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

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

Johanna wrote: "Jordan wrote: "3. Playing board games again! It's odd, I have only a few friends who enjoy board games where I live so we don't ever play them. But my dad likes to play and my mom will do simple ga..."

I've only played UNO once, but I recall it was SO fun.

Johanna wrote: "Oh, oh, OH! And I found the dedication spot on!!! ❤️"

Me too. ;-D Our unsung hero.

SamSpayedPI wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Road trip!! "

Fun! We could go to Block Island (or whichever island(s) upon which Josh based Pirate's Cove)."

Yes. It's loosely--VERY LOOSELY--based on Block Island. LB Gregg and I are talking about going there for a vacay one of these days.

(How weird it is to talk about going places again!)

Jordan wrote: "Also, Josh, I know you did this to yourself, but I still feel really bad that the book group hasn't even started reading Corpse Pose! I really liked it! Also, how can they call thems..."

hahahaha

Against my best efforts, my writing schedule REALLY hit the skids this summer, so while I'm eager to hear what you guys think of the books as they come out, I really feel maybe we should also schedule another book of the month as well, so if I'm late, there's still plenty to discuss--and so it's not always me, me, me.

Karen wrote: "Josh wrote: "Scandal at the Salty Dog Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list..."

I enjoyed this very much, but it did lead me into a long YouTube-land sojou..."

LOL. It's such a wonderful song. I deeply regret that my sisters and I never recorded it.

The Mandalorian. I started watching this with my nephews when we finished our gardening each day. I love it!

Thank you Sam, Antonella, Johanna and Jordan. It was...surreal.

And it feels more surreal now. But thankfully, it's no longer my first thought in the morning or if I wake up in the night. Also, having to keep the windows closed for the air conditioning means I could no longer hear that poor woman screaming and crying--which went on for several days (and I'm sure will go on forever in her heart).

One of the strangest things in hindsight was that I never tried to get the SO. He was up front watering the whole time. He heard all the yelling, but thought it was the neighbors fighting as usual. He thought I was upstairs working. I mean, part of why I didn't try to get him was there was no time. I was on the phone and trying to deal with what was right in front of me. But I think it bothered him a lot that I didn't call for him. It honestly never once entered my mind.

Which in hindsight does maybe seem odd.

Loretta wrote: "The second day of sweet, precious, life affirming rain."

<3 <3 <3

Antonella wrote: "Finding out that I have an intestinal candida overgrowth ;-).

If you consider that in 2020 I spent some 2500 dollars for several check ups of the academic medicine without finding anything, I'm ve..."

What a relief to have a diagnosis--and a plan of action!

Jordan wrote: "1. My most favorite thing right now is my goat's milk yogurt with granola which includes almonds, walnuts, oats, dried cranberries, butter, vanilla, and honey. It's really become my go-to comfort f..."

During the holiday season, the SO and I played more games and puzzles than we've done in all the years we've been married. They're very relaxing!

Johanna wrote: "Josh wrote: "1 - Air conditioning. The temps here have been in the triple digits for WEEKS. That kind of heat--blazing hot, crackling dry heat--is really draining. It doesn't cool down much at nigh..."

Thank God for this pool. No lie. Every day I'm splashing around, I say a little prayer of gratitude for cold water and sunlight.

Johanna wrote: "Jordan wrote: "I just got my first nutribullet, and am getting into smoothies."

I love, love, LOVE my Nutribullet. It's super handy! And so easy to clean.

Our morning smoothie is mainly made of b..."

It's hard to go wrong with berries! Berries, nuts and honey. That's a meal right there. ;-D

Jordan wrote: "Sad news! Aleksandr Voinov is leaving M/M Romance: https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog......"

That's depressing. But no. Actually, it's not!

I completely understand (and agree) with the belief that writing something you don't enjoy becomes a job that falls somewhere between data entry and accounting.

But I disagree about most people buying books through Kindle Unlimited. There's tons of data--including but not limited to anecdotal--to indicate most people still buy books outright. Furthermore, book prices on average are rising.

The challenge for Aleks and so many in this genre is that the M/M romance audience does seem to be largely a KU audience. Not only that, because of the way the algorithms seem to work, the bestseller lists--which is how so many readers find books (they shop the lists) are increasingly vulnerable to manipulation and gaming.

Which is why you can have a daddy kink book like MY DADDY THE DETECTIVE ranking high on the gay mystery list even though no actual mystery readers are buying it (and the book is probably earning very little because of the reality of KU math.) I mean, when it's reached the point where marketing and data gurus casually brush aside these kinds of titles in their analysis of genre trends, you know this stuff has gotten way out of hand.

(I totally made up that title, by the way. If there's really a book with that title, I'm unaware of it--but oh my God the possibilities for a spoof!!) :-D

I applaud Aleks for taking back creative control and having the courage to change course. That's actually one of the hardest things to do--but it's also why that isn't a depressing post. I bet having the clarity to see what isn't working--and figure out a new strategy for a creative future will prove to be incredibly rewarding.

Loretta wrote: "I must say I felt much more patriotic this year than last."

Same.

Jordan wrote: "If you have any thoughts on our next BOM for July, please chat here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Josh's next book should be out tow..."

Sorry for the delay--it's looking more like the first week of August now. I've had a really difficult time writing this last month or so. I'm really beginning to think that being caught up is right up there with finding the golden fleece or the holy grail.

Anne wrote: "Hello, this is Anne from Oslo. I am so sorry I have been MIA for so long. I have really missed this group and all you lovely people. So why have it been so long? It wasn’t supposed to. I needed a b..."

Anne, it's so lovely to see your posts pop up again. I want to tell you how terribly sorry I am for your loss. That's unbelievably difficult. <3

Final day of 50% off all the audio books in my Author's Direct store:
https://shop.authors-direct.com/colle...

1 - Air conditioning. The temps here have been in the triple digits for WEEKS. That kind of heat--blazing hot, crackling dry heat--is really draining. It doesn't cool down much at night either. I'm not sure how we'd survive without air conditioning.

2 - My crazy little pups. Both Spenser AND Marlowe (again) seemed to go through a coughing, wheezing spell about a week ago, but finally they both seem healthy again. I've been using a humidifier to see if it helps them.

3 - Rain. We don't have any--nor any hope of any--so I just like thinking about it. I love rain. I miss rain. <3

4 - Eye shadow palettes. I mean, it really doesn't get much more frivolous than that, but holy moly there are some gorgeous eye shadow palettes out there.

5 - The summer garden. After nearly killing my nephews and myself in three days of unrelenting heat (those boys just don't want to get up early) we've finally got everything in shape. It looked gorgeous on the 4th of July with all the lights and repotted plants.

Jordan wrote: "But, I've got a lot of books with recipes to try, so hopefully something will click eventually.."

This is a juice, not a smoothie, but it's a good intro--one sweet potato, two green apples, cinnamon. It's really good. I guess if you added ice, it would be okay as a smoothie?

I have trouble with texture, so I tend to rely on Daily Harvest for smoothies now days.