Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What Are you Reading?
Josh wrote: "Anne wrote: "Josh wrote: "Reading LB Gregg's 
I'm enjoying it very much. I think LB is the premier writer of rom com in this genre.Anyway, I read a comm..."
Simple and elegant and the words that work best, so easy and yet so hard. It does describe your writing though, that's for sure, simple and elegant and poetical to add an important ingredent in all your work.
Mod
Heh. :-) Also one thing I've been sometimes wondering is how sex scenes so often lack fun. I agree with you, real life sex isn't that organized and shouldn't be very serious. Or at least that's the way I see it.
This is why I HUGELY appreciate every time Adrien and Jake bang their heads together in bed... ;-)
Josh wrote: "Reading LB Gregg's I'm enjoying it very much. I think LB is the premier writer of rom com in this genre.Anyway, I read a comment in a review that I tho..."
I finished it this morning and really loved it. I don't count sex scenes, either, unless there get to be too many.
Josh wrote: "Simple, elegant language, that's the ticket. And the words that work best are the words that work best. Regardless of how many times they have been used. .."TURGID! (I'm joking!)
Johanna wrote: "Josh wrote: "I'm not sure why people get so wrapped up in the, er, statistics of romance. Anne is right though. I've read posts on the whole order of sex...first the blow job, then intercourse, the..."Humour, noses that are in the way, talking (not just grunts and "mine!") laughter and sensations, sensations... :)
Josh wrote: "I'm not sure why people get so wrapped up in the, er, statistics of romance. Anne is right though. I've read posts on the whole order of sex...first the blow job, then intercourse, then...whatever....""One finger, two finger, three potatoes, hot potato!!! :-D"
ROTFLMAO. Crap, I spit out some of my pricey iced latte. ;)
Josh wrote: "Do you guys count the number of sex scenes or encounters/interactions? Is it about quality or quantity?"At the finish of a story, if there have been very few sex scenes I might have a sense of the total, but I never start out to get a count by the end. And I always hope there won't be SO many that if I wanted to know, I would lose count! :)
Mod
At the finish of a story, if there have been very few sex scenes I might have ..."
:-D
Now there are words for a promo! TOO MANY SEX SCENES TO COUNT!!
Mod
:-D
Josh wrote: "Now there are words for a promo! TOO MANY SEX SCENES TO COUNT!! ..."I think I read that book. Gave it 3 stars, if that...
Mod
I think I read that book. Gave it 3 stars, if that..."
Are you kidding?! That's the number one bestseller on Amazon's G&L listing every week!!!! :-D
Including such glowing reviews as ONE OF THE BOOKS I HAVE READ THIS YEAR!!! NOT TO BE MISSED IF YOU HAVE EYES IN YOUR HEAD AND TIME ON YOUR HANDS!!
(yes, kidding!)
Josh wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Now there are words for a promo! TOO MANY SEX SCENES TO COUNT!! ..."I think I read that book. Gave it 3 stars, if that..."
Are you kidding?! That's the number one be..."
There's goes some more. Stop it, Josh, or you're paying for this overpriced coffee. ;)
Josh wrote: "So what do you think? Do you guys count the number of sex scenes or encounters/interactions? Is it about quality or quantity? Obviously I think I know the answer to that, but there are a lot of readers in this genre who have a different perspective."
Gawd, no. Getting a blow-by-blow (heh) of every single time the couple has sex is just boring. I MUCH prefer books with intimate scenes than sex scenes. A hand brushing a stray hair from a lover's face; a restrained kiss hello or good-bye; intimate conversation - THAT'S what makes a romance. Saying "they only did on page 4 times in this book, I was disappointed" - absolutely not.
I've read the entire "Infected" series by Andrea Speed but I was on the 4th book before I realized that there were ZERO sex scenes. The characters are sexy and intimate and while they have a lot of sex, you only ever see the longing before, and then the morning after. And I never missed it.
Thing is, it goes the other way, too. I read a review of Abi Roux's "Shock & Awe" that described it as "one sex scene after another" and I got that "WUT?" look on my face. Frankly, though it was sexy as hell, every moment of the book was focused on the relationship and how it was developing and changing. There was never a point (for me) where the act overshadowed the characters. So I didn't even notice that it HAD that much sex in it. Not in a "counting encounters" way.
Then there was the book I read last night where about 1/3 of the way in I started rolling my eyes and flipping pages forward to get past the boring sex parts. 5 pages of sex, 2 pages of plot, 5 pages of sex, 7 pages of plot, 8 pages of sex... you get the picture. I bought it because it was a sequel to a book I liked pretty well and it got a good review, but the author is now off my buy list without some pretty stellar recommendations.
Gawd, no. Getting a blow-by-blow (heh) of every single time the couple has sex is just boring. I MUCH prefer books with intimate scenes than sex scenes. A hand brushing a stray hair from a lover's face; a restrained kiss hello or good-bye; intimate conversation - THAT'S what makes a romance. Saying "they only did on page 4 times in this book, I was disappointed" - absolutely not.
I've read the entire "Infected" series by Andrea Speed but I was on the 4th book before I realized that there were ZERO sex scenes. The characters are sexy and intimate and while they have a lot of sex, you only ever see the longing before, and then the morning after. And I never missed it.
Thing is, it goes the other way, too. I read a review of Abi Roux's "Shock & Awe" that described it as "one sex scene after another" and I got that "WUT?" look on my face. Frankly, though it was sexy as hell, every moment of the book was focused on the relationship and how it was developing and changing. There was never a point (for me) where the act overshadowed the characters. So I didn't even notice that it HAD that much sex in it. Not in a "counting encounters" way.
Then there was the book I read last night where about 1/3 of the way in I started rolling my eyes and flipping pages forward to get past the boring sex parts. 5 pages of sex, 2 pages of plot, 5 pages of sex, 7 pages of plot, 8 pages of sex... you get the picture. I bought it because it was a sequel to a book I liked pretty well and it got a good review, but the author is now off my buy list without some pretty stellar recommendations.
Cris wrote: "Josh wrote: "So what do you think? Do you guys count the number of sex scenes or encounters/interactions? Is it about quality or quantity? Obviously I think I know the answer to that, but there are..."Cris, your comment reminds me of times I have read a story when I ended up not even skimming the sex scenes, but instead, clicking through them until I could finally get back to dialogue and find out what was happening in the plot!
Susinok wrote: "Josh wrote: "Simple, elegant language, that's the ticket. And the words that work best are the words that work best. Regardless of how many times they have been used. .."TURGID! (I'm joking!)"
Omg that's so great - thankfully I had finished my yogurt when I read this. :X
Mod
I'm enjoying it very much. I think LB is the premier writer of rom com in this genre.Anyway, I read a comment in a review that I tho..."
When I'm reading to enjoy a book, no. I don't count sex scenes. No way. It's the quality that matters, not the quantity.
However, when I'm trying to write my own novels and looking for an example of how something's been done before, then I might grab a book off the shelf and flip through it. But I don't think I've counted sex scenes. My recent question was where to place the scene in my book so I grabbed a few as examples and looked at where each author had placed their sex scene. And by single "sex scene" I mean, the first one between the two main characters.
Mod
I find this funny because I've never counted sex scenes. :-) Wouldn't that be ..."
I have read books with a huge number of repetitive sex scenes. Instead of counting them, because that does seem rather boring, I tend to skip them entirely.
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I'm enjoying it very much. I think LB is the premier writer of rom com in this genre.Anyway, I read a comm..."
I actually like the word "laving" too. Funny thing. I had someone unfamiliar with MM reading over a story I'd written and she thought "laving" was spelled wrong or was wrong. The word she wanted substituted in was something else having to do with construction I think. I read her note and just went "OUCH!" lol. I wish I could remember the word she'd used. It was close to laving, but wasn't.
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I think I read that book. Gave it 3 stars, if that..."
No. I remember that book. Initially, I gave it one star. There wasn't much of a plot. I eventually bumped the stars up to three, but I think it's still only worth one.
Mod
I think I read that book. Gave it 3 stars, if that..."
Are you kidding?! That's the number one be..."
You might be kidding, but I believe that line. Somewhere on Amazon is a book with too many sex scenes that's raking in the dough.
Mod
I love the Infected series. And yeah, it took me awhile to notice that there was no sex in it. Sometimes I stop and wonder about that as I'm reading, but I still don't miss it at all.
Like a lot of historical romance too. There's very little sex there. Alex Beecroft and Ruth Sims tend to avoid it or fade to black. I'm fine with that. The rest of the story, the little moments and touches all add up to more than enough so that there doesn't need to be any sex in their books.
Jordan wrote: "I love the Infected series. And yeah, it took me awhile to notice that there was no sex in it. Sometimes I stop and wonder about that as I'm reading, but I still don't miss it at all. ..."The Infected series is not romance. It is urban fantasy and follows all those tropes, including a shifting love interest. An amazing series at that. I'm so hooked on Roan and his problems.
I only notice when there are too many sex scenes in a book. Or, even worse, when the sex goes on for pages and pages. I end up skimming or skipping. When done right, a book can be very romantic with little or even no sex.
Mod
I'm enjoying it very much. I think LB is the premier writer of rom com in this genre.Anyway, I read a comment in a review that I tho..."
I read this during our 7 hour drive home today, obviously not when it was my turn driving. Then came home to find this discussion about the book. One, it's a fairly short book (1437), especially compared to the 4890 count I'd finished just before. Two, it's a very sweet book, with a some laugh out loud lines. Three, there's very little padding. It's sleek, fun, and well done.
My guess is that the reviewer was counting sex scenes. I think there are three on screen, and one is interrupted. ; ) The longer book I read had a sex scene to mark almost every significant step of the MCs relationship. Someone who writes that sort of thing well can pull it off, but other times it feels gratuitous. My 4890 read was not bad, almost there with niggles.* But LB Gregg's book was right on.
*I think it did actually have too many sex scenes to count... but that wasn't one of my niggles. ;-D
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lathing? : )
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Ije the Devourer of Books wrote: "I just finished Come Unto These Yellow Sands and really enjoyed it. Now i have just started Wicked Gentlemen"Oh these are two of my most favorite books out there! Enjoy! :-)
Hj wrote: "I'm reading How I Met Your Father by L.B. Gregg, due to Riptide's bonus scheme of letting those who pre-order have early access (I really like this idea). I'm en..."
I read it yesterday and really enjoyed it! So much fun! I love LB's stories :-)
Johanna wrote: "Josh wrote: "Do you guys count the number of sex scenes or encounters/interactions? Is it about quality or quantity?"I find this funny because I've never counted sex scenes. :-) Wouldn't that be ..."
Yes, exactly! I've never thought of counting things... And if a number does pop up in my head for something in the book, it's usually not a good sign - it would be something like "this is the fourth time that he says that" or "this is the nth time that the author resorts to that same particular misunderstanding to move the plot along"... so not good.
Mod
I'm enjoying it very much. I think LB is the premier writer of rom com in this genre.Anyway, I read a comment in a revi..."
Actually, I don't think she meant sex scenes. I think she meant scenes in general. How many scenes happen between the two main characters.
Mod
LOL
I could there's a context in which it could be made to work.
Cris wrote: "Josh wrote: "So what do you think? Do you guys count the number of sex scenes or encounters/interactions? Is it about quality or quantity? Obviously I think I know the answer to that, but there are..."I'm same as you and I've just finished a book which was pretty good until the end where they first had sex in a haunted hotel, after finishing filming and then on a haunted battlefield. Why ruin a perfectly good story with the rushed sex at the end???
Mod
Offhand, I'd say their scenes together tended to end in sex. So about the same number, including their last scene together which we'd have to assume ends in off-screen sex. ; )
But again this is a short work and there is a lot of stuff going on. I particularly like how the younger MC stands up for the other MC. I can't say much more without spoilers.
Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Yup. Lathing was probably it."LOL
I could there's a context in which it could be made to work."
The thought of that makes me want to cross my legs, and I don't even have anything that would be, um, lathed. (My dad was a woodworker in his younger days, and I've watched him turn stuff of a lathe. It involves chisels. *shiver*)
I thought of "lathing" in connection with putting up or repairing a lathe and plaster wall. I hadn't even thought of that type of lathe!
Mod
I've often thought the same thing. And I know, listening to my own readers, that many readers feel as I do. And yet publishers must push for this for a reason. And I've had my share of readers/reviewers bitching at the lack of sex scenes. Also, more recently, audio readers bitching at too many sex scenes! (Clearly not m/m readers, these folks). I dismiss those as my books not being for that particular reader. Every book cannot be for every reader, after all. There are all kinds of well-written books I'm just not interested in.
Which is a whole other but equally fascinating topic to me. Partly because I think this is the X Factor for all of us. Especially when it comes to romance, we all have certain triggers and we all have certain turn offs. They can be minor -- beards -- or they can be major -- childhood abuse. But these are things no amount of promotion or marketing can overcome for any given reader.
I am reading a book which now that the two are hooked up has a lot of sex scenes. The problem is that it also have porn-worthy dialogue during those sex scenes. I'm heavily skipping through the second half of this book 'cause I can't take it any more.The story around the porn dialogue is compelling enough to make me finish the book, but argh! STOP!
Josh wrote: "Also, more recently, audio readers bitching at too many sex scenes! (Clearly not m/m readers, these folks). "
I dunno. I've never been into audio books before, but recently was gifted a favorite book on audio by the author. So of course, I started listening to it right away. When the narrator got to a first person graphic sex scene, I just cringed and had to turn it off! There is something so uncomfortable about that to me, I couldn't keep listening - and I LOVE the story (and the author).
I agree about the "X Factor", I know some people love audio books (sex scenes and all), but while I can read all manner of debauchery with glee, hearing the words spoken aloud is just too... intrusive/ intimate/ unnerving/ something for me to handle it.
I dunno. I've never been into audio books before, but recently was gifted a favorite book on audio by the author. So of course, I started listening to it right away. When the narrator got to a first person graphic sex scene, I just cringed and had to turn it off! There is something so uncomfortable about that to me, I couldn't keep listening - and I LOVE the story (and the author).
I agree about the "X Factor", I know some people love audio books (sex scenes and all), but while I can read all manner of debauchery with glee, hearing the words spoken aloud is just too... intrusive/ intimate/ unnerving/ something for me to handle it.
Sex scenes definitely have a different impact in audio than they do on the page. Which is why I rarely listen to romance in audio. It's just... weird.
Cris wrote: "I agree about the "X Factor", I know some people love audio books (sex scenes and all), but while I can read all manner of debauchery with glee, hearing the words spoken aloud is just too... intrusive/ intimate/ unnerving/ something for me to handle it..."They used to weird me out a bit but now I'm so used to them since I listen to SO MANY audiobooks, I've become inured to their effects.
However, graphic violence makes me hit the fast forward button. It'd MUCH rather be squeamish about violence than sex. :)
Becky wrote: "Sex scenes definitely have a different impact in audio than they do on the page. Which is why I rarely listen to romance in audio. It's just... weird."I'm with you there, Becky, my favorite audiobooks don't or have very few sex scenes, it's just sometimes sound weird to me. :)
Josh wrote: "..., audio readers bitching at too many sex scenes! (Clearly not m/m readers, these folks)..."They aint seen nothing yet! I'm sure we could all identify without any difficulty books which would make them really complain, but with justification. Your books are just right (in this as in every respect)...
I think sex scenes in audio changes because of how they are perceived, instead of it being a private thing between the reader and the book, it because more public since it’s aloud. I had a uncomfortable moment once were I was listening to a book by an author I wasn’t familiar with. I was in the drive-up at the bank busily filling things out when I noticed that the scene in the book had unexpectedly changed, though I fumbled to get it turned off, apparently it wasn’t fast enough for the bank teller. It was all very embarrassing…
Mod
I dunno. I've never been into audio books before, but recently was gifte..."
Was that the sex scene itself or the first person POV? Because I can't take the sex scenes period. A change in POV doesn't help.
But I don't have problems with the sex scenes per se. I just can't handle them read aloud.
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They aint seen nothing yet! I'm sure we could all identify without any difficulty books..."
It did go through my mind to edit the sex scenes for audio. That would certainly make it easier on me and easier on mainstream readers I pick up. But I also think a lot of readers would feel cheated if I cut the scenes.
Josh wrote: "It did go through my mind to edit the sex scenes for audio."Thank you for ignoring that impulse. Better to have readers use the Fast Forward button than have an "abridged" story. IMO.
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Thank you for ignoring that impulse. Better to have readers use the Fast Forward button than have an "abridged" story. IMO."
That's true too.
Mod
I know what Cris means though. I can tell these are not m/m readers because they are shocked by the number and explicitness of the sex scenes.
Not enjoying them heard read aloud is different from being shocked at their very existence. I think one reviewer suggested the scenes were in there as a deliberate attempt to shock readers. Which is just so...very not me. That to me was a clear indicator that readers unfamiliar with the genre and its expectations were stumbling over my work.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Anyway, I read a comment in a revi..."
I agree about sex scenes. I have read so many stories where the sex scene just pads out the story and i just skim through it. It does depend on the quality of the writing though. I think the sex scenes in Josh's stories are just right and they form part of the story instead of just padding out the book.