Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What Are you Reading?
Calathea wrote: "Ame wrote: "41 cents? It was 0,99 on my Amazon."Euro-cent. My shopping is on amazon.de because of geo-restrictions."
Ah, I see :)
Mymymble wrote: "Karen wrote: "Ame wrote: "I bought from Dreamspinner Press summer sale I Hate Summer and what an amazing find. It's been quite a long time since I've read a book that interested me ..."Aaww :D
Mymymble wrote: "Ame wrote: "Calathea wrote: "Ame wrote: "41 cents? It was 0,99 on my Amazon."Euro-cent. My shopping is on amazon.de because of geo-restrictions."
Ah, I see :)"
41 euro cents as against £4.99? BR..."
That was unexpectedly fast. ;)
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I've just posted in the poetry topic two poems I found in books by John O'Donohue Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom and Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong. I've got them from a friend, but I'm returning them because I don't manage to read them properly. A mix between Celtic spirituality and introspection. And he was a great person, my friend knew him, it's a pity he died so young, at 52: http://www.johnodonohue.com/
This weekend I started Santino Hassell's First and First and basically inhaled the first half. So good. But very intense. I needed a short break from it, so i started Amy Jo Cousins' Off Campus. I'm not sure how i feel about it... I do like it - the real, well-drawn characters and conflicts, but the pace is slow and it's a bit repetitive at times, so i found myself skipping ahead. I'm also trying Summer Devon's The Private Secretary, which looks like it's lighter than the other two.
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I'm going to be starting/starting to finally finish The Reign of the Greyhound on my lunch break, which I bought years ago and never finished. I added it to my summer reading this year to get myself to finish it, especially now that I have a greyhound!
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Forgot to mention earlier that anyone interested in trying out The Cop and the Nosey Neighbor can read the first chapter on Wattpad for free:
..."
Another Kindle only book. I'm g..."
If the only way you can get read is by making your book free on KU, you don't have a writing career. It's that simple. I've seen these posts from "bestselling" authors That moment when you do the thing you know is destroying the industry and your ultimate livelihood, but gosh, you gotta make money!!!!
(Paraphrasing, but that's the gist of it)
And I'm like...yeah, enjoy it while it lasts, toots. Coz you're training your "readership" that your work is worth nothing. And when Amazon changes the game on you again -- and you know they will coz they're like the Casinos in Las Vegas: they didn't get built on customers winning -- you will be back to working at Burger King or depending on your spousal unit for support.
You're either playing the long game or your days as a writer are numbered.
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It was good. Really good. I had a feeling it would all tied up nicely in the end. My only niggle was the sudden..."
Hansen's transition to mystery writer from romance writer is a fascinating one, and never more interesting than in the three versions of KNOWN HOMOSEXUAL.
You see very clearly that his real interest lies in mystery even in all those early Colton works--which is why they so frequently veer into crime and violence. But initially the market isn't there. Initially the paying market for gay fiction is solely erotica, so that's what he's writing as Colton.
KNOWN HOMOSEXUAL (PBD) is the only Colton work he revised into a Hansen title.
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LOL
I haven't heard anyone mention National Velvet in years! :-D It's a classic for sure.
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I wish there were too. But I think the genre is in a place right now where exploration and experimentation are being discouraged. I think fear of the penalty -- largely public shaming -- for getting something, anything wrong (even if it's only subjectively wrong in one person's eyes) is going to take a toll on diversity in the genre.
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I do believe you really have to continue to read for industry--meaning you should at least skim the books that are being discussed in your genre -- and I've started a number of stories recced here, but I'm just not feeling it.
:-(
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It was good. Really good. I had a feeling it would all tied up nicely in the end. My only niggle..."
Ah! Yes, now it all makes sense.
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I do believe you really have to continue to read for industry--meaning you should at least skim the books that are being discussed in your genre -- and I've ..."
I've been promised a bookcase for all of my vintage gay mysteries! I'm so excited! Well, that, and an antique cherry wood kitchen table too. :-D But the bookcase was a huge need!
Here There Be Dragons is on my summer reading list. Might be getting to it pretty soon! :-D
Transgender girl Sophie Labelle makes comics:Assigned Male
and will tour around New Zealand, USA and Europe in the next months.
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I should add that I don't think diversity is deliberately being squelched--I think readers are starving for diversity--but creativity needs room to make a mess, to make mistakes, and this is not a publishing environment that tolerates mistakes or missteps on really any scale.
I think most readers believe that they're supportive and encouraging of authors trying new things, pushing the boundaries, experimenting...but holy crap. The things that get said in reviews and discussions and blogs. And I'm talking about the readers who're fans! :-D
This is the world of books and publishing now, and it's very difficult to insulate yourself as a writer -- even when you consciously try as I do. And I don't think most writers do try to insulate themselves.
I'm not saying readers shouldn't express their feelings about books, but all that expression does have an impact. It's changing the whole creative process.
And I don't know that it's changing it for the better. I think it is very hard to create your best work when you are overly conscious of your audience.
Josh wrote: "Josh wrote: "Haldis wrote: "Just finished All the Wrong Places by Ann Gallagher and I really liked it and highly recommend it. I have not read any of the other Blu..."Yes, I know exactly what you mean with some of these reviews (I only read, like, two blogs so I manage to avoid all that).
Sometimes I just want to scream, "Get off your frickin soapbox and just review the book!" "Why can't we all just get along?"
*steps down off soapbox* have a nice day.
Yes, National Velvet is a great book one of the classics along with Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague and Walter Farley's The Black Stallion
Josh wrote: "Josh wrote: "Haldis wrote: "Just finished All the Wrong Places by Ann Gallagher and I really liked it and highly recommend it. I have not read any of the other Blu..."I definitely want diversity and fear that some authors might be afraid of trying to write outside their own reality because it seems mistakes are being pounded on so hard. And mistakes will be made when one tries to experiment.. The genre, or any genre really, will suffer if authors always stick to the known and safe formulas.
On the other hand though, since mistakes are made, authors should also be a little bit humble when pushing their limits and accept their mistakes, and even apologise if necessary. If a person belonging to a different group than you tells you that you have inadvertently offended or insulted them, one does well to listen to them. That way lies enlightment and gaining of knowledge, which is always a good thing in any profession.
These days it seems like the m/m community is a giant sandbox where different groups throw sand and hurl insults at each other.
As a reader I want good books, well written, with insight and compassion and knowledge. That takes craft, research and hard work, I guess. Truth be told, much of what we see is due to lazy work and bad craft, I'm afraid. And sometimes, honest mistakes that can and should be corrected. I really wish people would behave like adults all the time. Sandbox shenanigans isn't really that charming unless you talk about toddlers :)
Jen wrote: "Yes, National Velvet is a great book one of the classics along with Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague and Walter Farley's The Black Stallion"I read allllll of Walter Farley's books multiple times! And Misty at least twice. I read all the horse books I could find.
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I need to find time to get to it. Knowing what I know of Ann/LA Witt, and reading some of her work, I'd expect her to treat the topic well and do a good job. I think some of the other authors writing about ace characters are all new to writing/publishing, which doesn't always help how topics might be handled. At least, the ones I've seen are from authors I'm not familiar with, except Alex Beecroft, of course.
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The Thoroughbred series was my favorite though.
But, after rewatching National Velvet the other night, I realized that I knew things, remembered things that weren't in the movie but in the book. So I must have read the book at some point and just didn't own it. For example, the horse is called The Piebald in the book, but is only ever called Pie or The Pie, in the movie, most likely because the horse used was a beautiful chestnut that looked nothing like a piebald horse. I remembered the full name.
Jordan wrote: "I STILL read all the horse books! I've been debating getting the rest of the Black Stallion books. I read so few of them growing up, but I did enjoy them. Misty too.The Thoroughbred series was my..."
I went through a "read all the horse books" phase when i was a young teen, National Velvet, The Black Stallion, Black Beauty, The Red Pony.
But the books I really went for were the "Dog" books. Big Red and Irish Red (back when Irish Setters were actually used for hunting instead of just running around looking pretty) Follow My Leader (a boy and his guide dog), Call of the Wild, and my person favorite The Hundred and One Dalmations ( I remember being so mad as a kid that the Disney movie changed so much of my very favorite book)
.....now I read about dragons. :-)
Jordan wrote: "Haldis, I missed that you read Ann's book! Glad you liked it! I need to find time to get to it. Knowing what I know of Ann/LA Witt, and reading some of her work, I'd expect her to treat the topic..."
Alex Beecroft is next on my list, but I need to be in the right frame if mind for the heavy themes of that one.
As for the new authors, give them the benefit of, try a sample, but, yeah, a lot of them seem to be choosing to write ace characters for the novelty and seem to try to do it accurately but tend to fall short which does not help.
***gonna share a little secret about myself while reading All the Wrong Places, when Brennan goes into the sex shop to get some idea of how to do sex right....I started laughing out loud cuz I so did that before I realized I was ace! And bought The Idiots Guide to Sex!
Yeah. Uh huh.*****
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I read and reread the ENTIRE Black Stallion series -- including all the Flame books. Also all of Henry's books. Basically everything the library had on dogs and horses, I read.
The Farley books are the best example of writing for kids. Those books were some of the most powerful of my childhood.
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This is so true, Anne.
Taking Diversity in that socio-politico context (although frankly diversity also applies to simply not writing the same tropes the same way over and over and over) I don't believe any of these missteps are made with malice aforethought. Why would it be anyone's first assumption that a writer is deliberately trying to offend and hurt?
You're either interested in teaching or you're interested in punishing. And punishing might feel good, if you're really offended by something, but teaching is the ultimate aim, if you want to change the world.
Anyway. Yes, writers need to get it right, need to demonstrate care and sensitivity...but I do think looking for cause to be offended and angry has become the raison d'être for some folks.
You can't have it both ways. You can't berate people for not trying anything new, but then berate them for trying something new but making a mistake or two. OR -- looking at diversity in its broader meaning -- failing to write something "new" the way you feel it should be written.
Honestly, I've felt the pressure of this: readers bitching that every book isn't Adrien and Jake -- doesn't have that same dynamic, etc. -- and then *same readers* turning around and bitching that I'm just writing the same thing over and over.
So which is it? What do you actually want?
And who cares what you want anyway? :-D
But I mean, really. You do become hardened after a while. And that's actually what HAS to happen in order to keep going, to be able to keep creating.
You cannot start writing for that reviewer in Omaha who hates it when characters use pet names or the reviewer in Houston who believes "no one" would eat chicken wings for breakfast.
In the old days writers were desperate for any kind of feedback. But now there is no shortage of feedback. The difficulty is finding people who actually have education and experience beyond that very limited immediate and personal/subjective response.
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The Thoroughbre..."
I love the Disney movie though! I have the Xth Anniversary edition of it. :-D Which... ahem.
Lad a Dog. Lassie (also apparently I used to sob over the TV show as a wee toddler -- the movies, I can understand! But crying over the TV show?!) LOL
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..."
Honestly, I'm torn about this. Because it does tie into trying to respond to the call from readers for a more diverse catalog of books and stories.
And while it is currently very popular to BE the thing that you write about...this is contrary to the nature of art. Art is, by definition, artifice. Artificial. Being There does not automatically equate with effective and meaningful storytelling.
I mean, it SHOULD. I get that. But if that were the case then every cis-gender woman would be a naturally gifted heterosexual romance writer, correct? And every cop would be great at writing police procedurals. And every person with a disability would be fantastic at writing mesmerizing stories about living with disability.
But this is not the case. Because storytelling is about so much more than any one element.
I mean, no one knows more about giraffes than a giraffe. But a naturalist is probably better equipped to write the story of the giraffe than an actual giraffe. And yes, I am being COMPLETELY facetious, but I really do think much of the anger and frustration we see from some writers stems from this huge misunderstanding about what writing *fiction* actually is about.
And at the same time, I also feel offended and irritated when I see someone coming into M/M from the "outside" larger world of publishing (generally m/f romance) and targeting the genre for monetary reasons. I resent the assumption that M/M is an easy target because no one here can write. I resent the idea that all you have to do is show up and you'll make a small fortune. I resent the idea that you just change out the gender and any old m/f trope will do just as well here.
At the same time, I know you cannot tell artists/writers what they can and cannot write. It is wrong to try. It is an offense to the very nature of Art. But more importantly, it is futile.
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Yeah. Uh huh.*****
..."
One of the funniest and most hair-raising experiences of my youthful life was going into sex shops on Hollywood Blvd at night with my college roommate and our two then-boyfriends. We were both still pretty sheltered at that point -- and attending a Christian college.
It was...enlightening. :-D :-D :-D
Michael Nava writes:Now available: an excerpt from Chapter 1 from Lay Your Sleeping Head and the return of Henry Rios.
http://bit.ly/lyshch1
Feel free to share.
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The Thoroughbre..."
Yes! I read about dogs too. But those were hard because so many of the dogs died in the end. I always ended up bawling my eyes out.
Where the Red Fern Grows and Old Yeller were two I remember reading.
Black Beauty was one of my favorite horse books. I ended up with my dad's copy that had been gifted to him with an inscription from a friend. :-)
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I need to find time to get to it. Knowing what I know of Ann/LA Witt, and reading some of her work, I'd expect her to ..."
LOL! I went into a sex shop or two when I was in college and just felt so out of place and weird in there without knowing why. Now though, I have a completely different mentality, am more comfortable talking about sex, and would have fun with it, I think.
Yes, I buy all the ace books and give them a try. You never know when you'll land a gem!
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I read a..."
I'm going to have to make that a challenge sometime. Find all the Black Stallion books and read them. :-)
Response to various.I have never been into a sex shop. We even now have one in town (and they were protested! Hah!) I order online. ;)
I read all the Farley books over and over. I started with Island Flame and was hooked. I read a few dog books, too. Especially loved Old Yeller, sad as it was. I also loved Jack London. Read many of his at the time.
Ooo and adventure books! Treasure Island! Swiss Family Robinson, and a few others.
All of these were library books. We moved a lot and went to the library every Saturday before heading to the commissary.
Later on I discovered mythology, science fiction, and fantasy. But that was at the very tail end of my kid reading.
Oh and I'd TOTALLY eat chicken wings for breakfast.
Jordan wrote: "I STILL read all the horse books! I've been debating getting the rest of the Black Stallion books. I read so few of them growing up, but I did enjoy them. Misty too.The Thoroughbred series was my..."
Yes The Thoroughbred series also the Saddle Club series.
If you looking for a good follow up for National Velvet, International Velvet is great also revolves around 3 day eventing
I am lucky to be missing maybe 2 or 3 of the black stallion books :D Horse Crazy girl I am. I am also missing 2 or 3 Marguerite Henry books.
Need to get them all
Josh wrote: "... the reviewer in Houston who believes "no one" would eat chicken wings for breakfast..."This gives me the chance to ask something which I've always wondered. This is a genuine question:
-- what is it about chicken wings that people like?
I think I'm right in saying that we don't really"do" wings in the UK. To me they're annoying bits of bone and scraggy skin with very little meat. In fact, I have wondered whether some clever marketing person realised that they had all these wings left over and decided to make a feature of them so that they could be sold rather than wasted.
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One of the things that's been bothering me lately are trans readers complaining loudly that a book wasn't good because it wasn't written by a trans person. As you said, the naturalist is sometimes more qualified than the giraffe to write the giraffe's story. But they get on their soapbox and don't want to get off, even if other people do enjoy the book.
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*SNORT*
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This gives me the chance to ask something which I've always wondered. This is a genuine que..."
Well, they're mostly used as an appetizer rather than a main meal, so they're really more of a snack than anything. I eat them at restaurants sometimes because I save money, I like chicken, and it's usually just enough to fill me up. :-) Yeah, for me that's a full meal. I'm weird like that. lol. Otherwise, yeah, I do prefer a full leg or something.
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I have never been into a sex shop. We even now have one in town (and they were protested! Hah!) I order online. ;)
I read all the Farley books over and over. I started with I..."
Ordering online is the way to go. Especially if you're nervous or inexperienced about the whole thing. And who wants to advertise, even just to the person at the check out, what you're buying?
HJ wrote: "Josh wrote: "... the reviewer in Houston who believes "no one" would eat chicken wings for breakfast..."This gives me the chance to ask something which I've always wondered. This is a genuine que..."
Thanks for asking this difficult question, HJ! :D
I've been wondering about that too.
HJ wrote: "Josh wrote: "... the reviewer in Houston who believes "no one" would eat chicken wings for breakfast..."This gives me the chance to ask something which I've always wondered. This is a genuine que..."
I am no fan of chicken wings, either! I love your marketing theory!
Calathea wrote: "HJ wrote: "Josh wrote: "... the reviewer in Houston who believes "no one" would eat chicken wings for breakfast..."This gives me the chance to ask something which I've always wondered. This is a ..."
I don't eat chicken wings (legs for me, please),but if I did, I would so eat them for breakfast. Cuz, yeah I have had cold chicken for breakfast. And pizza. And enchiladas (i usually warm these up, though)
Jordan wrote: "Josh wrote: "Haldis wrote: "As for the new authors, give them the benefit of, try a sample, but, yeah, a lot of them seem to be choosing to write ace characters for the novelty and seem to try to d..."Are you trying to tell me that Anne McCaffery has NEVER ridden a dragon!?!? How could she possibly write about dragons if this was so?
For the most part i don't even bother looking up the particulars of an author. If the story is good i am more inclined to buy more from that author. If the story is bad, i am very reluctant to buy more.
If I love everything that he/she/it writes then I stalk them and send them picnic baskets and bookends....and give them only one star if the story is too short. Ha!
Haldis wrote: "Calathea wrote: "HJ wrote: "Josh wrote: "... the reviewer in Houston who believes "no one" would eat chicken wings for breakfast..."This gives me the chance to ask something which I've always won..."
Any thing can be had for breakfast! Cake, anyone? :)
Sabine wrote: "HJ wrote: "Josh wrote: "... the reviewer in Houston who believes "no one" would eat chicken wings for breakfast..."This gives me the chance to ask something which I've always wondered. This is a ..."
I like chicken wings, but I like your theory, too. And it is sustainable to eat every part of the chicken, isn't it?
I love cold pizza for breakfast. Surely breakfast is a better time to be eating such high calorie foods than late at night!
I'm reading Not Quite Shakespeare for my 'Read something from every author attending UK Meet' challenge.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Euro-cent. My shopping is on amazon.de because of geo-restrictions.