Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What Are you Reading?
I'm just about to start Raymond Chandler's The Lady in the Lake. I'm on a bit of a Chandler kick. :D
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Susinok wrote: "KC wrote: "Lessons in Love - good so far but i'm getting impatient with the pace of the mystery; the MCs are quite lovely and i'm enjoying the romance part. ..."Those books are all a bit slowly paced, but they are also very good...."
I agree that they're lovely. I suppose I'm always more interested in the relationships than the mystery when I read a mystery, so I don't notice the pacing. I love the conversations.
Antonella wrote: "'... 'Prosperity'': I think people tending to check every single word they don't know might have a hard life with it, but if you let go a bit, it is a great book. ..."Sounds a bit like reading Shakespeare; best to just go with the flow and the general sense of what's being said?
As much as I love Rhys Ford as a writer and totally love her Cole McGinnis and Sinners Gin series her ghost series just does not grasp me. I like the concept and I've read both books but in both cases I just end up skimming through them.I like the idea and the plot and I kind of want to know what next stories will be about but somehow the writing just doesn't do it for me. It saddens me because I love her other series so much.
HJ wrote: "Susinok wrote: "KC wrote: "Lessons in Love - good so far but i'm getting impatient with the pace of the mystery; the MCs are quite lovely and i'm enjoying the romance part. ..."Those books are al..."
That's one of my favourite series ever. It's so warm and charming and affectionate and it just makes me so happy reading it. I do love the slower pace of it and the dialogue is so brilliant. And yes, the mystery is really a secondary thing. This series is mostly about the relationship and the growth of the characters. They're my ultimate comfort books and I love them dearly.
Charlie Cocharane's written lots of fun little extras to the series which you can find on her website (here: http://charliecochrane.livejournal.com/), if you're interested.
Susinok wrote: "I am having a huge readers ADHD for a few days now. Skipping around, starting and stopping, re-reading stuff. I think I need to take a walk or something. Sheesh. I get this way every once in a wh..."
I am in exactly the same predicament. But I actually know why. Fair Play is coming out on Monday. Nothing else will satisfy or hold my attention. I have three different books I am reading and I just keep bouncing back and forth. A page here, a page there. Frustrating.
I will join you on that walk.
The third Sinner's Gin book, Tequila Mockingbird by Rhys Ford, is newly out in audio. I plan to hook up and listen and crochet a blanket.Sometimes a different format helps to get through that sort of slump.
I just finished The First Rule of Ten which was a great murder mystery story with an ex-Buddhist monk/ ex-LAPD cop who becomes a private detective. It had a really interesting story line and I reviewed it if anyone wants to check it out. I shall definitely be reading the rest in the series.Now I am reading Turnskin (Nicole Kimberling -Fantasy) and Liesmith: Book 1 of The Wyrd which is by a new author. It is urban fantasy set in Australia with two gay characters as leads. One is a nerdy computer geek and the other is a Norse god pretending to be a computer geek. The story draws on Norse mythology in a really creative way and I am really enjoying it.
Alison wrote: "Lessons in Love ..."That's one of my favourite series ever. It's so warm and charming and affectionate and it just makes me so happy reading it. I do love the slower pace of it and the dialogue is so brilliant. And yes, the mystery is really a secondary thing. This series is mostly about the relationship and the growth of the characters. They're my ultimate comfort books and I love them dearly.
Charlie Cocharane's written lots of fun little extras to the series which you can find on her website (here: http://charliecochrane.livejournal.com/), if you're interested. ..."
Charlie Cochrane has also written a number of stand-alone books which are excellent. For example, Second Helpings is really good about the effects of bereavement and second loves, and I remember The Angel in the Window with fondness. Horns and Haloes is a fun short story which is amusing about political correctness. I always enjoy her books.
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This is always a difficult thing for writers. Why readers love one series but not another? Or they love the standalone but not the series. What's really disheartening is when they won't even try the other books. At least you keep trying! That's good. :-)
Personally I love when authors keep reaching for a new creative style and its fascinating when they can come up with a new premise and their writing is still able to engage me.. I think it keeps them fresh.It would be so easy to stick with the familiar and get in a rut and not grow, but if they don't try something different I feel like we might miss out on the next great book or series we haven't read yet ;-)
I love that Rhys experimented with a new series too, even though its so different from her others. (Its probably cuz I love scifi and paranormal when done well, too)
I just finished the first two Hell & High Water and am just now listening to The Guy From Glamour series. Enjoying both series. Also just purchased JCPs audio. Great narrator!
Josh wrote: "This is always a difficult thing for writers. Why readers love one series but not another? Or they love the standalone but not the series. What's really disheartening is when they won't even try the other books. At least you keep trying! That's good. :-) ..."I like the Ghost series. The second one was a lot of fun with the child-ghost. Creepy too.
It must be disheartening when folks don't even try. The Cole series will end in two books, Sinner's Gin series has 1 more book to go. I LIKE the fact that the series have an arc and an end to them. I like self-contained closed series.
I enjoy open ended series, too. It's all good! :)
Mtsnow13 wrote: "I just finished the first two Hell & High Water and am just now listening to The Guy From Glamour series. Enjoying both series. Also just purchased JCPs audio. Great..."I bought the Hell & High water series but have not read it yet. Glad to hear it is good.
Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "This is always a difficult thing for writers. Why readers love one series but not another? Or they love the standalone but not the series. What's really disheartening is when they won'..."And that's the trick, isn't it.Knowing when to end a series because your readers love the characters and knowing when the MCs have grown as much as they can (or the supporting characters off into their own series).
It seems if its about the mystery and not the relationship, it can go on, but it takes a very good writer to not make a reader bored with the relationship aspect.
To me romance series can only go so far. I don't know. It must be hard to figure out if there is enough left to create another book, or just a snapshot into their lives.
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The only way to prolong a romance series indefinitely, is to start artificially manipulating the characters and their journey, and that means the characters can't learn, can't grow -- and I have no patience with that. As a reader or a writer.
Josh wrote: "The only way to prolong a romance series indefinitely, is to start artificially manipulating the characters and their journey, and that means the characters can't learn, can't grow -- and I have no patience with that. As a reader or a writer. ..."Right! I always hated the hard boiled detective not being able to sustain a relationship in that mystery genre. It would happen with male or female protagonists. Can't come up with some interesting ideas? Throw a wrench in the works of the current relationship, or kill of the love interest.
I stopped reading many long series because of this. Ian McBain managed to have a married police detective, and he stayed married the entire HUGELY long series. There was very little about their relationship but it did come up once in a while.
Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "The only way to prolong a romance series indefinitely, is to start artificially manipulating the characters and their journey, and that means the characters can't learn, can't grow -- ..."I need to get my hands on those books again, I liked them, read them as a teen
Currently listening to the new Harry Bosch, I like that series, despite the frequent breakups and such
I have just finished Paul Monette's AIDS memoir Borrowed Time: An AIDS Memoir. I have been reading it alongside other books since October. It tells the story of the early days of the AIDS pandemic in the US and how he struggled to keep his partner Roger alive by battling to be included in drug trials and watching over his partner's health. It just moved me in all sorts of ways but what I really want to do is preach a very angry sermon not just about those early years but about the injustice and prejudice that continues today even though we have drugs to keep people alive. It is a brilliant book which really shows the very deep love these two men had for each other. That really touches me and despite the loss and the fact that. Paul Monette also passed away some years later, the love they had for each other comforts me. So many people have died or are living with HIV without such love and support so I am a little comforted by what they had with each other. I am also encouraged to live intentionally by this story, to get out there and enjoy my life and live with gratitude as much as I possibly can. An exquisite read but very painful.
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Jordan wrote: "If you haven't read Heaven's Coast by Mark Doty, you should give it a try. It's his memoirs of dealing with the death of his partner due to AIDS. Beautifully written and will tear your heart out. I..."Thanks Jordan. I have that one in my tbr pile and will definitely give it a go.
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It's very entertaining. I look forward to the next in series.
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I'm doing some reading of Publisher's Weekly (I was nearly caught up!) and research for the story I'm writing for the Christmas antho. But that's about it.
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I'll bet we're all pretty happy to hear the writing part.
Seasonal changes are affecting. Autumn is my season, and we had a long lovely summer, with abundant (for this part of the world) rain, and now are having a lovely, mild autumn. I was still picking tomatoes last week! So my uneasiness is feeling the bleaker, grey/brown dryness of our high desert winter approaching. It makes me apprehensive.
Also, working with children is a bit like being around a weather-sensitive herd of some group-behavior inclined species. They're like human barometers. : )
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I've been all over the place, reading-wise, this last week or two. I haven't been reading much, but I've got lots of different books on the go, and I find myself starting new short things. I did pick up Sherrilyn Kenyon's m/m story,Cloak and Silence, from the library. I've read a few of her books, and her style isn't really my cup of tea, but I wanted to read this one because, well, it's Sherrilyn Kenyon's m/m story. It was short and fast and easy, and really, fairly thin, I thought. It was alright, though. The thing I found interesting, however, is that it's the sixth book in a really popular, major series and it was self-published. Fans of the series seem to love it (according to Goodreads), so that's a good thing. Good for her, in any case.
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I love hearing about your autumns, Josh and Karen. Even if those autumns include mourning for summer days and are filled with herds of tiny human barometers. ;-)
What I currently mourn and miss is reading itself. I just don't have time to read almost anything right now. And I'm actually a little bit surprised how uncomfortable and miserable that makes me.
I do have Joseph Hansen's The Corrupter and Other Stories on my nightstand and I occasionally manage to read a story — or at least a few pages — from that. I've loved it so far. It's bittersweet, sorrowful and beautiful at the same time. Melancholic, but so very lovely.
Johanna wrote: "Karen wrote: "Josh wrote: "I'm not really reading right now. For one thing, I'm writing -- and I don't seem to read much while I write -- and for another, I'm really sleepy at night. I've had troub..."There has been times in my life when I haven't been able to read, because life has been too busy, because of sickness or burn-out, and I always miss it when it happens. (fortunately it hasn't happened in a while). My life isn't complete without other people's stories in my head. I guess maybe when you write, you have other stories in there anyway, so maybe that feels different?
Susinok wrote: "I'm reading Think of England by KJ Charles. I love it!"That is one of my favourite books this year. I'm delighted that she has decided to write more with these characters.
Josh wrote: "I'm not really reading right now. For one thing, I'm writing -- and I don't seem to read much while I write -- and for another, I'm really sleepy at night. I've had trouble making the jump to autum..."I am very pleased about the writing, and I fully sympathise with your mourning summer. Not helped by lots of rain this last week. At least the sun is shining this morning, but I don't like the cold. :(
Karen wrote: "Also, working with children is a bit like being around a weather-sensitive herd of some group-behavior inclined species. They're like human barometers. : ) ..."This is a lovely image!
Johanna wrote: "...What I currently mourn and miss is reading itself. I just don't have time to read almost anything right now. And I'm actually a little bit surprised how uncomfortable and miserable that makes me...."Oh Johanna, I do sympathise. I'm not at all surprised that it makes you uncomfortable and miserable; those of us who like to read genuinely need it (unless they also write). Thank you for spending so much time creating fun parties and sending out prizes; I hope they cheer you up a bit too during this difficult time for you.
HJ wrote: "Johanna wrote: "...What I currently mourn and miss is reading itself. I just don't have time to read almost anything right now. And I'm actually a little bit surprised how uncomfortable and miserab..."What Hj said. And Johanna dear, please take care of yourself, I am worried about you.
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This group, you guys, our parties and other Fanyon-related things are definitely my life-buoys right now. Those all give me joy every day. :-)
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No need to worry too much, dear. It's just work, nothing more serious. It will pass.
Johanna wrote: "Anne wrote: "HJ wrote: "Johanna wrote: "...What I currently mourn and miss is reading itself. I just don't have time to read almost anything right now. And I'm actually a little bit surprised how u..."I hope it will pass sooner rather than later so you're going to have more time for reading again.
When will you find out whether you efforts for to keep the aprt programs will be successful?
Rereading Fair Game... in preparation for Fair Play
Ame wrote: "Rereading Fair Game... in preparation for Fair Play"Me too, I just started too late (two days ago, but I have less time than usual to read).
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I did ..."
Yes, this seems to be how it works in mainstream thus far: an already enormously popular (usually fantasy-ish) author writes a slim m/m book in an already established series with a couple of peripheral characters.
And maybe that's how it has to be for now.
Of course Captive Prince breaks that mold, except once again...fantasy. And this is the issue, I suspect. That so far the same sex dynamic is most comfortable when it is taking place in an imaginary world where if you can accept vampires, demons, and slaves...maybe you can go one leap further and accept love between two people of the same sex.
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One of the great disappointments of authordom is how it changes reading. For one thing, you have less time and mental energy to read. For another...it becomes almost impossible to read simply for pleasure.
Granted, it is much worse when you are an aspiring author and you imagine every book is in competition with you. :-D
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The very word "rain" makes my heart heavy.
Josh wrote: "One of the disappointments of authordom is how it changes reading. For one thing, you have less time and mental energy to read. For another...it becomes almost impossible to read simply for pleasure."Josh, I can see how you must feel, and can only add...you should try reading from the viewpoint of an editor. It definitely takes away a lot of the pleasure also. :)
Ame wrote: "Rereading Fair Game... in preparation for Fair Play"Me too, and I just finished it. Ah, so good. And now I really want to read what comes next.
I got my book during the night. And then I'm at work now and after work I get relatives for a visit. So reading time is sparse today :(Life's so unfair!
(such are my firstworldproblems)
Ame wrote: "I got my book during the night. And then I'm at work now and after work I get relatives for a visit. So reading time is sparse today :(Life's so unfair!
(such are my firstworldproblems)"
I'd love to have heard you telling your relatives that they couldn't come and visit today, and why. I suppose that's why you didn't do it!
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Me too!
And do try again with ''Prosperity'': I think people tending to check every single word they don't know might have a hard life with it, but if you let go a bit, it is a great book.