Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
Anne wrote: "I found Masks after you mentioned it here, and I must say, that was really an original story. And fun and moving too."I've just finished it. I agree with you.
BTW I forgot to mention it is downloadable in different formats:
His fiction is here:
http://www.e-fic.com/sundog/original....
Now I've started Verdict and it looks good.
But all his stories look good, in fact: I want more time to read!
Antonella wrote: "But all his stories look good, in fact: I want more time to read! "I guess I found Parhelion's work about five or six years ago and I wish he/she/it wrote more of it. The website hasn't been updated in years although his/her/its fiction has been published more recently.
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Oh, happy belated birthday, Josh!"
Thank you!
As for unread books...I keep trying to tell myself to STOP. I have more books on my Kindle and sitting in stacks (or falling in stacks) in my office and library than I could read in an entire year of sabbatical.
WHAT is it that impels us to keep buying books? It's almost miserly this hoarding of books. Why do we do this. I DO NOT NEED ANY ADDITIONAL BOOKS IN MY LIFE. And yet...one of you will mention something enticing, and off I go.
Most of the time to buy -- NOT necessarily to read, although the eventual intention is there.
Josh wrote: "And yet...one of you will mention something enticing, and off I go.Most of the time to buy -- NOT necessarily to read, although the eventual intention is there."
Apparently we've got a problem in common ;-).
This is an irrational behaviour. The normal thing would be to start and read what we already got. What's wrong with us?
I'm asking seriously: has anyone an explanation? Maybe someone else sharing this syndrome managed to analyse it better...
Josh wrote: "Lady*M wrote: "I started reading Frank Tuttle's Markhat series, because many of you recommended it. It's not half-bad, but I still like Harry Dresden more. ^^Oh, happy belated birthday, Josh!"
..."
Why do women buy shoes & clothes all the time? Back when my money wasn't as tight, I hoard body lotion. If it smelt good, I'd buy it, esp when there are sales. And I hardly ever use any of them. I think it's the same mentality. LOL.
It's instant gratification, I can't think of anything else. There's no practical reason. Are we afraid the book we desperately want to read isn't there when we need it? The one-click features has solved that problem. I have no idea.My grandmother used to stack everything. When she passed away in September, we went through her things and she had candies and soap bars, sugar and salt, tea, chamomile and unopened stockings and underwear and even toilet paper and many other items packed away. We always thought it was because she lived the rationing during WWII, so she tended to be prepared. God, how I miss her.
Charming wrote: "Lucius is a man's name, so "he"."Not necessarily. This is a pseudonym. But now I see that other posters have come across some biographical info indicating L.P. is indeed a man.
Lady*M wrote: "I started reading Frank Tuttle's Markhat series, because many of you recommended it. It's not half-bad, but I still like Harry Dresden more. ^^"That simply isn't possible! :)
Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "It's instant gratification, I can't think of anything else. There's no practical reason. Are we afraid the book we desperately want to read isn't there when we need it? The one-click features has s..."I used to tell myself it was in case I became ill and wouldn't manage to buy books and then would run the risk of sitting there with nothing to read. Which would be a terrible thing. At least it worked once when I had three fractures in my upper arm and shoulder and couldn't move for several weeks. What joy to just pick up unread books from my shelves :). With Kindle and one-click that isn't valid anymore, but even so.
All readers I know, do the same.
And I can remember when I couldn't afford to buy new books and reread the old ones in stead. (And used the library of course when I had time to go there, but they didn't necessary have the kind of books I like). This situation must be avoided at all cost! :)
And all this just to tell I have no explanation and it is completely irrational, and I will not stop :)
Anne wrote: "And all this just to tell I have no explanation and it is completely irrational, and I will not stop :)"Amen!
Parhelion does write like a guy, not that that is always reliable of course. Has anyone read John Morgan Wilson's 'Justice' series? They're gay detective fiction, written in the mid and late 90s but now available on kindle.
They're excellent. A bit film noirish and dark - the main character is a bit of an anti-hero and very full of pain and barely concealed rage. He's a disgraced former journalist who had to return his Pulitzer and who's life disintegrated afterwards. He also had a rather horrific childhood and the books are set when AIDS was still ravaging almost unhindered by cocktail therapy.
However, for all that, he's immensely likable and the writing is of an extremely high standard. You might want to take a prozac or two before reading though.
I think some of the book hoarding comes from the simple fear that we're going to miss something good. How many of us haven't made a mental note of a book we want to get later, and then immediately forgot about it? Maybe a bit of it is aspirational, too. We want to read all these good books, even if we know there's no way on earth we're going to get to them all.
I'm already getting the shakes because I've just devoured Downtime and Soul Kitchen. (Print copies spoil me, 'cause I hate reading at my desktop. And, well . . . I just love the look and feel and smell of three-dimensional books. Must splurge on more, although I'm again running out of room for them. :-/)
K.Z. wrote: "I'm already getting the shakes because I've just devoured Downtime and Soul Kitchen. (Print copies spoil me, 'cause I hate reading at my desktop. And, well . . . I just ..."And the best therapy and fun there is, is to spend hours in bookshops just browsing. I have even done that in countries where I don't know the language, just to be around books for a while :)
Christopher wrote: "Has anyone read John Morgan Wilson's 'Justice' series? They're gay detective fiction, written in the mid and late 90s ..."I haven't but I like anti-heroes, so thanks for the rec!
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And off I go to push that Buy-now-with-1-click-button again... ;)
Is there some way to get commission for recs? ;-)
Christopher wrote: "Is there some way to get commission for recs? ;-)"Is a big "thank you" not enough? :D
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It's a terrible thing. Right now though, my goal is to ONLY buy the books our book group reads that I don't already own. That way, I can get through what's on my Kindle and what's on my coffee table. Though, I think I've promised myself this before... yeah, it'll probably fail next week.
Speaking of recs, that noir sounds good... um, what was I just saying? Oh forget about it.
Emanuela ~plastic duck~ wrote: "Christopher wrote: "Is there some way to get commission for recs? ;-)"Is a big "thank you" not enough? :D"
I'm all about the filthy lucre. ;-)
Hope you enjoy the series. I've just finished them and to be honest, whilst I thought they were quite brilliant, I also feel so emotionally drained it's all I can do not to slit my wrists.
I must stop reading books set in the plague years. I was a teenager in the 90s when it was still a death sentence and when I started reading as much gay literature as I could. I remember the choice in the bookshops was between Idol 'erotica' titles and AIDS books. Many of them were beautifully written, but I'm not sure they were the best thing for an impressionable teenager to read. I avoided them in my 20s, but these last few months I've read more than a few.
Maybe I'll go back to some lighter stuff.
Anthony Bidulka is very good if you guys want another (non-depressing) read.
K.Z. wrote: "Lady*M wrote: "I started reading Frank Tuttle's Markhat series, because many of you recommended it. It's not half-bad, but I still like Harry Dresden more. ^^"That simply isn't possible! :)"
LOL! Well, this is my opinion after the first two books. Maybe the third longer one changes my opinion. Though... somehow I doubt it. ~_^
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Ha! LOL! Sounds promising...?! So, when I feel I wanna read something light and easy, I'll try Justice series... ;)
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Maybe this is part of it -- especially for those of us (and I guess that's pretty much of all of us still) who grew up with print, and therefore knowing that books might go out of print and thus be out of our reach.
Or out of our reach before the internet came along.
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Ditto.
Admitting you have a problem is not ALWAYS the first step to the cure. :-P
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Yes. From my perspective the series gets a big depressing in that it takes Justice too long to wake up and smell the coffee. I see the character getting older but not wiser, and I don't want this -- I don't enjoy this. I like books about smart people who learn from their mistakes.
Maybe that's naive on my part, but I'm a smart person who has tried to learn from my (many) mistakes, and I like to be able to relate to series characters.
Granted, I'm behind on the last two books, so many Justice finally wised up?
K.Z. wrote: "Charming wrote: "Lucius is a man's name, so "he"."Not necessarily. This is a pseudonym. But now I see that other posters have come across some biographical info indicating L.P. is indeed a man."
I guess I wasn't clear. He uses a male name. Therefore I assume he is a male - his writing persona at least.
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Josh wrote: "And all this just to tell I have no explanation and it is completely irrational, and I will not stop :) Ditto.
Admitting you have a problem is not ALWAYS the first step to the cure. :-P"
I believe you have to want to be cured :)
Josh wrote: "Granted, I'm behind on the last two books, so many Justice finally wised up? "He starts to in the third book, it looks like he's finally getting his life back together and starting to get some success.
Then it all comes crashing down again.
I'm afraid after that I couldn't face reading the final one. I ran out of prozac.
I guess I agree with you that in order to continue empathising with a character - and keep buying the books - I need to feel that it's not all in vain no matter what sort of tortures the writer dishes out to the protagonist.
In any case I've just bought a book called 'Remembrance of Things I Forgot' which promises to be a sort of gay Back To The Future. Much less hard on the serotonin levels.
Christopher wrote: "I guess I agree with you that in order to continue empathising with a character - and keep buying the books - I need to feel that it's not all in vain no matter what sort of tortures the writer dishes out to the protagonist."Yeah, this.
By the way, I've just finished Remembrance of Things I Forgot and it's bloody brilliant!
I've read Building Arcadia by Ryan Loveless (NB: a woman) and loved it. Once more, very few people read it.It is probably listed under bisexual, but the m/m side is overwhelming: I can't really complain about the single tiny M/F sex scene, you'll survive it as well ;-). There is some drama in it, but it is not like a soap opera, it's not gratuitous. IMO a bit more than 4 stars.
Antonella wrote: "I've read Building Arcadia by Ryan Loveless (NB: a woman) and loved it. Once more, very few people read it.It is probably listed under bisexual, but the m/m side is overwhelming: ..."
That one sounds interesting. I'm sure I can handle the M/F scene if I brace myself beforehand and don't eat a tuna for lunch.
I've just finished Basic Training by Marquesate and it's great. It's about a Royal Marine basic training sergeant who falls in love with one of his recruits. Very romantic and very satisfying read.
After reading so much m/m romantic fiction over the last few months I've also noticed one of the things that annoys me the most about even otherwise extremely well written books. I've read so many works about gay men falling in love with each other in which the gay scene or the gay 'community' does not make any appearance at all.
So many m/m romances seem to be set in an entirely heterosexual world. You're often lucky if any other gay character makes any appearance at all!
Yet in reality, for the vast majority of gay men, even those who no longer are out clubbing on the scene every weekend (that would be me then) we live our lives surrounded by a large number of gay friends.
Yet many of these m/m romances have none of this. Even when those romances feature protagonists who come out late in life (which is another thing that can annoy me if this is not handled realistically) they seem to fall head over heels with their paramours and live happily ever after without so much as a thought about ever wanting to make a gay friend, go to a gay bar for a drink or read a gay magazine.
Christopher wrote: "That one sounds interesting. I'm sure I can handle the M/F scene if I brace myself beforehand and don't eat a tuna for lunch."Hi, Christopher! Funnily enough I share your point of view ;-). At the moment I just read m/m and I dislike mix ups, especially if a book is sold me as m/m.
"I've just finished Basic Training by Marquesate and it's great. It's about a Royal Marine basic training sergeant who falls in love with one of his recruits. Very romantic and very satisfying read."
That's great, yes. Then you might like Her Majesty's Men. Something I especially loved was Marquesate's story Code of Honour in the anthology
I Do: An Anthology in Support of Marriage Equality
I've re-read it several times.
for the vast majority of gay men, even those who no longer are out clubbing on the scene every weekend (that would be me then) we live our lives surrounded by a large number of gay friends.
Yet many of these m/m romances have none of this.
That a very interesting remark, thank you. I had never thought about it. Obviously you are right.
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Oh yes? A very good rec if I ever heard one. :-)
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Ha! It's so interesting to me that you bring this up. And I think you're right -- it's a constant source of irritation to me, the surrounding gay-is-okay heterosexual world in these books.
That said, I've been reading a lot of gay mysteries (in this case meaning gay work by gay men) and one of my irritations is that the surrounding world is peopled almost exclusively by gays. Gays who are out or gays who are closeted, but the comfortable cushion of an all or mostly gay world.
Why is it so hard for writers to give an accurate representation of the world as it is? Why IS there so much wish fulfillment in fiction?
It makes me think there are two kinds of writers. Those who want to capture and make sense of reality and those who want to create a reality that doesn't (yet?) exist.
Maybe people are writing what they know. It's possible some people immerse themselves completely in a gay world, and vice versa.I'm playing devil's advocate. I find that kind of annoying, too. Especially the "all gay" world. It's just not realistic. Zora Neale Thurston wrote a book about an entirely black town, I think in the 30's (sorry, can't think of name right now). It was a planned all-black community. Sometimes I think I'm reading the gay version of that.
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You can certainly isolate yourself to a degree.
I think partly it depends on what stage of life the main character is in.Obviously a book in which the main characters are still in high school probably will feature an almost complete dearth of gay life. The isolation of the setting is often a significant part of the angst which drives the characters and plot.
However a book in which the main character(s) are gay guys in their 20s, then the reality is that the vast majority of gays at this stage of their lives will at the very least be occasional visitors to whatever local gay scene they live near if not complete scene addicts. The overwhelming majority of the people they socialise with will likely be gay men.
Likewise, if your protagonists are in their late 30s and 40s then it would not be unreasonable for them to be rare visitors to the bar scene and they may have even moved to the suburbs. But even in this case, unless they're extremely unusual, they're going to have a network of gay friends, probably subscribe to gay magazines and if they're single then gay websites for hook-ups etc.
What strikes me as particularly odd about m/m books in which one or more characters 'comes out' is that they're depicted as slowly coming to terms with their sexuality entirely through the medium of the romantic relationship. Whilst this can of course be the trigger for the whole process, it's not particularly realistic as the means by which most guys come to terms with their sexuality. That usually happens by being around other gay guys who act as role models and supportive friends.
I mean, speaking personally, I started having sex (and a few romantic crushes) from when I was 16 (a particularly memorable family vacation to New York in 1995). However I was closeted and deeply ambivalent about who I was until I was away at college and first developed gay friends, saw successful gay couples, flirted with guys in bars and clubs, read every issue of Attitude etc.
I guess what I'm saying is that in terms of developing an identity as a happy homosexual, most guys owe far more to their gay friends that their gay lovers.
Thoughts?
Christopher wrote: "I think partly it depends on what stage of life the main character is in.Obviously a book in which the main characters are still in high school probably will feature an almost complete dearth of ..."
I think what you say is very interesting, and food for thought.
Since so many m/m books are written by heterosexual women with a focus on the relationship, they probably do write what they know, which is not the gay society as such.
It can make for nice and beautiful romances, but maybe not a realistic view of how it is to live as a gay man.
And often that is not what the readers look for in a book and it works for what it is.
Anne wrote: "Zora Neale Thurston wrote a book about an entirely black town, I think in the 30's (sorry, can't think of name right now). It was a planned all-black community. Sometimes I think I'm reading the gay version of that. "Zora Neale Hurston is one of my favorite writers! I think you're talking about Their Eyes Were Watching God, which is set in and around Eatonville, the all black florida township where Hurston grew up. She also wrote a collection of very excellent short stories set there. I highly, highly recommend them to everyone in the world who doesn't mind reading dialogue written in dialect, and even then, the dialect is so well done and so familiar and think most people will still be able to enjoy it.
I also get pulled out of a story if everyone in the book is gay, or if the character is depicted as the only gay person in town. Even small towns are going to have more than one gay person! I think a story's setting would also affect the ratio of gay/straight characters. I story set in the heart of the bible belt would most likely have a different ratio than one set in a large city, at least when speaking of openly gay people. What I don't get is the sci-fi stories where gay is the default setting. How are there societies sustaining themselves if everyone is gay?
Anne wrote: "It can make for nice and beautiful romances, but maybe not a realistic view of how it is to live as a gay man.And often that is not what the readers look for in a book and it works for what it is. "
I agree that such a book written by a heterosexual woman for a heterosexual female audience would indeed 'work' in the sense that neither party would notice anything missing.
And if a hetero female author is only aiming for that sort of reader, then I guess it's no skin of my nose if that's the case.
But I think most authors writing m/m would like to get as many readers as possible and it does become something of a problem which detracts from the 'realism' of the novel.
It's not as annoying as reading novels in which the main characters are so feminised in their approach to relationships and sexuality that they're completely unbelievable as male characters. But it is nevertheless jarring when an otherwise excellently plotted book with believable male characters is divorced from the experience of most gay guys.
Cheryl wrote: "What I don't get is the sci-fi stories where gay is the default setting. How are there societies sustaining themselves if everyone is gay?."Have you ever read 'Ethan of Athos' by Lois McMaster Bujold?
She's a prolific and extremely accomplished sci-fi writer with a nice line in space opera romance. In fact I'd say she's one of the best writers around in any genre.
In 1986 she wrote a book set in one of her continuing sagas, but it also works as a stand-alone novel. The main character comes from a colony planet settled exclusively by men. The original colonists were from a religious cult, but the book is set a few hundred years afterwards and a successful and growing colony has resulted. They use a library of cultured ova and 'uterine replicators' to procreate.
There's also a system of 'social credits' in which each citizen earns them through education and work (extra credits can be earned by charitable work and by childcare for a partner's biological children and credits can be lost through criminal convictions or fines). Once a citizen gets enough credits and goes through a strict parenting course they get to go to a replication centre, choose an egg from the library and have a child.
The plot of the book centres around the need for replacement ova and one of the planet's physicians being sent out into the rest of the galaxy to procure new donations. He ends up in the middle of a spy/action-adventure scenario and most of the action actually happens away from the planet.
It's a great read though and I've never actually read anything similar to it.
Cheryl wrote: "Zora Neale Hurston is one of my favorite writers! I think you're talking about Their Eyes Were Watching God, which is set in and around Eatonville, the all black florida township where Hurston grew up. She also wrote a collection of very excellent short stories set there. I highly, highly recommend them to everyone in the world who doesn't mind reading dialogue written in dialect, and even then, the dialect is so well done and so familiar and think most people will still be able to enjoy it. "That's the book, and I kept having a niggling feeling I got her name wrong.
She was an amazing writer, very progressive. I highly recommend her too. :)
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Writers should be doing their research for a variety of things, but maybe this means more women need to get into gay bars? lol, I can't see the guys ever going for that, but what do I know about gay bars? Absolutely nothing.
I am, however, reading this awesome book Gay Bar: The Fabulous, True Story of a Daring Woman and Her Boys in the 1950s about a straight woman who owns a gay bar in the 1950's. Yep, you heard me right. She makes sure she knows all of her clientele. Each prospective new person gets introduced to her. If they pass muster, she introduces them to the room. And, let's make note that she doesn't accept what she considers "swishy" men, but more those in the closet, those that seem more like a straight man. She does this because she doesn't want news of her bar getting into the wrong hands and she fears swishy men would blab too much. Now, I'm not saying she's right, or she's wrong, but that's what she says, thinks, and does. I haven't finished the book yet, but it's an interesting view on life back then and how one had to protect one's identity and livelyhood.
Christopher wrote: "Anne wrote: "It can make for nice and beautiful romances, but maybe not a realistic view of how it is to live as a gay man.And often that is not what the readers look for in a book and it works f..."
As a reader I definitely want my books, also romances, to take place in a believeable, realistic environment, with beliveable people and an interesting and clever plot.If I learn something new, either new facts or new insight in the workings of the human mind and heart, even better. Those are the books I enjoy the most and that might end up in my re-read pile. But not all books are like that, and not all readers like the same. But surely, I agree with you when it comes to what I prefer :)Doesn't mean I won't enjoy something easier and less complex once in a while, like a piece of sweet candy in stead of the whole gourmet meal.
Christopher wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "What I don't get is the sci-fi stories where gay is the default setting. How are there societies sustaining themselves if everyone is gay?."Have you ever read 'Ethan of Athos' by L..."
That was an amazing book by a favorite author :)
Anne wrote: " That's the book, and I kept having a niggling feeling I got her name wrong."I didn't even notice until you mentioned it. I guess it's a combination of the brain fixing things for you as you read, and me trying to remember if there is an "e" in Neale.
Christopher, that sounds like a great book! Of course I don't mind all gay societies if there is actually an explanation of the whys and hows. Part of why I like scifi and fantasy is to think about other possible societies, other ways of life, how different technologies or environments can effect everyday life.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Oh, happy belated birthday, Josh!