What's New From Josh? Showing 1,501-1,550 of 2,852

[Sabine]

I am looking forward to read it! Dead bodies! :-D

[Jordan]

Josh wrote: "Well, age certainly factors in, and I suppose sex does too to some extent (though possibly not as much as we would think from m/m romance!) :-D Basically it has to do with the challenges and experi..."

LOL. First murder investigation. Love it! There's a first time for everything, or so they say.

[Jordan]

The new book sounds really interesting!!! Can't wait!

[Johanna]

A brand new blog post What I Did on My Winter Vacation from Josh: http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi

[Ame]

I am amazed by all authors who actually manage to whip out more than one novel per year (I think I've even mentioned that here before). So two novels this year is fantastic to me actually.

[Josh]

Ame wrote: "I am amazed by all authors who actually manage to whip out more than one novel per year (I think I've even mentioned that here before). So two novels this year is fantastic to me actually."

And they'll both be a bit different, so I think it's going to turn out well. And then if I feel like writing more, great. But it's going to be a pretty hectic year.

[Jordan]

That all sounds very exciting! I'm really glad to see you doing something for The Trevor Project. That's really cool!

[Antonella]

Thank you for telling us, dear Johanna. And thanks for the post, dear Josh!

[Susinok]

Johanna wrote: "A brand new blog post What I Did on My Winter Vacation from Josh: http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi"

How did I miss this 3 hours ago? Sheesh! Reading now!

[Josh]

Sammie wrote: "curiosity killed the cat, but I will ask Josh anyway. were you previously under contract with a publisher? I always assumed that you were "indie" in the sense that you sold a book wherever you co..."

Oh yes. It's only the last couple of years I've gone mostly indie. And even this year it will be half and half. Jefferson Blythe is for Carina Press.

[HJ]

Josh -- I know that many of your books were published by Carina etc., but did you have a contract requiring you to write a certain number of books within a timeframe? I had thought that you submitted each proposal to the publisher of your choice, on a book-by-book basis, and then decided that some of them were better suited to indie.

I'm not sure which might cause more pressure: knowing you must come up with a good book by a certain date, or wondering whether or not you'll be able to sell a proposal. (Not that I doubt your ability to sell any proposal; I'm talking irrational self-doubt here!)

[Josh]

HJ wrote: "Josh -- I know that many of your books were published by Carina etc., but did you have a contract requiring you to write a certain number of books within a timeframe? I had thought that you submit..."

It's book by book. I get the idea for a book and then submit the proposal. It does put pressure on having to write to a deadline -- and during the year of the Great Burn Out it was too much because I had committed to so many projects in so many places.

So I'm being careful not to overcommit. But I also kind of have to commit to some extent or I might find excuses for not producing at all.

I guess I need a nip at my heels -- but not a pack of wolves breathing down my neck. :-D

[HJ]

Josh wrote: "It's book by book. I get the idea for a book and then submit the proposal. It does put pressure on having to write to a deadline -- and during the year of the Great Burn Out it was too much because I had committed to so many projects in so many places. ..."

Thanks! Your ears should have been burning while you were asleep, because Harper Fox was praising you on Facebook. She said "...the wonderful Josh. It's really because of him (ie it's his fault) that I started trying to publish my books at all. It would never have occurred to me to try to sell and M/M book without his encouragement." (24 hour LBGT Fiction party to celebrate Euro Price Con).

[Jordan]

HJ wrote: "Josh wrote: "It's book by book. I get the idea for a book and then submit the proposal. It does put pressure on having to write to a deadline -- and during the year of the Great Burn Out it was too..."

Wow. That's pretty amazing!

[Becky]

Josh wrote: "It's book by book. I get the idea for a book and then submit the proposal. It does put pressure on having to write to a deadline -- and during the year of the Great Burn Out it was too much because I had committed to so many projects in so many places."

A contract deadline to write the book sounds scary. Different from doing edits to a deadline. Different from drafting to a deadline like NaNoWriMo, or say the closing date of a contest. It's annoying if you don't win NaNo, or don't get to enter a contest, but there are no real consequences.

I probably could do it - once I have the outline it tends not to deviate enormously from that these days, so I'd know what to write, it's just making it happen. But the idea of doing it is still pretty scary.

[Jordan]

Becky wrote: "Josh wrote: "It's book by book. I get the idea for a book and then submit the proposal. It does put pressure on having to write to a deadline -- and during the year of the Great Burn Out it was too..."

Agreed.

[Josh]

HJ wrote: "Josh wrote: "It's book by book. I get the idea for a book and then submit the proposal. It does put pressure on having to write to a deadline -- and during the year of the Great Burn Out it was too..."

Aww. I can't think of anyone more humble and generous with her thanks than Harper. But all I did was notice what was already apparent to many -- only I happened to know how and where to direct all that talent and energy. :-D

[Josh]

Becky wrote: "Josh wrote: "It's book by book. I get the idea for a book and then submit the proposal. It does put pressure on having to write to a deadline -- and during the year of the Great Burn Out it was too..."

Yes. You basically already have the book outlined and started, so it's not -- shouldn't be -- like wandering in the dark without a candle. But the pressure can be considerable because so many other people are depending on you.

[HJ]

Josh wrote: "I can't think of anyone more humble and generous with her thanks than Harper. But all I did was notice what was already apparent to many -- only I happened to know how and where to direct all that talent and energy. :-D ..."

But you could have done nothing. So thank you from us readers, who would have missed out on several wonderful books if you hadn't been so generous.

[Sabine]

A very interesting Blog post from Josh.
I can't linking it, grrr.

[Calathea]

Sabine wrote: "A very interesting Blog post from Josh.
I can't linking it, grrr."

The Coincidental Killer

The title, though, I don't know if I should read it... ;)

[Johanna]

Thank you for the heads-up, Sabine and Calathea!

[Loretta]

Josh was on Love Bytes today.

http://lovebytesreviews.com/2015/01/3...

[Johanna]

Loretta wrote: "Josh was on Love Bytes today.

http://lovebytesreviews.com/2015/01/3..."

Thank you for letting us know, Loretta.

Once again, wise words, Josh. Those are definitely the profound questions we all should be pondering over from time to time. Thank you for inspiring us to do so now, dear. I'm sure you'll find answers to yours during the next months. And... sometimes it's the journey, the way you travel, that matters the most. If you don't stop once in a while to admire the scenery, what's the point, anyway. :-)

[HJ]

That final sentence of Johanna's reminds me of this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Leisure, by W.H. Davies

[Antonella]

HJ wrote: "That final sentence of Johanna's reminds me of this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep ..."

Thank you to Josh for sharing his thoughts, to Helena for the beautiful and meaningful poem and to the everwise Johanna ;-).

[Johanna]

HJ wrote: "That final sentence of Johanna's reminds me of this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep ..."

Ooh! I don't think I've read this one before. What a lovely poem! And so true:

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Thank you so much for sharing this, HJ.

[Johanna]

Antonella wrote: "HJ wrote: "That final sentence of Johanna's reminds me of this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as lon..."

Heh. ;-)

[Loretta]

HJ wrote: "That final sentence of Johanna's reminds me of this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep ..."

Ooh, very nice. A good reminder.

[Josh]

HJ wrote: "That final sentence of Johanna's reminds me of this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep ..."

I love that!

[Reggie]

HJ wrote: "That final sentence of Johanna's reminds me of this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep ..."

Love this. I have to go out hiking at least monthly, just to clear the cobwebs from my head. Get a better perspective.

I'm going to copy this and put it in the poetry thread for our collection.

Thanks all!

[Johanna]

Reggie wrote: "I'm going to copy this and put it in the poetry thread for our collection.

Thanks all!"

That's a good idea! Thank you for doing it, Reggie.

[Anne]

HJ wrote: "That final sentence of Johanna's reminds me of this poem:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep ..."

Lovely. It also ties in with what some said in the Five things I love thread, that it makes us think about the little things, and in order to do that, we need to stop, and think and take notice.

[Johanna]

New blog post Spring is Coming from our Josh:

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/02...

[Jordan]

Ha! It's still brutal winter here. The temp is in the single digits and it just keeps on snowing. We're supposed to get more snow this weekend. Guh.

So yeah, no spring time coming here, I'm afraid.

I've still got three plants at home. Two spider plants, aptly named Archer and Rake. :-) Jake, the other plant, is still going strong. Sadly, Emma, the baby spider plant just died last week. :-( I'm not sure what I did or didn't do to keep her going. I used to be great at keeping spider plants alive for years. These days, I get them for a few months and that's it. I don't get it. Though I'm sure my very hot, and dry apartment doesn't help. *sigh*

[Johanna]

Valentine's Day blog post from Josh:

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/02...

[Johanna]

Josh on Not Your Usual Suspects: How to Pull Off a Killer Blog Tour.

http://notyourusualsuspects.blogspot....

[Johanna]

Wedding Favors SNEAK PEEK!!!

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/02...

[Josh]

Johanna wrote: "Wedding Favors SNEAK PEEK!!!

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/02..."

:-D

[Antonella]

Thank you! Although I'd like to have the all story, now!

[Anne]

Antonella wrote: "Thank you! Although I'd like to have the all story, now!"

It's hard to wait isn't it? Now I will have to worry about the boys for weeks and not knowing how they will work this out between them.

[Sara]

Johanna wrote: "Wedding Favors SNEAK PEEK!!!

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/02..."

Thanks, Johanna. This looks like another Lanyon book that will play with my emotions!

[Johanna]

A new, scary blog post from Josh. *gulp*

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/03...

[Anne]

Johanna wrote: "A new, scary blog post from Josh. *gulp*

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/03..."

Really scary. And it must feel devastating to Josh.

[Idamus]

Johanna wrote: "A new, scary blog post from Josh. *gulp*

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/03..."

Oh no :-(

Sending lots and lots of hugs to Josh

[Calathea]

Johanna wrote: "A new, scary blog post from Josh. *gulp*

http://joshlanyon.blogspot.fi/2015/03..."

Oh, god, it's so bad when that happens. :(

[Antonella]

Uh, after seeing your comments I don't want to read it...

ETA: now I've read the post. It is bad, but I was relieved to see it wasn't a brick literally fallen on his head or similar...

[Becky]

Aargh! That's scary all right.

Imagine the days when people only had a written or typed paper version? T.E. Lawrence lost a draft of Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph at a railway station and never got it back. Jilly Cooper lost the only copy she had of Riders on a bus in 1970 and took until 1984 to rewrite it. Thomas Carlyle left the manuscript of The French Revolution: A History with John Stuart Mill for some feedback and a maid accidentally burnt it. Yikes! Dylan Thomas must hold the record though, losing the manuscript of Under Milk Wood THREE times. (Well he was a big drinker.)

[Johanna]

Becky wrote: "Imagine the days when people only had a written or typed paper version? T.E. Lawrence lost a draft of [book:Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph|579..."

OMG. *wide-eyed*

[Josh]

Yesterday was a bad day. No question.

I also got word that a little vintage toile chandelier that I'd bought on Ebay a few weeks ago was lost by UPS. Survived the 1940s, got all the way across the country to California, and was lost by UPS.

So yesterday was a downer. But today, well, that's life. And I would rather lose a vintage chandelier than something that really mattered. And losing an outline is not even in the same realm as losing an actual written work. It probably wouldn't have felt so catastrophic if I hadn't had initial trouble with the story.

But the truth is every step of the first draft is hell on earth. It's just part of the process.