Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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What else are you reading? (June 2010 - May 2013) *closed*
Candice wrote: "Alby Krebs wrote: "I am on the second book of the Darshian Tales by Ann Somerville. I read Kei's Gift last week, and I am now reading Falling From the Tree. I haven't read an epic story for a very ..."I am on the third book now. There is only one left in the series. The third one is very good--the main character is off on a science mission to a distant land. Adventure ensues. The characterization is especially good, I think.
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I am currently reading Last Line. She definitely likes to torment her protags before they get their HEA :) I don't know if these guys do get it, only at the torment part now. But the lady can write, that's for sure.For my holiday trip to Turkey next week I have downloaded A Visit from the Goon Squad since I will be with my sister and think I should probably let go of the m/m for a while (I know, I am a coward)and also The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable which is non-fiction and one I have been recommended. And maybe I will be able to finish 1Q84 as well. I plan a lot of beach reading :). And this is where the Kindle is showing its worth, in stead of filling my suitcase with heavy paperbacks, I can carry a whole library with me!
Becky wrote: "Right now I'm reading A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The true story of a nice Jewish boy who joins the Church of Scientology and leaves twelve years later to become the lovely lady she is today. It ..."Wackadoodle is currently my favorite word.
Antonella wrote: "Aleksandr wrote: "A book that I found terrific and seems sadly under-sold and under-reviewed is Kirby Crow's "Angels of the Deep". When I read it, it blew my mind like nothing else."Thank you for..."
I've really enjoyed Kirby Crow. She seems not to be writing lately, yeah?
Kirby is writing - thank gods, I hate begging. :)
Johanna wrote: "I've read almost all the books you've written and also the Administration series from Manna Francis. :) For me the chilly feeling ended in the book #2 Quid Pro Quo and precisely with the short story Pancakes in it. That was when the sociopath hero (Antonella's words! *grin*) became adorable for awhile for the first time! ;)"I have to defend Toreth. Our favorite sociopath is adorable already *at least* by the end of Book 1! For ex. he worries about what could happen to Sara when he himself is in the worse position ever.
Aleksandr wrote: "Kirby is writing - thank gods, I hate begging. :)"Excellent! I too was fascinated by "Angels of the Deep", although haven't read anything else by this author. Recommendations welcome.
Syfy wrote: "Aleksandr wrote: "Kirby is writing - thank gods, I hate begging. :)"Excellent! I too was fascinated by "Angels of the Deep", although haven't read anything else by this author. Recommendations we..."
I haven't read it yet, but I've heard excellent things about Scarlet and the White Wolf.
Becky wrote: "I haven't read it yet, but I've heard excellent things about Scarlet and the White Wolf."Probably that was the reason it got two stars from me: I was expecting something excellent and I was disappointed. Maybe I'll re-read and see if I change of mind...
Antonella wrote: "Becky wrote: "I haven't read it yet, but I've heard excellent things about Scarlet and the White Wolf."Probably that was the reason it got two stars from me: I was expecting something excellent a..."
Yeah, buzz can be a double edged sword. I know there are movies that I probably would have enjoyed a lot more if my expectations hadn't been built up so high. But there are definitely authors I never would have found if not for word of mouth. It's not just what's said but who's saying it that makes a difference. And then even with someone whose tastes generally match mine, there are always a few places where we don't agree.
When I'm "working" I need that boom-boom-pow reading material, but during the off times I'm more for losing myself in a nice long fantasy piece.
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Yup. I'm sure you are right about that! (And it's nice to know that at least someone is defending Toreth *grin*!) I do love Toreth and Warrick unconditionally. Those guys are definitely not taking the easy road through their bumpy relationship! And since you mentioned Sara... I think that her character is really very interesting and her relationship with Toreth is fascinating. :)
I've read J.A. Rock's Wacky Wednesday, which was great to improve your mood, and Ken O'Neill's The Marrying Kind. Highly recommended. I will be reviewing in on JW this week. And, after two funny books, I'm looking for another because it seems funny is what I need right now. ^^ Any recommendations?
Have you read First You Fall? It, and the follow up Second You Sin, and quite funny. You should be aware that they are mysteries with a gay protagonist, though, not romances. If you don't mind Christmas stories in the middle of June, JL Merrow's story in the anthology Winter Warmers was funny, and the rest of the stories were good, too. And I wouldn't say this one was funny, but I just read An Oral Fixation, and it was light and sweet.
Oh, I have Scott Sherman's books AND An Oral fixation, but still haven't read them. Now I must. Thanks!
Johanna wrote: "And since you mentioned Sara... I think that her character is really very interesting and her relationship with Toreth is fascinating. :)"Not only Sara, but basically all women in Manna Francis' books are full fleshed characters, which IMO is a kind of exception in the m/m universe.
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I'm a few days behind on your conversations, on a vacation schedule of eat-walk-dance-sleep and all on Argentine time — noon to 4:00am. So reading this thread made me re-examine why I loved these books so much. I read the series online, then ordered the POD books. Yes, there's the (very) bad boy redeemed, beautiful writing, full-fleshed characters, and a plausible, very creepy dystopia. I suppose the dystopia is a big piece of it for me, as my Cold War childhood seeded a series of "enemy-of-the-state" dreams in which I was forced to take on grown-up responsibilities trying to save my younger sister, cousins, and our pets from some vague totalitarian menace. What better dystopia than one in which love (not that Toreth would name it) might be found and endure for such flawed men? They save each other, a more resolved ending than any of my dreams.
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Aaaw, sounds like you've been busy having a lot of fun in Buenos Aires! :) Anyway, I think you just described beautifully what the world and the chemistry between Toreth and Warrick is all about. :)
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The problem with the Mind fuck series is that it's available for free on her website. No one has to pay for it, if they don't wan to. So, availability isn't the problem.
I can't remember if she was the author who's friends wanted her work in other formats and so she only did that for them? That was the case with someone's work which is still available online for free somewhere, if it wasn't Manna.
But yeah, it's not hard to copy and paste each story into a document, make the font a size 20 or larger, save it as a PDF, and stick that on your Kindle. I've done that with other books that are only available online in formats that don't work for my Kindle.
Anyway, point is, if she wants to sell more books, she needs to take the series off her website first!
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This was written and set in 1970's New York City. It's the story about a straight man who witnesses a murder and is asked to go undercover by the police as a gay man to catch this supposed serial killer. It leads Noel to question his own sexuality, as well as which side everyone is on, even the police.
I LOVED it. And if I could have given it a higher rating, I would have. Just... wow.
Jordan wrote: "But yeah, it's not hard to copy and paste each story into a document, make the font a size 20 or larger, save it as a PDF, and stick that on your Kindle. I've done that with other books that are only available online in formats that don't work for my Kindle. "No need to take the detour over pdf-file. Just send the doc-file via e-mail to your Kindle and the change the format on the run. You'll get a perfectly readable document delivered to your ereader. Or use some online converting tool to convert it to mobi and then put it on the reader. pdf is just not most convenient format for the Kindle.
Jordan wrote: "I just finished The Lure yesterday and was completely blown away by its awesomeness. This has some slight romantic tendencies, but it's not really a romance. Nevertheless, some of you might really ..."This sounds good. I put it on the list. :-)
It's not hard to take an online fic and turn it into an ebook. But it's a little bit of a hassle compared to 1 click shopping. I'd rather buy a copy.I don't know how many people share my prejudice, but my immediate response to online fic is skepticism. I'm not a reader or writer of fanfic, and my default expectation of a story that's available for free online is that it's going to of questionable quality. My attitude has softened a bit in the last year, as I've had a few really good stories recommended to me. But still. I don't seek them out. So I don't think that having a story available for free on your website is a good alternative to making it available through as many ebook stores as possible.
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however, the cover to Mind fuck was beautiful! So there's always that as a plus for buying the book.
Jordan wrote: "Anyway, point is, if she wants to sell more books, she needs to take the series off her website first!"Not necessarily. All the people I know that love the series read it first for free and then bought the books.
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I bought The Lure over a year ago at an LGBTQ book fair, and thought it looked good, but as the year passed, I was unsure, since I had yet to read it. lol, the Bold Strokes Books cover isn't that great either. The layout on the back makes it look like an amature novel. And since I'd never heard of the author, I was hesitant. Thankfully, there was a preface that explained how the book came about and got published in the 70's which totally changed my tune.
I just can't recommend it enough. BSB, simply gave it the traditional M/M cover. Boo! So, ignore that cover, find whatever edition you can, and enjoy it! I almost gave my copy away, and I'm sooo glad I didn't!
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awhile ago I asked around to see if anyone knew of a way to make a document work with the Kindle, and the best answer I really got was that it's just too complicated and doesn't really work well.
However, the latest book I read, was in a Doc format. I just made the font size 20 and saved it as a PDF. That actually worked out really well for the Kindle. Much better than the novels I read awhile back which were only available in PDF and I had to go out and buy a magnifying glass for the kindle or lug a laptop around just to read an 800 page novel.
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Though only taking just my kindle does make much more sense. I know it does. lol. Let's just see what happens though. ;-)
Why wrong? It looks like a good idea to me. Unless you are traveling on foot with your rucksack, in that case I'd probably skip the print books ;-).
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Syfy wrote: "Aleksandr wrote: "Kirby is writing - thank gods, I hate begging. :)"Excellent! I too was fascinated by "Angels of the Deep", although haven't read anything else by this author. Recommendations we..."
Yeah, all three Scarlet/White Wolf books are loads of fun and a definite rec. In fact, it's this series that prompts me to check for anything new by her now and then.
Jordan wrote: "I know it seems wrong to do this... next month I'm taking a vacation, and while I will be bringing my Kindle, I'm also planning on bringing a stock pile of print books too. I won't have room for th..."Isn't it awkward when family or friends realize what we're reading? Doesn't it piss me off with myself when I feel embarrassed or ashamed? Also upsetting about it is the way it brings to light the predjudices and harsh judgements relative to anyone's being gay. Things haven't changed much. And we readers become subject to some extent to that same bigotry. But maybe there's a rightness to that--that is, to one's sharing just a litte of the burden that a gay person has to endure all the time. That's one way maybe for us to support each other. What we're reading brings the subject up, it's an opportunity to say, Hey, I don't feel that way at all, etc. Sometimes, too, if one person speaks up in that way, others less secure may chime in, too.
I mail Word documents to my Kindle all the time, and they convert well.
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Not necessarily. All the people I know that love the series read it first for free and then bought the books."
I agree. And yes, that's exactly what I did. :)
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Just yesterday I downloaded the director's cut version of Special Forces: Soldiers to my Kindle and it went smoothly (but the file is .pdf). Anyway, earlier (about a year ago) I only managed to download the original Special Forces files into my iBooks, but not Kindle. And I'd rather use my Kindle for iPad when ever it's possible.
ETA: I do sound spoiled, don't I? But the truth is that I'm willing to make an effort to be able to get my hands on books I know I'll like (a legal effort, that is). But like Becky said earlier: the one-click-shopping is so easy. Almost too easy, in fact. ;)
Candice wrote: "Jordan wrote: "I know it seems wrong to do this... next month I'm taking a vacation, and while I will be bringing my Kindle, I'm also planning on bringing a stock pile of print books too. I won't h..."I am travelling with my Kindle and a couple of print books as well, for the time on the plane when I can't use any device, if the sun makes the screen hard to read etc. Anything to avoid being without reading material at all.
I don't talk about my m/m reading with family, not because they are homophobic because they aren't, (except for my 82 year old father perhaps, but that lasts only until he meets a gay person) more because of the graphic content in some of them (and the naked torsos). I don't talk about reading m/f romance either if I can avoid it, for the same reasons. Not the naked torsos, they are rarely in evidence, at least not for the women. Hmm, some kind of discrimination going on? ;)
You guys are braver than me.
Johanna wrote: "Antonella wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Anyway, point is, if she wants to sell more books, she needs to take the series off her website first!"Not necessarily. All the people I know that love the series..."
I have the whole series sittting on my computer but haven't started reading yet. I believe when I start I won't be able to stop if what you all say is true, so I shall avoid them until the long winter evenings arrive and uninterupted reading ensues :)
Aleksandr wrote: "I mail Word documents to my Kindle all the time, and they convert well."I mail work related,longer documents to the Kindle, too, to read them on the train or such.
I found that pdf-document are way better readable when mailed with 'convert' in the subject line. The font size can be adjusted then and you don't have to switch to landscape view to be able to read anything.
Anne wrote: "I have the whole series sittting on my computer"The series is not sitting there, it's waiting to pounce upon you ;-)
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That is precisely the same reason, why I have been avoiding Special Forces for a while now (I'm so sorry, Aleks!), because I KNOW it's going to put my everyday life to a total halt - and make a pathetic human wreck out of me. ;) Although I'm dangerously running out of willpower with that decision these days and I'll probably start reading it pretty soon. And since I'm kind of wreck already, that could really work, right?
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The series is not sitting there, it's waiting to pounce upon you ;-)"
LOL, Antonella! And after it pounces upon Anne, it ties her down until she've read all the almost forty files. Yep yep, that'll happen for sure... ;)
ETA: And let's not scare her more for now... *goes away whistling innocently*
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No. You can't say honestly say things haven't changed in the last ten let alone twenty years. The fact that male male romance is even being written on this scale -- discussed openly in mainstream publishing and when dismissed, dismissed largely because it's not considered commerical enough -- you know things have changed.
When the majority of Americans believe -- as the latest polls indicate -- that gays should be allowed to marry, you know things have changed.
Is there still bias? Is there still prejudice? Is there still ignorance and fear? You bet. And there always will be. There are people who don't think a black man should have been elected president. And we've yet to have a Jewish president or a woman president.
These people and these attitudes are now the minority. And that's progress.
Not wanting to have to debate politics with family or friends on vacation...to me that's something else. Even crusaders need a little down time.
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That's exactly what I'm going for. By reading M/M out in the open, I'm saying "I like it, deal with it." Or "I like it. So what?" It's a quiet way of stating your thoughts on a subject matter like that.
lol, I'm also hoping that if my uncle sees what I read, he'll stop asking to read what I write! That's what I'm even more nervous about. Mostly the sex scenes. lol. I'm proud of what I write, but the sex scenes would be a little embarrassing in front of family.
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I enjoyed it, it angered me, made me feel terrible, and sad, and sorry for the characters, but at the same time, I hesitate to recommend it.
For some reason in the middle of the book (when we'd been firmly emplanted in Jem's head all along, we get head hopping out of the blue with several other characters. I could nitpick the novel to death, editing-wise, but that was the biggest issue I had.
The ending, however, was just... I knew it wasn't going to be HEA. I knew it. But still I hoped. And I prayed that there would be some happiness to show up the Christian Fundamentalist people who'd been brainwashed into thinking that all the horrible crap they were doing to the kids to turn them straight was a good thing. ugh. But that wasn't the case.
Yeah, I bawled my eyes out at 1am this morning, and promptly had to go read the happy ending to In Sunshine Or In Shadow. And then I just had to start another book, because even that happy ending didn't calm me down. So, I was up late, and am exhausted today. I'm just glad I wasn't finishing the book while at work or something. That would have been awful.
Hi Jordan! Happy Vacation =DAs far as Salvation is concerned .... maybe if I need a good cry? But somehow I doubt I'll be running to get this one. But it is good people are continuing to get this message out in a variety ways. It is a horrible necessity. See I can already cry and I haven't had to read it! Now I feel like I need my own HFN.
I'll go check out Sunshine Or In Shadow........=D
Gah, I know I sound like a broken record, but when reading a classic that has a lengthy introduction... do the people writing these introductions realize that I have to go and read all the articles they quoted or they cited? I am reading La Celestina with an introduction by Emily Severin. Gosh, the works cited alone is over 20 pages.*headdesk*
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As far as Salvation is concerned .... maybe if I need a good cry? But somehow I doubt I'll be running to get this one. But it is good people are continuing to get th..."
Yes, that short story by Josh is super fantastic, and i just adore the ending! I reread it all the time. It's the perfect pickmeup... except for last night, that was just... another thing in a land all its own. lol.
Yeah, definitely don't pick up Salvation unless you're ready for a good cry.
The last time I cried that hard I had just finished Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived. This is a book I highly recommend to anyone who loves animal stories. Yep, the ending will make you bawl your eyes out. My Mom cried, and then my Dad did. But it's a different kind of bawling your eyes out. It's such a touching/heartwarming story, even though it's sprinkled with bad men who don't have a heart toward animals (and elephants in particular). And it is a true story. An amazing true story that just goes to prove that wild adventures, like the kind you read as a kid, really can, and do, happen to the most unlikeliest of people.
I can't recommend this book enough!
As for M/M, I'm now reading St. Nacho's #2 Physical Therapy, and it's made me laugh in a few places, so things are looking up, book wise... before I get back to that Vietnam memoir I'm also reading right now anyway. Oiy. What is it with me and choosing tough books lately? lol.
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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Perhaps, but for me as a reader that leaves me pretty cold. I mean, I want to identify with the character and not wish I was them. And I truly do not want to ever think of my teens. They were pretty harrowing and not in the conventional way. That's probably why I find some of Josh's latest books so appealing. I am able to identify with the protagonist. They are adults with adult problems.
That's to say, I love all of Josh's books but I would never be able to identify with "nearly perfect Adrien" the way I could identify with Fraser Fortune or with Swift or Wayne.