Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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Writing Questions for Josh
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Haha I bet you're right. Although a lot of YA is already very smexy as you say :P
I always wondered ho..."
High School in books is definitely a lot more sex/love oriented than I remember it being. lol.
Not to bring up Twilight, but how many times did Bella beg Edward to have sex with her before they got married? I was kind of surprised when he refused. But still. Her begging got old. Fast. ugh.
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I was s..."
Freedom definitely changes a person. Getting away from the parents and having a roommate to be able to afford an apartment to getting rid of that roommate and living alone. All those things changed me for sure!
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I wouldn't have read anything called "New Adult" at that age either. It does sound like you're being talked down to, like you still can't go out to the bar after work or something.
Then again, I was always a late bloomer when it came to books, so I was definitely still reading YA. WEll, I'm still reading it now, but for different reasons. I wasn't into adult fiction until my later years of college when a friend introduced me to Dean Koontz's work.
Also, if a book is set in a MC's early 20's, there's a good chance teens will want to read it, so sometimes I consider those books to be YA/Teen lit. Not all of them, mind you, but some of them, yes.
Jordan wrote: Ha. The thing is, 20-somethings don't grow out of YA. They're flocking to it! We always have adults looking for books in the teen room at the library, and it's not for their own kids either."
I'm 30-something and my genre of choice (before discovering m/m) was YA. Now I just switch between YA and m/m depending on my mood. :-)
A lot of adults DO read YA. But the target audience for YA is teens. And yes, teens/children do tend to "read up" which is why the general recommendation for YA authors is to age your characters 1-2 years older than the target audience you want.
I have yet to read any NA but that is largely because, like Josh mentioned, you can get away with more of the smexy in NA, and quite honestly, I don't like m/f sex scenes. ;-) M/M doesn't seem to make the distinction between NA and Adult. It's just all Adult. (unless the characters are under 18, then it's YA and sometimes a different imprint)
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That describes me. I'm not into the junk food and candy the way I used to be. But ice cream... no, no, gelato. I've recently discovered gelato, and am loving it, even though I shouldn't be eating it because of my weird allergy. Love the stuff. And it tastes so much better than fake ice cream too. And there are some other random things I love. Froot Loops. I stopped eating them for a few years because I ate too many and got cavities. Long story. But bought a box after the terrible week I had last week and dived into it, nearly eating the whole box in one sitting. Why are those things so good? Love to eat them plain. No milk.
I rarely eat chips these days and I used to love them. I still eat M&M's. Those are my all time faves for candy. Plain and pretzel variety. But otherwise, I tend to stay away from candy, or I eat less of something. I can feel it in my teeth when I eat a bunch of sugar like that and it doesn't make my teeth feel good! It's like I can feel the cavities starting to form, even if they never do. Ewww.
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lol, my Disney illusions were destroyed ages ago. I was never a fan. Never girly enough to like it. hehehe.
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Although I'm an old biddy, I find all age groups fascinating. (Hell, I find all people fasci..."
At that age, I wanted nothing to do with books about older characters. I just wasn't interested in them, and couldn't relate either. These days though, roughly ten years later, I enjoy reading older characters. I take younger 25-ish characters too, but I can relate better to the older guys, especially in MM for some reason.
If I'd been given one of Josh's books as a teen, I wonder what I would have done with it. Reason tells me I would have fallen in love with it, especially with all the cops and dangerous stuff going on. Then again, I really wish I'd experienced some gay lit when I was that age. I needed to read that stuff and there wasn't anything.
I think it's very funny, when I was in high school, I devoured Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Anne Rice. As a 48 year old man, I've found myself reading Harry Potter, Hunger Games & I recently got sample chapters of Beautiful Creatures & Divergent. I'm really glad I fond Lanyon, because I can feel like an adult again. And I just have to say once more... LOVING the first H&M book.
Josh wrote: "You're like a one woman news stream, Antonella. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's come to rely on you for interesting and enlightening information."Well, thank you! But I'm only a gatherer*, you could find all those news on your own...
* A selective gatherer: I stopped reading local and national newspapers to have more time to read books, so now and then I cut a poor figure with friends because I ignore quite important local news.
Jordan wrote: "Also, at least here at this library, we're trying to make a distinction by calling the books "teen" and not "YA", because technically, YA is the 20-something crowd!"Thank you! Finally I understand YA!
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OK, Pixar movies are brilliant and Finding Nemo is no exception. It's the old fashioned Disney movies I can't stand.
And to this day, I have the address from Finding Nemo memorized. Josh, you'll know what I mean soon enough ;-)
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I saw that movie for the first time just last year. Yeah, it was good. And everyone was surprised I hadn't seen it. There are a lot of "classic" stuff I haven't seen or read. My parents weren't into making sure I saw classic movies, nor are they book worms, so I missed out on some stuff. My life hasn't ended yet because of it, so that's good, I guess. lol
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I've never seen it either. I always wondered if it was one of those movies that really was as good as its reputation or if it had..."
I actually like black and white movies. Not that I go out of my way to watch them, but I do like them.
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Thank you! Fina..."
Not that I know how the term YA came about, but it sounds like adults were trying to make teens be more "grown up" or something. Major fail, I think. The way teens act most of the time. lol.
Glad I could help you out there!
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Well, thank you! But I'm only a ..."
Doesn't that sound familiar. I very often don't know what's going on around me, because I'm stuck in a book and I never read the newspaper unless it's the ultra skinny paper with an interesting cover article. Or if I read it over someone's shoulder on the train in the morning.
Jordan wrote: "Or if I read it over someone's shoulder on the train in the morning."And no one ever tried to murder you?!?
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I discovered gelato last summer. SO good.
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And no one ever tried to murder you?!?"
:-D
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Philadelphia Story. Talk about fantastic dialog.
After reading the AE mysteries and now the H&M books, I see possible murders everywhere.
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Yes. It creeps up on you slowly and pretty soon you spend half your time figuring out crimes and the other half figuring out how to catch...yourself.
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There's a great gelato place up in Altadena, off Lake Street. I can't remember the name at the moment."
Oh yes? I can't imagine why it took me my entire life to bother to try gelato, but I was definitely missing out on a good thing.
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Josh wrote: "Philadelphia Story. Talk about fantastic dialog...."That one still remains my #1 favorite movie. It has been since I was a kid.
Josh wrote: "Philadelphia Story. Talk about fantastic dialog. ..."Oh, I need to see this then. I have such an appreciation for well-written dialogue.
Even one scene of great dialogue can make me think more fondly of a movie. I thought Flight was an okay movie, but there's a scene that takes place in a hospital stairwell that I think is so well written that I find myself thinking better of the movie when I think of that one scene.
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My students and I, we've been taking part in a project that introduces classic films to teenagers (well, 15-18 years old students). During the last three years we've seen 10 films per year (total 30 films). It's been more than interesting for me as a teacher to see students' reactions on films like The Maltese Falcon, The Third Man, Play Time, Amarcord, Á bout de souffle (Breathless), and so on... movies that my students wouldn't ever have chosen to watch by themselves. Some of these movies they've found boring, but some of them they have been thrilled by. The discussions we've had every time after watching the movie have been absolutely wonderful. Time after time it surprises me how observant the students are.
And the nice thing is that there have been a few movies even I haven't seen before. ;-)
Last year was pretty tough for us or what do you guys think about the movie list for the school year 2011-12: Easy Rider, Bullitt, The Last Picture Show, Serpico, Bonnie and Clyde, The Deer Hunter, Scarecrow, Taxi Driver, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Chinatown.
Johanna wrote: "Josh wrote: "Juthi wrote: "Ooh I love Casablanca and The Philadelphia Story. And whenever my sister and I can't decide what movie to watch we fall back on one of the Audrey Hepburn movies like Sabr..."I think I would have loved having you as a teacher, Johanna!
Johanna what an awesome class, I'd be f'd up over some of those filmsedited: because I sent it on the phone first.
I laughed when Adrien English wiled away one evening watching Captain Blood. Another one of my favorite black and white movies. Errol Flynn... I thought there would never be another person like him until Johnny Depp showed up on the movie scene.
I agree with Joe and Katharina, Johanna. I would've loved this type of class when I was that age! (I do think your 2011-12 list was a bit heavy on violent films, but that's just a reflection of my personal preferences. I like thoughtful dramas but not violent ones.)
Johanna wrote: "Josh wrote: "Juthi wrote: "Ooh I love Casablanca and The Philadelphia Story. And whenever my sister and I can't decide what movie to watch we fall back on one of the Audrey Hepburn movies like Sabr..."That's a heavy roster!
Johanna wrote: "Last year was pretty tough for us or what do you guys think about the movie list for the school year 2011-12: Easy Rider, Bullitt, The Last Picture Show, Serpico, Bonnie and Clyde, The Deer Hunter, Scarecrow, Taxi Driver, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Chinatown. ..."Yikes some of those are real downers! Mix it up with some light comedies. I'd want to shoot myself in the head after viewing that list. I think I've seen them all except Taxi Driver (I know I know... it's a classic, yada yada).
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The project has a nice website too and part of the project was the fact that students wrote blog posts about the films they had seen (and they could also discuss the films on the project's Facebook page).
I also forgot to mention that we actually got to watch all these movies in the movie theatre -- for free.
I so agree with K.Z. and you all -- I, too, would have loved this type of studying when I was that age. :)
Lou wrote: "Josh wrote: "Lou wrote: "Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "I discovered gelato last summer. SO good. "There's a great gelato place up in Altadena, off Lake Street. I can't remember the name at the mome..."
Hmm, what exactly is the difference between ice cream and gelato? Gelato means ice cream in Italian which is where all that yummy modern age stuff comes from as far as I know.
Lou wrote: "You should check out all of Billy Wilder's movies then. He's famous for his comedies, but he d..."Thank you for the suggestion. I'll look him up.
I haven't been so enamored with movie releases for a while now. It seems like it's getting harder and harder to find a good one. And I do find myself going backwards and watching older good movies that I've not yet seen.
Johanna wrote: "I also forgot to mention that we actually got to watch all these movies in the movie theatre -- for free...."Nice! Did you get free popcorn too? Hmmmm... I never really thought about this until now, but what snacks are served in theaters in other countries? Is popcorn popular outside of the U.S.?
Tina Kay wrote: "I never really thought about this until now, but what snacks are served in theaters in other countries? Is popcorn popular outside of the U.S.?"Definitely here in Germany! Mostly the sweet kind is popular, but you get both in the cinema. My favourite cinema food is taco chips with chili-cheese sauce. Mmm... actually, I could go eat that right now. :)
Carlita wrote: "Some Like It Hot <3"One of my faves. :)
I Germany when growing up I always loved the Italian Ice. I think it was Gelato or something similar. I loved the hazelnut flavor or the mocha.
Juthi wrote: "Ooh I love Casablanca and The Philadelphia Story. And whenever my sister and I can't decide what movie to watch we fall back on one of the Audrey Hepburn movies like Sabrina and Roman Holiday. Sigh..."I love Casablanca so much I had one of my characters watch it in my last book.
And Roman Holiday is one of my favourites too.
I was always fond of It happened one night but I haven't seen it for years since I had it on video not DVD. It's a similar theme to RH and I think Clark Gable is great in it.
Carlita wrote: "Some Like It Hot <3"Tina Kay wrote: "Johanna wrote: "I also forgot to mention that we actually got to watch all these movies in the movie theatre -- for free...."
Nice! Did you get free popcorn too? Hmmmm... I never really thought ab..."
Tony Curtis' Cary Grant impression! Priceless.
Katharina wrote: "Mostly the sweet kind is popular, but you get both in the cinema. My favourite cinema food is taco chips with chili-cheese sauce...."That sounds good! And here I thought it was a big deal when we got pretzel bites. :-D
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Do they do a chocolate hazelnut? If so, yeah. I am a fan.
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Oh, I need to see this then. I have such an appreciation for well-written dialogue.
Even one scene of great dialogue can make me..."
Yes. That scene led me think it was going to be a far more complex and nuanced film than it turned out to be.
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I love this. What a terrific project!
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Yeah, I would definitely throw in some fun things like Gunga Din, The Big Sleep, Rio Grande, The Lady Vanishes, etc.
Josh, I was wondering, do you have a word count that you try to reach on a daily basis? I was also wondering, when you were working another job and writing at the same time, what was your typical writing schedule?
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Funny thing, when I was a teen, I thought I would like the same age range all my life. But I've found the same thing as you. Characters age as I do.