Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
ARCHIVE (General Topics)
>
What Are you Reading?
Jordan wrote: "have a read if you're interested: http://jezebel.com/what-exactly-is-mp..."That was interesting. Thank you, dear Jordan!
Mod
Ah! Yes. Actually, after our brief conversation here, I did a bit of readi..."
I think two--maybe three--things are going on. First, there is no denying the popularity of babies and pregnancy and little kids in romance, so there's that. Secondly, it delivers in spades on the Big Strong Man to Take Care of Me fantasy, which remains very popular both in romance, regardless of orientation. I think many readers have been shamed for liking this fantasy, but it's still very powerful--and who are any of us to judge someone else's fantasy?
I mean, I DO, but I get irritated with myself for it.
The third thing, the interesting thing to me, was how the Omegaverse is often used to show how appalling the treatment of women can be -- the stereotypes, the gender tropes, the societal pressures to conform (I was going to say in "less civilized countries," but then I thought of the GOP's efforts to keep women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen).
It's very interesting to see how outrageously offensive some typical romantic tropes are when they're directed at the male of the species.
Antonella wrote: "Alison wrote: "-A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson. A gorgeous queer fantasy romance novella which is nominated for a Hugo this year (and wouldn't that be cool if it won?). The ..."I hope you enjoy it! It's lovely. My library had it and I was looking at the cover (which is beautiful!) and then I had a bit of an "omg Ginn Hale!" surprise moment. :)
I bought his novel and picked up his two free Tor shorts yesterday, so I have lots of Kai Ashante Wilson now. :)
Jordan wrote: "So I had to do some searching on this (mpreg) and I came up with this interesting article which reminded me why I attempted to read it years ago when I read fanfic, and also why sea horses are so c..."Interesting article. Thanks, Jordan. I learned new things. I had no idea there was such a big mpreg community out there beyond just books.
Mod
Josh wrote: "Loretta wrote: "I also read a delightfully written mpreg story by SC Wynne. My Omega's Baby"Ah! Yes. Actually, after our brief conversation here, I did a bit of reading up on mpre..."
NO NO NO! NOnonononononono! Just NO!
Josh wrote: "I think two--maybe three--things are going on. First, there is no denying the popularity of babies and pregnancy and little kids in romance, so there's that. Secondly, it delivers in spades on the Big Strong Man to Take Care of Me fantasy, which remains very popular both in romance, regardless of orientation. I think many readers have been shamed for liking this fantasy, but it's still very powerful--and who are any of us to judge someone else's fantasy? ..."Two tropes from romance that annoy the everliving daylights out of me. So NOooooooo nonononono!
Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Loretta wrote: "I also read a delightfully written mpreg story by SC Wynne. My Omega's Baby"Ah! Yes. Actually, after our brief conversation here, I did a bit of readi..."
LOL. Just one little chapter....
Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Loretta wrote: "I also read a delightfully written mpreg story by SC Wynne. My Omega's Baby"Ah! Yes. Actually, after our brief conversation here, I did a bit of readi..."
I stand firmly with Susinok. NNNOOOOOONONO.
I don't think any of those tropes appeal to me. At all. No no no.
Don't want no babies, no big strong man fantasies.
I do have librarian fantasies, but those all involve the librarian handing me books....i couldn't even tell what the librarian looks like...or gender...does it matter?
Josh wrote: "Ame wrote: "Josh wrote: "Loretta wrote: "I also read a delightfully written mpreg story by SC Wynne. My Omega's Baby"Ah! Yes. Actually, after our brief conversation here, I did a ..."
That's interesting. I haven't ever looked at mpreg stories as illustrating the treatment of women but thinking back over some of the books I have read I can see how that can be done.
I don't mind mpreg or books with children. People have different tastes and it is nice to have such a diverse range of books. I just want a good story and the few mpreg that I have read have been very enjoyable. The main thing for me is a good author.
Haldis wrote: "...does it matter? "Only the books, Haldis, only the books. That's all that matters. :)
Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Loretta wrote: "I also read a delightfully written mpreg story by SC Wynne. My Omega's Baby"Ah! Yes. Actually, after our brief conversation here, I did a bit of reading..."
I'm with Susinok on this one. I don't want to read about anyone's pregnancy—male or female, and if I see mention of babies or children in an m/m story blurb, I stop and move on.
Alison wrote: "I bought his novel and picked up his two free Tor shorts yesterday, so I have lots of Kai Ashante Wilson now. :)"Guess what I did this morning? ;-)
The two free stories are
Super Bass, m/m, fantasy, wonderful world building,and
The Devil in America, historical, paranormal. This will leave you sad, it is worth though. Warnings: violence, reference to recent/present day violence against black people.
Alison wrote: "Haldis wrote: "...does it matter? "Only the books, Haldis, only the books. That's all that matters. :)"
:-)
Susan wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Loretta wrote: "I also read a delightfully written mpreg story by SC Wynne. My Omega's Baby"Ah! Yes. Actually, after our brief conversation here, I di..."
I have nothing against children or pregnacies in books, but I'm not able to even think about reading about mpreg, mostly because I really can't find any plausible way it can happen physically without grave injury. It can work in an alien setting when genders are different, but for humans, no.
Loretta wrote: "LOL. Just one little chapter......."NO!
Mod
Ah! Yes. Actually, after our brief conversation here, I did a bit of readi..."
LOL
Mod
For example, there was a question on Facebook about how readers handled cliff hangers in books. Now a cliff hanger in a contemporary book is actually VERY RARE. What these people meant by "cliff hangers" were on-going plot and character arcs in a series. Which is the very definition of a well-written series: all the parts are working to the grand finale.
THAT IS NOT A CLIFF HANGER.
For the love of God.
A cliff hanger means you don't know if the protagonist will live at the end of the chapter/story/book. NOT you don't know if he gets together with his boyfriend. Although, yes, that could be considered a little bit of a tiny cliff hanger -- the ending of Jefferson Blythe could, in one very narrow sense, be considered a cliff hanger. Technically though, it isn't a cliff hanger because there is no follow up. It is what we call "open ended." Because our tale is ended, but we don't have the final answer on one question (although, really, we sort of do.)
But these readers were talking about series books as though every book in a series ended on a cliff hanger because the reader doesn't ultimately know how everything ends up.
By that idiot definition, every story without an epilogue informing us of the protagonist's demise ends on a cliff hanger since we can't know every single thing that will happen to the character throughout their lifetime.
ARGH.
I comment not so often, because such a big part of my day is work now and when I then read all your comments, what I always do, my answer is often given by someone hours before. But I love it how we can here have all these different opinions.
Mprep is not my thing, but I have read S.c. Wynne 's book, because I like her. And the story is interesting because the interaction between the main characters are comprehensible and good written.
Alison wrote: "Antonella wrote: "The third book by Cat Sebastian is out. I don't know about this but I liked very much the other two books (The Soldier's Scoundrel and [book:The Lawrence Browne Af..."Thank you Antonella, I had the book, but had not read it.
Now I have read it and I enjoyed it.
Antonella wrote: "Alison wrote: "I bought his novel and picked up his two free Tor shorts yesterday, so I have lots of Kai Ashante Wilson now. :)"Guess what I did this morning? ;-)
The two free stories are
[bo..."
Nice! I have not read them yet. :)
Mpreg is not my thing, but, y' know, to each their own. Lots of people love it and it makes them happy and that's cool. I've never read an mpreg story, so now I'm a little tempted just for my own edification and to see what it's all about. We all have things we think are cool that other people think are weird. Everybody's different and that's my most favourite thing about humanity. :)
Josh wrote: "I must be rapidly returning to normal (or at least status quo ;-)) because I am feeling ranty again.For example, there was a question on Facebook about how readers handled cliff hangers in books...."
I'm with you, Josh. I really don't mind cliffhangers. If it's a series, they just make me really damn excited for the next book, which I think is somewhat the point. And in a series, especially a series that's at all a romance, it's really unlikely the main characters are going to actually die, so I don't worry about it. One of my most favourite series--J. Tullos Hennig's The Wode series--is rife with actual life-and-death cliffhanger endings, but it's a Robin Hood series, so I already know that Robyn Hood is not going to be killed off and look forward to seeing how he gets through this latest catastrophe. And endings that are open to speculation can be super fun. Sometimes I love not knowing exactly how it's all going to turn out.
Sabine wrote: "I comment not so often, because such a big part of my day is work now and when I then read all your comments, what I always do, my answer is often given by someone hours before. But I love it how ..."
It was pretty different than the other mpreg books I've read.
Susinok wrote: "Loretta wrote: "LOL. Just one little chapter......."NO!"
:)
Mod
Alison wrote: "Mpreg is not my thing, but, y' know, to each their own. Lots of people love it and it makes them happy and that's cool. I've never read an mpreg story, so now I'm a little tempted just for my own e..."Well said, Alison. Adding to that, I have experienced that a really good author can make me enjoy almost anything they throw at me, with a few exceptions obviously, there has to be a certain amount of humanity and decency in any story for me to get invested. I guess mpreg might give sense if the story is good enough. Maybe one of these days, I will try :)
Antonella wrote: "Alison wrote: "-A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson. A gorgeous queer fantasy romance novella which is nominated for a Hugo this year (and wouldn't that be cool if it won?). The ..."I ordered it too, it sounds like something I would love. Thank you for the recommendation.
Alison wrote: "Mpreg is not my thing, but, y' know, to each their own. Lots of people love it and it makes them happy and that's cool. I've never read an mpreg story, so now I'm a little tempted just for my own e..."I don't seek it but don't mind it if I happen to stumble upon a story that has mpreg. *shrugs* Like Anne said, if it's well written I can enjoy a lot of things I wouldn't have thought I'd touch. But then I think that reading is broadening one's horizon to things you normally wouldn't experience, yes?
My impression of the trope (in fanfic) is that it's mainly written by very young authors who find a way to deal with what concerns their lives, like for instance getting accidentally pregnant in an environment that isn't too welcoming to very young moms/single moms. There are happy mpreg-stories too, I think, but the trope lends itself very well to exploring the tension, the inner conflict, conflict with family/society and so on. So it's kinda understandable that it turns up again and again. ;)
Mod
Yes, this makes perfect sense to me.
Mod
Except the one I read and actually really liked where the author had done a lot of work to create a believable world and way for men to be able to have kids. It was a very dark story, which was why she never finished it and eventually took it down.
Mod
I don't mind pregnancies in stories. I don't mind kids in stories either as long as they are properly written and not completely perfect little angel who act like small grown ups. I say this as a bitter mother of NOT. PERFECT. CHILDREN. AT. ALL!Anyway. That is not what bothers me. But the fact that the few books I have read with mpreg are how I described them earlier, the fact that the one that becomes pregnant is the stereotypical weaker person playing into the stereotypical image we have of women as the weaker sex that needs protection from the big strong alpha male. That is what bothers me endlessly in any kind of romance stories whether MM or traditional FM. And probably why I have such hard time reading traditional FM romance. I much prefer stories with equal partners. And probably also why I like many crime stories so much, the weaker people are weaker not because of their gender and the same applies to strong characters.
Mymymble wrote: "You're obviously not a Game of Thrones addict, Alison."Ha ha, you're right! :)
How could I forget about the copious main character deaths in GOT? Even as a non-fan I know the jokes. :) I guess I hadn't thought about more mainstream fantasy series where main characters die all the time, like in the Martin books. Though Martin has become famous for doing that very thing, so you'd certainly know what you were in for ahead of time. I thought Josh was talking more about supposed "cliffhangers" in books that are more romance-oriented, so I think I was thinking more in that vein. Oops. :)
I started watching GOT years ago and it didn't grab me, so I stopped in the first season, though quite a few people have said I should have kept going because it gets better as it goes on. Maybe I'll give it another try someday, or watch all of it when it's finished.
I've been lost in Captive Prince series audiobooks. Those are simply not books you can read one at a time with break in between. At least I can't. So after every book I've scrambled in a hurry to the Audible site to get the next one. Now I'm on the last one, both happy and sad about it. I'm not usually a fantasy reader but this series has me completely hooked.
Ame wrote: "I've been lost in Captive Prince series audiobooks. Those are simply not books you can read one at a time with break in between. At least I can't. So after every book I've scrambled ..."I enjoyed this series a lot more than I thought I would. Haven't tried them on audio book, though.
Anytime anyone wants to talk about Captive Prince, I am available. I think I may be Pacat's biggest fan. That series has beguiled me more than any other in a very long time. “To get what you want, you have to know exactly how much you are willing to give up." -Prince's Gambit
Have you Captive Prince fans listened to the audiobooks? The narration was maybe not great, but it was good; and I very much enjoyed experiencing the three books a second time in this way.Also, Ive been wanting to talk about how these several years of enjoying a big, delicious buffet of m/m fiction have adjusted what I look for in same.
I went most of my life looking for m/m fiction, rarely finding it and even more rarely getting what I hoped for from it. So often they were not very romantic books let alone adventurous. They were "real," "serious fiction." Oh, joy. And if I did have an appealing couple to root for, I was lucky if even a kiss on the mouth was described. We weren't allowed into the bedroom at all.
Now, spoiled rotten as I am, I not only have enjoyed plenty of m/m sex in fiction, I'm sick of it. The one thing I try to avoid now are books that major in sex scenes and minor in story. I like K. J. Charles stories in general; she's got a lot to offer. But three, four, five sex scenes is 2, 3 or 4 more than I want. I saw some of y'all's notes re Cat Sebastian. I'm finding her even better than Charles, her humor understated and straight-faced. I'm enjoying her recent release, The Ruin of a Rake very much. Even at that, I find myself skimming or outright skipping most of the sex.
I feel like a prude confessing all of this, and I'm quite sure there are plenty of contributors here who will not agree with me. That's cool, but I was curious to know if any do.
There's a funny little irony to this. When I was a young woman reading gothic romances, usually I could expect one love scene. In later years, there might be one suggestive or graphic scene.
I took it for granted but I assume it was part and parcel of the more circumspect approach of the times. Can we go back to that do you think? (I'm laughing at myself.)
Here's another one: What was that book Josh liked so much? Two guys, country life--the U.K. I think. I liked it, but kept waiting for the romance to happen. I think I'll go read that one again.
Candice wrote: " What was that book Josh liked so much? Two guys, country life--the U.K. I think. I liked it, but kept waiting for the romance to happen. I think I'll go read that one again. "The Larton Chronicles ?
Mod
Also, I..."
My own reading and reading enjoyment is full spectrum, from none at all (His Quiet Agent), to fade-to-black, well-placed for character/relationship development, gay-sex-101, and on to sex-is-the-plot/erotica. It depends on the book as a whole. When I skim or skip, it's because my interest in the direction of the overall story is more demanding than the particular sex scene written, especially if it's written in a generic way (been there-read that). For example, gay-sex-101 is seldom written in an interesting/different/unique way. But happily, sometimes it is.
I enjoy KJ Charles and Cat Sebastian's writing, and I don't skim while reading them because the number and placement of intimate scenes in their stories usually is a good fit for me as a reader. I do understand other preferences.
There's a huge (depressingly huge) number of "gay romance" books (noted just by cruising Amazon pages and reading blurbs/excerpts) that are utterly formulaic, and include scenes that seem to have come from "researching" the sex scenes in what I'd describe as "early days" m/m. And then repeat these monotonously. ;)
So happy to have the shared resource of recommendations from readers in this group.
Mod
The Larton Chronicles?
Ha ha. Jinx! Sara posted while I was typing.
Candice wrote: "Have you Captive Prince fans listened to the audiobooks? The narration was maybe not great, but it was good; and I very much enjoyed experiencing the three books a second time in this way.Also, I..."
I think you will find, Candice, that there is a fair number of us in this group who don't mind the fade to black sex scenes, or even minimal scenes. If a story contains sex scenes, then I want them to illustrate something about the characters, something about the relationship, not just gratuitous sex.
That said, there are plenty in this group that really enjoys hot sex scenes in their stories.
We are a very mixed and accepting group, I think. :-)
...have to go back to work...see ya!
Karen wrote: "Ha ha. Jinx! Sara posted while I was typing.":D
Mod
Also, I..."
I think what you're experiencing is fairly common for readers who've been in the genre for several years. The novelty has worn off for many. I like an emotionally significant sex scene or two or two in my romances, but I'm bored when characters are falling into bed every couple of pages whether it makes any sense or not.
That said, there are still plenty of people who read primarily for the sex scenes, and authors who make their living cranking 'em out.
Mod
[book..."
I was just thinking it's time to go back and give that another read. I do love that book.
I don't mind sex, just like I don't mind not sex. But when the plot suffers because of sex scenes than that's when I say stop. And honestly I see too much of it at the moment. Probably why I'm rereading so much. Going back to my early MM reads which were so good.
I've read the Captive Prince series so many times and I really really like the audiobooks. I've seen some criticism of the narration but I liked the narrator and had no problems with him. He's not the best I've heard but he is good. I love the intricate plot of the story and yet it never gets too complicated or confusing. I love that we (mostly) only get Damen's point of view and therefore so often don't know what the hell Laurent is thinking or doing. It really is one of the best stories I've read even if it's fantasy which I rarely read. In fact I'd love to find just as good fantasy series to read. Unfortunately the few I've read have started out as good than they go all downhill; Black Dagger Brotherhood, Sookie Stackhouse. Pacat did absolutely the correct thing in not dragging the series on until they'd turn to rubbish.
I am a fast reader and when a sequence bores me, I read faster. (Moanmoanpleasedon'tmoanstop😊)But that's not so easy, when I listen to an audiobook. Less can be more.
Mod
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
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)
More...
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)
More...
I've just ordered it. Thank you. Who am I to ignore a joint rec by you and Ginn Hale? ;-)