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

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

Slay Ride now in audio!



Audible https://www.audible.com/pd/Slay-Ride-...

Very disappointed with the latest incarnation of Nancy Drew (which I think I'll blog about in the near future)

Finally saw The Avengers: End Game. Since we're probably the last people on the planet to see it, I already knew who lived and who died. It was a little uneven, but I still enjoyed it a lot. When you're trying to pull off that kind of epic tale, there are bound to be some patchy moments. It made me laugh, it choked me up a couple of times, it was exciting when it was supposed to be, and it sort of made sense...I mean, that's really all you can ask. ;-)

Father Brown season 7 (I had no idea the series was still running!) I find these pleasant and good to fall asleep to.

Shakespeare and Hathaway season 2 (I find these very amusing and I adore the Sebastian character)

Miss Fisher season 3 (I find Miss Fisher herself kind of irritating, but I still like the show)

John Wick 3 - I regret to say I have reached my limit on watching people get slaughtered in colorful and violent ways with no apparent end in sight.

And--ARGH--Hallmark Mysteries and Movies is now in full-blown Christmas movie mode. It's Christmas movies ALL THE TIME. Day in and day out. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS MADNESS. Why the hell are they celebrating Christmas in October??? It's so bizarre. It is just wrong, wrong, wrong.

1 - Elaborate and elegant Halloween decorations.

And speaking of Halloween decorations, I love that Marlowe the Mutt prances right past giant glowing spiders, hanging evil clowns, ghosts, witches, and flashing tombstones on our evening walk, but the sight of a Winnie the Pooh popping out of a jack-o-lantern stopped him in his tracks, huff up, growling... :-D

2 - A whole week of talking books and writing and publishing

3 - The final (brrrrisk!) swims of the season (maaaybe another week of swimming left?)

4 - Sunlight in autumn -- golden and luminous this morning

5 - Old and fragile books of poetry

Oh, these are ALL so wonderful!

Josh wrote: "KC wrote: "Cat Sebastian's Hither, Page - absolutely lovely!"

This looked so good!

Here's a horrifying admission. I passed over this title because it wasn't in Kindle Unlimited an..."

Josh wrote: "KC wrote: "Cat Sebastian's Hither, Page - absolutely lovely!"

This looked so good!

Here's a horrifying admission. I passed over this title because it wasn't in Kindle Unlimited an..."

Although in fairness, I'm guilty about buying new books when I have so many on my kindle that I haven't even opened yet. So maybe it's really more about that!?

Josh wrote: "KC wrote: "Cat Sebastian's Hither, Page - absolutely lovely!"

This looked so good!

Here's a horrifying admission. I passed over this title because it wasn't in Kindle Unlimited an..."

Although in fairness, I'm guilty about buying new books when I have so many on my kindle that I haven't even opened yet. So maybe it's really more about that!?

KC wrote: "Cat Sebastian's Hither, Page - absolutely lovely!"

This looked so good!

Here's a horrifying admission. I passed over this title because it wasn't in Kindle Unlimited and I felt the price was too high for a writer I'm not that familiar with.

Ugh. Yes. Even me. The person who laments what KU is doing to long game writers has fallen into the trap of bypassing books I'm not sure of if I can't try them out in KU.

That really doesn't bode well.

SamSpayedPI wrote: "SamSpayedPI wrote: "I was also annoyed that, although the book appeared to be set in England, the author got some of the terms wrong (e.g. high tea meaning afternoon tea; potted plants meaning pot ..."

LOL

I'm always entertained by readers of the Bedknobs and Broomsticks series who can accept real magic and a complex global society of witches, but draw the line at love at first sight or even pulling off a wedding in two weeks. *snort*

Johanna wrote: "Thank you for your recommendations and thoughts, everyone! My work life has, once again, taken over my life almost entirely, which in turn has made my reading time pretty much nonexistent. Oh well...."

Hmm. Have we done a BOM with a Gregory Ashe book? That could be a good choice (and a way to ensure I stick to my resolve to read more) :-D

Philipp wrote: "I have finished reading Merge Ahead and enjoyed it a lot. It deals with the problems of a power-imbalance in a relationship. One of the MCs is less stereotypical manly and earns les..."

That sounds very much up my alley!

Loretta wrote: "I’m having a great time at GRL. Met all my favorite authors and Susan and Steve. I got an autographed copy of
Come Unto These Yellow Sands!"

It was so wonderful meeting you at last, Loretta! And to see Karen and Susinok again! (Am I forgetting anyone?)

I find conferences exhausting and energizing at the same time. It's wonderful to have a chance to visit with reader and author friends, but at the same time the conversations are inevitably disrupted and disjointed--we're all rushing off to the next thing.

Anyway, I had some great meals, some great visits, a lot of drinks and very little sleep. ;-)

As always, there was so much to absorb, so much to process. In fact, I'm still sorting through my impressions. There was a much greater presence of KU authors--and KU readers. I'm not exactly sure how to explain the difference I feel between this new crowd and the established attendees crowd (but I don't think I imagine it--but it would be interesting to hear from the readers who attended).

I recognized maybe a handful of names in the Supporting Author signing.

And the lack of recognition went both ways. :-D :-D :-D

Anyway, after the conference I downloaded a number of titles from the up-and-coming mystery authors I ran across--Pandora Pine, Brittany Cournoyer, AJ Sherwood--so I'll be sure to report on the ones I enjoy.

But first I'm going to dive into Gregory Ashe's work--seeing that I've already got four of his books on my kindle. That was one of my takeaways from the conference. I want to read more. I need to read more.

Anyway, we barely made our connecting flight on the way home! But thank heavens, we scooted in before the gate closed and reached sunny SoCal by nine thirty on Monday morning! Horrible smog, horrible traffic, but home sweet home. :-D

When I finally got to the house, Marlowe was squeaking crazily and sticking his tongue right up my nose in his weirdo delight at my safe return--the SO was a bit more dignified (no tongue up the nose and no squeaking) but also seemed pleased to see me. :-D

Brenda wrote: "As an autistic person, it's been amazing and empowering (and horrifying that it's necessary) to see Greta Thunberg do her thing on a world-wide stage. But at the same time... as an autistic person...."

:-( :-( :-(

Jordan wrote: "This weekend isn't the best for me. I'm stuck at work, which is normally not a terrible thing, but it's a 7 day work week (though there is a fun learning circle conference at the end of it that I d..."

Oh no! I know this is over a month ago, but I'm so sorry to hear it, Jordan.

KC wrote: "Josh wrote: "A bit--well, okay, HUGELY--stressed out right now.

It's partly the way I'm processing the current challenges, of course (not well) but also there's just a lot happening in the non-wri..."

To my great relief the second project (an original non-Josh project) was canceled. I had agreed to it when I still had a tiny window of creative time, but that has now been completely swallowed up by real life stuff. So it would have been beyond stressful to try to keep that in my work schedule.

The best part is I still got paid! Which is a lifesaver, given that I've had to delay I Buried a Witch by a month.

I have time to drop into Goodreads and say HOLA! ;-D

Emma wrote: "Hi Everyone,

I'm Emma. Thanks for letting me join. I'm a big fan of mysteries, and a big fan of Lanyon in particular. I read a lot of MM, and I love when the genres are blended. Romance and Myster..."

Hello Emma! Welcome! :-)

J.

Susan wrote: ""Why did the devastatingly sexy ones always have to turn out to be complete nutcases?"

Art of Death | Bob Appavu"

HAHAHAHA

A bit--well, okay, HUGELY--stressed out right now.

It's partly the way I'm processing the current challenges, of course (not well) but also there's just a lot happening in the non-writing part of my life.

Currently my mother is staying with us while my dad is attending a Korean War Vet conference where his efforts to organize these guys is being honored. SHE WILL NOT STOP WATCHING THE NEWS.

GOD IN HEAVEN.

She is literally glued to MSNBC from morning until night. I've tried to get her to go out in the garden, to swim, to read, to CHANGE THE ))((**&^&^%^$#ING CHANNEL FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. But nope.

So in quick succession it's been jury duty, a huge annual gig...now me crazy mum, next house-guests, another gig and then GRL -- all while writing these next two books.

Oh and because I'm an idiot I took on writing the script for another Chinese game. This one is m/f and beyond stupid and completely pornographic. I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH I AM REGRETTING THIS DECISION.

So that's me.

"Stress" doesn't begin to cover what I'm feeling.

Hart to Hart.

IT'S SO TERRIBLE.

But yet sort of relaxing. :-D I use it to put myself to sleep at night and it is 100% effective.

Jordan wrote: "From my research recently, having your blog on your website seems like the way the technology is going. I tried to find respectable blogging platforms for writers that did nothing else, and it was ..."

So true!

Right now the challenge is finding time to blog at all.

Heck, the challenge is finding time to even show up at Goodreads! I am spread alarmingly thin these days...