Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

Yours, mine, ours.

A Vintage Affair, a gentle (simple, anyway) contemporary romance launched from Loose Id last night.

Oh, and Loose Id is now offering their titles in the .EPUB format. So you can use their titles on Astak EZ Reader, Astak EZ Reader Pocket PRO, Astak Mentor, BeBook One,
BeBook Mini, Cybook Gen3, Cybook Opus, COOL-ER, Elonex eBook, Hanlin
V5, Hanlin V3, IREX Digital Reader 1000S, NUUT2, Sony PRS-300 Reader
Pocket Edition, Sony PRS-505 Reader Digital Book, Sony PRS-600 Reader
Touch Edition, Sony PRS-700BC Reader Digital Book, Nook.

Kind of cool!

Josh wrote: "

A Vintage Affair, a gentle (simple, anyway) contemporary romance launched from Loose Id last night.

Possibly spoilery.



I really enjoy this type of gentle romance and AVA lived up to my anticipation. Just the right amount of angst, romance and humour. (The family made me think 'Kind Hearts and Coronets!)
Austin and Jeff are likeable and believable and the minor players each have something memorable.

Just right for a quiet afternoon.

I'm so glad to read this. Thanks, Jan!

Well done LI! I was kind of hoping that they would offer epub soon.

Ingrid wrote: "Well done LI! I was kind of hoping that they would offer epub soon."

Yep, a very smart move on their part.

Sorry, Josh. I know you're currently basking in everyone's love (including mine) for AVA and writing your fingers off with Kit & JX,... but do you have an ETA for Dangerous Ground 3?

It looks like that's scheduled for September. I was thinking it was due October, but I just checked my calendar. And promptly threw up.

WHAT MANIAC PUT THIS SCHEDULE TOGETHER???

Thanks for asking, Rob.

Aww, poor guy. If you weren't so damn good, your crazy schedule wouldn't be an issue. So on that note, thank you again for so many wonderful characters and stories. (Hopefully that makes it a little better.) Can't wait to see what Taylor & Will are up to next.

Can't wait to see what Taylor & Will are up to next.

me either...

Rob wrote: "Aww, poor guy. If you weren't so damn good, your crazy schedule wouldn't be an issue. So on that note, thank you again for so many wonderful characters and stories. (Hopefully that makes it a littl..."

Thanks, Rob. At least that book should be relatively easy. Not that any of them are relatively easy at this point.

Sue wrote: "Can't wait to see what Taylor & Will are up to next.

me either..."

Thanks, Sue. I do enjoy those two and their action-adventures. *g*

Josh wrote: "It looks like that's scheduled for September. I was thinking it was due October, but I just checked my calendar. And promptly threw up."

At least now I can tell Will and Taylor apart - mostly thanks to that not-a-nursing-aid butterfly board *g*.

But - apart from those two guys - I presume your next story is Fair Game? Still due out on 02 August?

Yes. God! Do I owe you an email? I can't remember if I answered you the last time. The ebook on Strange Fortune is due July 20th and then August 2nd comes FAIR GAME.

My blog on EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO ASK ABOUT PUBLISHERS (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK) is up at Jessewave's site.

http://www.reviewsbyjessewave.com/?p=...

Hope it's useful!

Also I'm one of several authors of m/m historical fiction being interviewed at Dear Author tomorrow by Dr. Sarah Frantz. She did a particularly lucid and refreshingly unbiased post on the topic of historical accuracy pertaining to m/m fiction this morning.

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2010/...

Josh wrote: "Yes. God! Do I owe you an email? I can't remember if I answered you the last time. The ebook on Strange Fortune is due July 20th and then August 2nd comes FAIR GAME."

No need to worry, I'm just housekeeping (anything rather than unpack removal boxes...).

Josh wrote: "My blog on EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO ASK ABOUT PUBLISHERS (BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK) is up at Jessewave's site.

http://www.reviewsbyjessewave.com/?p=...

Hope it's useful!"

It was an excellent post!

Josh wrote: "Thanks, Rob. At least that book should be relatively easy. Not that any of them are relatively easy at this point. "

Most welcome. Does this mean you haven't written it yet? This has opened up a whole can of questions,...but I'll hold them for later.

The one (mostly unrelated) I do have is, what do you do to recharge your creative battery? Judging from your posts lately, it seems the stories haven't been flowing from your fingertips with ease of late. How do you keep yourself going without completely burning out or just cranking it out for the sake of cranking it out?

Most welcome. Does this mean you haven't written it yet? This has opened up a whole can of questions,...but I'll hold them for later.

I know what the story will be -- it's quite a simple one -- but no, I haven't written a word. I'm stuck here in All She Wrote HELL.

The one (mostly unrelated) I do have is, what do you do to recharge your creative battery? Judging from your posts lately, it seems the stories haven't been flowing from your fingertips with ease of late. How do you keep yourself going without completely burning out or just cranking it out for the sake of cranking it out?

That's actually become a problem because I've done nothing to recharge the creative well and the well is empty. I'm tired and irritable and I don't want to write anymore.

And yet, when I sit down and write, the work is fine. Which is weird. I keep looking for signs of burn out, but the burnout seems to show in how slowly I'm working, how much rewriting I'm having to do for every few pages. I guess if I could just relax and pump out crap, everything would be fine, but I can't do that.

The plan is to slow drastically down next year. I'm only doing half as many projects and I'm spacing them out through the year so I won't be working any weekends and I'll only be writing about 1000 words a day. In fact, I'm toying with the idea for not writing at all for three months, although we'll have to see how things stand financially at the end of the year.

If I had it all to do over...well, I would probably have done the same thing because it was building that large backlist that put me into position to go fulltime writing, but this was the year I should have cut sharply back. Of course I didn't see that till I was well into the year.

But if I don't take drastic steps now, I won't be writing two years from now.

So...let that be a lesson to all you young whippersnappers!!!

Andy wrote: "It was an excellent post! "

At least it's a starting point for folks.

The discussion on historical accuracy continues at Dear Author. I think Dr. Frantz gets extra credit for successfully editing seven writers into something resembling coherency. What a longwinded bunch we are.

Not that it's not interesting, I'll be the first to admit.

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2010/...

Josh wrote:"At least it's a starting point for folks."

Yes it is. And I am glad to hear you will be slowing down next year - can't have you not writing in two years.

Andy wrote: "Josh wrote:"At least it's a starting point for folks."

Yes it is. And I am glad to hear you will be slowing down next year - can't have you not writing in two years."

Yes, I'd rather be writing and productive. For sure! It would be a weird thing to have to throw in the towel because I was TOO successful. *g*

Another bit of news here on the book buying front.

JCP Books will be offering its first ever "weekly special." The first sale letter will go out Sunday morning. It's an "Independents-Day" special of 15% off everything. (Huge -- Most publishers have puny whole-cart discounts of 5%.) So keep an eye out for that!

http://jcpbooks.com/


Also, I've uploaded the short story "In Sunshine and In Shadow" to Amazon's Kindle store. It's not posted yet, but it should be within a few days. For those of you who've asked for the story in ebook form, here's the first step.

Josh wrote: "Another bit of news here on the book buying front.

JCP Books will be offering its first ever "weekly special." The first sale letter will go out Sunday morning. It's an "Independents-Day" speci..."

That's fantastic!

Josh wrote: "But if I don't take drastic steps now, I won't be writing two years from now."

Do whatever you need to, Josh, because I would rather know you're happy than miserable and struggling. Even if that means one book a year or something, so be it. The thought of you not writing anymore... Cue the apocalypse.

Josh wrote: "... so I won't be working any weekends and I'll only be writing about 1000 words a day..."

Not write through weekends? Goodness gracious, these days, weekends are when I get the bulk of my writing done! :D

Question probably belongs in the writerly discussion thread, but idle curosity...How many words/day do you typically crank out? Fresh pages, I mean. I take time twice/year to treat myself to a writing binge, wherein I do nothing except write (well, maybe I occasionally shower & eat, too, LOL) and can go upwards of 5K - 8K/day, but I burn out within a couple of weeks. Weekends, my target is 1500-2000, which is generally attainable. If it's a workday and I can manage the time at all, I'm doing well to squeeze in 500. Which would be sad if I didn't love my day job, but there you are. I'm only ever going to be a part-timer.

Missy wrote: "Cue the apocalypse"

I'm trying to think of the soundtrack for my personal apocalypse. :-D

Thanks, Missy.

Kari wrote: "Josh wrote: "... so I won't be working any weekends and I'll only be writing about 1000 words a day..."

Not write through weekends? Goodness gracious, these days, weekends are when I get the bul..."

On a bad day I crank out about 1500 - 2K. On a good day (which I have few of lately) I do about 5K+. The 1500 - 2K was about what I use to do when I had a day job, so this really is a dismaying drop in productivity.

It's all relative. If I wasn't behind schedule and I didn't know what I typically do, I'd be happy with the 1500 - 2K. It's a perfectly respectable number. In fact, I think it's an ideal number. Just not for me.

Josh wrote: "Another bit of news here on the book buying front.

JCP Books will be offering its first ever "weekly special." The first sale letter will go out Sunday morning. It's an "Independents-Day" speci..."

Thanks for adding "In Sunshine and In Shadow" to the Kindle store, Josh! I have it in print, but I'm weird and prefer my books as ebooks (so I can take them with me everywhere).

Nichem wrote: "Thanks for adding "In Sunshine and In Shadow" to the Kindle store, Josh! I have it in print, but I'm weird and prefer my books as ebooks (so I can take them with me everywhere). "

Good! It took awhile to getting around to putting it up, but now I've got the hang of it.

In general housekeeping news, the ebook version of Strange Fortune is live today at Samhain.

You can purchase it through MyBookstoreand More: http://www.mybookstoreandmore.com/str...

I've added two more book trailers to my GoodReads profile -- including one for Strange Fortune.

(Hey, I don't claim to be Guy Ritchie. But I'm having fun putting these things together.)


What else? Just about finished getting the PDF file ready on "In Sunshine or In Shadow" (which will be sold through my own website), and also getting close to uploading the Kindle edition of "A Limited Engagement."

Meanwhile I'm still working on the sequel to All She Wrote -- 2/3rds done -- and I've started "Critic's Choice" the first of my two offerings in the next batch of Petit Morts.

And -- thank you, God -- the temperature is currently at a moderate 70 degrees.

Well, I snagged the video for Strange Fortune and put it up. But I can't actually watch it myself because - as I was told tersely when I tried - "This video contains content from WMG. It is no longer available in your country" }:>[. Fans in other countries may be luckier.

About "A Limited Engagement" (which I like particularly): I remember you once mentioning some re-editing. Will this be a "new" version?

Liade wrote: "Well, I snagged the video for Strange Fortune and put it up. But I can't actually watch it myself because - as I was told tersely when I tried - "This video contains content from WMG. It is no long..."

The trailers will eventually be up on my website -- I think we're going to have a specific trailer page.

ALE has been re-copyedited but otherwise, it's the same. I find I just don't have the tolerance to go back and reread these stories. I currently hate everything I write. *g*

Josh wrote: "ALE has been re-copyedited but otherwise, it's the same"

GOOD!

Re. trailers: I'm not sure if having the trailers up on your website makes any difference if it's to do with contents?

Josh wrote: I currently hate everything I write. *g*

It's a good job us readers have better taste! :)

It's a good job us readers have better taste! :)

Or at least that you think you do. *g*

Josh wrote: "In general housekeeping news, the ebook version of Strange Fortune is live today at Samhain.

It's a very striking cover, though I feel the paperback cover suits the book better. The ebook cover feels more contemporary than fantasy. But it's beautiful anyway. And as they say, it's what's inside that matters. *g*

Meanwhile I'm still working on the sequel to All She Wrote -- 2/3rds done

I'm so excited about ASW. From a comment you made previously it sounds like you are or were... maybe a bit stuck/burned out or something? If so, I send you a fan cheer and vote of confidence. If Tim Tams would help, I'd send them too. ;-) In the end, I can wait for as long as it takes you to write (honest!) so when I say I'm looking forward to it, I say so without any pressure intended. *g*

There's Fair Game to look forward to in the meantime. I'm checking the Carina website every couple of days to see if it's available for pre-order yet. And more Petit Morts is very happy news too - I enjoyed the first batch very much.

It's a very striking cover, though I feel the paperback cover suits the book better. The ebook cover feels more contemporary than fantasy.

It's a very nice cover, but it is the generic m/m cover. Not a criticism of the work itself, because it's quite nice and will hopefully attract readers, The print edition is that rare and lovely thing -- original artwork.


I'm so excited about ASW. From a comment you made previously it sounds like you are or were... maybe a bit stuck/burned out or something? If so, I send you a fan cheer and vote of confidence. If Tim Tams would help, I'd send them too. ;-)

Ooh Tim Tams!

In the end, I can wait for as long as it takes you to write (honest!) so when I say I'm looking forward to it, I say so without any pressure intended. *g*

I take it in the spirit in which it's intended. I'm glad people are looking forward to the book -- and I *think* it's coming along well.

There's Fair Game to look forward to in the meantime. I'm checking the Carina website every couple of days to see if it's available for pre-order yet..

That's great. :-D

And more Petit Morts is very happy news too - I enjoyed the first batch very much.

I think the next batch will be even better!

Ooh Tim Tams!

Do you already have Tim Tams in the US? In any case, it sounds like they'd melt by the time they got to you. I guess I'll keep 'em for myself for consolation after a horrible, horrible exam I've got on Friday. :( Sorry, but it sounds like I need 'em more than you. ;-)

I'm glad people are looking forward to the book -- and I *think* it's coming along well.

That's great to hear! Any idea of an approximate publication date?

Meanwhile I'm still working on the sequel to All She Wrote -- 2/3rds done

Wait. I thought you were still writing All She Wrote just a couple of weeks ago. That's JX/Kit #2, right? And you're already 2/3 into #3? Am I reading that right?

Oh! On a side note, a while back I told you I was apprehensive about reading The Dickens With Love. You said it was quirky (which was like dangling red meat before a hungry lion, but you didn't know that). Just wanted you to know I devoured it. Loved it!

In Sunshine and in Shadow... *sigh* beautiful. Adored those Irish lads.

It seems I'm always saying thank you, so this time I'll just say thanks. You know, mix it up a bit.

Rob wrote: Wait. I thought you were still writing All She Wrote just a couple of weeks ago. That's JX/Kit #2, right? And you're alre..."

I think he meant he was still writing ASW, the sequel to SKHE. Though for a moment I wondered (hoped) the same thing.

Just wanted you to know I devoured it. Loved it!

Isn't it awesome? :D TDWL is one of my favourites. It really has that bit of special magic to it - as appropriate for the seasonal setting.

Isn't it awesome? :D TDWL is one of my favourites. It really has that bit of special magic to it - as appropriate for the seasonal setting

Thank you. It's one of my personal top five favorites.

Wait. I thought you were still writing All She Wrote just a couple of weeks ago. That's JX/Kit #2, right? And you're already 2/3 into #3? Am I reading that right?

I'm dragging along, but it is coming together. Sloooowly but surely.

Oh! On a side note, a while back I told you I was apprehensive about reading The Dickens With Love. You said it was quirky (which was like dangling red meat before a hungry lion, but you didn't know that). Just wanted you to know I devoured it. Loved it!

Good! I'm glad. I think it's quirks are the non-annoying kind (granted, I would). Maybe whimsical would be a better description?

Anyway, as I noted below, it's one of my personal favorites. I'm delighted you enjoyed it.

In Sunshine and in Shadow... *sigh* beautiful. Adored those Irish lads.

Just a wee bit of sweetness. *g*

It seems I'm always saying thank you, so this time I'll just say thanks. You know, mix it up a bit

Hey, it's always appreciated.

Do you already have Tim Tams in the US?

British import shops.

In any case, it sounds like they'd melt by the time they got to you. I guess I'll keep 'em for myself for consolation after a horrible, horrible exam I've got on Friday. :( Sorry, but it sounds like I need 'em more than you. ;-)

Oh no. Sorry about the horrible exam! Maybe it wasn't as horrible as you thought.

Yes, I agree it's best that you keep the Tim Tams.


That's great to hear! Any idea of an approximate publication date?

Well, it's probably looking more like late October/early November now.

Josh wrote: "British import shops. "

You can find them in the supermarket. Pepperidge Farms has a deal with Arnott's. Target has them. And I sent a box to Ali and they did a taste test and say they taste the same. I think they taste differently.
http://www.pepperidgefarm.com/Product...

Andy wrote: "Josh wrote: "British import shops. "

You can find them in the supermarket. Pepperidge Farms has a deal with Arnott's. Target has them. And I sent a box to Ali and they did a taste test and say the..."

Thanks for the tip!

I'm glad to hear In Sunshine and In Shadow will be available in PDF soon. Everybody has such good things to say about it, I can't wait to read it.

I've never heard of Tim Tams; I feel as though we should have stock in Target so I'll look for them next time we're there- tomorrow!

p.s. Josh, I think you need to learn how to say "No, not this year." You've got an awful lot on your plate.

I've never heard of Tim Tams; I feel as though we should have stock in Target so I'll look for them next time we're there- tomorrow!.

I love Target. I won't shop Walmart as a matter of principle, but Target -- OH YEAH.

p.s. Josh, I think you need to learn how to say "No, not this year." You've got an awful lot on your plate.


I know, I know. I'm going to try and remember this for next year. In fact, technically next year is already full even though I haven't put it on on paper yet.