Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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All's Fair re-read challenge: Fair Game
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“Are you one of these Civil War reenactment dudes?” Pine asked, […]Elliot considered telling Pine no, certainly not. He preferred to play with toy soldiers.
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Roland is a difficult character, for sure.
He's inspired (loosely) by my own dad who has always been politically active, but has mellowed considerably in later years. When he was younger he was obsessed and consumed by politics. That is a very exhausting person -- the person who can only see through the lens of politics.
But at the same time, these are the people who effect the change we all desire (or at least those of us on the same side).
One crucial difference though is that my dad would never under any circumstances have allowed us to go years (or even days) without speaking. He's just not built that way. Roland is much more stubborn. As is Elliot.
But Roland does truly love and wish to protect Elliot.
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Maybe because they are both SO angry and bitter at first. So completely convinced that they are in the complete and total right.
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This reminded me of something I was thinking when I started Fair Play: have you noticed that both..."
It'll be interesting to see who catches what in FC. :-D
Josh wrote: "Rosa wrote: "And I'm happy knowing I'm not alone about my dislike of Rolan ;) ..."Roland is a difficult character, for sure.
He's inspired (loosely) by my own dad who has always been politically..."
That's really interesting!
I don't know exactly what is my problem with Roland. To be honest, I can't put my finger on what is the thing that rubs me wrong about him... I don't even know if I'm going to be able to explain myself...
I have no problem about him being politically active, that's something I admire from people, but he irks me all the time... that believe of being always in the right get me mad. He is asking the rest of the world to listen to himself, but he doesn't listen to anybody who thinks different from him... It saddened me a lot that part when we discovered he was months without talking to Elliot just because he decided to take his own path in life.
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Roland is a difficult character, for sure.
He's inspired (loosely) by my own dad who has always bee..."
That's interesting. And you're correct in that Roland is one of those people who does truly believe he's *always* right. :-D
But I also think for Roland it was a little more complicated in that his own relationship with the FBI (of all organizations) was so very hostile. So it was probably worse than if Elliot had just decided to become a soldier or a regular police officer. It had to feel like Elliot was consciously and deliberately rejecting values and beliefs Roland had spent his life trying to teach and share. It would feel like betrayal for sure.
Of course for Elliot that's not the case at all. He wants to pursue those same goals -- he shares his father's values -- but he wants to work through the establishment.
One of the relationship arcs in this trilogy belongs to Elliot and Roland, so there is negotiation and growth between them too.
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Having college-age children ..."
It's fascinating how often the pursuit of something -- position, power, possessions -- whatever -- can turn into a personal contest.
What's really weird is when one contender doesn't recognize what's happening -- and that is something that pops up in true crime stories a lot.
Elena wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Finally, notice how "Mrachek, Leslie" is the wasp (A Dangerous Thing) in this story? :)"Wasp?"
I think Karen means that Mrachek, ..."
I haven't gotten to that part yet, and don't remember it. I'm going to try to finish it tonight though since I only have 20% more to go.
Josh wrote: "But I also think for Roland it was a little more complicated in that his own relationship with the FBI (of all organizations) was so very hostile."Yes, I think that make much more sense after reading Fair Play. Now that I've read that one, I can see why Roland felt like that, but before, I was really mad and sad on Elliot behalf.
And, coming back to the mystery... this one is one of my favourites, but now, after the re-reading I have also another feelings that I haven't had the first time I read it. The first time is was "only" a very good mystery, it wasn't "real", but now I also felt really sad at those wasted young lives at Corian's hands, I feel the characters more. I suppouse reading in the news about a young girl killed by her boyfriend and some of his friends, whose body is still missing after 8 years, didn't help to improve my mood.
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Yes, I think that make much more se..."
It's strange, isn't it? Murder makes for good entertainment. And yet murder is a terrible, tragic thing.
This is one of the challenges in writing mysteries. To not lose sight of the fact that the murder--even in a comedy--should not be treated too lightly, too dismissively.
You guys can slowly start drifting over to the Fair Play topic as the second half of our re-read starts tomorrow. I admire how disciplined you were by staying off that topic until now. :-DBut of course you can always just keep chatting here. :-)
Do you think Elliot and Tucker even acknowledge Valentine's Day? Or is it a non-entity for them? ;-)
I think Tucker would acknowledge it and Elliot would be totaly suprised by that.
K. wrote: "I think Tucker would acknowledge it and Elliot would be totaly suprised by that."Exactly what I was thinking.
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:-D
"I don't know why you're bothering. You just have to get up again in two hours.""Because this is where you are."
Awwwwwww! What goobers. :D
And finished. That was a fun reread.
K. wrote: "I think Tucker would acknowledge it and Elliot would be totaly suprised by that."I'd like to think that's how it would happen
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Yes. I think there would be some low key acknowledgement on Tucker's part and surprise -- or possibly amusement -- on Elliot's.
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Yes, I think that make..."
I always find it so weird that I love reading murder mysteries but hate tv shows like 48 hours. That show gives me the creeps! I wonder if my brain subconsciously says "this is REAL, so be terrified" or "this is FAKE, it's ok". lol.
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"Because this is where you are."
Awwwwwww! What goobers. :D
And finished. That was a fun reread."
Yes, what a great line!
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Yes. I think there would be some low key acknowledgement on Tucker's part and surprise -- or possibly a..."
Eliot always seems surprised by Tucker's announcements of love. :-) Maybe someday he'll not be so surprised?
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Just a coupla belated things.
First time out I found this an uncomfortable but rewarding read.
Partly becau..."
That's so interesting!
I'm finding that this is a story that a number of readers seem to see differently (more clearly?) second time around.
I wonder if the serial killer was a distracting element the first time through?
Or if the fact that Elliot and Tucker are both such unreliable witnesses -- until they finally lower their defenses.
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Likely it's that the two are unreliable narrators, which is only because they don't know everything, they don't know the true story, what really happened. And that's okay. They eventually figured it out.
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Likely it's that the two are u..."
No, they wouldn't. It would take some outside force to get them back into each other's proximity.
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From the writer's perspective or the narrator's perspective? :-D
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Josh said this somewhere in this group years ago and I just found it again, elsewhere and it reminded me of our in depth conversation here about Eliot. I think Josh has succeeded for sure!
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Josh said this somewhere in this group years ago and I just found it again, elsew..."
Well, that is as true now as it was whenever I wrote that. :-) And I do think it's probably true of all writers.
Should we have a LAUNCH PARTY for Fair Chance? What do you think? 
Yes, that’s what I thought! :-D
Head over to the party topic to learn more.
Q&A with Josh Lanyon
Books mentioned in this topic
Fair Chance (other topics)Fair Play (other topics)
Fair Game (other topics)
Fair Play (other topics)
Fair Game (other topics)
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I think we'll learn more about the effect Elliot's presence had on Corian when we read Fair Chance, but I guess his ego played a big role in it. He certainly enjoyed being one step ahead of Elliot.