Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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Writing Questions for Josh
My animals are all either strays that wandered by or adopted from a local pet adoption agency. I prefer mutts with no discernible breed. I prefer cats that don't have any claim to a pedigree. I have tried the pedigree animal before and for the most part they are not nearly as healthy as a stray mutt or cat. Of course, everybody is fixed, no exceptions, so I'm not contributing to the mutts and strays.Say Hi to Remy, most mixed up mutt ever.
Kiracee wrote: "...don't tell Kari I fed the squirrels this winter...":-) I feed the forest mafia loads of protection money, too. If I didn't, they'd have chewed away our entire house by now.
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Hi, Remy! You look handsome. :)
And I'm so sorry about Sophie. Losing a long time pet is like losing a family member.
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This is one of the features in my husband I still regularly fall in love with. :)
I haven't been around for some days, and what do I find on my return, stalkerish squirrels working towards world dominion! What a scary place this is ;). Sorry to hear about your problems, Josh, but we all know who is the real deal around here :).In my backyard there is only cats and rats and little brown birds. ( or at least I hope the birds will return, come spring), and the magpies looking for shiny things to steal, of course :) But when I lived in an area with gardens a way from here, there were foxes, badgers and deer sometimes around the houses. The deer eat the top of the tulips btw, so they are considered a nuisance. Cute ones, though. And of course the little, red-brown squirrels that are much more shy than their grey American cousins.
Currently a real wolf as taken up residence in the woods around Oslo, they were almost extinct some years go, but a small pack has settled in later years.
I used to gave a black and white cat named Rafael, but he got old and sick last year, so I had to let the vet put him down. I still look for him some days when I come home from work, he used to come and greet me. The softest thing in the world is the thouch of a cat's tail on my bare leg :)
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Very sorry for your loss. I know that it's so hard to say good-bye to a beloved pet. Geriatric pets are challenging. I think our two dogs are suffering dementia along with their other ailments.
Our last senior (almost 18) cat died this morning. (We have one other much younger one.) Sapphire, AKA Mr. Demento, Little Black Cat, died peacefully, seemed to have had a stroke in the night. He was our younger daughter's cat and my little shadow. It's too quiet here tonight (he was a very vocal guy), and my foot warmer is missing. Also it's weird to be able to type without having to move my keyboard to the side, since his reserved spot was right in front of the monitor. ;-)
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Oh Karen, that's so sad. I'm so sorry to hear that.
Karen wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Sophie was 16 years old and had been steadily declining..."Very sorry for your loss. I know that it's so hard to say good-bye to a beloved pet. Geriatric pets are challenging. I t..."
So sorry for your loss, Karen. :(
And hi Remy, you're such a handsome fellow. :)
Kiracee wrote: "We've been lucky - our semi-feral cat has so far survived the coyotes that howl across the street, the wolf pack that killed a deer in a neighbor's driveway, and the cougar that killed a deer in our driveway and then dragged it down and left it in front of our horse barn. 0_0..."Wow Kiracee - it doesn't sound safe for you to go out to feed your horses, unless the cougar was an anomaly! And I can see why your horses are in the barn rather than than the field... Still, it does sound exciting.
Karen wrote: "Our last senior (almost 18) cat died this morning...."So sorry to hear that. It's amazing how much you miss them; as you've shown, they insinuate themselves into every part of your home routine.
Susinok wrote: "My animals are all either strays that wandered by or adopted from a local pet adoption agency. I prefer mutts with no discernible breed. I prefer cats that don't have any claim to a pedigree. I hav..."That's how I've always come by my furbie friends. (Well, some have had feathers. :))
Remy is adorable. Oh, that face!
Susinok wrote: "My animals are all either strays that wandered by or adopted from a local pet adoption agency. I prefer mutts with no discernible breed. I prefer cats that don't have any claim to a pedigree. I hav..."Hi Remy. I'm a total dog nut. (There are 4 in my WIP - there were 5 but I had to give one away).
Outside here we have myriads of squirrels and a herd of deer that pass by regularly. (We can't grow anything on purpose.) Come spring we get foxes and sometimes even bears.
Karen wrote: "Susinok wrote: "Sophie was 16 years old and had been steadily declining..."Very sorry for your loss. I know that it's so hard to say good-bye to a beloved pet. Geriatric pets are challenging. I t..."
I'm so sorry for your loss.
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I have a sphere chair in my living room where I usually write. I would use a couch... if I had a couch. lol. I can spread out better there, you know, with notes and paper and stuff. I don't really like sitting at a table.
However, I do like going out to a cafe to write. And even though I hate the smell of coffee and don't drink it, Starbucks has a really great writing vibe. not every place is going to have that vibe. The problem with this is that I get really lazy. I tell myself I'm going to go out and write just so I have fewer distractions around me... and I just never get out the door. lol. but I do like to go out. Especially because it means I don't have to cook a meal for myself. :-)
I remember some scientific research about productivity/creativity, and they found that a certain level of noise actually stimulated (I think it was what, 60 decibel?). Interestingly enough, that's pretty much exactly the level of noise found in a not-too-busy coffee shop. Funny how that works.
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That is rather interesting...
"Aleksandr wrote: "Susinok - But everybody says you need BRANDING. :)"Susinok wrote: Out here in Oklahoma, branding takes on a whole new meaning.. :) I would be the Lazy S."
Yes that was my first thought as well. I had visions of Aleks being lassoed.
"Karen wrote: "Our last senior (almost 18) cat died this morning....""Susinok wrote: "Sophie was 16 years old and had been steadily declining....."
That is so sad. They've become part of your family by the time they get to that age. Our cat, Leo was 19 when he died a few years back. Seemed to take me an age before I stopped expecting him to be at home when I got back from work. He was Burmese and a very talkative cat.
Tina Kay wrote: "So as I was on my way to Starbucks this morning with my laptop, I found myself wondering where writers like to write. Do most of you write in a home office? Or do you like to go to a place like a S..."I have a home office, but I most often work in the living room at the dining table.
I also try to go 'out' once a week, and then I'll write at the local community centre (though because I've been over-tired during January and a bit of February, I haven't gone out to write this year yet... soon)
Aleksandr wrote: "My study, overlooking the garden and park. I also sometimes like a coffee shop if I feel lonely/isolated. :)"*sigh* I never get the chance to feel lonely/isolated. I have a couple of kids who pass my by far too many times a day lol (usually when they go outside to smoke)
I actually go to my local community centre to be shot of my boys for a while. It's terrible, I know, but having them home 24/7 kills me sometimes.
Aleksandr wrote: "Now I feel bad because I don't HAVE a tagline. :( "Aleks Voinov - Best-Dressed Romance." Meh."
LOL I don't disagree with that statement :D
Aleksandr wrote: "I remember some scientific research about productivity/creativity, and they found that a certain level of noise actually stimulated (I think it was what, 60 decibel?). Interestingly enough, that's ..."Interesting.
For me it's a hit and miss. Some days I barely hear my boys walk past, other days I go growly as soon as their feet hit the stairs...
My office is next to their bedroom, and the sounds coming from it when they're playing MPRP games (or whatever the damn things are called) is apalling. So much shouting and cursing. (hence the noice reduction headphones)
I have most trouble concentrating on trains. Too much noise from too many directions.
Repetitive noises drive me nuts (like tapping fingers or squeeky chairs)
Err... it's been said I have sensitive hearing...
Love all the answers to where people like to write. Very interesting. I'm jealous of this one:Aleksandr wrote: "My study, overlooking the garden and park."
:-)
I should post some more photos once it's GREEN outside. :)
Blaine wrote: "Aleksandr wrote: "I remember some scientific research about productivity/creativity, and they found that a certain level of noise actually stimulated (I think it was what, 60 decibel?). Interesting..."It's the same for me! I'm not writing fiction (that probably needs a different sort of stimulation) and not everyday. But when I'm in writing mode for my papers and proposals, I usually need music to even out any kind of unpredictable noise around me. Blinkers would be great, too, but wearing them seems to disturb the people around me. :)
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Very sorry for your loss. I know that it's so hard to say good-bye to a beloved pet. Geriatric pets are challenging. I t..."
:-(
It's hard because they are so very dear -- and they live such a short life.
We have lots of deer, coyote (which sometimes eat people's pets) marmots, beaver and quail in town. Of course we have lots of bears too, but unless they come into the orchards or vineyards around here, they're not a problem. There's moose and cougars too, but we rarely see them. Until recently a nearby city had a bunny epidemic. The main roads have a grassy boulevard down the center and all summer long there'd be all sizes and colors of bunnies frolicking in the sun. At any time of day you could count over ten rabbits in one city block.
I think they had to hire a bunny catcher to trap and remove them.
Tina Kay wrote: "So as I was on my way to Starbucks this morning with my laptop, I found myself wondering where writers like to write. Do most of you write in a home office? Or do you like to go to a place like a S..."I usually write in my living room, sometimes my kitchen. I've tried going to a local coffee shop, but like Dev, I always run into someone I know within minutes. I find it noisy too. The hiss of the espresso wand, the constant yelling of peoples' names when their drinks are ready, it's too distracting.
Susinok and Karen, I am so sorry to hear about your pets! :(
Pender wrote: "There's moose and cougars too, but we rarely see them. Until recently a nearby city had a bunny epidemic. ..."
I thought you were going to say that the cougars came in and sorted out the bunnies. I think they missed an opportunity there!
Hj wrote: "Pender wrote: "There's moose and cougars too, but we rarely see them. Until recently a nearby city had a bunny epidemic. ..."
I thought you were going to say that the cougars came in and sorted ..."
That would have been one way to solve the problem. :)
On the Adrien English thread there's discussion about visiting places mentioned in books.What are your feelings about creating imaginary places(hotels, clubs, bookstores, or whatever) for a character to visit, or even creating imaginary cities for them to live in?
Duties of an editor? Don't mind grammatical and/or punctuation corrections. Do mind when words/sentences/scenes are deleted with vague reasons without asking my thoughts. Presently, I suspect the editor is editing on first reading and deleting said sections when the reason for the debated sections are clearly laid out later in the book. (Re-writing my work.)How does one point these things out without becoming rude?
Allen - I'm not sure which editor at what house you're working with, but I've found that a calm, well-reasoned statement ("I need this scene to achieve X") helps. If the re-writing violates your voice, I'd take it up with the editor's boss. You might simply not be compatible, at which point most reputable houses will assign a different editor. I've had some situations with, let's say... "creative" editors and would be happy to advise (ideally via PM).
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What are your feelings about creating imaginary places(hotels, clubs, bookstores, or whatever) for a chara..."
I know I create imaginary cities for my characters to live in. I know some authors who just don't give a name to the city or town either. In one of my WIPs I've done the later. In my first WIP, I made up a name for the city.
I'm always afraid that if I write about a realisitic place in a contemporary novel, I'll botch it up somehow and someone will call me on it, even if it's the place I grew up in and lived all my life. But that's just me.
I live and use to work on Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Pasadena, it's part of the reason why I loved the Adrien English books. I'd been to many if not all of the places once or twice. I was also excited to read about the real authors he talked about too. I loved being put in the reality of it all.
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What are your feelings about creating imaginary places(hotels, clubs, bookstores, or whatever) for a chara..."
I think that's often going to be the best bet. Especially if you're going to have nefarious happenings taking place. For example, I might have Adrien meet his family for dinner in a real location, but I'm usually not going to set a murder there. :-)
Thanks y'all. :-)Josh, that's a good point about bad things happening in nice places. :-D
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I don't think I've yet worked with an editor who didn't leave a comment as to why a word was being changed or a sentence restructured. Which, frankly, when it comes to editors I work with a lot, I don't even need to know. They're free to change at will.
I can't speak to rewriting, though I've heard of this going on within our genre.
I would think that if an editor has to "rewrite" a story, the story was not ready for publication. I can't imagine this going on at a reputable publishing house.
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..."
And that's always a risk too.
But then I've had readers argue with me about places I've made up! :-D So I don't worry so much anymore.
Here is a noob question.... :-)I'm writing a story for the M/M Romance group's Love Has No Boundries anthology and would like to have a basic website put together for my pen name by the time that goes live this summer.
As an unpublished author, I don't have much in the way of content. Like I said, basic. Links to twitter and goodreads, a little about me, etc. Not looking to do a blog at this time, just a mostly static website that might eventually have a blog added to it.
Would it be a bad idea to post some of the fan fiction I've written as "free reads" on the website? I would, of course, do another round (or more) of editing before posting them to be sure they are representative of my best work. I would label it as fan fiction (it would be obvious based on the character names) even though they are for the most part out-of-character.
I know some fan fiction authors have changed the names and posted their stories as free reads. Better idea or worse?
(I'm not talking about the authors who are changing names and publishing their fan fic for pay... I wouldn't do that.)
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I'm writing a story for the M/M Romance group's Love Has No Boundries anthology and would like to have a basic website put together for my pen name by the time that..."
Personally, I wouldn't recommend having your fanfic associated with you, under your name. Sure, you can say you wrote something under another name, but leave it wherever it currently sits. When asked, I'll gladly tell you where to find what I wrote, but I'm not going to post it on my new website under my penname for what I'm currently writing for pay (nor will I post a link to it!). That just doesn't seem right to me, especially if those characters came from other books. As an author, I would feel awkward if another author wrote about my characters and posted it on their professional website. If you want to write about them, post them someplace else, and I'll be very happy. But it seems more like mooching off me, if you post it to a professional place that's about your professional work. Fanfiction just isn't professional. Other free fiction, sure. Just not fanfic.
If you want to see a very basic website, mine is. I've got one short story out, and that's it. My site will perk up as soon as I bust out a book or two and work out all the editing kinks. And I don't have a blog there either. I have one here on GR and that's it. I don't blog much because my posts usually turn out to be angst ridden "I hate my life" stories no one wants to here :-)
I hope that helps. It's just my opinion though. Others here, might think otherwise, I don't know.
There are also some legal issues with fanfic. Many publishing houses actively discourage it as well as many franchises (Star Wars, etc.) will try to stop it.So I think as a published author, keep the fanfic away from your professional site.
Thanks for the input!Thanks for directing me to your website, Jordan. That's pretty much what I'm looking to do.
Interesting what you say about publishing houses discouraging it since it seems like every time I turn around, another fanfic is being published and not just in M/M...and that's just from one fandom. But like I said, publishing my fanfic for pay is not something I would ever do.
After the deadline for Love Has No Boundaries, I'll work on some short stories or flash fiction to put on my website.
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Thanks for directing me to your website, Jordan. That's pretty much what I'm looking to do.
Interesting what you say about publishing houses discouraging it since it seems l..."
You're welcome :-)
As for publishing fanfic, yeah, you can recognize it as fanfic when you read it, but technically they've changed the names and locations and whatnot. So, it's not *really* fanfic when it gets published for real, even though it still is.
What the publishers and others don't want is the blatant fanfic with the character's names unchanged, and have it basically written the way it was originally intended for the fandom.
I don't think just changing names and locations is enough to make it publishable. (I mean IMHO. I know for a fact that it does happen. A lot.) When I write fanfic, even if I'm changing some things to put two male characters together, the characters have the same personalities, jobs, relationships with other characters, etc. It still boggles my mind that publishers (and the original authors in some cases) are okay with that.
I use to be part of a writing group online, oh man ages ago. We wrote as the characters from the Anne Rice books. Took and created our own stories. In fact, I gave more background to the character I wrote as, since all Anne basically said about him was a few things. I know it was fan fic but nothing was ever complete done like a complete story, it was all done in forum format.
And, honestly when I tried to change the names it just didn't feel right. I also sort of felt like I was cheating Anne Rice and I wanted to make my own original stuff.
Well I know there are a few publishing houses that protect their properties. I know that Charlaine Harris does not want to see ANY Sookie fanfic out there. Which is ironic, since True Blood essentially trashed her entire universe, but then Charlaine did get paid for it.Laurel K. Hamilton strongly discourages fanfic, and both Charlaine and Laurel's publishers back them up.
Anne Rice hated fan fiction of her characters too.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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(I am a HUGE sap when it comes to animals. Throughout my life, they've proved better creatures than many human beings I've known -- sad to say.)