The Quintessential Josh Lanyon Writing Play List

I can't believe it's almost Valentine's Day! This year is hurtling past -- along with my deadlines.


In case you don't know me or my work, I happen to write Male/Male Mystery and Suspense -- Male/Male is by definition romantic fiction (everything you need to know is in that little slash mark) and while my stories are always heavy on murder and mayhem (because what's romance without tripping over a dead body now and again?) they are also always about what it means to be in love and build a relationship with someone -- even when the odds are against you surviving the next 48 hours.


This year I'm sharing my Quintessential Writing Play List with you. Most of these songs have worked their way onto various book playlists, but some are just songs that get me energized and thinking and, most importantly for writing romance, feeling.


And since I'm putting this together, I'd like to invite my fellow NYUS authors to share their own writing playlists.

The Quintessential Josh Lanyon Playlist

At Last - Etta James
Collide - Howie Day
Rain - Patty Griffin
Runaway Trains - Tom Petty
Ever the Same - Rob Thomas
Chemical - Joseph Arthur
From Where You Are - Lifehouse

Suit - Boom! Bap! Pow!
Strangers in a Car - Marc Cohn
Counting Stars - OneRepublic
Crash and Burn - Lifehouse
Every Time We Say Goodbye - Sarah Vaughn
Try - Pink
I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love with You - Marc Cohn
Halfway Gone - Lifehouse
Starlight - Muse
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
Enough to Let Me Go - Switchfoot
Come With Me Now - Kongos
Still - Matt Nathanson
If I Didn't Know Any Better - Alison Krauss
Gone, Gone, Gone - Phillip Phillips
When You Come Back Down - Nickel Creek
Runaway Train - Soul Asylum
In a Big Country - Big Country
What Led Me to This Town - the Jayhawks
Boom Boom - The Animals
Could Not Ask for More - Edwin McCain

Where I Come From - Lifehouse
I Will Wait for You - Mumford & Sons
Stranger on the Shore - Acker Bilk

A Work in Progress

When you're the author of a book on writing, it's kind of inevitable that you will receive a lot of email regarding your own creative "process." (I put process in quotes because it's such an organized-sounding word for the weird unpredictable and erratic activity that is my version of writing.)


One thing I talk a lot about when I'm posting on writing is what I call layering. Basically that just means I write a lot of drafts. By reassuring myself that I will be "layering" in all the important and cool stuff later, I give myself permission to write what is frequently referred to in writing circles as the "shitty first draft".


For someone like me, it's really hard to write a first draft. Smothering my inner critic is incredibly difficult, but I have to put a pillow over her face in order to achieve that state of justpouringitoutasitcomestome which is pretty much what a rough/first draft is. You start with nothing but a blank page and then you try to build a world and characters so engaging, so believable, that others can lose themselves wandering through the hallways of your mind.


Now there is no one way to write. Anything you have to do to get the story down on paper (even cyber paper) is the correct procedure. And that initial hammer and nails, hauling up the framework, is generally a messy, ugly, sweaty business. But you have to have that foundation in order to layer on the good stuff. The drywall and flooring of the second draft. And then eventually, by the time you get to official edits, the paint and furnishings and décor.


Right now I'm working on Fair Chance, which is the third and final book in the All's Fair Series (which I'm writing for Carina Press).


And since I never do this -- and since we needed a blog this morning -- I thought I would show a bit of the layering that takes place between drafts one and two.


DRAFT ONE

“I knew you’d come.”

Andrew Corian, dubbed “The Sculptor” by the national press, was smiling that same old smile. Supremely confident and a little scornful. For a moment it was as almost as if he was seated at his desk in his old office at PSU and not in this dingy interview room at The Federal Detention Center in Sea-Tac.

“Sure you did,” Elliot said. He had been second-guessing the decision to meet with Corian from the minute he’d acceded to SAC Montgomery’s request, and Corian’s supercilious attitude just confirmed his doubts. They were not going to get anything useful out of The Sculptor.

Corian’s big hands, wrists handcuffed, rested on the resin table top. He spread his fingers, palms up in a have a seat gesture as Elliot took the chair across the table.

 “How could you resist? A chance to play hero one last time. A chance to convince yourself you got the better of me.”

“You’ve been hitting the psych shelves in the prison library pretty hard,” Elliot commented, folding his arms on the table top. He glanced casually around the room. He’d been in plenty of these interview rooms back when he’d been with the FBI. Neutral colors. Durable furniture. Mesh over the windows. Generic right down to the two-way mirror behind which stood Detective Pine of Tacoma Homicide and FBI Special Agent Kelli Yamiguchi.

Just in case they missed anything, the cameras overhead were recording the interview.

Corian’s eyes, a weird shade of hazel that looked almost yellow in the institutional light, narrowed at Elliot’s jibe, but his broad smile never faltered. He seemed to be a in great mood for a guy looking at a multiple life sentences.

“I don’t need to read a psychology book to understand you, Mills. There’s nothing complicated about your psyche.”

“But enough about me,” Elliot said. “Let’s talk about your favorite subject. You. Or more exactly, why you wanted to see me.”

Corian sat back in his chair. He looked a bit like a cartoonist’s idea of the devil. Gleaming bald head and immaculately trimmed Vandyke. He was a big man and prison had made him bigger. Leaner. Harder. He looked like he ate steroids for every meal and spent all his free time body-building. Maybe the body-building wasn’t far from the truth. There wasn’t a hell of a lot to do while sitting around waiting for trial. Not when you’d been caught red-handed, as it were, in a series of brutal slayings and mutilations spanning more than fifteen years.

He said, “I didn’t want to see you, Mills. I gave you permission to visit. That’s all.”

“Two letters in two months? We’re practically pen pals. Come off it, Corian. You want me to sit here and listen to you explain in detail how brilliant you were. How brilliant you still are compared to the rest of us.”

Corian’s smile widened. “That wouldn’t be the only reason.”

“It’ll be the main reason. You’re sure as hell not interested in bringing closure to the families of the victims.”

“You’ve never understood me, Mills.”

“You’re right about that.

“But you’re afraid of me.”

Elliot sighed. “No, Andrew. I’m not.”

They had never been on first name terms. Corian replied, “You should be, Elliot.”

“This is bullshit.” Elliot made sure his tone revealed nothing but boredom. “If the idea was to get me here so you could practice your bogeyman routine, you’re wasting both our time.” He pushed his chair back as though to rise.

Corian sat back and expelled an exasperated sigh. “Goddamn, Mills. Can’t you at least buy me a drink before you screw me over?”

“Look, you wrote me. I’m not looking to continue our relationship--if you want to call it that. I don’t need closure. I got my closure when they slammed those cell doors on you.”

That wasn’t completely true. Like everyone else involved in the case, Elliot wasn’t going to truly breathe a sigh of relief until Corian was tried and convicted. He wanted the reassurance of knowing Corian was locked up in a maximum facility until the end of time. The numerous court date postponements were wearing on everyone’s nerves.

Corian had the gall to look wounded. It was only partly an act. Being a psychopath, his own pain and his own frustrations were very real to him. It was the suffering of other people he was indifferent to.

“I’d appreciate a little courtesy. A few minutes of intelligent conversation. Or as close as you can manage.”

Elliot eyed him without emotion. “All right. But we don’t have all day. If you’ve got something to say, you’d better say it.”

Corian leaned back in his chair, smiling. “How’s the fall session shaping up? Have they hired someone to replace me yet?”

 “Oh, no one could replace you,” Elliot said sarcastically.

“True.” Corian grinned. “How’s Rollie? I read his book. When you think about it, it’s pretty ironic. The only child of a celebrity sixties radical joining the FBI.”

 “Yep. Ironic. Are we done with the chitchat?”

Corian’s smile faded. “All right. Ask your questions.”

“As of this date, sixteen bodies have been removed from the cellar of your property in Black Diamond, bringing the number of victims to twenty-three. Is that it? Is that an accurate headcount? Or are there more?”

“Headcount.” Corian’s smile was pure Mephistophelian. Partly he was acting. Partly he was simply…evil.

 

-----------------------------


Basically the first draft amounts to talking heads and feeling my way through the scene, trying to figure out what's really happening between these two. Part of the dialog will be placeholder because I'm still fine tuning character and relationship dynamics. I don't waste time on researching details at this stage because there's so much else to think about and I don't even know what those details should be yet.


Then, about seven or so chapters in, once I can see a bit farther than the reach of my head lights, I go back and start filling in the blanks, making the story feel real for both me and the eventual reader. This second draft is actually the most fun because it's where the story comes alive. It's where I begin to lose myself in that world I've created.


DRAFT TWO

“I knew you’d come.”

Andrew Corian, dubbed “The Sculptor” by the national press, was smiling that same old smile. Supremely confident and a little scornful. For a moment it was as almost as if he was seated at his desk in his old office at PSU and not in this sterile interview room at The Federal Detention Center in Sea-Tac.

“Sure you did,” Elliot said.

Corian’s powerful hands, thick wrists handcuffed, rested on the resin table top. He spread his fingers, palms up in a have a seat gesture as Elliot took the plastic chair across the table.

He had been second-guessing the decision to meet with Corian from the minute he’d acceded to SAC Montgomery’s request, and Corian’s supercilious attitude just confirmed his doubts. They were not going to get anything useful out of The Sculptor.

 “How could you resist?” Corian was saying. “A chance to play hero one last time. A chance to convince yourself you got the better of me.”

“Sounds like you’ve been hitting the psych shelves in the prison library pretty hard.” Elliot folded his arms on the table top, glanced casually around the room.

He’d been in plenty of these interview cells back when he’d been with the FBI. Neutral colors. Durable furniture. Mesh over the frosted windows. A guard outside the door. Generic right down to the two-way mirror behind which stood Detective Pine of Tacoma Homicide and FBI Special Agent Kelli Yamiguchi.

Just in case Pine and Yamiguchi missed anything, cameras overhead were recording the interview.

Corian’s eyes, a weird shade of hazel that looked almost yellow in the harsh institutional light, narrowed at Elliot’s jibe, but his broad smile never faltered. He seemed to be in a great mood for a guy looking at a multiple life sentences.

“I don’t need to read a psychology book to understand you, Mills. There’s nothing complicated about your psyche.”

“But enough about me,” Elliot said. “Let’s talk about your favorite subject. You. Or more exactly, why you wanted to see me.”

The rough material of Corian’s prison khakis rustled as he sat back in his chair. He looked a bit like a cartoonist’s idea of the devil. Gleaming bald head and immaculately trimmed Vandyke. He was a big man and prison had made him bigger. Leaner. Harder. He looked like he ate steroids with every meal and spent all his free time body-building. Maybe the body-building wasn’t far from the truth. There wasn’t a hell of a lot to do while sitting around waiting for trial. Not when you’d been caught red-handed, as it were, in a series of brutal slayings and mutilations spanning more than fifteen years.

He said, “I didn’t want to see you, Mills. I gave you permission to visit. That’s all.”

“Two letters in two months? We’re practically pen pals. Come off it, Corian. You want me to sit here and listen to you explain in detail how brilliant you were. How brilliant you still are compared to the rest of us.”

Corian’s smile widened. “That wouldn’t be the only reason.”

“It’ll be the main reason. You’re sure as hell not interested in bringing closure to the families of the victims.”

It was quiet in the interview room. On the other side of the heavy sound-proofed door a symphony of discordant sounds were reaching crescendo level: guards yelling, Televisions blasting, prisoners shouting, the incessant thunder of an industrial strength plumbing system, the chatter and buzz of walkie-talkies, the jangle of keys and slamming of steel doors.

“You’ve never understood me, Mills.”

“You’re right about that.”

“But you’re afraid of me.”

Elliot sighed. “No, Andrew. I’m not.”

They had never been on first name terms. Corian replied, “You should be, Elliot.”

“This is bullshit.” Elliot made sure his tone revealed nothing but boredom. “If the idea was to get me here so you could practice your bogeyman routine, you’re wasting both our time.” He pushed his chair back as though to rise.

Corian sat back and expelled an exasperated sigh. “Goddamn, Mills. Can’t you at least buy me a drink before you screw me over?”

The indignation was almost funny.

“Look, you wrote me. I’m not looking to continue our relationship--if you want to call it that. I don’t need closure. I got my closure when they slammed the cell door on you.”

That wasn’t completely true. Like everyone else involved in the case, Elliot wasn’t going to truly breathe a sigh of relief until Corian was tried and convicted. He wanted the reassurance of knowing Corian was locked up in a maximum facility until the end of time. The numerous court date postponements were wearing on everyone’s nerves.

Corian had the gall to look wounded. It was only partly an act. Being a psychopath, his own pain and his own frustrations were very real to him. It was the suffering of other people he was indifferent to.

“You want something from me. So be it. I’d appreciate a little courtesy. A few minutes of intelligent conversation. Or as close as you can manage.”

Elliot eyed him without emotion. “All right. But we don’t have all day. If you’ve got something to say, you’d better spit it out.”

Corian leaned back in his chair, smiling. “How’s the fall session shaping up? Have they hired someone to replace me yet?”

 “Oh, no one could replace you,” Elliot said.

“True.” Corian merely grinned at the sarcasm. “How’s Rollie? I read his book. When you think about it, it’s pretty ironic. The only child of a celebrity sixties radical joining the FBI.”

 “Yep. Ironic. Are we done with the chitchat?”

Corian’s smile faded. “All right. Ask your questions.”

“As of this date, sixteen bodies have been removed from the cellar of your property in Black Diamond, bringing the number of victims to twenty-three. Is that it? Is that an accurate headcount? Or are there more?”

“Headcount.” Corian’s smile was pure Mephistophelian. Partly he was acting. Partly he was simply…evil.

 

-------------------
Most of what I've written stays, but I start paring it down. Trying to say what I need to say in the fewest, cleanest words possible. Saving space for the sensory details that make a story come alive. Looking at pacing and making sure I'm not getting in the way of the characters.


Of course, my work isn't close to being done. After I've got a decent second draft, it goes to my editor and there will be more cleaning and pruning and adding and embellishing. And then copyedits and then line edits. Ideally with each round the story is getting tighter and more emotionally focused, more readable.


What about you? How many drafts do you write? How much does the book change from your original draft to your final draft? At what point do you lose yourself in your storytelling?

Five Things You Hope Your Readers Never Find Out About Your Creative Process

 Ah the glitz and glamor of the life of a professional, fulltime writer!

From the time I was a child--fourth grade, to be precise--I knew I was going to be a professional writer. I knew because this is what all my teachers told me. Granted, there was some earlier confusion with my third grade teacher because I thought she said RIDER and I remember being flattered but wondering how the heck she knew I loved horses and went riding whenever possible.

By fourth grade however, my teachers were enunciating more clearly, and I got the message. Oh. I was going to be a WRITER. Not nearly as exciting, but okay. They seemed so very sure, I just figured they knew.

I pretty much envisioned this  writing career as me living in a castle by the sea and wearing a peignoir much of the time. Obviously some writing would take place...but I was still perfecting my penmanship on those long rectangular sheets of paper with the blue dotted-lines, so the mechanics were vague.

By the time I hit college I understood quite a bit more about how writing and the publishing biz worked. By then I had mastered handwriting (yes, I was still working longhand) and I preferred men's silk pajamas to peignoirs, but the rest of it...yes, I confess I did still believe that ultimately I'd be working in a castle by the sea. Candlelight and gauzy draperies figured largely. Possibly also harpsichord music.

The reality is a bit different. Actually a lot different. For sure I thought I would have more free time--even if only to accomplish such things as laundry and paying bills. I thought I would be writing one, maybe two books a year. I imagined I would only be writing and that other well-paid people would be taking care of all the rest of whatever it was that might be needed. Handling my translation rights. Picking up my dry cleaning.  

Here are five of my writing realities. And I invite my writing colleagues to share their own writing realities:

1 - I haven't had a facial in six months. Actually, I haven't washed my face in six months. Okay, I exaggerate, but during that frenzied home stretch that every project eventually reaches...grooming is one of the lowest priorities. And sometimes even hygiene is at risk.

2 - I will eat anything that is not likely to kill me and takes no time to prepare. Last night I had smoked oysters and Japanese snack crackers. Yeah, right out of the tins in both cases. It was neither  glamorous nor delicious but it also didn't take long.

3 - I poured whisky, Irish cream, and half-and-half directly into the coffee machine yesterday. I've lost two pairs of reading glasses this week. I narrowly missed taking Tylenol PM in place of aspirin this afternoon.


4 - I sleep wearing wrist braces. The Velcro strips on the braces keep catching on my flannel sheets.


5 - I obsessively listen to the same CDs over and over--no, it's not harpsichord music--or sometimes the same CD, as in singular. You know how most writers are always talking about closing the door so their loved ones don't bother them when they're working? My dear SO closes my office door first thing in the morning, frequently joking-not-joking about locking me in. I believe the word "barricade" has been used. More than once.


So...a life fraught with peril if nothing else. Anyone else out there willing to share a little of the working writer's reality?

Sneak Peek - Jefferson Blythe, Esquire

I had three blogs due this week, so I’m fudging a bit with a sneak peek for my New Adult novel out November 16^th from Carina Press. Jefferson Blythe, Esquire is a kooky mix of comedy, travelogue and romance. It’s a mystery of course, but it’s really not like anything I’ve done before. And I don’t want to say more than that.

 

Anyway, there will be a huge launch party over on myFacebook page on the 15^th and tons of prizes and goodies will be given away, but I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway here as well.

 

So answer the questions below and one random commenter will win a hardcover copy of The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery by Agatha Christie. I received this book as a gift a couple of Christmases ago and it’s a really fascinating glimpse both into Christie’s mind and a world of travel that no longer exists.

 

1 - Poirot or Marple?

2 - Professor Plum or Miss Scarlet?

3 - Marlowe or Spade?

 

The Blurb:

In this fast, fun and dead-sexy male/male new-adult caper from multi-award-winning author Josh Lanyon, twentysomething Jefferson Blythe gets lost, gets found, falls in love and comes out...all in the span of one wild summer. 

After his first relationship goes disastrously awry, Jeff Blythe uses his savings to tour Europe—the old-fashioned way. Armed with his grandfather's1960 copy of Esquire's Europe in Style, Jeff sets off looking for adventure but finds much, much more than he bargained for... 

In London, dodging questions from shady criminals about a mysterious package he most certainly does not have is simple. Losing the gunmen who are convinced he's someone else is not. And when George, an old friend, offers him help—and a place to stay, and perhaps something more—things become complicated. 

Is George really who he seems? And is Jeff finally ready to act on his attraction? 

From Paris to Rome and back again, Jeff and George fall for each other, hard, while quite literally running for their lives. But trusting George at his word may leave Jeff vulnerable—in more ways than one.

 

A Romantic Times Top Pick!

 

 

The Peek:

The little café was situated right at the junction of rue Lepic and rue Cauchois, and when I came outside, I must have turned the wrong way because the next thing I knew I was on rue Cauchois. It was an old and quiet street, old buildings—mostly residential. It did not look even vaguely familiar.

Thinking it would be simple to cut through the web of narrow side streets and then intersect with rue Lepic, I didn’t turn back like I should have. Nope, I kept walking, turned down another small street, followed it for a ways, and then, deciding that I was traveling in the general right direction, turned down another narrow street. And then the next. And then the next.

And then I was lost.

But I knew I needed to keep heading downhill, away from the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur, so that seemed simple enough. Keep winding my way downhill and hopefully I’d bump into rue Lepic again, find metro Blanche and get back to my hotel before dawn.

There were not as many people as before, and very few tourists. I wasn’t nervous, but I also wasn’t giddy with delight.

I kept walking, kept heading…west? West was right, wasn’t it?

Why did I not have a better brain for directions?

Why hadn’t I taken the Metro?

Why did all these fucking streets seem to lead deeper and deeper into the maze?

At that point the caffeine from the coffee and the sugar from the crème brûlée must have kicked in, dispelling the last fumes of alcohol. I stopped walking and got my phone out.

There were very few street lamps and light was very poor. Motorbikes and a couple of cars nearly blocked the narrow street in one direction. In the other there was a row of metal trash bins that looked like tin pepper pots. Ivy grew up the walls of the buildings, which were typical of French architecture in the 1800s: pastel stone and brick, iron cresting, and steep mansard roofs.

Where the hell was I?

I spotted a red-and-blue sign a few feet away and started toward it, using my phone as a flashlight.

Something whizzed past my hand, the sign seemed to crinkle in the center, and I heard a weird pop. I didn’t recognize the sound. It was more like a thunk than a bang, but either way, it was as though an invisible hand had reached past me to punch the sign.

As I stared at that ominous divot, like the bull’s-eye in a target, there was another pop. The side mirror on the car beside me shattered.

A shot. I was being shot at.

I ducked down beside the car, then realized I was probably still on the same side as the shooter. I half ran, half crawled around the front of the car. The tire next to me suddenly deflated, the hissing accompanied by two loud pops.

No. No. No. This could not be happening again. It just…couldn’t.

 

You can preorder at Amazon, B&N, Kobo and all the usual places--and don't forget to comment below!

 

 

 

 

  

Sex and Politics

Like a lot of writers, I write with an agenda.


Because I write about gay men falling in love, my agenda might appear more transparent than most. When I first began writing gay fiction, my focus was simply on showing how absolutely UNextraordinary such relationships were. Normal was my catchword. Because when I first found a publisher for these stories, most of my mainstream readers and writing friends still found gay mysteries unusual, surprising, and occasionally uncomfortable. They were most certainly -- and correctly at that time -- viewed as non-commercial.


Aside from the sexual orientation of my characters, I've mostly tried to avoid getting political in books. I don't like to be preached to, and neither do readers. This isn't to say that my characters don't have political or religious affiliations. They do. The things that we believe in, trust in, have faith in, think are worth fighting for define us. So a well-drawn character should have views on religion and politics and, yes, sex. Because it is rare to find a human who doesn't.


Fair Play is the first really political story I've written. It's difficult to write about a former radical on the run from his past -- or to discuss the 1960s -- without getting somewhat political. The story is a mystery-romance, so politics aren't the focus, but it's still feels a lot more political -- and personal -- to me. Just the mention of Vietnam riles up people in my family, so I imagine it will rile up a few readers.


Or maybe not. It was a long time ago, after all. I'll be interested to see if there is a reaction or not. Anyway, Fair Play comes out November 10th, but you can preorder it now through Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.

So what do you think? Do you write with an agenda? Or if you're a reader, do you find a noticeable agenda off-putting?


Fifty years ago, Roland Mills belonged to a violent activist group. Now, someone is willing to kill to prevent him from publishing his memoirs.


When ex-FBI agent Elliot Mills is called out to examine the charred ruins of his childhood home, he quickly identifies the fire for what it is—arson. A knee injury may have forced Elliot out of the Bureau, but it’s not going to stop him from bringing the man who wants his father dead to justice.
Agent Tucker Lance is still working to find the serial killer who’s obsessed with Elliot and can’t bear the thought of his lover putting himself in additional danger. Straightlaced Tucker has never agreed with radical Roland on much—“opposing political viewpoints” is an understatement—but they’re united on this: Elliot needs to leave the case alone. Now.


Tucker would do nearly anything for the man he loves, but he won’t be used to gain Elliot access to the FBI’s resources. When the past comes back to play and everything both men had known to be true is questioned, their fragile relationship is left hanging in the balance.

The Monday Morning Blogging Blues

This is my fourth attempt at writing a blog this morning, and let me just say that attempt #3 was the ultimate in author irascibility. But see, I still have enough restraint to pull that back.

 

YOU’RE WELCOME.

 

I am deep, deep into the first draft of the third novel of the year, and being pulled away from it is physically painful. Which is where I find myself wondering if readers really want or need to hear from me in between books? I don’t know. We hear so much about social media and the need to keep readers interested and engaged. There is so much competition out there, how would readers know to find me if I wasn’t blogging somewhere every week?

 

Good question.

 

I don’t know the answer.

 

I know that I am faking my way through this blog because I am desperate to get back to the story I am writing, so I am pretending to be a normal human who likes normal interaction.

 

But for future reference – not just for me, but for this blog in general – what would you like to hear from us (besides the best damn books we can write?)

 

Here’s a list of potential (recommended) writerly topics – I went through several of these blogs and this is the only one where I thought the guy had a handle. But it seems only fair to point out that while he might have a handle on writing blogs, who the hell has ever read his fiction? Nearly 44K followers and I’ve never heard of him.

 

And that’s the dilemma, right?

 

I would rather be known for my fiction than my blogs. And I think it is safe to say that my wish has come true. And all kidding aside, that's a comfort on mornings like this one.

 

So you tell us here at Not the Usual Suspects. What kind of blogs would you like to see in the future?

 

1 - Excerpts from our Carina Press Novels.

 

2 - Backstory of Said Novel.

 

 3 - A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Said Novel. 

 

4 - “Directors” Notes. I personally like this one! "Explain why you chose to start with a particular scene. Talk about the scenes you had to delete—or those you had to add to improve the story."

 

5 - Interview with Yourself. *splutter*  

 

6 - Interviews with Your Characters.

 

You tell us. Basically blogs are for your entertainment. So what would be interesting to you, the reader?

 

 

 

 

I-Spy: How to Get an Audio Book Produced

Join the authors and friends of Not Your Usual Suspects for an occasional series of posts about their world of reading, writing and publishing.

Short and sweet, hopefully both informative and entertaining - join us at I-Spy to find out the how's and why's of what we do.

TODAY'S POST: I-Spy How to Get an Audio Book Produced ...





********************************

Are you thinking of financing an audio book? You’re not alone. The two biggest areas of expansion for indie authors are foreign translations and audio books. Just about every author I know (who has managed to hang onto audio rights) is considering whether to invest in creating an audio catalog. Case in point, I started financing audio books from my backlist in May 2012. To date I’ve financed 22 titles through ACX (the Audio Creative Exchange) and sold over 11,000 units. I have no idea if that number is good or bad, but the productions have paid for themselves and earned a bit of profit as well -- every single one of them has been a bestseller in its genre -- so I consider the endeavor a success.

 I’ve learned a few things along the way, and I thought I’d share them you in today’s I-Spy segment.

First, so far I’ve only worked with ACX, so my experience is somewhat limited. ACX has a streamlined and simple process. There are definitely problems -- I have bitched long and loud on the topic of what I don’t like about ACX (including being unable to control pricing of a product I have paid to produce) but it’s still probably the most convenient and practical platform for getting an audio book made.

 Basically here’s what happens:

 1 - You claim the audio rights to one of your titles listed on Amazon (if you are not self-published, you need to be sure you still possess those audio rights).

 

2 - You decide whether you can afford to finance the production yourself (my preference) or you choose to do a royalty-share. A royalty share means you pay nothing up front, but you and the narrator split your royalties for the seven years ACX controls your audio book’s distribution.

3 - You complete the listing for your book on ACX, including uploading an audition script (more about that below).

4 - You start hunting for narrators. OR you can wait for narrators to approach you. (Because I write gay erotic romance, I let narrators read the description of my work and then determine whether they are comfortable trying out for the project.)

 

 5 - You listen to auditions, hire a narrator, work with the narrator to create the best possible audio book, approve the files for sale, and start collecting royalties.

Success or failure depends on choosing the right narrator. The right narrator is the key to everything. A good narrator can make or break your audio book. That said, the single most important element of a successful audio book is the book itself. A narrator has to have something to work with. While it’s tempting to believe that all genre fiction will do well in audio, the truth is, if your book doesn’t sell much in print/digital, it’s probably not going to do brilliantly in audio either. Even with a bestseller, you will sell only a fraction in audio what you do in digital and print. That’s the reality of the audio book market at this point in time. Choose your best selling title. Or your bestselling series -- and then start with Book 1.

 Your audition script should be short. No more than a couple of minutes long. A page, at most maybe a page and a half. Most of the time, you’ll know within a couple of seconds whether the voice is not a contender. But if the voice is close to what you’re looking for, you may need to ask for a second audition. Or you may need to hold off and listen to more auditions to be sure. Take your time. For the audition script you should choose a key scene from the book with a variety of characters. At the minimum it should be a scene with the two main characters. It’s helpful to give the narrator a couple of clues as to what’s going on in the scene and a general note on how people should sound. Like if the main character has a French accent, it would be useful to mention this BEFORE the narrator auditions.

 Next, you need to have a general idea of the type of voice you’re looking for. You can’t expect the narrator to define this for you. A French count does not sound like a cowboy. Are you looking for someone in their twenties? Because someone in his twenties doesn’t usually sound like someone in his forties. And an “articulate” twenty-year old doesn’t necessarily sound like an “street-smart” twenty-year old. You need to know what you’re looking for so you don’t waste anyone’s time. It’s helpful to listen to a variety of narrators -- especially of well-rated and popular books in your genre.

BE PICKY. Don’t be in a hurry to make your decision. Listen to a lot of narrators. The wrong voice is the kiss of death to an audio book.

Here’s something else to keep in mind. You’re not just hiring a voice. The narrator is responsible for producing your audio book, so you’re looking for more than an attractive voice. Ideally, you’re looking for a professional with a good track record.

 If you receive an audition you like, before you do anything else, go check out that narrator’s website, check them out on social media, and check them out on Audible.com to see what else they’ve successfully produced -- or at the very least, successfully narrated. You might consider contacting the last author who worked with the narrator: ask whether she brought the project in on time, whether he made corrections in a timely manner, whether he stayed in character or his accent began to slip. You’re signing up for a seven-year commitment. Be smart. We're all aware that book publishing is filled with starry-eyed hopefuls who at this very moment are writing their first book and dreaming of fame and fortune? Well, you’ve got the very same thing going on in audio book publishing. It’s okay to give an inexperienced narrator a shot, but make sure you’re going into it with your eyes wide open.

 Communicate with the narrators who try out for your projects. I am astounded by the number of narrators who thank me for taking the time to let them know they didn’t get the gig. Apparently not responding with a yes or no is a bad habit of a lot of authors. I don’t understand this because surely we know better than anyone how demoralizing it is to submit your best effort and then never hear anything back at all. Rejection is still better than dead silence. Take the time to drop everyone who tries out for your project a polite note thanking them for their time and talent.

Once you do settle on a narrator, make sure you get them whatever they need from you in a timely manner. If they send you a list asking how to pronounce words, or they need a different format for the script…whatever they need from you, get it to them in a timely fashion. Make the narrator’s job as easy as you can.


I believe in picking good narrators and then getting out of their way. I'm not a director and, just as I shake my head at narrators who offer writing advice -- "Don't use elaborate descriptions!" -- so too does the narrator resent the author who tries to pull a Cecil B. DeMille. Narration is an art. You have to give the artist room to move, to create.

 Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg. Feel free to leave your questions on the audio book process in the comment section below, and I’ll make a point of checking in regularly to answer them. Or if you’ve financed an audio book, feel free to share your experience with us.

Josh Lanyon is the author of Stranger on the Shore due out May 5th from Carina Press

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FUTURE POSTS will cover:


Kindlegraph / the art of research / writing male/male romance / rejection and writer's block / building suspense / writing love scenes / anti-piracy strategies / audio books / interviews with editors and agents / using Calibre.

We welcome everyone's constructive comments and suggestions!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

The Letter of the Law

New writers ask a lot of questions. They ask for help. Which is why they get so much confusing and contradictory information -- as well as some downright bad advice.

 

I thought today maybe we should discuss three of the worst pieces of advice new writers receive -- which, ironically, are also three of the best pieces of advice we receive. The key to knowledge is understanding. Too often writers memorize and parrot the opinions of others and thus believe they have absorbed useful knowledge. You have to understand the reasoning behind the rules in order to actually understand the lesson.

 

Look at this way. There is the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Mathematicians and scientists (and cops) are concerned with the letter of the law. Artists and philosophers (and judges) are those concerned with the spirit of the law. Neither is better than the other. We need both. But the type of writer you become depends on whether you are a Letter of the Law writer or a Spirit of the Law writer.

 

1 - First piece of good/bad advice - Write What You Know.

 

Except you don’t know anything. And what you do know is too boring to read.

 

Why is this good advice? Because beginning writers don’t write anything resembling real life. Their characters are unreal, their plots are preposterous, and their stories take place in a world that bears no resemblance to any planet in any solar system in any uni--well, you get the idea.

 

What the advice really means: regardless of what you write -- fantasy, mystery, historical -- your stories must be grounded in recognizable reality. Your reality. The reality you know. That doesn’t mean the characters are based on your family and friends or (God forbid) you. It means you’ve been living and interacting with people -- or at least observing them -- long enough to have formed a workable construct of how real live people behave in various situations. You take what you know and you apply it to your fiction.

 

It means you do your research and you use your imagination and you apply these things -- these things that you know -- to your fiction.

 

So when you write about life on an ice planet you bring what you know about the cold and the wet and frost bite, and you take your research, and you come up with a fantasy world that for a few hours can seem more vivid and realistic to a reader than her own living room.

 

 

2 - Second piece of good/bad advice - Don’t Worry About the Market, Just Write the Book You Want to Write.

Except you want to sell your book -- and you could potentially enjoy writing all kinds of things.

 

 

Why is this good advice? Because when you try to write something merely because you think it will sell, that paint-by-numbers attitude often shows in the work. You must write what you enjoy reading.

 

That said, of course you want to keep an eye on the market and trends within publishing. You need to know if the market for cozy mystery is glutted. You need to know if gothic is making a comeback. That doesn't mean you won't go ahead and write your cozy gothic, it just means you'll be a lot less frustrated if you know what you're up against.

Most of us have broader reading tastes than plain vanilla. Maybe we like French vanilla. Maybe we like vanilla with chocolate sauce or sprinkles or lavender bits or ground up vanilla bean. Maybe we like vanilla mixed with sherbet or Neapolitan ice cream. Maybe we like vanilla frozen yogurt or ice milk. You get what I’m saying? Romance is a big seller, but maybe romance with chili peppers is a harder sell than romance with lavender sprinkles.

 

The idea that you can’t -- shouldn’t -- be aware of the market and what’s selling and still write the book you long to write is nonsensical. A successful publishing career is built of creative and artistic compromise. Just like all your relationships in life.  

 

 

3 - Third piece of good/bad advice - Don’t Use Adjectives, Adverbs, Any Words Ending in “ly” OR Any Dialog Tag Other Than “said” or “ask.”

 

Yeah, because there is one -- and ONLY ONE -- genuinely “good” writing style -- and it works for ALL fiction, literary and genre.  And coincidentally, it’s also the very same style used for non-fiction. It’s one size fits all. How perfect is that????

 

Why is this good advice? It’s good advice because most new writers tend to overdo all these things. Most new writers get carried away with the “busyness” of their scenes, keeping their characters twitching and jumping with lots of expressions and gestures and glances that mean essentially nothing. Every line of dialog has a tag or a bit of business attached, and these too add nothing. It’s all filler and it is tedious to read.

 

What does this really mean? Adverbs, adjectives and dialog tags are to good writing what salt and pepper are to good cooking. Less is more -- but no seasoning whatsoever is usually pretty bland. Quality rather than quantity of detail is what you’re always aiming for in your writing.

 

 

Serialously Late!

And other terrible puns.

I apologize -- I'm writing the final chapters of a serial novella I began a couple of months ago on Wattpad. I've reached the point (at last!) where the writing is going well and I am completely immersed in the story. That's the good part (as far as enjoying the work) and the bad part (as far as getting anything else done).

The story is called The Haunted Heart and you can read the first eleven chapters right here.

It's a ghost story and a romance, but not only is it serialized, it's the first of four interconnected novellas, so while part of the story completes this weekend (fingers crossed) the full story won't complete for...well, it's possible that it might take years. Writing schedules being what they are.

In fact, I just signed a contract with Carina Press for two new stories. Stranger on the Shore (classic romantic suspense with an M/M twist) and Fair Play, the sequel to Fair Game. So that's a lot of next year taken up already.

I've never done a serial before, and it's been a fascinating experience. Obviously there is pressure to produce. That's not a bad thing; in fact, right now it might be a very good thing for me. It's strange getting feedback as I'm working on the rough draft, but it's also encouraging in a way I didn't expect. It's difficult sharing a rough draft (and I know how rough this is), to work through questions of age and motivation and backstory in public. I hate the strings of the puppet show to be visible! At the same time, I'm relieved to find that I'm not any more acutely aware of the reader than usual, so that's good. I guess it turns out I'm always aware of the reader, but that awareness only influences me so far. So that resolves one of my fears about working this way -- the fear that the story might change into something not my own if it was revealed in its malleable form.

As a reader, I'm not a fan of serials. I like being able to look ahead. Yes, I admit that. If the tension becomes insurmountable, I like to look ahead and decide if I'm going to keep reading. I'm one of those. You can't do that in a serial. You can't read ahead and you can't know how it all turns out. I guess that's a good thing. I was climbing the walls reading Ginn Hale's Rifter series.

When I'm done with this story, I plan to let it sit for a while. That won't be easy to do because we're all conditioned to cranking stuff out at the speed of light. But I know there are layers here that I'm missing because of the time factor, so I will finish and then I will go back and layer in the little details that give any story its richness and depth. Also I made my mind up that no erotic scenes would be shared in this format. That's more because Wattpad is mostly populated by very, very young writers and readers.

Anyway, this was an experiment for me, and so far it feels successful. I've noticed that a number of writers are experimenting with serialized stories, so I wonder if the serial is making a comeback? What do you think? Do you enjoy reading serialized stories? Do you enjoy writing serialized stories?

Five Mystery Novels Every Mystery Writer Should Read

One of first -- and best – pieces of advice an aspiring mystery writer receives is the instruction to read widely within the genre. Not only is this good advice, it’s enjoyable advice, so it’s a rare thing to find a mystery maven who isn’t on speaking terms with Dame Christie and couldn’t, at least, pick Mr. Chandler out of a lineup.

 

That said, it’s only natural that most mystery authors primarily read their contemporaries. After all, reading one’s contemporaries kills two birds with one stone: it’s a means of keeping one’s fingers on the pulse of prospective publishers, and it’s a means of keeping one’s eye on the competition.

 

Mystery fiction has changed a good deal since the Golden Age, and it’s true that many books which were bestsellers in the good old days wouldn’t make it over the publisher’s transom now. That still leaves hundreds, if not thousands, of crime classics in every conceivable sub-genre.

 

For example:

 

The Three Coffins (1935) by John Dickson Carr - Carr is the universally acknowledged master of the Locked Room mystery, and The Three Coffins is arguably his most famous contribution to the genre.

 

The Daughter of Time (1951) by Josephine Tey - One of the first and all time best cold case files. The fact that the detection is performed through examining historical documents, deductive reasoning, and using intuition while the sleuth is flat on his back in a hospital bed makes this feat all the impressive.

 

Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier - A little bit thriller, a little bit gothic, a little bit murder mystery, and a lot romance: this one has it all. It’s the original bestseller crossover. If you haven't read Rebecca, I am shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you. And Mrs. Danvers is shocked too.

 

The Moon-Spinners (1962) by Mary Stewart - The gold standard for romantic suspense. An exotic location, a handsome and mysterious man in a world of trouble, a smart, witty, capable heroine thrust into dangerous and confusing circumstances.  Stewart perfected the formula.

 

No Good From A Corpse (1944) by Leigh Brackett - Classic PI novel in the Chandler tradition with one difference. Leigh Brackett was female. This is practically a step-by-step How To Write Hardboiled Detective Fiction.

So these are my recommendations. What are some of yours?

5 Things to Improve Your Writing -- and Your Life -- Right Now

1 – Make time to read for pleasure. Once your own writing career takes off, reading for pleasure is one of the first things to go. When we do read, it’s either for research, to critique for a friend, or for reviewing purposes (which ultimately amounts to marketing and promotion – not really all that relaxing). Our love of reading was how we got into the writing biz. To lose that pleasure, that joy, would be a real shame. Find time – make time – to read with no purpose beyond your own entertainment.

 

2 – Get off your…couch. If you’ve ever been to a writing convention you know that writers, as a breed, are not the most health conscious of individuals. We spend a lot of time sitting on our posteriors doing repetitive wrist movements. Er, that would be typing. Well, hopefully more than typing; hopefully, it’s writing. But either way, we have sedentary jobs that are especially hard on our backs and our wrists. That’s bad enough, but there is some pretty disturbing research to support the theory that sitting all day is hazardous to your health.  

 

3 – Make time for the people in your life. We spend a lot of time with imaginary people. Our characters say and do exactly what we need them to. After a time it’s easy to start expecting real people to be just as cooperative. It’s not only good for our emotional and mental well-being to spend time with our loved ones. It’s good for our writing to get out there and observe humans being human.

 

4 – Eat your veggies. One thing you should never be guilty about is buying the best food you can afford -- and taking time to eat it. Eating right not only fuels your body, it fuels your brain. Don’t skip meals. It slows your metabolism and tempts you into binging later on junk food. Treat your body right and it’ll serve you and your career well.

 

 5 - Turn down the occasional project. That probably sounds crazy, but if you’re like me, you’re taking on too many projects anyway. You probably accept every project that comes your way – when you aren’t actively seeking them out. Plan your writing year at least one to three years in advance, leave a little latitude for creative impulse, and then stick to your schedule. If you continually overbook yourself, you’ll drain the creative well as well as your joy in the work. If you were setting off on a cross country journey would you try to run at top speed the entire way or would you try to pace yourself? Pace yourself. Turning down the occasional offer gives you a wonderful sense of both freedom and control.

The Best and Beautiful

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

 

 Having resumed work after a year long sabbatical, I’m newly conscious of the creative process. Until I was dealing with burn out, creative process wasn’t anything I really thought about. I just wrote.

 

I don’t say that I wasn’t conscious of craft, or that I wrote the way I did when I was a kid or even a fledging pro. I could crank out five thousand words a day if I had to – there were days I did eight -- but naturally the longer I wrote, the more I understood about craft and what I was doing, the more time and care I took. The words came more slowly, but they were better words.

 

It wasn’t until the desire to write anything at all – ever – faded that I knew I was in trouble.

 

Oh, I still thought of stories – I have a notebook full of story ideas I jotted down during my sabbatical. I even outlined a few of them. But the desire to write them, to apply that intense and extended concentrated focus for the length of time it takes to produce a story of any length…no. The idea actually filled me with dread.

 

And yet I missed writing. I thought about writing all the time. Everything I watched, everything I read, practically everyone I talked to was viewed through the lens of potential fodder for fiction. Writing is a strange profession. It’s not one of those jobs you can switch off at the end of the day when you turn off the office lights.

 

Being a writer isn’t just something you do. It’s something you become. It’s your way of viewing and, more importantly, processing the world.

 

In my case it was also my livelihood, so my inability to write had alarming implications. Even though I couldn’t handle the idea of writing, I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to do with my life.

 

But that’s the beauty of time off, time without pressure. The months passed and slowly but surely the desire to write returned.

And so I’m writing again, but this time I’m conscious of the creative process, the mechanism of inspiration – and how fragile and finicky that mechanism is. I find myself jumping from project to project as the urge takes me, and I’m surprised at the things that spur the desire to write. Music, in particular, has a powerful effect on me. Not merely in sparking the story telling instinct, but letting the emotional tenor of the song even influence the development of the story.

 

Case in point. Right now this song by Lifehouse seems to define the main character in thriller I’m working on. The story is about an FBI agent who teams up with a small town sheriff to try and catch a serial killer. But it’s also a story about finding your place, coming home…even if it’s to a place you’ve never been before. The song has become a kind of talisman for the story.

 

 

What about you? Out of all the potential ideas for stories that occur to each of us each day, what inspires you to choose one? Do you find yourself choosing a particular item as a kind of charm to represent your project?

 

      

I-Spy: Writing the Gay Mystery - Q&A

Join the authors and friends of Not Your Usual Suspects for an occasional series of posts about their world of reading, writing and publishing.

 

 

Short and sweet, hopefully both informative and entertaining - join us at I-Spy to find out the how's and why's of what we do.

 
TODAY'S POST: I-Spy: Writing the Gay Mystery – Q&A

 

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 Well, the time has come to wrap up our series on writing gay and male-male mystery here at Not Your Usual Suspects. I hope you've all enjoyed reading the column as much as I have writing it!

 

For our last installment I thought it might be useful to do a Q&A session. I had asked for questions last month, but there weren't a lot of them! So I'll answer those here and now -- and if there are any others, just post them in the comment section below and I'll check in every so often throughout the day and answer them.

 

And if there aren't any questions, I just want to thank you all again for reading along this year!

 

teko-tenka asked:
 

 I was wondering, same with the conflict, should the writer also have a general idea of what the series' mysteries will be? Should there be a single theme for those mysteries since it's a series, or should ideas for them come from current interests and events in what's a popular read/theme currently? (making a BDSM related murder because people show unhealthy obsessions with 50shades for example)

Great question. I think this is optional. To some extent the type of mysteries will be determined by the sub-genre itself -- if the mystery is cozy in tone, for example, you probably won't be dealing with serial killers. I don't think it's necessary to chart out the actual plots or to decide what all the cases will be about. I do think you'll want to have a clear idea of the character arcs, but you can figure that out without actually knowing the particulars of the individual cases. For example, I knew Jake and Adrien would break up in the third book -- and why -- but I had no idea the mystery itself would revolve around the occult or devil worship. I also knew they would be getting back together two years later, that Jake would be the catalyst, but again I had no clear idea of the particulars of what that case would be.

 

Suzanne Gabbay asked:

 

I wonder sometimes how authors feel about their books being labeled and/or catalogued into such specific genres. And, I’m interested to know if this labeling is a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ thing to an author. I know that in many cases authors are trying to write to fit into a particular genre, and are therefore writing for a very specific audience…BUT, and I suppose this is my question – do you look at your success as an author in terms of this specific audience – in that you are writing ONLY for the audience who wants to read ‘gay fiction;’ OR, do you want to be known as an author who wrote that great mystery series featuring Adrien English (who happens to be gay)?

 

It's a double-edged sword, certainly. I don't mind labeling up to a point. I want readers specifically looking for gay fiction to be able to find my work. But first and foremost I think of myself as a mystery writer who writes gay characters. Other than erotic content, my traditional mysteries are pretty mainstream -- but that erotic content is a deal breaker for a number of readers. So while I am sorry to lose out on mainstream readers for whom erotic content wouldn't be an issue, I also don't want readers for whom it is an issue to be forced to find out the hard way that my books are also erotic romances.

 

I'm not sure if I'm properly answering this. I think labeling is a convenience and serves a useful purpose, but yes, it has unintended consequences and those consequences don't always serve authors or readers well.

 

 

Have you read any of Raphael’s short stories or non-fiction? I really admire his work, and identify very closely with many of his themes. He has (for me, at least), the ability to cross genre lines in his writing and I (as a married, heterosexual female and mother of 2 children) find that I can relate and identify very closely with his writing (Raphael is male, homosexual; with no children of his own). There is one scene in his first Nick Hoffman mystery, 'Let’s Get Criminal,' a dinner scene in which Hoffman and his live-in partner have invited the former flame of his partner over for dinner, and Hoffman is a bit edgy and jealous – even though this character is an individual completely different from me in so many ways, I totally ‘clicked’ with the Nick Hoffman character and what was going through his mind in that scene – that could have been me – I’ve been there; done that; made those silly and jealous comments, etc.! Here is an author whose writes about an individual who is so different from me in so many ways, yet manages to imbue him with enough reality that I could see myself in that character.

 

I've read and enjoyed Raphael's Nick Hoffman series -- the first two books in particular. I agree that he taps into something universal and engaging in those books, and this is the challenge for all of us, regardless of the characters or the genre. We want to tap into that recognizable humanity, the universality (is that a word!?) of our characters (both main and supporting) -- because in the ways that really matter -- all humans are very much alike. And the books we enjoy the most are the ones that have some kind of recognizable reality to the characters. We needn't always like them, but we must believe those characters are real (at least for the span of the story).

As a follow-up to my earlier comments above – I never know nowadays how comments may be interpreted, and I don’t want to step on any toes – SO, may I clarify that I am curious about how an author defines themselves in a very general sense. For example, many years ago I had the opportunity to attend a reading & questions/answer session with Terry McMillan right after the release of her novel ‘Stella Gets Her Groove Back.’ I was too shy to ask at the time, but again, was very interested in knowing how she felt defined as an author – did she feel that her success was defined by her African-American female protagonist; did she believe her success as an author is in being known as a writer of African-American female themes; OR, would she want to be recognized as an author who wrote great literary fiction about culturally diverse women in today’s society? How much of who you are defines the characters that you write about; and is it even possible to separate those core traits that make each one of us an individual? I hope I’m making some kind of sense here – sorry for running on so long!

 

Oh but I think these are wonderful questions. I don't think there's a definitive answer, however. I think, in fact, all of us writing any kind of niche fiction struggle with this. I think we all want to be more than the niche our work is relegated to. But at the same time, how can we not be grateful for a niche which by defnition has its own built in core readership?

 

In gay fiction, in particular, there is an ongoing question as to what gay fiction even IS. Is it fiction written strictly by gay and lesbian women? Even if they are not writing fiction that is concerned with gay characters or gay themes? Or is it fiction that deals realistically with gay characters and gay concerns even if it is not written by authors who identify as gay or lesbian or bisexual or transgendered?

 

There is no simple answer -- not as far as I can see -- but I think the real value lies in the discussion itself.

 

 

Other questions? Thoughts? Opinions?

 

 

 

 

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A distinct voice in gay fiction, multi-award-winning author JOSH LANYON has been writing gay mystery, adventure and romance for over a decade. In addition to numerous short stories, novellas, and novels, Josh is the author of the critically acclaimed Adrien English series, including The Hell You Say, winner of the 2006 USABookNews awards for GLBT Fiction. Josh is an Eppie Award winner and a three-time Lambda Literary Award finalist

 

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OUR POSTS have covered:

Kindlegraph / the art of research / writing male/male romance / rejection and writer's block / building suspense / writing love scenes / anti-piracy strategies / audio books / interviews with editors and agents / using Calibre.

 

And there's more to come in 2013!

 

We welcome everyone's constructive comments and suggestions!