Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

Here's the topic to discuss Fair Game in our re-reading of the series.

Let's have that re-reading of the All's Fair series before Fair Chance comes out, shall we?



I'll set up topics in the story discussion folder of the group. If we tackle Fair Game and Fair Play in February we'll have most of March for Fair Chance.

Who's in?

This would be our schedule:

February 1st - 14th: Fair Game (we're discussing it in this topic)

February 15th - 28th: Fair Play (discussion here)

March 1st - March 9th: impatient rambling and all around chomping at the bit :-D

March 10th - March 31st: Fair Chance (discussion here)

Please, please dear boss let me have time to participate, not only reading the whole discussion, but write one thought or two, too.

Sabine wrote: "Please, please dear boss let me have time to participate, not only reading the whole discussion, but write one thought or two, too."

Give me their address? I could try to convince them... ;-)

Sabine wrote: "Please, please dear boss let me have time to participate, not only reading the whole discussion, but write one thought or two, too."

Your needs are clearly greater than theirs. I'm sure they'll understand. ;)

Fair Game was my first ever JL book. I'm going to have to see if I can make time for that one at least.

Calathea wrote: "Sabine wrote: "Please, please dear boss let me have time to participate, not only reading the whole discussion, but write one thought or two, too."

Give me their address? I could try to convince t..."

Yes, please! :-)

I'm in!

Thank you for setting up all the topics and organizing this for us, dear Calathea! I'm looking forward to yet another great discussion! (And to that impatient rambling in the beginning of March... LOL!)

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Sabine wrote: "Please, please dear boss let me have time to participate, not only reading the whole discussion, but write one thought or two, too."

Your needs are clearly greater than theirs. I'm ..."

What Linda said! :-D

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Fair Game was my first ever JL book. I'm going to have to see if I can make time for that one at least."

I remember Josh saying at some point (years ago) that actually quite a few people find her books through Fair Game. I don't know if that's the situation these days, though.

Johanna wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Fair Game was my first ever JL book. I'm going to have to see if I can make time for that one at least."

I remember Josh saying at ..."

I seem to recall hearing that from other readers here in our group.

For me, Amazon kept saying I should read Josh's work because of some of the other books I started buying from them. My biggest problem was where to start, because they all looked so good! I ended up going with the two anthologies, which was a lot of fun. a little bit of everything!

Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Fair Game was my first ever JL book. I'm going to have to see if I can make time for that one at leas..."

Ha! All very good reasons...

I don't know how much I'll be able to contribute to the discussion but I'll be avidly reading with you all!

Mymymble wrote: "I'm in! Though I started the series originally just after 'Winter Kill' which wasn't the best idea...
Thanks for this."

Why?

Johanna wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Fair Game was my first ever JL book. I'm going to have to see if I can make time for that one at least."

I remember Josh saying at ..."

Still the same. Fair Game and Fatal Shadows have introduced a lot of readers to my work. Oh, also Stranger on the Shore.

Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Fair Game was my first ever JL book. I'm going to have to see if I can make time for that one at leas..."

LOL My own kindle came through a very kind reader. I still have that rickety, crickety old Kindle. It was one of the best gifts ever.

Barbra wrote: "Josh wrote: "Mymymble wrote: "Jordan wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "Fair Game was my first ever JL book. I'm going to have to see if I can ..."

Digital readers really are wonderful. I still feel a little flash of surprised pleasure when I click it and see all those hundreds and hundreds of books (most of which I've never read -- probably never will). It's like a secret library. :-D

Lol, and here I am trying to at least make a dent in my unread kindle books this year!

Jordan wrote: "Lol, and here I am trying to at least make a dent in my unread kindle books this year!"

I really am: 1 - An impulse buyer and 2 - A book hoarder

You have only to examine my kindle to see that. :-D

So. :-)

Fair Game was written as a standalone.

But the ending made me slightly uneasy. (For reasons that will be clear in the third book.) So I sort of wanted to revisit, but so often that doesn't work well. I really do believe you need to have a plan as far as the overall story arc.

So when the book turned out to be so successful, I thought a lot about what I felt was unresolved, what had left me unsatisfied the first time around, and whether I should do a sequel or a trilogy. I knew I didn't have enough for an ongoing series. Most of the big questions in Elliot's life are answered in Fair Game.

But I did feel like there was enough there for a trilogy. A short, tight story arc that encompassed Elliot's short term professional and personal challenges.

Josh wrote: "Stranger on the Shore."

Fair Game was my Josh Lanyon gateway drug, so it's very special to me.

Was Stranger on the Shore a draw for new readers? I'm surprised. I loved it. (It has a lawyer as a lead character so what's not to love?) But I didn't think it was as popular as the others. People don't talk about it as much.

Excellent idea! I only hope RL won't be a bitch as it was to me at the end of The AE Reading Challenge where I couldn't participate as much as I wanted. Though it probably will :/

I'm in!

Are your paperbacks polished shiny? The ebook-copies dusted off? :D

My ebooks are very much dust-free. :D
I started reading Fair Game for the very first time a couple of days ago, so I’ll stay clear of these discussions until I can catch up with the first two books.

I’ll try to hurry, I’m looking forward to all your insightful comments, but I don’t have a lot of free time to read these days.
For now I just wanted to say that I’m at 15% and I like Elliot very much. I know I’m probably supposed to dislike Tucker at this point in the story, but, strangely, I don’t. It could be because I’m trying to keep an open mind until I hear his side of the story, but I actually think I like him.

Sorry for posting comments, if you can call them that, on the book before the official date. I just wanted to say hi and happy re-reading to everybody. :)

I'm going to listen to the audiobooks!

I didn't care for the narrator at all, otherwise I'd reread it that way. I'll likely just end up skimming favorite parts.

Linda ~ chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny ~ wrote: "I didn't care for the narrator at all, otherwise I'd reread it that way. I'll likely just end up skimming favorite parts."

There was a narrator switch from book 1 to book 2. Fair Play is narrated by JF Harding whom I love. I did not listen to Fair Game as I had a bad experience with Sawyer Allrede who practically ruined Cut & Run.

Yes, I heard the narrator for Fair Play is much improved.

I thought both narrations were good.

I thought both were good. I don't recall significant differences, but I probably had a huge gap between listening to one and two. This time I won't, so we'll see what my thoughts are this time.

Josh wrote: "Fair Game was written as a standalone. But the ending made me slightly uneasy. (For reasons that will be clear in the third book.)..."

I am reeeeeeeeally curious about this.

This is our third read of this book as a group, ya'll. I just thought I'd mention that. And thanks to whoever was keeping track in the "why we're reading this section of the book. I was able to update the info with the proper dates:

2010 was a BOM read.

2014 was a re-read for Fair Play, and this year is the re-read for Fair Chance.

Clearly, this is a well-liked book here! :-D

Sorry, guys, I totally intended to make a big kick-off announcemnt to start the re-read but work interfered... :(

So, please, start reading! I'll follow this up with a picture and some questions to go along.

Have fun! :)

Elena wrote: "I started reading Fair Game for the very first time a couple of days ago, so I’ll stay clear of these discussions until I can catch up with the first two books.

I’ll try to hurry, I’m looking forward to all your insightful comments, but I don’t have a lot of free time to read these days.
For now I just wanted to say that I’m at 15% and I like Elliot very much. I know I’m probably supposed to dislike Tucker at this point in the story, but, strangely, I don’t. It could be because I’m trying to keep an open mind until I hear his side of the story, but I actually think I like him."

Yes! Good plan keeping an open mind about Tucker. :-) I remember being mighty surprised when I heard Tucker's point of view for the first time (on what had happened with their relationship earlier).

Jordan wrote: "This is our third read of this book as a group, ya'll. I just thought I'd mention that. And thanks to whoever was keeping track in the "why we're reading this section of the book. I was able to upd..."

Re-reading and re-discussing this series every 3 to 4 years seems to work us well. :-D

For those who are new to this, I've copied some links with information here about the song Ashokan Farewell, which gets mentioned in the beginning of the book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashokan...

And here you can listen to it's haunting melody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kZAS...

Are you guys reading yet?



We're discussing Fair Game until the 14th February. I'd suggest you post as you read like over in the AE re-reading.

I have three questions for you to start from if you choose so. :)

#1 How would you describe Elliot and Tucker personality-wise? In what ways are they similar and different? Why and how do they suit each other?

#2 What influence does family have on them?

#3 The mystery. Was that creepy or what? And how does the pic fit the context? ;)

I love this book. It’s the second Lanyon book I ever read.

Less than a year ago I discovered the world of m/m fiction, wondered where it had been all my life, and set out to make up for lost time. I zipped through new authors, weeding out the clunkers and identifying the keepers. The name “Lanyon” caught my eye because I recognized its origin, but the Lanyon book I chose to read I ended up not much liking. I thought the world-building was thin, among other things. So I moved on.

But a couple months later, I ended up with a sample of Fair Game on my Kindle. I’m not sure how -- probably it had popped up in my Amazon recommendations often enough that I caved.

So, here was the point in that sample at which I knew I’d be buying the book:

The glistening canopy of trees sheltered him from the drizzle and muffled the noise from the main campus. An occasional plop of raindrop was the only sound that reached his ears as he cut his way across the soft terrain. The scent of wet earth, cedar and the lemony mint of the gum trees hung in the cold air.

I live in the desert. And I was reading this in springtime, which is dry season here. Yes, the desert has a dry season, when it’s not uncommon to see the relative humidity drop down to 4% -- or lower. But this paragraph transported me to the Pacific Northwest, in all its humid glory, and I was hooked. This was not thin world-building. This was immersive.

Harder to put my finger on was how a mood of loneliness had been established and was resonating through these early pages. I just knew that this was writing I wanted to read... And I’m so glad I did. :)

Teal wrote: "I love this book. It’s the second Lanyon book I ever read.

Less than a year ago I discovered the world of m/m fiction, wondered where it had been all my life, and set out to make up for lost time..."

Thank you for sharing your impressions.

I had to laugh at your description of «the Pacific Northwest, in all its humid glory»...

yes! I re-downloaded it to my Kindle yesterday. I did purchase the audio version when it became whispersynched but I've honestly heard not great things about it - so I'm going to give it a try but I'm prepared with my Kindle just in case :)

The narrator isn't the best, but he's not horrible either, imo. He's just not the best choice. I'm going ahead with the audio because I can listen during my commute to work and reserve my other reading time for time sensitive reads I must finish this month.

I like both narrators, but I think JF Harding (Fair Play) is the better one, The first narrator reads the dialogs good, But he is very fast by the pure narrative parts.

I started the other night. I'm listening to it on audio and sometimes reading along with the Kindle. The narrator isn't the best, but I still like him. I have a soft for him because it was my first Audible book.

I love the banter between Elliot and Tucker when Elliot is walking to his car late at night, and he feels like he's being watched. I found it sweet that he called Tucker even though he was too embarrassed to call the campus police.

I just listened to the kiss in the car park. Tucker gave Elliot some food for thought about the ending of their relationship.

Loretta wrote: "I found it sweet that he called Tucker even though he was too embarrassed to call the campus police."

It says a lot about them that Elliot felt he could do that, right?

I've been listening to the audio for my re-read and I agree, the author isn't the worst but he's sure not adding anything to the experience. I've just gotten to the part where Elliot and Tucker are going to bed after the shooting and they're in Tucker's apartment *ahem* I think I'll read the rest myself ;)

I can't wait for Fair Play, those two just work so well together and I love that mystery - I now have the audio of that one too so I'll give it a try. J.F. Harding was crazy good in the Kage series by Maris Black and the Cut & Run books he narrated.

I'm reading along with audio (for the third or so time). Someone else mentioned something I also agree with — that Allerde's reading of dialogue is fine, but his reading of the narrative passages lacks intonation, which makes it seem that he's missed the point and/or nuance. (It doesn't bother me the way it did at first hearing.) I loved J.F. Harding's narration. So happy he's the narrator for Fair Chance.

It would be great if they had JF Harding re-record this one.

Jordan wrote: "For those who are new to this, I've copied some links with information here about the song Ashokan Farewell, which gets mentioned in the beginning of the book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashok..."

Thank you for these, Jordan. It's such a beautiful melody, isn't it.

Calathea wrote: "Are you guys reading yet?



We're discussing Fair Game until the 14th February. I'd suggest you post as you read like over in the AE re-reading.

I have three question..."

Thank you for posting questions and for taking such good care of us, dear Calathea!