What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed* Showing 5,251-5,300 of 13,523

[Antonella]

Cris S. wrote: "Also recently finished Barging In by Josephine Myles and loved it. She also wrote Muscling Through and I've really enjoyed her style. Definitely different than my other favorites."


Hi, Cris!

''Muscling Through'' is by J.L. Merrow. I doubt that Josephine Myles and J.L. Merrow are the same person.

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

I'm re-reading Wicked Gentlemen (enjoying it like the first time) and reading the fourth part of The Rifter Witches' Blood. I love that world.

[Calathea]

Sarian wrote: "Hiya Mr. Lanyon,

I heard you are going on a sabbatical next year. I hope you will have a fun filled and relaxing time.
Does this mean you will not be doing anymore Jessewave contributions or blog ..."

@Kaje: Oh, wow, seems you have a fan there! ;-)

[Calathea]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "I'm re-reading Wicked Gentlemen (enjoying it like the first time) and reading the fourth part of The Rifter Witches' Blood. I love that world."

I'm still reading and hope to finish it today so that I can re-read for the weekend.

[Ayesh]

Cris S. wrote: "I LOVED Divide & Conquer and the whole Cut & Run series so far, whatever problems the authors have with POV or pacing or anything else is completely overshadowed by how much I adore..."

Totally totally agree with u :D

[Josh]

Sarian wrote: "I heard you are going on a sabbatical next year. I hope you will have a fun filled and relaxing time.
Does this mean you will not be doing anymore Jessewave contributions or blog or anything like that while on sabbatical?

Actually, Wave and I have been discussing that. We thought it might be fun for readers -- and interesting to writers -- to follow my adventures next year since I'll be doing a lot of consolidating my empire. :-D

Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc.

Also, I just finished reading the DG serie which was totally awesome. I luv how it ended. Will there be more to this story or is this it?

There will be at least one more and possibly a couple more stories in that series. I may wait and let the clock run out on it though with LI though before I write the next installment. We'll see.


For your sabbatical may I recommend a new female m/m mystery writer named Kaje Harper

I do have Kaje's work on my To Read list, yes. Thanks for the rec.

(Kaje, that should have made your day.) :-D

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful stories and I look forward to reading new ones in 2013. Take care and have fun.

Thanks so much!

[Josh]

Antonella wrote: "''Muscling Through'' is by J.L. Merrow. I doubt that Josephine Myles and J.L. Merrow are the same person.

I'm sure they're not. Very different voices -- despite that cute English accent. ;-)

[Josh]

Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "I'm re-reading Wicked Gentlemen (enjoying it like the first time) and reading the fourth part of The Rifter Witches' Blood. I love that world."

Does that series do for you what it does me? It's the only thing I can think of in recent time that has caught me up so totally that reading feels like it did when I was a kid. I don't know how else to describe it. It's just...there's something about that series that just grabs me by the throat.

[[deleted user]]

Antonella wrote: "Cris S. wrote: "Also recently finished Barging In by Josephine Myles and loved it. She also wrote Muscling Through and I've really enjoyed her style. Definitely different than my other favorites."
..."

Oh! My bad! Thanks for the correction - I'm correcting the post now and blushing furiously at my mistake.

[Kaje]

Josh wrote: "Sarian wrote: "For your sabbatical may I recommend a new female m/m mystery writer named Kaje Harper

I do have Kaje's work on my To Read list, yes. Thanks for the rec.

(Kaje, that should have made your day.) :-D ..."

Absolutely! Sarian, many thanks for the testimonial about my work. So glad you like it (and it reminds you of Josh - now that's a wonderful compliment!)

Josh wrote "Actually, Wave and I have been discussing that. We thought it might be fun for readers -- and interesting to writers -- to follow my adventures next year since I'll be doing a lot of consolidating my empire. :-D

Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc."

Definitely would love to hear how that goes, Josh. In case you were wondering.

[Becky]

I'm almost finished with Cut & Run, and the story and characters have definitely overwhelmed the irritation of the constantly switching POV. I still wish these authors could find a way to smooth out this problem, because the book would be better without it. But I just bought the next two books in the series, so I guess it hasn't held the story back *that* much.

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Josh wrote: "Does that series do for you what it does me? It's the only thing I can think of in recent time that has caught me up so totally that reading feels like it did when I was a kid. I don't know how else to describe it. It's just...there's something about that series that just grabs me by the throat."

I'm in awe. There is the story and its characters, interesting, passionate, alive. There's the world, which is so real, Ginn Hale describes places and landscapes and they come alive (again) in your mind and they're nothing like what exists in the real world and still you can see them. What is crazy good is the way she bends the timeline, she molds it, it's liquid, fluid, she makes you dance with it. On top of that I think there's no one I've read who can use space like that. What her characters do with space is incredible. She's moving forward two stories in one at the same time, so you're moving and suspended at the same time. End of raving, lol

[Antonella]

All raving about Ginn Hale is welcomed here. With Josh's blessing, I'd' say. Rave on!

((''Josh's''? could we clear this point of a poor non-native speaker?))

Anyway I just love it when I discover myself thinking about the characters of a book when I'm going shopping or for a walk. This happens regularly with the books of Josh and Ginn. IMO it's a mark of excellence when readers are so taken into a fictional world that they go on connecting to it even when they are not reading or they have finished the book.

[Blaine]

Josh wrote: "Actually, Wave and I have been discussing that. We thought it might be fun for readers -- and interesting to writers -- to follow my adventures next year since I'll be doing a lot of consolidating my empire. :-D

Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc. "

We definitely have something to look forward to next year, then :)

Before you know, you'll have written a book about it ;)

[Charming]

Josh wrote: "Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc. "

Audiobooks? (hope, hope)

[mc]

Josh wrote "Actually, Wave and I have been discussing that. We thought it might be fun for readers -- and interesting to writers -- to follow my adventures next year since I'll be doing a lot of consolidating my empire. :-D

Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc."

I also think this is an excellent idea. And in all seriousness, you may get a book out of it, too.

Gee, Josh, I wouldn't mind you being my professor if you ever taught. I took several online writing course, and one fiction class in particular had a lot of influence on my writing style at the time. The teacher (whom I never met in person, of course) was amazing, and I realize that some of your commentary and virtual personal remind me a lot about him. His critiques were excellent, and our group in general was one of the best online crafting experiences I ever had. Too bad it ended.

[Emanuela ~plastic duck~]

Aaaaaand I'm reading the 5th installment of The Rifter, The Holy Road. And then I'll stop while I still can.

[Kaje]

Finally started Cut & Run .

[Ayesh]

Kaje wrote: "Finally started Cut & Run ."

The first book?

[Kaje]

Bella wrote: "Kaje wrote: "Finally started Cut & Run ."

The first book?"

Yep. I had read very little m/m before I published my first book this year, and so I'm still getting caught up on the classics.

[Ayesh]

Kaje wrote: "Bella wrote: "Kaje wrote: "Finally started Cut & Run ."

The first book?"

Yep. I had read very little m/m before I published my first book this year, and so I'm still getting caugh..."

Whoa :O Really?? that's a surprise..but I hope u r gonna love it

[Kaje]

So far the characters are great and the head-hopping is driving me crazy. Not enough to slow down though.

[Ayesh]

Kaje wrote: "and the head-hopping is driving me crazy"

Most readers complain about that ...but it never disturbs me...but one thing is sure- the story sometimes seems like unnecessarily lengthy

[Kaje]

Bella wrote: "Kaje wrote: "and the head-hopping is driving me crazy"

Most readers complain about that ...but it never disturbs me...but one thing is sure- the story sometimes seems like unnecessarily lengthy"

I like length and read fast so that probably won't be an issue.

[Josh]

Charming wrote: "Josh wrote: "Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc. "

Audiobooks? (hope, hope)"

Yes! Good reminder. I do want to check into audio books. Which reminds me that Men Under the Mistletoe, the Christmas m/m anthology from Carina Press, is going to audiobook. Audible.com again.

[K.Z.]

I've never listened to an audiobook. Does it take some getting used to? Are the readers generally good?

[Ayesh]

Kaje wrote: "I like length and read fast so that probably won't be an issue. ..."

That's great then; in this case I start to lose concentration and start skipping page :P

[Josh]

K.Z. wrote: "I've never listened to an audiobook. Does it take some getting used to? Are the readers generally good?"

I love audio books, but it's very weird to hear your own work read aloud. Weird but fun. I listened to Fair Game all the way through. Icecapade I could only take a few minutes.

[Becky]

K.Z. wrote: "I've never listened to an audiobook. Does it take some getting used to? Are the readers generally good?"

The quality of the readers varies widely. A good reader can make a meh book, and a bad reader can ruin a good one. I haven't listened to any m/m, in fact, I don't like listening to romance in general. But I love listening to other types of stories while driving or doing chores around the house (makes doing dishes or folding laundry go by so much faster) or knitting.

A few favorites, if you want to give audiobooks a try, are:

The Vorkosigan series, written by Lois McMaster Bujold, read by Grover Gardner
The Stephanie Plum series, written by Janet Evanovich, read by Lorelei King
The Harry Potter series, written by JK Rowling, read by Jim Dale
A Walk in the Woods, or I'm a Stranger Here Myself, written and read by Bill Bryson (One of the few times I'd recommend something read by the author. Bryson is really good at it, but most authors are dreadful. Neil Gaiman is also very good-- he has a yummy voice.)

[Kristie]

Josh wrote: "e I'll be doing a lot of consolidating my empire. :-D

Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc."

I love that you have an empire. *LOL* And print editions = music to my ears! :)

[K.Z.]

Josh wrote: "I love audio books, but it's very weird to hear your own work read aloud. Weird but fun. I listened to Fair Game all the way through. Icecapade I could only take a few minutes."

Gosh, I can imagine how weird it must be! I took voice training in college and two semesters of oral interpretation taught by the wonderful Karl Schmidt. (He directed NPR's "Earplay" series for a decade and still reads for Wisconsin Public Radio's "Chapter a Day" program.) As much as I enjoy being a reader, I think I'd get the heebie-jeebies listening to my work being read.

[Kaje]

Becky wrote: "The quality of the readers varies widely. A good reader can make a meh book, ...

The Vorkosigan series, written by Lois McMaster Bujold, read by Grover Gardner"

I love these in print. I'll have to check out the audio for the next long car trip.

Since I can barely reread my own stuff without squinting, I can't imagine listening to them, no skipping allowed, rethinking every word choice... nope.

[Candice]

You know who reads Stephen King's stuff the best? Stephen King. Have any of you published authors thought about doing that?

Finally, I've read most of Cover Me, Men of Smithfield. Where the heck have I been? I'm nuts about both MC's.

Did you know Amazon stopped carrying Gregg's Smithfield series? At least, that's how it looked earlier today when I went to buy the next book. Weird. I'll ck again.

[Becky]

Candice wrote: "You know who reads Stephen King's stuff the best? Stephen King. Have any of you published authors thought about doing that?

Finally, I've read most of Cover Me, Men of Smithfield. Where the h..."

Those books are (or I guess I should say, were) published by AMP. I'm not sure if *anything* published through that house is available for sale at the moment.

[Candice]

Becky wrote: "Candice wrote: "You know who reads Stephen King's stuff the best? Stephen King. Have any of you published authors thought about doing that?

Finally, I've read most of Cover Me, Men of Smithfield..."

Thank you, Becky. I've emailed Gregg thru' her web site contact email address and asked her about it. I hope they're not locked up for too long.

[Becky]

Candice wrote: "Becky wrote: "Candice wrote: "You know who reads Stephen King's stuff the best? Stephen King. Have any of you published authors thought about doing that?

Finally, I've read most of Cover Me, M..."

I bought a copy of the first Smithfield book earlier this year. I'm just hoping that Gregg got paid for it. But based on everything I've read about the AMP mess, there's a good bet she wasn't. And at this point probably never will be.

[Whit]

Finished I love Ty and Zane! Loved this book. Can't wait for the next one.

I highly recommend Great read! LOL funny, steamy and I loved the characters.

[Cleon Lee]

I'm reading Rilke's Elegies, translated by AS Kline, and I have to share it with you in the light of recent passing. I read this in tears, so beautiful and so fitting.

And she leads him gently through the wide landscape of Lament,
shows him the columns of temples, the ruins
of castles, from which the lords of Lament
ruled the land, wisely... (view spoiler)[Shows him the tall
Tear-trees, and the fields of flowering Sadness,
(The living know it as only a tender shrub.)
shows him the herds of Grief, grazing – and sometimes
a startled bird, flying low through their upward glance,
will inscribe on the far distance the written form of its lonely cry –
At evening she leads him to the graves of the elders
of the race of Laments, the sibyls and prophets.
But as night falls, so they move more softly, and soon,
like a moon, the all-guarding
sepulchre rises. Brother to that of the Nile,
the tall Sphinx, the secret chamber’s
countenance.
And they are astonished by the regal head, that forever,
silently, positioned the human face
in the scale of the stars.
His sight cannot grasp it, still dizzied
by early death. But her gaze
frightens an owl from behind the rim of the crown,
and the bird brushes, with slow skimming flight, along the cheek,
the one with the richer curve,
and inscribes the indescribable
outline, on the new
hearing born out of death, as though
on the doubly-unfolded page of a book.

And higher: the stars. New stars, of Grief-Land.
Slowly the Lament names them: ‘There,
see: the Rider, the Staff, and that larger constellation
they name Fruit-Garland. Then, further, towards the Pole:
the Cradle, the Way, the Burning Book, the Doll, the Window.
But in the southern sky, pure as on
the palm of a sacred hand, the clearly shining M,
that stands for the Mothers......’
But the dead must go on, and in silence the elder Lament
leads him as far as the ravine,
where the fountain of joy
glistens in moonlight. With awe
she names it saying: ‘Among men
this is a load-bearing river.’

They stand at the foot of the mountains.
And there she embraces him, weeping.
He climbs alone, on the mountains of primal grief.
And not once do his footsteps sound from his silent fate.
But if the endlessly dead woke a symbol in us,
see, they would point perhaps to the catkins,
hanging from bare hazels, or
they would intend the rain, falling on dark soil in Spring-time. –
And we, who think of ascending
joy, would feel the emotion,
that almost dismays us,
when a joyful thing falls. (hide spoiler)]

Sorry I make you guys sad.

[Kaje]

No that's lovely. Although yeah, the last line brings tears. Thanks, Cleon.

[K.Z.]

It is beautiful, Cleon.

[Charming]

K.Z. wrote: "I've never listened to an audiobook. Does it take some getting used to? Are the readers generally good?"

I love them. Usually the readers are quite good, though some are more to my taste than others. The guy who read Change of Heart went a little overboard in making every character sound different, and some of them ended up sounding pretty weird.

The most important thing for me is to choose books that repay close reading. Since you can't skim and skip, it is very painful to listen to something that is clunky and repetitive. I've said here before that Cut & Run was not a good choice for that reason, whereas Fair Game was really good.

Some of my favorites are Terry Pratchett's books. I catch the humor from another angle hearing it read with the proper English intonation. And yes, the Miles Vorkosigan books make good audiobooks too, though I haven't had the nerve to listen to Mirror Dance, with those torture scenes.

[[deleted user]]

Read Ty and Zane are still insanely good and just as frustrating. If you read the first three, you might not need any encouragement.

Just read It was good too. Interesting approach to Weres. Interested in seeing what comes next.

Just started Love TA Chase, so I'll probably like this one :O)

[Blaine]

Becky wrote: "I bought a copy of the first Smithfield book earlier this year. I'm just hoping that Gregg got paid for it. But based on everything I've read about the AMP mess, there's a good bet she wasn't. And at this point probably never will be. "

I bought the whole series earlier this year (through fictionwise) ...
Makes me feel sick to think she won't get paid for them

[Josh]

Kristie wrote: "Josh wrote: "e I'll be doing a lot of consolidating my empire. :-D

Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc."

I love that you have an empire. *LOL* And print editions = music to my..."

And minions! I even have a couple minions now. Soon I shall rule the universe!!!! Well, at least not have to work 12 hour days.

[Josh]

Blaine D. wrote: "Becky wrote: "I bought a copy of the first Smithfield book earlier this year. I'm just hoping that Gregg got paid for it. But based on everything I've read about the AMP mess, there's a good bet sh..."

LB got her rights back, though, and that's worth a lot.

Which reminds me. I have to get my titles yanked from Amazon.

[Josh]

Becky wrote: "Those books are (or I guess I should say, were) published by AMP. I'm not sure if *anything* published through that house is available for sale at the moment.
..."

I hope not. I know my titles are down from ARE. Thank God.

[Josh]

Candice wrote: "Thank you, Becky. I've emailed Gregg thru' her web site contact email address and asked her about it. I hope they're not locked up for too long.
..."

Those books will be back -- absolutely -- LB is just in the midst of moving house and traveling and lots of exciting real life stuff. But as soon as she's got some free time, she's going to make the books available again.

[Blaine]

Josh wrote: "LB got her rights back, though, and that's worth a lot. "

Oh, that's a relief *pfew*

[Sarian]

Actually, Wave and I have been discussing that. We thought it might be fun for readers -- and interesting to writers -- to follow my adventures next year since I'll be doing a lot of consolidating my empire. :-D

Self-publishing, print editions, foreign editions, etc.

Three gasps. Really? You’re finally going to the darkside, cutting the proverbial cord, and become the lone wolf from the pub world? Yes, totally awesome. I’m looking forward to more print edition of your works. I already have most of your ebooks and I’m just waiting for rest of them to come out in print. You’re one of the fab fives that I auto buy in ebooks and prints. Please if you do, do print editions, don’t forget the hot bods. 8-) Congrats, world domination.
8-D. Good to know that your work will be appreciated in other countries and that they are paying off.

Sarian

There will be at least one more and possibly a couple more stories in that series. I may wait and let the clock run out on it though with LI though before I write the next installment. We'll see.

Awesome. Looking forward to seeing the series out in print someday.

[Sarian]

Absolutely! Sarian, many thanks for the testimonial about my work. So glad you like it (and it reminds you of Josh - now that's a wonderful compliment!)

Yeah, I really love your stories “Life Lesson” and “Breaking Cover” and To All a Good Night” LL 1.5. They are really well written and so happy that the second story came out in print so fast. Is this really, really it for this duology. There is no chance you would be able to squeeze out one more story and make it into a trilogy? Also, thank you so much for “Lies and Consequences.” Totally awesome read. For any who hasn’t read it yet, run, don’t walk to your nearest keyboard and start flapping those finger and head towards Smashwords or Kobo for your free copy. It is sooo goooood.

Sarian