Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What Are you Reading?
Jordan wrote: "Thanks everyone! Here's the list now:Aaron by J.P. Barnaby (PTSD)
Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan (autistic)
Ethan, Who Loved Carter by Ryan Loveless (Tourette's & Brain Injury)
Gays of Our Live..."
That's a great list. I've read most of them, and they are excellent. I'll have to get the couple I haven't read yet.
Mymymble wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Haldis wrote: "Decided to do a re-read of the Owen Archer historical mysteries by Candace Robb starting with The Apothecary Rose.It's really not much of a mystery bec..."
No, it is not m/m.
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I have that ready to go.
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"Please sit down."
"Thank you, I will."
"Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"No thank you. I would like to get right down to business."
"Very well. Let us begin."
-- but the grammar and punctuation are pristine.
And I find it absolutely fascinating because you *know* she wrote it thinking All these people writing FBI novels and getting everything WRONG. I'm going to write a novel where everything is RIGHT.
"Everything" meaning all the details of routine and procedure and protocol. All that difficult-to-find info that writers struggle to get right. She has all that in her head, and it makes her nuts when she sees writers getting any of that wrong. :-D
Just like I want to kill myself when I see people writing about teachers or musicians or cowboys when they've clearly not taught or been in a band or met a cowboy.
It's natural.
But it's also a reminder that writing is an art. It requires more than facts and experience. It requires technique, craft, skill...and yes, some people do just have natural talent for it (like being born with perfect pitch) but anyone can learn the craft, the technique. Anyone can hone their skills to a level of commercial competency.
What troubles me is I'm seeing so many courses on writing being offered now where a huge selling point is that you don't need to be able to write. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THAT STUFF!!! It's all about how you price your books and where you advertise. In fact, a lot of these courses are about not writing the books at all. Hiring someone else to write the books for you and you just operate as a one man publishing house.
It's just so weird to me. I can't make sense of it.
Josh wrote: "I've been reading a novel by a former FBI Agent (well, no, she was an actual Director with the ACT) and it is full of fantastic info and useful information. The story isn't bad -- but it also is no..."As a reader and buyer of books I can't make sense of it either. Badly written books are just bad.
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LOL! Poor Paul.
Lou wrote: "Josh wrote: "I've been reading a novel by a former FBI Agent (well, no, she was an actual Director with the ACT) and it is full of fantastic info and useful information. The story isn't bad -- but ..."If you like Bill Bass check out
and
Non Fiction and really good I thought. Than Again I love this kind of book
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I am working my way through the Hap and Leonard series. The first book Savage Season has been turned into a series. The books are mystery/adventure but are also quite violent because the series is about two guys who exist on the edge of criminality. One is a black, gay Vietnam veteran and the other is his friend a white Vietnam objector and they both live in Texas. Trouble just seems to find them all the time, but the narration is superb and the stories are hilarious too.
Just finished reading Donald Hardy's Lover's Knot. So absolutely beautiful. Lyrical writing, complex characters, emotionally intense in a variety of ways. There's a difficult scene that i knew was coming because of my bad habit of peeking at the end of romance books to make sure all will be well, and then peeking some more to make even more sure, but even knowing that (though i strongly recommend not peeking at the end for this book), the writing gently but surely sweeps one along on an incredibly heartfelt journey.
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Yeah, I'm a bit sad for this one. I'm hoping to skim the ending sometime today so I can move on to the next book I need to read for our Pride Book List.
KC wrote: "Just finished reading Donald Hardy's Lover's Knot. So absolutely beautiful. Lyrical writing, complex characters, emotionally intense in a variety of ways. There's a difficult scene t..."I used to do that, too. Mostly with adventure stories to make sure everybody I liked would survive. :-D
Same strategy worked to get through a book that was basically boring but knowing the end made me read it because I wanted to know how they got there...
Calathea wrote: "KC wrote: "Just finished reading Donald Hardy's Lover's Knot. So absolutely beautiful. Lyrical writing, complex characters, emotionally intense in a variety of ways. There's a diffic..."I used to do that, but it is easier with paper books. These days with the Kindle, I manage to resist :)
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Yes!!! :-D
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It's crazy to think of writing as a get rich scheme. Apparently such a solid scheme that even people who can't write and don't want to write should try to get rich here.
I start sputtering every time I try to talk to someone about it.
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I agree. A wealth of fascinating knowledge and experience is what carries those books.
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I have become a guilt-free peeker. Nothing annoys me more than wading through a book and then hating the ending.
Josh wrote: "I have become a guilt-free peeker. Nothing annoys me more than wading through a book and then hating the ending. "So true. I think only once the peeking really ruined the mystery of a book for me, while in one case (an f/f supposedly romance), it would've been better to peek at the end right at the beginning...
Anne wrote: "I used to do that, but it is easier with paper books. These days with the Kindle, I manage to resist :) "I had never thought about this, it is true also for me for a good book: I don't jump forward if it is on the Kindle.
But then, when the book is not good, I do skip parts, even on the Kindle.
Antonella wrote: "Anne wrote: "I used to do that, but it is easier with paper books. These days with the Kindle, I manage to resist :) "I had never thought about this, it is true also for me for a good book: I don..."
I skip boring parts on the Kindle, but if it is a bad book, I stop reading altogether. I used to feel I had to finish what I started,, these days I don't. Life is too short etc...
Also, books used to be expensive, or I had to go to the library, with new books just one click away, there is always something new. Come to think about it, this all seems kind of shallow and superficial on my part. The reading experience has changed with the e-book. ..
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However, I finally got a copy of Man, Oh Man! Writing M/M Fiction for Kinks & Cash, well, the newer edition, in our library. And already, there are three people waiting for it!!! yay!!!
And, on another note, I just found these two books 100 Days of Real Food: How We Did It, What We Learned, and 100 Easy, Wholesome Recipes Your Family Will Love and 100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous: The Easy and Delicious Way to Cut Out Processed Food. These are fabulous! She goes into such great detail about what real food actually is, versus processed food, and then gives 100 recipes. I only just got them today, so I'm hoping to get something out of them in the coming weeks/months.
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Yeah. I've been struggling with a m/m book that has tons of great reviews here on GR. To me it's terribly, hopelessly boring with the huge amount of sex and the fact that the whole setup is just silly and unconvincing. I keep putting it away and then after a week or two trying to continue with it — thinking that maybe I still should give the author a chance — but no. It just isn't working for me at all.
I should let it go. It's so true what you guys say — life is too short and all that.
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Yep. I do this too. Especially in movies.
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Well done, Jordan! :-)
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So true. I think only once the peeking really ruined the mystery of ..."
There is also that risk!
But it's a chance I'm willing to take. (She said in her John Wayne voice.)
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Ye..."
Life is too short and, as Anne mentioned, books are too plentiful. I'm not kidding when I say I already have more on my kindle than I will probably have time to read in my lifetime. Unless I just could read for a living, THEN I could manage it. I'm a pretty fast reader. :-D
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..."
I was just looking at the book yesterday. I'm going to change the cover. I've decided it's too porny looking. :-D
I mean, it was my choice of cover, but I've belatedly changed my mind.
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I do too now. I used to make myself watch all these horrifically violent kung fu movies and straight-to-cable films (remember the days of straight-to-cable) but finally I thought: Why? Hating to see violence is actually a good thing in a human. :-D
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Lou wrote: "When I listen to an audiobook I skip the violence. In the movies I close my eyes and sink down in my seat. I'm a wuss."Me too! I skim if I'm reading. Look away if I'm watching. So far i haven't had to do that on an audiobook other than some murder scenes in JD Robb's In Death series.
Jordan wrote: "And, on another note, I just found these two books 100 Days of Real Food: How We Did It, What We Learned, and 100 Easy, Wholesome Recipes Your Family Will Love and 100 Days of Real Food: Fast & Fabulous: The Easy and Delicious Way to Cut Out Processed Food. These are fabulous! She goes into such great detail about what real food actually is, versus processed food, and then gives 100 recipes. I only just got them today, so I'm hoping to get something out of them in the coming weeks/months. ..."These types of things amuse me to no end. I have been cooking real food my entire life. I buy ingredients, not meals.
Coincidentally, two of my chain customers cook this way too. They make everything at the restaurant from scratch. It's catching on.
Jordan wrote: "Just finished All The Wrong Places by Lauren Gallagher and LOVED IT! So glad it's going on our Pride Book list! There needs to be a lot more ace romances like this one."I loved that book, too. It was the best Ace romance I've read. Though I haven't found many.
I have recently enjoyed two books with Ace carachters by Cass Lennox. Sweet stories and well written. Right now I'm reading Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger, an author I believe someone here recommended once. Also very enjoyable.
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Yep. I do this too. Especially in movies."
I di..."
LOL! I think we'd be pretty hilarious watching horror together. :-D I, too, scream and run away from the TV screen a lot. Watching behind a blanket or a pillow is quite handy too (when there is shortage of close warm bodies, that is). :-) A long time ago I learned not to watch anything too horrible in the movies. That's just impossible for me.
Anne wrote: "I have recently enjoyed two books with Ace carachters by Cass Lennox. Sweet stories and well written."Do you mean for ex. this one?
It does look good.
Antonella wrote: "Anne wrote: "I have recently enjoyed two books with Ace carachters by Cass Lennox. Sweet stories and well written."Do you mean for ex. this one? [bookcover:Blank Spaces|31567731..."
Yes, that's the first in a series of four. The first two have been released. They can be read as stand alones, not a series as such, but they center around a group of people loosely connected.
Hello a moderator suggested I post this here, to pursue a discussion started in Fair Games challenge thread. Might work, as I think it will bring new authors ideas to people.People were noting their Gateway Josh Lanyon book, the one JL book that was their first. Since I reread a lot, I was no longer sure which JL book was my first...and was curious also as to what books led me to JL. (Just started mm reading in March 2016).
So I organized my kindle content manager by acquisition date and scrolled back through time. My journey went something like thishPrimarily a scifi/fantasy/mystery reader I was prompted by Amazon and reviewer recommendations. I wandered: from Kit Rocha to CS Pacat to KJ Charles to Harper Fox to 2 Rhys Ford books to John Wiltshire to Jordan Castillo Price to 2 Amy Lane books to 6 Mary Calmes books/stories to Josh (Fatal Shadows and then rest). have gone on to read tons more, but that is the Journey To Josh for me. I would have guessed a much shorter mm list pre-josh. The Adrien English series is tops in my favorite mm collection vying w Hlmes &Moriarity and Gregg's Romano and Albright.
Books just finished, recommended:Seer, Jordan Reece. An oddly pleasant dystopian cyberpunk police procedural murder mystery mm romance. I five starred it, more for mystery story and world building then for mm.
E-pistols at dawn, ZA Maxfield. mm Romance, smart and likable characters. I found it amusing and thought provoking (HEA is there). A chunk of the story occurs in emails while the two MCs were 'incognito' I liked this intellectual connection made, other reviewers didnt. 4 starred it.
Gentleman and the Rogue, Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon. This is a pretty cheerful easy read, not usual for classic regency mm. Gloomy ex-military meets cheeky optimistic guttersnipe (ahem...during an evening transaction). Not a lot of obstacles slowing the developing relationship. Instead the primary action focuses on them teaming up to save a child from eeeeevil. For the relatively cheerful regency novel with a story beyond the romance: 4 stars.
WMD wrote: "Books just finished, recommended:Seer, Jordan Reece. An oddly pleasant dystopian cyberpunk police procedural murder mystery mm romance. I five starred it, more for mystery story and world building..."
Thank you for the rec, The Seer has good reviews. I've read the other two books, and also gave them 4 stars.
About your other question: I started to read Josh because I was in a ''Brokeback Mountain'' forum and after reading ''Brokeback Mountain'' slash, some friends pushed that I give Adrien English series a try, even though I didn't particularly like mysteries ;-). This was end of 2008. I think I had read a couple of Astrid Amara books before Josh's books, but I'm not sure if it was before or after.
I've said this few times before but my gateway was: BlackDaggerBrotherhood>Cut&Run series>Adrien English Mysteries. The rest is history.
Ame wrote: "I've said this few times before but my gateway was: BlackDaggerBrotherhood>Cut&Run series>Adrien English Mysteries. The rest is history."Mine was similar: Cut&Run (the first ones), then Adrien English followed by the rest of Josh's backlist - I still remember the feeling of absolute delight upon discovering that wonderful, wonderful backlist.
Through Josh i found: Nicole Kimberling, Ginn Hale, and Astrid Amara after reading Irregulars.
Also at the top of fav m/m authors: Harper Fox, Jordan Castillo Price, LB Gregg, Amy Rae Durreson, Keira Andrews, JL Merrow, KJ Charles, Joanna Chambers, Alexis Hall, Eli Easton.
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That's an interesting path, WMD!
After reading a lot of paranormal romance and urban fantasy for a year or two J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series gave me a push towards m/m romance genre. That was 2010, I believe. The very first m/m romance books that I found were Jordan Castillo Price's Among the Living and Tere Michaels' Faith & Fidelity. I kept on reading pretty much everything I could find from JCP and also read Jane Seville's Zero at the Bone along with the three first books of Madeleine Urban's and Abigail Roux's Cut & Run series.
And then — voila! — I happened to find Josh's The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks. Which immediately lead me to wolf down I Spy Something Bloody, I Spy Something Wicked and The Adrien English Mysteries series. I can still so vividly recall the overwhelmingly wonderful feel of homecoming when discovering Josh's books! :-)
Cover for Book 9 of The Administration Series is there, since yesterday, in fact!
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"Oooohhhh...
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Been Here All Along: YA MM Romance
Flight: Queer Sci Fi's Third Annual Flash Fiction Contest: This includes roughly 90 stories, all 300 words or less, covering fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and paranormal, with all LGBTQ+ characters, and some of the authors may be familiar to you!
Accidental Contact and Other Mahu Investigations I'm still reading this one, but I'm seriously enjoying it, as I have all the other Mahu books. This is a collection of short stories, some of which have funny back stories that are explained in the introduction.
And of course All the Wrong Places was a fantastic ace romance I'll likely reread a lot!
Antonella wrote: "Cover for Book 9 of The Administration Series is there, since yesterday, in fact!"What Jordan said.
Thanks, Antonella!
I found JCP's PsyCop series probably since I read a lot of sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal and so Amazon recommended them. Then The Ghost wore yellow socks kept popping up. I was sceptical because I thought it was a ghost story, but when I first started, I was sold. And ordered all of her books and found my way here. A happy set of events :)
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I daydreamed slash for many years before I knew it was "a thing," seeing homoerotic subtext everywhere whether or not it was there. : )
I came to m/m via ebooks from Fictionwise and Ellora's Cave (blush). I was delighted to find these veritable candy stores of dark and urban fantasy, erotica, menage, kink, mystery, and… (say what?) holiday romance. Yep, I remember being really surprised to find out that too was "a thing." It led me to The Dickens with Love. Purchase date was late December, 2010. I think I bought all of the rest of Josh's backlist within a few months, starting with the Holmes & Moriarity books, then AE. I joined this group in March 2012.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
Books mentioned in this topic
Subtle Bodies (other topics)Husband Material (other topics)
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night (other topics)
A Shattered Silver Crown (other topics)
A Shattered Silver Crown (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jordan Castillo Price (other topics)Alexis Hall (other topics)
Katherine Fabian (other topics)
Iona Datt Sharma (other topics)
Cynthia Zhang (other topics)
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Aaron by J.P. Barnaby (PTSD)
Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan (autistic)
Ethan, Who Loved Carter by Ryan Loveless (Tourette's & Brain Injury)
Gays of Our Lives by Kris Ripper (MS)
Handle With Care by Josephine Myles (diabetes)
Never a Hero by Marie Sexton (stutter/amputee)
The Persistence of Memory by Jordan Castillo Price (autistic)
Puzzle Me This by Eli Easton (wheelchair)
The Rebuilding Year by Kaje Harper (leg injury)
Seizing It by Chris T. Cat (epilepsy)
Signs by Anna Martin (deaf)
My goal was to be somewhere around 10 books for each list, and now this list has 11. yay! And what's better, the three books I added are books the library already owns. Whoooo!!!
And don't worry, Josh has four titles in other sections: Snowball in Hell under Historicals, AE in Mystery, Irregulars in Fantasy, and Jefferson Blythe, Esquire in Audio. :-) Believe me, if I could, I'd have a Josh title under every sub genre heading!