Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What Are you Reading?
Antonella wrote: "But are you sure that it is a romance? I see people categorising it under: gay fiction, thriller, mystery, murder-mystery, historical, but no romance. ..."I heard mention of a happy ending, but it's Hamlet. They could all die in the end. I'll report back.
Josh wrote: "Susinok wrote: "I am reading I Knew Him by Erastes. Set in the 1920s, it's a re-imagining of Hamlet. Being a romance, I assume the ending is a bit different... ;)"Is this something new from her? That would be nice! ..."
It came out in 2014. I picked up the paperback at GRNW and read the blurb, and then found it among my ebooks I had on my phone on the plane on the way home. Serendipity!
Lillian wrote: "I wouldn't guarantee it. Not all of her stories have a happy ending. ..."I can handle that..
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When creating a list of "subgenres" (no longer just subgenres) to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my list so far:
Anthologies
Audiobooks
BDSM
Fantasy
General/Contemporary Romance
Historical
Mystery/Suspense
Paranormal
Sci-Fi/Dystopian
Western/Farming (included farming so I could include Red Dirt Heart on my list!)
M/M Including Neuro-Atypical Characters
M/M Including Disabled Characters
M/M Including Asexual Characters
M/M Including Bisexual Characters
M/M Including Gender Queer/Transgender Characters
Non-Traditional/"Dark" Relationships (ie Dark Soul by Aleksandr Voinov and Mind Fuck by Manna Francis)
Thanks guys! You've been a huge help whenever I ask odd questions like this. I appreciate your answers!
Jordan wrote: "Question for you guys:When creating a list of subgenres to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my list so far:
Anthologies
Audiobooks
BDSM
Fant..."
I wouldn't call anthologies and audiobooks subgenres. For example, you can have an anthology of historical stories and audiobooks of fantasy stories.
Same with the character types-- they're not a subgenre, they'd fit into other subgenres. Like a western with an ace MC.
And I know Mind Fuck by Manna Francis is usually considered dystopian in the sci-fi/fantasy group I'm in, so I'd probably eliminate the "dark" category too, because I don't think that's a subgenre per se.
But I think if you are just trying to categorize the books and not use the term "subgenre" then your list would be fine to help people find what they're looking for.
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When creating a list of subgenres to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my list so far:
Anthologies
Audio..."
Well, yes, they are different, but sometimes they get shelved together. Like our shelves here read "Sci-Fi/Fantasy Collections" meaning that they are interfiled, and often dystopian books are shelved there. I decided to "interfile" dystopian and sci-fi in my lists because I couldn't find enough really great titles to fill out both categories and they fit together best. (I'm trying to find at least 10 titles for each subgenre.)
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When creating a list of subgenres to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my list so far:
Anthologies
Audio..."
Yes, most of these wouldn't be "subgenres". It started out as just a "subgenre" list and kind of grew a bit. lol. So, forget that title.
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When creating a list of subgenres to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my list so far:
..."
You're right. I wasn't sure if I should include that list or not. I read pretty much everything else, but not that and wasn't sure a list of PWP books would be good or not.
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When creating a list of subgenres to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have for..."
I know I shouldn't leave out a list just because I don't read it. I think I was also thinking that I wanted to show that M/M is more than just sex, you know? And most of the books already include sex, so why have a list just for sex?
I dunno. Maybe that's wrong thinking.
Jordan wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Question for you guys:When creating a list of subgenres to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anythi..."
Is this going to be a written list? Maybe you can asterisk the titles with lots of sex. Also I don't know if there are many titles that would fall into this category but horror is usually considered a subgenre too, often combined with sci-fi and fantasy.
Mymymble wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Question for you guys:When creating a list of subgenres to M/M, do you think I've g..."
I guess I was thinking that you'd need a way to easily identify and keep those titles out of kids' hands without separating them out of the genre categories. The US is a pretty puritanical country and doesn't look kindly on kids reading erotica. It probably depends on how liberal Jordan's community is though, and how they usually handle that for non m/m books.
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If you think an erotica list is important, I will include it!
I can also include horror, especially if we have enough horror in M/M to make a list. I'll look into it. That's also another subgenre I don't normally read, so thanks for mentioning it!
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At this point, my lists are still in the planning phases, and nothing is permanent since everything keeps changing. So, all of your suggestions are very helpful!
Jordan wrote: "Yes, this is for the library. It'll be up on the website, actually, and very likely printable. If you think an erotica list is important, I will include it!
I can also include horror, especiall..."
Widdershins (series) and Haint are the two titles that I think could fit into horror off the top of my head.
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If you think an erotica list is important, I will include it!
I can also include ho..."
Widdershins got added to the paranormal list, actually, which also includes zombies, werewolves, vampires and things like that. So, maybe that could be a Horror/Paranormal list?
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Jordan wrote: "Oh, and the reason I included a "dark" section was for books I wouldn't randomly recommend to just anyone. I had included a side note to "read at your own risk" lol. Maybe that wasn't a good idea? ..."I think as long as you aren't calling them subgenres (which you aren't ;) then the dark classification is good.
And horror and paranormal often go together!
Jordan wrote: "Question for you guys:When creating a list of "subgenres" (no longer just subgenres) to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my list so far:
Ant..."
Love the idea of the lists! If the lists are for public use, my only query is related to whether to use "M/M" or the term "gay romance" when doing the lists. (I know this is a topic within our community itself--which to use.)
After working with local LGBTQ organizations on spreading awareness of queer romance stories (with libraries, nonprofits, etc), I've found that I basically had to abandon early on using the term "M/M" if I wanted to be open to LGBTQ communities/readers finding gay romance books, but who didn't understand romance genre terms. "M/M" or "F/F" doesn't always makes sense to people outside the romance halls, whereas "gay romance", "lesbian romance" "LGBTQ romance", etc, is more easily understood and served well as a visual signal that they were in the right place.
So, if the goal of the lists is to also signal to LGBTQ readers in the community about what the lists contain, my vote would be to use gay romance in the list names. Just my 2 cents. :-)
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When they go up on the website, there won't be an over arching classification of "subgenres", so, yeah. :-)
OK, I'll combine horror and paranormal. :-)
Also, the library owns Haint! So it's definitely going on the list too. :-)
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When creating a list of "subgenres" (no longer just subgenres) to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my li..."
Thanks! This has been a battle I've been waging in my head for awhile now. And it irritates the heck out of me to try to determine what to call it! Because you're very right.
I'm planning to have a section to explain what M/M is, it's history, too perhaps. But maybe I'll change the overall title of the guide to something like Gay Romance.
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I'm calling it Paranormal/Horror. :-D
Jordan wrote: "ttg wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Question for you guys:When creating a list of "subgenres" (no longer just subgenres) to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? ..."
That would be my rec. :-) You might be surprised who comes out of the woodwork to check things out. On the negative flipside, you might also run into more bigotry (whereas M/M can slide by since most don't know what the term means.) That's the hard part, but I found catching the eye of LGBTQ readers searching for more books, especially happy books, as worth the risk.
Jordan wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Oh, and the reason I included a "dark" section was for books I wouldn't randomly recommend to just anyone. I had included a side note ..."I don't know if you want to include a YA category or not? I know a lot of adults who read those too, even though they're not the intended audience.
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When creating a list of "subgenres" (no longer just subgenres) to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may h..."
True. I have a feeling though that this guide won't be upfront and in your face, so we might not get much flak for it. Well, I hope not. Years ago I got some pretty hilarious flak for a display I did on pride month. This guy wrote into the local paper and told them everything on my display was rated triple X. I just had a good laugh over it. It was all YA, with some tasteful adult nonfiction about being gay parents and things like that. I made copies of the letter to the editor and I still have them somewhere.
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True.
I don't know if I do or not. I'll have to think about that. Though there are YA LGBTQ book lists available on our library catalog, so it's not like the genre is completely forgotten.
Jordan wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Oh, and the reason I included a "dark" section was for books I wouldn't randomly recommend to just anyo..."Maybe you can just link to the YA lists at the bottom then. Like "If you are looking for more on the subject, check out these lists too!"
Oh, and some other anthologies: Charmed and Dangerous, Irregulars, Another Place in Time.
Mod
Yes, I might just do that with the YA lists.
lol, the hard part is that I did include Charmed and Dangerous and Irregulars under Fantasy.
Also, as hard as this is, I'm trying not to include too many titles by the same author. For authors like Josh, Ginn Hale, and Aleksandr Voinov, this is especially hard!
Mymymble wrote: "A young adult list is a great idea. Just maybe not on the titles themselves @ the top. A link @ the end is great. For me and mine, except for Rowling and Jacqueline Wilson it's an automatic turnoff..."Happy birthday, Mymymble!
Jordan wrote: "When I included the "anthologies" section, I really only included it as a place holder for the Magic & Mayhem: Fiction and Essays Celebrating LGBTQA Romance, which I thought might b..."For M&M, I think it's good to add, but am severely biased since it's based from our GRNW program. Along with essays, it includes 8 new stories, including gay romance, lesbian romance, bi-romance, genderqueer romance, ace romance, and trans romance.
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She doesn't sleep with me. My family (parents) have always had a "no dog on furniture" rule and I've stuck with it. Also, she's still not used to much human affection and wouldn't spend the night with me even if she could, never mind that my bed isn't big enough for both of us!
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That's what I thought. The essays sounded like they would be good for "beginners" to the genre as well as for the more experienced folk. :-)
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When creating a list of "subgenres" (no longer just subgenres) to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, o..."
Pretty much.
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Is it your birthday, Mymymble? Happy Birthday!
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Thanks!
Yes, I will include a link somewhere on the page for YA titles!
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:-D Thank you!!!
Jordan wrote: "She doesn't sleep with me. My family (parents) have always had a "no dog on furniture" rule and I've stuck with it. Also, she's still not used to much human affection and wouldn't spend the night with me even if she could, never mind that my bed isn't big enough for both of us! " s..."I have the same rule. They sleep in their crates which are next to each other. Matter of fact if I don't put them in their crates soon after 9pm, they let me know it's bedtime.
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I tried to crate Adrien, but she refused. She has her own bed next to mine as well as one in the living room. She goes to bed on her own and I have to coax her out of it to go outside one more time at night. lol.
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What she said — I hope your birthday was a lovely one, Mymymble! Happy belated birthday!
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Care to elaborate?"
Thanks Antonella. Sure I ..."
The problem is everyone's experience is personal and subjective. No one speaks for all...anything. I don't speak for all writers or all women or all women writers or all married women writers of my generation who write male/male romance and live in Los Angeles county and own pools where their youthful relatives swim.
I don't care how much you try to narrow it down, NO ONE speaks for anything more than their own person experience.
It is sheer egotism to imagine that your personal experience will be a defining experience for someone else. Let alone EVERYONE else.
But this is the world we live in. Social media has created the illusion that our opinion and personal experience is of vast and universal -- not merely interest (which is laughable enough) -- importance.
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I wouldn't guara..."
:-) But I just mean I would be glad to know she's writing again. It seems like I haven't heard anything from her in a long time.
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Can't believe I've had this in my TBR pile forever and I'm only picking it up now. :/
Halfway through and I'm loving it."
Isn't that funny? Or maybe not because mood does determine a lot of our reading enjoyment.
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Can't believe I've had this in my TBR pile forever and I'm only picking it up now. :/
Halfway through and I'm loving it."
Isn't th..."
I wonder why that's so true though. If I'm not in the right mood, then forget it. And sometimes, being in the wrong mood and reading the wrong book at the wrong time can be very detrimental to everything in the world, which happened to me once and was a horrible experience I hope never to go through again!
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When creating a list of "subgenres" (no longer just subgenres) to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my list so far:
Ant..."
I don't think so, but I'm a book geek.
Oh! But I also have some practical experience of this because of that spreadsheet on my site started by Lia which details which books have certain elements. And those elements were all things certain readers really cared about: LEO, disability, age, etc.
Readers -- maybe this is more of a romance reader thing? -- are very specific about what they are looking for. And maybe because romance itself is almost an involuntary response to certain stimuli?
Like why do we respond to certain things the way we do? Why, for example, do so many readers NOT like the idea of beards?
And yet in real life I guarantee you that a beard or baldness or whatever would probably not matter at all. (Well, let me qualify that by saying would not matter at all to someone actually interested in a real life relationship with a real life person!) :-D
The things we look for in romance stories are not necessarily what we are looking for in real life--which some people get and some people (who can't sell books to save their lives) don't.
And that would be because most of us understand that fiction is not real life.
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I'm writing up a brief history of M/M blurb and want to give a quick mention of F/F.
Thanks guys!
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If you think an erotica list is important, I will include it!
I can also include horror, especiall..."
Is it genuinely horror if the main character survives with a potential love interest? I tend to think not. I think to qualify as true horror the main character must either die or stand alone and bloody in the field of carnage.
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I think most readers probably lump them together.
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When creating a list of subgenres to M/M, do you think I've gone too far, or is there anything I may have forgotten? Here's my list so far:
..."
This is an interesting question -- any sex in male/male fiction tends to fall under the heading of erotica in the opinion of those who do not read male/male. But if these actions were taken by heterosexual characters, they would be viewed as normal adult interaction and not specifically "erotica."
Which is kind of illuminating. And a bit depressing.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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I think it'll be my Christmas read this year. I LOVE him. Capital letters :)"..."
:)