtered down that yeah, not so much. And that could partly be because reviews have become big business, Amazon recognized that, and adjusted accordingly.

Authors need to stop losing their minds over negative reviews. Reviewers need to stop imagining reviewing is the pathway to a successful writing career.

The soft cover version of Fatal Shadows: The Collector's Edition is now live on Amazon. Our hope was that it would be significantly less expensive (it's not) and that it would be available in more global markets, but that doesn't seem to be the case either! I think it's now available in the UK.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09T61FB99

The problem seems to be the artwork. I guess printing all that colored ink is not cost effective? So maybe, hopefully Ingram will have a longer reach than Amazon. But I'm not super hopeful at this point.

To further complicate matters, if you try to search for the soft cover, good luck! It's almost impossible to find through the search feature. It keeps bringing up the paperback version of the original edition.

Karen wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Oh yeah, Joanie wanting to retire seemed very old fashioned and weird to me. Why couldn’t she have been the one to keep her job?"

I didn't occur to me that Jonnie might be planning ..."

That's correct!

Calathea wrote: "Karen wrote: "I've been re-reading/listening to The Art of Murder audiobooks this week. It's been fun to see where the PacNW incidents in Winter Kill fit into what's happening with Sam and Jason at..."

Exactly!

As a reader, I love those little cross references. If you recognize them, they're so much fun. And if you don't catch them, it doesn't take anything away from the book you're reading.

Finally, FINALLY The MEGA BOX SET AND COLLECTIONS SALE! is now (did I mention finally?) live on B&N.
That's 50% off ALL my box sets and collections.
USE CODE BNPMEGABOX1
The sale ends March 7th!

Karen wrote: "After rereading Winter Kill, I also started re-reading the series this week via audiobooks and some referencing back and forth with the ebooks. I was very confused for a bit after finishing Monet M..."

Now that is truly confusing! :-D

Karen wrote: "I've been re-reading/listening to The Art of Murder audiobooks this week. It's been fun to see where the PacNW incidents in Winter Kill fit into what's happening with Sam and Jason at their various..."

One of my favorite scenes the scene in Winter Kill when Sam rakes Adam over the coals, knowing what is happening in Sam's own personal life.

But that's the truth of all of our interactions with people we don't know. We have no idea of what's going on with them, what's happening behind the scenes, as it were.

Antonella wrote: "Last summer I had missed this piece of news:

Pope Francis: Literature and art must not exploit slave labour
Pope Francis responds to an open letter from Italian writer Maurizio Maggiani, and urges..."

I've always found it amusing how workers, who continue to benefit from the fights waged by unions for decent pay and working conditions, dismiss the idea of unions--or are even actively hostile. As if corporations made those changes out of the goodness of their heart--and as if those benefits wouldn't vanish like a puff of smoke if the threat of organized labor didn't continue to exist.

Thank you for the good wishes!

We had planned to head out to our favorite French restaurant last night, but there was a winter storm advisory so we settled for postponing our fancy dinner and just grabbed something at our local Yard House. It was still really nice.

Antonella wrote: "Thank you, dear Josh.

Im so looking forward to The Movie-Town Murders!"

I'm so much happier with my revised plot!

Antonella wrote: "Josh wrote: "It's my 19th wedding anniversary. ;-)

The SO and I met online about three years before we met in real life. We both belonged to a number of online mystery-related lists, including Ra..."

Thank you very much! It's been a very interesting almost-twenty-years. ;-)

Jordan wrote: "LOL.

I think part of it too, is that Rob tried city living and he didn’t like it. He’s not afraid to admit that and to stick to it. I can’t imagine Rob in a city environment. Adam I don’t know if ..."

Yes, for maybe the first time in his life, he's choosing what he would actually like over what he thinks he should choose.

It's amazing how--when it comes to the big things in life--we often choose what we think we should choose versus what we would actually love most.

In fact, I would say, we're probably trained to make those choices.

It's my 19th wedding anniversary. ;-)

The SO and I met online about three years before we met in real life. We both belonged to a number of online mystery-related lists, including Rara Avis and DorothyL.

Then we finally met at Bouchercon in DC right after 9/11, and the rest, so they say, is history.

Josh wrote: "Antonella wrote: "Josh wrote: "Well, I hope it's nice! I just ordered a few copies, so I'll soon find out."

Hi, Josh! I followed the link you posted in the topic «New Releases»:
https://www.amazon..."

It's also odd that Amazon linked the editions because there's quite a difference between the original and the collector's edition.

Antonella wrote: "Josh wrote: "Well, I hope it's nice! I just ordered a few copies, so I'll soon find out."

Hi, Josh! I followed the link you posted in the topic «New Releases»:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SY1C1LN..."

I wonder if that's a regional thing. The proper edition comes up when I click on it. It's also not available in the UK. :-/

We're going to do an Ingram edition as well, so maybe that will work.

And the soft cover will surely be available everywhere.

Jordan wrote: "Just finished! I like the real conversation at the end about city vs. country living and trying to determine how they could make a relationship work. They had it more than once, too. Relationships ..."

Yes! I feel like Adam is someone ready for a sea change in his life and along comes Rob, who is also getting a little bored with the status quo and ready for something new. So that alone is a strong impetus to drive a new relationship. And then they're both conscious of mistakes they've made before--and willing to do the work. Because, as you say, relationships are ninety percent perspiration and ten percent sex. Or actually, maybe that's writing fiction. ;-D But either way...

This special hardcover 20th Anniversary edition includes illustrations, character interviews, and holiday codas--including a new and exclusive short story-length coda written for Christmas 2021--as well as other curiosities.

All in all, over 400 pages of Adrien English and Jake Riordan!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09SY1C1LN/

Antonella wrote: "Josh wrote: "The hardcover is going to be insanely expensive. As in just about $60.00 (GULP). And that's with me earning less than a dollar a book."

It's a bit like the farmers earning 1% of the p..."

Well, I hope it's nice! I just ordered a few copies, so I'll soon find out.

From The Movie-Town Murders:



“What’s the case?”

“Undercover gig at UCLA.”

“Undercover. You’ll enjoy that.”

Jason agreed, though at this point he’d have gratefully accepted stakeout in Siberia.

“The Bureau is doing a solid for a former California senator. Frank Ono. His granddaughter was a film studies professor. She died six months ago in what LAPD deemed accident-possible-suicide. The family insists there’s no way.”

Sam said wearily, “The family usually does. Cause of death?”

“Autoerotic asphyxiation.”

“Fun stuff.” Sam’s tone was sardonic.

But yeah, deliberately strangling yourself while attempting to heighten the sexual experience was not the most dignified exit.

“It could have been an accident, but the senator is convinced his granddaughter was murdered.”

“And why would anyone want to take out a film studies professor?”

“I guess that’s what I’ll find out. I haven’t had a chance to go over the case file.”

“UCLA. That’s your old alma mater, isn’t it?”

Jason nodded.

“And where that cute little art professor your sister Charlotte tried to set you up with, teaches?”

“I have zero interest in art professors, cute or otherwise.” Which was true. Jason was surprised Sam even remembered Alex Dash. They had met very briefly at Jason’s birthday party in February.

Sam’s mouth curved. “Good. Keep your eye on the ball, West.”

“Which ball would you prefer, Kennedy?”

Sam laughed, hooked a muscular arm beneath Jason’s waist, and rolled him over so that they were eye-to-eye, nose-to-nose, mouth-to-mouth.

JOSH REREADS

Starting in 2022, we will reread four of Josh's titles! In October we will nominate and vote on four different themes for the upcoming year. Themes can include things like seasons, job titles, subjects such as art or history, amateur sleuths, ghosts, and whatever else you can think of. Jordan will pick five of Josh's titles that fit the themes for each reread and everyone will have a week to suggest changes before voting on the final five books.

Here is the voting and rereading schedule:

- February reread (vote in December)
- May reread (vote in March)
- August reread (vote in June)
- November reread (vote in September)