Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Jordan wrote: "I like cop leads. In fact, the idea I just came up with, has a cop for a lead, but the twist is that he's not the strong one of the couple, and his lover won't be a cop either. lol, ..."

I second Manu's recommendation! I have Amor En Retrogrado in my favorites shelf and I'm planning to read Death by Misfortune in near future!

And another thing that I've been thinking that is related to Larton Chronicles. At some point Michael started to read through Robert's writings (editing them?). Since there are so many authors here I thought I'd ask if that is very common... to use your family as guinea pigs like that? Does it work as well as it did with Robert and Michael? If I was a writer... I know I would definitely use my husband as a guinea pig. :) But in reality I guess the answer is not quite that simple, huh?

And here is still one more quote related to my question above:

"Halliwell's going through my deathless prose out there with a cheesy look on his face which means, 'You know, March, I think chapter twelve could do with a little more work' - and don't say I told you so."
"I told you so," said Michael. "You were in a shocking mood when you wrote that. But I was delighted when you yelled at me - felt I was really home at last."
"Liar!" said Robert affectionately.... (page 287)

Johanna wrote: "I'm planning to read Death by Misfortune in near future!"

I know you won't believe me, but DbM is better!!! It occured to me later, but there's a sort of inverse parallelism between Bill and Swift of CUTYS. I want to re-read both now...

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Johanna wrote: "I'm planning to read Death by Misfortune in near future!"

I know you won't believe me, but DbM is better!!! It occured to me later, but there's a sort of inverse parallelism betw..."

Aaaaaahh... Manu! You just had to compare Bill and SWIFT?! And you know I have a soft spot for the latter! ;) After I'll finish reading Fair Game I'll just have to read that one!!! See, this is why I never actually get to the point that I would finally start reading Special Forces!!! *grumble grumble*

But for real - thank you for reminding me of Death by Misfortune! I even have it in my iPad already. :)

lol, I'm eeeevil! ^^

Well, if I had family who would easily accept what I write, and enjoy it, then sure, I'd definitely use them for editing and idea bouncing and all that jazz. But, alas, I don't have anyone who likes what I write... that I know of. I'm a little afraid to find out, really. Even if I do have an uncle who wants to read my novel when it's done. lol, that freaks me out. All anyone knows about it is that it's a romance suspence novel. They would probably freak out about the M/M part.

See, that's where Robert's lucky. He's not writing M/M romance, and I suppose, even if he were, well, he's in an M/M relationship, so no probs there and since the whole town knows they're together, they wouldn't have a problem with it.

Darn lucky bloke. lol.

I read my stories to my guy while he cooks me dinner (yes, we can now parse that sentence for all the ways this relationship works). I have to say that while it's very useful to read my work aloud, his suggestions are less helpful than Michael's. Usually he wants me to add some didactic, tangential bit ("your readers will want to know more about mayfly genetics"). I smile, nod and ask if he wants me to set the table yet.

lol, even though his comments aren't all that helpful, it's great that he'll listen... especially while cooking dinner. *sigh* That sounds so nice. I need a guy who can cook.

Liade wrote: "Josh wrote: "That's where that spreadsheet of Lia's on my website is so useful...."

Of course now I've had to rush off to make sure it's reasonably up to date, though the publishers column is a ..."

Oh jeez. I hadn't thought about that!

Lou wrote: "Somebody said that writers write the same story again and again. Everyone has their own themes and triggers. Once you have a large body of work, it's easier to see. .."

Absolutely true. Even when we write "against" our usual tropes we reveal ourselves, I think.

Johanna wrote: "But in reality I guess the answer is not quite that simple, huh?
..."

I think it's possible that if I had been writing at a slower pace or more to the taste of my SO, I'd have bounced more ideas off him. As it was, I had no time to bounce ideas off anyone. Every idea I had, had to stick, given the constraints of deadline.

Of course that kind of rigorous confines can create it's own magic.

Hi, I'm late to the party. And a bit frustrated: my holidays were not so full of books as I had planned because of a last minute work... Now I'm trying at least to catch up here.

Anyway I had already stated my opinion on Larton: delightful read, the kind of humor I appreciate, lovely description of a British village, but ''description'' is the wrong word, it is show-don't-tell.

The lack of transition between some scenes that irritated other people didn't bother me.

In exchange there was something else I didn't appreciate, although it is a very minor complaint. When someone's thoughts are expressed in a sentence without anything to mark them, but only something like ''he thought'' in the end, for ex. page 3:

There's plenty of room for my books and files in the living-room and I could make that a through room, he thought. The bathroom would be adequate if I can get a decent shower put in - that bath looks like an antique.


And a question: Is ''jar'' as a synonym for ''glass of beer'' common in England?


And a not-so-related-but-almost question: can someone explain the thing about the horrendous price of some books on amazon? I can understand it if the book is out of print and there are only a few old copies around. Or maybe for a copy with an autograph of the (possible very famous) author. But in this case it was just possible to buy it directly by the publisher. So why?

Antonella wrote: "And a question: Is ''jar'' as a synonym for ''glass of beer'' common in England?


And a not-so-related-but-almost question: can someone explain the thing about the horrendous price of some books on amazon? I can understand it if the book is out of print and there are only a few old copies around. Or maybe for a copy with an autograph of the (possible very famous) author. But in this case it was just possible to buy it directly by the publisher. So why?"

As far as I can remember a "jar" is slang for a drink.

I'd like to know how the pricing for older books works on Amazon too. I wanted to get a older rock music review book and almost fell off my couch when I saw how much they wanted.

I can only assume there became a demand for the book when we drove publisher sales up for our group so others thought they could sell at a higher price? I don't know. I'm terrible with numbers, never mind dollar signs. lol.

Speaking of jar, sorry, no answer for you, but I kept wonder what the heck an Aga was. Some Brit terms drive me up the wall because they make no sense. You know, like calling the trunk of a car the boot. *sigh*

Yeah, that "he thought" stuff did kinda get to me, but not nearly as much as the transitions.

Jordan wrote: "I can only assume there became a demand for the book when we drove publisher sales up for our group so others thought they could sell at a higher price? I don't know. I'm terrible with numbers, nev..."

A jar means a jug,(there's whiskey in the jar) but is also slang for a drink. An AGA is a big stove that is always kept warm and used both for cooking and to keep the room warm. You can get them here as well, but they are terribly expensive. :)

That's kinda what I thought, but I wasn't sure. Thanks for clarifying Anne. I kept meaning to look that up in some wiki or other, but kept forgetting. lol.

Antonella wrote: "And a not-so-related-but-almost question: can someone explain the thing about the horrendous price of some books on amazon? I can understand it if the book is out of print and there are only a few old copies around. Or maybe for a copy with an autograph of the (possible very famous) author. But in this case it was just possible to buy it directly by the publisher. So why?.."

Because they can get away with it?

It's hard to explain or even understand greed, isn't it? I think it's probably the cardinal sin -- the main plague of all humanity. I think almost all evil can be tracked back to greed.

Pender wrote: I'd like to know how the pricing for older books works on Amazon too. I wanted to get a older rock music review book and almost fell off my couch when I saw how much they wanted.
..."

Out of print books, yes. That's supply and demand. I've paid some sickening prices for print books I was desperate to own.

This picture and the comment are from Antonella:

As I was on holiday in Ireland, the only time we went away from Dublin was to stay in a country house specular to the one of the Larton Chronicles: an English woman living in Ireland in a house with 4 horses, 2 cats and 3 dogs. So when I saw the still perfectly functioning Aga (year 1933) in her kitchen, I had to take a picture.

Johanna wrote: "This picture and the comment are from Antonella:

As I was on holiday in Ireland, the only time we went away from Dublin was to stay in a country house specular to the one of the Larton Chronicles:..."

Oh! The holy Aga! That's so cool. Thank you Antonella :). And it is a lovely kitchen too.

Dude, that's awesome! Thanks for the pic! And yes, that kitchen looks so homey... looks like a great place for some tea and scones! ... and now I want scones... darn it! lol.

Oh I LOVE that!