Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion

Just preparing for this month's discussion!

Awesomeness! Can't wait!

I'm three quarters into the book. Really enjoying it.

I'm enjoying it too (61% read), but it sure is an emotional and rough ride for me. It feels like somebody is squeezing my heart into a tiny ball inside my chest. Reading this book is taking much more time that I expected, because I have to take breaks from it every so often and read something else for a while. Last night (when I was half way through the book) I had to take a peek at the last pages, before I could continue reading. And this is something I never ever do while reading (or at least I try to avoid it desperately!). But this time I truly felt that if there wouldn't be any chance for even a slightly happy ending, I just couldn't continue reading.

Anyway, didn't intend to start discussing it yet, but I just had to come here and tell how I feel right now... I'm enjoying the writing, but it makes me suffer... which is not completely a bad thing... well, you all know what I mean.

Yes, Johanna, I know what you mean :)
I find myself sometimes having to take little breaks from reading too, but not for long, because the author has created characters I've really come to care for, and that means I'm drawn to the story no matter the pain and teenage angst (which are portrayed so effectively, by the way).

*nod nod* Exactly. :)

I just finished Don't Let Me Go and was delighted to find a playlist for the book in the end of it. And I didn't actually remember how much I liked The Fray's "Never Say Never"... so that's what I'm currently listening (over and over again). ;)

There were also some discussion questions for group readings in the very end of the book. Anyhoo, when you guys and gals are ready, I'm more than happy to start discussing... :)

I've just finished it too, and I saw the playlist at the end, and later tonight I'll check out some of the songs there. It's a nice addition to the book.
Will come back later :)

I've got a very general question.

I liked the book. Still, I'm wondering which is the difference between ''Don't Let Me Go'' and some of our best m/m books. I don't see it.

Johanna wrote: "I just finished Don't Let Me Go and was delighted to find a playlist for the book in the end of it. And I didn't actually remember how much I liked The Fray's "Never Say Never"... s..."

I have been waiting for someone to start :) I really enjoyed it, and it had my stomach in knots for much of the time. Afterwards I have been thinking about how young these kids are, and that some of the things they said and did, reflect that. I was ready to shake them once in a while :)

Antonella wrote: "I've got a very general question.

I liked the book. Still, I'm wondering which is the difference between ''Don't Let Me Go'' and some of our best m/m books. I don't see it."

Is there supposed to be a difference? I have problems sometimes to differentiate between a romance and a "ordinary" book. If it is well written and there are people in love and somehow there is a happy ending, it could be a romance, but sometimes they are not classified as such. Surely the borders between the genres are rather blurred?

I actually don't care what genre a book is supposed to fit in as long as I like it. I am sure as a writer one need to know where ones books belong, but as a reader I believe I can just enjoy and be happy.

Anne wrote: "Is there supposed to be a difference?"

As far as I understood we read this book because Josh was tired of the usual m/m stuff and suspected from the reviews he read that ''Don't Let Me Go'' would be different.


"Surely the borders between the genres are rather blurred?"

To my eyes, absolutely. And on top I'm short sighted ;-)

Antonella wrote: "Anne wrote: "Is there supposed to be a difference?"

As far as I understood we read this book because Josh was tired of the usual m/m stuff and suspected from the reviews he read that ''Don't Let M..."

I remember he said something about reading a literary book, which this one absolutely is. But a well written M/M romance might also be literary I guess, but perhaps not all? And the literary value isn't what makes people notice and buy them. (Or is this very snobbish thinking on my part?)

I looked this book up on our distributor's website and it's listed as an adult book. However, after having read it, I'd classify it as a teen book. The only thing that pulls you out of the teen view, is the ending.

I'm definitely going to order this for the library for my teens. I already know at least one kid who would love to read it.

It definitely was different from traditional M/M reads. It has more literariness (is that even a word?) and it's got teens as the MCs. lol, it's also got a better cover than most M/M for teens, and the writing is far superior. But that's just me comparing it to the YA M/M I've seen and read for work.

On another side, I couldn't help but think that some of the characters seemed a little more like adults as compared to Nate. Especially his BF, Adam. But, the teen angst was spot on, and well written.

Antonella wrote: "I've got a very general question.

I liked the book. Still, I'm wondering which is the difference between ''Don't Let Me Go'' and some of our best m/m books. I don't see it."

I thought it would be interesting to read something that is classified as literary gay fiction versus m/m romance -- and maybe even discuss what if any differences there are. Is it just a matter of how the publisher classifies their romances?

Also, tangential to this topic, All Romance Ebooks is changing how they categorize books. Erotica is being split from Erotic Romance. Something I'm absolutely in favor of.

Not to distract the conversation, just that I find this stuff interesting.

Yes, looking at my calendar, the discussion probably should have commenced on the 18th? Or is this the weekend? It's always the weekend before the last weekend, right?

Anyway, either way, I'm still finishing up some other reading and then I'll read this and chime in on Sunday or so.

Let the games commence! I won't peek until then.

Josh wrote: "I thought it would be interesting to read something that is classified as literary gay fiction versus m/m romance -- and maybe even discuss what if any differences there are"

That would be great.


Jordan wrote: "It definitely was different from traditional M/M reads. It has more literariness (is that even a word?) and it's got teens as the MCs."

Apparently we already have an opinion on the matter.

Jordan, this was my question. I'd like a couple of examples to show me the literariness (yes, it's English, I checked ;-)) of the book.

As for having teens as the MCs, there are quite a few well written YA m/m books out there.

Ok-- Wiki def of Literary Fiction-
Literary fiction is a term that came into common usage during the early 1960s. The term is principally used to distinguish "serious fiction" which is a work that claims to hold literary merit, in comparison from genre fiction and popular fiction (i.e., paraliterature). In broad terms, literary fiction focuses more upon style, psychological depth, and character.[1][2] This is in contrast to Mainstream commercial fiction, which focuses more on narrative and plot....Even so, literary fiction is generally characterized as distinctive based on its content and style ("literariness", the concern to be "writerly"). ...On some levels it has been suggested that literary fiction employs a great deal of subtext - whereas themes, character development, and relations between characters are represented not through what is actually written, but through the implications of what is written."

Sorry it's so long, but I had to include the "literariness" for Jordan--ROFL

Josh wrote: "I thought it would be interesting to read something that is classified as literary gay fiction versus m/m romance -- and maybe even discuss what if any differences there are."

But can't a m/m romance book also have literary elements?
I guess I'm still a bit confused (and I'm just talking about myself here, since most of you seem to know a lot more about differences in book genres) about how these genres are classified.
Recently I read
this post on Goodreads which was supposed to clarify a few things for me, but I'm still a little confused, as I can see certain books don't easily lend themselves to be classified or marketed in a specific genre...

Anyway, just wanted to say I didn't approach Don't Let Me Go in a different way I would do any other book I've read before centering on gay characters (if that makes sense!)

Well, I'll dive in this murky pool.
characters are represented not through what is actually written, but through the implications of what is written..
I found it refreshing that the writer used the "style" of writing to tell us about the character instead of the narration. For example, the changing timeline was very confusing. I kept having to reorient myself to time and place. I found myself feeling frustrated and confused etc. When I stopped to analyze what was going on, I realized this was characteristic thinking for the post-trauma mind. BRILLIANT! I then had to put energy into thinking about other consequences and it put me in the head space with Nate as an experience, not just a concept explained to me by the narrator.

Yes, some m/m romance writers design their books this way! This is why the term Literary is murky and subjective. Great writing though all around, whoever employs it!

Reggie wrote: "For example the changing timeline, was very confusing at first. I kept having to reorient myself to time and place. I found myself feeling frustrated and confused etc. When I stopped to analyze what was going on, I realized this was characteristic thinking for the post-trauma mind. BRILLIANT!

That was a clever way to describe Nate's character! And a very effective way too, because like you said, those timeline changes really were confusing and even irritating for a while. Now, thinking back, I wonder how much of Nate's behavior (for example repeating the same mistakes with Adam, when not telling him how he truly felt) was due to Nate's post-trauma situation? And how much was due to the fact that he was so young and full of teenage angst? Because the writer sure made me go "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" about a thousand times, when Nate kept banging his head into the wall by making all these sudden and reckless decisions that had negative effect on his relationship with Adam.

At first I thought that Adam seemed to be a bit too mature and perfect compared to Nate, but when the story continued I really, really started to like him. To me one of the best parts of the story was the description of those miserable weekend trips that Nate took to Austin after Adam left him. The way Nate slept the first weeks in the hallway outside Adam's dorm room: "Those first few weeks I saw little of him, just the occasional sighting when he stepped over me on his way out somewhere. Except for the time he accidentally on purpose kicked me, he acted like I didn't exist." And how they after all the sulking, shouting and sleeping on the floor (Nate) finally ended up crying and talking about things that really mattered. I suppose that that would have been the perfect ending for me. I mean, I understand why the writer wanted to introduce us the ten years older characters, but for me it wasn't necessary.

I can't say anything about the genre of this book - I don't know that much about those things, but the discussion about that is very interesting to read. I was wondering if some of you have read Something Like Summer? Would you put these two books under the same genre?

Anyway, I'm sure that Don't Let Me Go is a perfect book for re-reading. For the most time while reading it I felt like I was in so much physical pain that I even might have had difficulties to focus on the details. Lol. I'd like to talk more about Juliet, Luke, Danial, the T-shirt slogans, the blog, Nate's father, the music... but I'll do that some other day. :)

I was actually also thinking about Something Like Summerafter finishing this book, wondering if they are the same or if they migth be on different sides of the fence, to put it that way.

I absolutely find Don't let me go to be the better book, but that is probably mainly because I really didn't like how Jay Bell's book ended. And maybe the writing is better too, but I am not an expert so it is hard to say. It was certainly more complex with the flashbacks, which made perfect sense for this story.

I have tried to see if I can find some differences between a gay story and a m/m romance that makes sense to me. Probably less sex in the former? But there could be sex scenes there as well, I guess but that wouldn't be a major theme? Also in a romance you kind of know the ending, the MC will have their happy ending, it is the journey towards it that is the main point of the book.And that is why I like them so much, if I care about the characters, I wish for them to be happy (after a healthy dose of angst and hardship first of course.) In a gay story I guess we cannot know the outcome, and there will be several elements that don't necessarily have to do with the couple as such, but other storylines (like the T-shirt storyline, which was brilliant!) that might have to do with the protag's growth as a person, a mystery solved if it is a gay mystery etc. So basically, a more complex and in depth kind of story maybe.

Since this book wasn't styled as a romance I was in knots before the end (and didn't peek either)wishing for a certain outcome but not knowing if I would get it.

I also would like to delve deeper into the various issues mentioned here, but now I need to pretend to be working.:)

Anne wrote: "I was actually also thinking about Something Like Summerafter finishing this book, wondering if they are the same or if they migth be on different sides of the fence, to put it that..."

Don't Let Me Go had an editor and a copyeditor and a line editor. It makes a difference to the end product. I liked Jay Bell's book -- I liked it a lot -- but it is clearly a self-published effort and that shows in the second half of the story where Bell is trying to cover too much ground too quickly in order to get us to the end.

Johanna wrote: "I suppose that that would have been the perfect ending for me. I mean, I understand why the writer wanted to introduce us the ten years older characters, but for me it wasn't necessary."

That would have been the perfect ending also for me. I disliked the ''ten years later'' fluffy epilogue. Of course there had to be a child...

Antonella wrote: "Of course there had to be a child...
..."

Shoot. Me. Now.

Josh wrote: "Anne wrote: "I was actually also thinking about Something Like Summerafter finishing this book, wondering if they are the same or if they migth be on different sides of the fence, t..."

It makes sense of course that the author with the most assistance and resources at hand will have the better result in the end. And I so loved the first half of Jay Bell's book and felt a little let down on how it ended. Also because I hate it when the writer solves a "problem" by killing off people. Unless they are the villains and deserve it of course :)But that is just one of my pet peeves.

Josh wrote: "Antonella wrote: "Of course there had to be a child...
..."

Shoot. Me. Now."

tsk tsk

Antonella wrote: "That would have been the perfect ending also for me. I disliked the ''ten years later'' fluffy epilogue. Of course there had to be a child..."

I know. The child was a bit too unreal for me. No child surprises in fluffy epilogues, thank you very much. ;)

Johanna wrote: "Antonella wrote: "That would have been the perfect ending also for me. I disliked the ''ten years later'' fluffy epilogue. Of course there had to be a child..."

I know. The child was a bit too unr..."

Maybe a little too cute in comparison to all the angst beforehand.. On the other hand, I really loved that they got their happy ending after all!

Josh wrote: "Don't Let Me Go had an editor and a copyeditor and a line editor. It makes a difference to the end product. I liked Jay Bell's book -- I liked it a lot -- but it is clearly a self-published effort and that shows in the second half of the story where Bell is trying to cover too much ground too quickly in order to get us to the end."

I couldn't agree more about the rushed ending.

Anne wrote: "And I so loved the first half of Jay Bell's book and felt a little let down on how it ended. Also because I hate it when the writer solves a "problem" by killing off people."

My thoughts exactly. I thought that (view spoiler)[killing Jace was the author's way quite effortlessly to solve the problem of getting Ben and Tim together again (hide spoiler)].

Anne wrote: "Johanna wrote: "Antonella wrote: "That would have been the perfect ending also for me. I disliked the ''ten years later'' fluffy epilogue. Of course there had to be a child..."

I know. The child w..."

I think I would have been totally miserable without the happy ending. I read Something Like Summer only a week ago and I'm still suffering from its not so happy ending (in my opinion)...

Johanna wrote: "Josh wrote: "Don't Let Me Go had an editor and a copyeditor and a line editor. It makes a difference to the end product. I liked Jay Bell's book -- I liked it a lot -- but it is clearly a self-publ..."

I agree, and I believe it might have worked if we had been shown some real emotion from Ben afterwards, but the last part of the book was just telling and not very convincingly either, so it all felt like an easy way out.

I still haven't finished Something Like Summer. I got bored somewhere after the half way mark and haven't picked it up again.

This book,Don't Let Me Go, started to loose my interest about 2/3 the way through. I knew by then how it was going to end (which isn't a deal breaker for me), but I need more going on than watching the MC waffle around. I need a sub-plot or an entertaining side character to amuse me while I wait for the MC to go through their required gyrations. Indecisiveness is a part of life, true. I am ok with it being part of a story, it just doesn't carry the story by itself.

So, for me, this book lost its "literariness". It didn't carry it throughout the book. But what do I know {shrugs shoulders}, the only literary fiction I've read has been REQUIRED reading! lol I'm a barbarian when it comes to literature.

I did like the book overall. I liked the characters, plot etc. If left to myself I probably would have read it 'til the 2/3rds mark then flipped to the end and called it done.

I didn't get who the author's target audience was. The end of the book questions were written very simplistically and seemed to be directed to adults. The ending I think may have had more meaning for adults but yet it was over simplified also. So I didn't quite get it.

Reggie wrote: "Ok-- Wiki def of Literary Fiction-
Literary fiction is a term that came into common usage during the early 1960s. The term is principally used to distinguish "serious fiction" which is a work that ..."

LOL, you're awesome. And here I thought I'd made up an awesome word. Not really, but still. One can try, can't they?

Reggie wrote: "Well, I'll dive in this murky pool.
characters are represented not through what is actually written, but through the implications of what is written..
I found it refreshing that the writer used t..."

AH! See, I was confused too, but for whatever reason I didn't equate it to the PTSD mind. I should have. That is brilliant! Either way, I loved how it was told, bouncing all over the place. I just like it even more now that you've said that.

I didn't approach this book any differently than I would any other book I read. It was a fun read, even with all the drama and emotions flying around. I see that there's a slight difference between this and "traditional" M/M, but I can't explain it to you.

I hope that doesn't make me a bad writer because of it! lol.

Antonella wrote: "Johanna wrote: "I suppose that that would have been the perfect ending for me. I mean, I understand why the writer wanted to introduce us the ten years older characters, but for me it wasn't necess..."

Yeah, that whole ending was a bit odd. Especially with the kid. I don't mind guys with kids, but for some reason, after reading about them as angst ridden teens for the entire book, I felt like I'd stepped into the twilight zone or something. lol.

The whole ending was rushed to get us to that epilogue. And it felt rushed. Very odd. And not exactly my cup of tea.

I finished this tonight and enjoyed it. (If you can call reading with a stomach knotted with dread enjoyable.) I’d accidentally read a spoiler about the attack and since I’m squeamish I spent the first two thirds of the book dreading Nate’s flashback of the attack. I guess the author made a conscious decision not to write that scene and I’m grateful for that.

Where the author decided to start the story is interesting. By writing the assault and the events leading up to it as a flashback (making it something that’s already happened rather than about to happen) I think the author softened the emotional impact for the reader and shifted the focus to Nate’s struggle to survive Adam’s absence rather than the assault. If the story started earlier it would have been a very different book.

About halfway through the story I started to get confused by the flashbacks. I had a hard time keeping track of the present versus the past, and for me, the sequence of events got a bit jumbled.

I did like that neither Adam or Nate were perfect (though I wondered about Adam until he lost his temper near the end.) I thought their relationship problems were realistic for two very young men: publicly dating as a same sex couple, jealousy, handling a long distance relationship.

Juliet’s crush on Nate was a refreshing approach to the female friend trope. I could have done without the kids at the end and the ten-year time skip but at least we found out how Adam and Nate got back together.

I found the lines between gay fiction and m/m fiction blurring in this story. I was told once literary fiction is character driven—the character makes some kind of emotional journey—where as genre fiction is plot driven. I think that’s probably too simplistic though.

ETA - I thought the weekends camped outside Adam's dorm room were a bit rushed. I would have liked to read those in real-time rather than as a flashback.

Pender wrote: "I finished this tonight and enjoyed it. (If you can call reading with a stomach knotted with dread enjoyable.) I’d accidentally read a spoiler about the attack and since I’m squeamish I spent the f...

ETA - I thought the weekends camped outside Adam's dorm room were a bit rushed. I would have liked to read those in real-time rather than as a flashback."


I agree. I would have liked to spend more time on that situation and wonder why she decided to construct the last part of the book that way in stead of doing it the "traditional" way of describing it in real time and then put the epilogue in at the end. The epilogue might not have been necessary with it at all, unless she wanted us to know how well it all worked out :)A HEA instead of a HFN perhaps.

One thing about Adam seeming almost too perfect and adult all the way until the end, I believe that is how Nate perceived him, not how he really was.

I have been thinking (not always a good idea of course)

Maybe she constructed it this way because when Nate is the narrator, all the most painful memories are in flashbacks, it's the only way he can deal with them. So this was a hard and painful time for him, also because he managed to destroy what he had with Adam through his own actions, and the only way he can bear to tell about it, is in flashbacks ten years after. That makes sense, to me at least :)

Anne wrote: "Josh wrote: "Antonella wrote: "Of course there had to be a child...
..."

Shoot. Me. Now."

tsk tsk"

:-D

Reggie wrote: "I didn't get who the author's target audience was. The end of the book questions were written very simplistically and seemed to be directed to adults. The ending I think may have had more meaning for adults but yet it was over simplified also. So I didn't quite get it.
...."

I read an interview with the author. Originally she thought she was writing YA, but the publisher decided to edit and market for the adult market.

That's interesting in itself, I think.

Josh wrote:" Originally she thought she was writing YA, but the publisher decided to edit and market for the adult market. ..."

Ahh, book by committee. Yes, I get it now.

But, more seriously... I wonder what age the publisher considers YA.. HP age or teenage angst age?

What do the numbers say LGBT teenagers are reading?

The teen boys around me are reading SF/Fantasy novels, otherwise it's asian cartoon stories/comics.

That's interesting that she was originally writing YA. I can see that clearly in the writing. Only that odd ending throws it off.

And, Anne (?) commented that Adam seems perfect until the end because Nate saw him that way... yeah. Why didn't I see that/think of that? Of course. That makes perfect sense, right along with the idea that the flashbacks are confusing for the reader because they're confusing for Nate who's telling the story.

lol, I've got one teen reading all the JCP books he can get his hands on. I saw another one with one of Josh's Adrien books the other day, though I don't officially know whether he's gay or straight. But those are kids I see and actively talk to every day. The one reading the Josh book surprised me. I didn't think he'd be into anything LGBTQ, but something tells me he's in it more for the mystery. The other kid, he's gay, and he's always asking me for MORE gay fiction. And he loves paranormal stuff.

Aside from that... Alex Sanchez is still popular, but not many people are asking for his books like they used to. Same with a lot of the other YA LGBTQ books. What we have has been read already, and they want new stuff, and there just isn't much out there. That's why I've sent some of the older kids to the adult collection if I can point them to a specific title they might like.

Oh yeah, and the one reading JCP, LOVES Yaoi Manga. He can't get enough of it.

Most boys I see are reading Manga or comic books and yeah, sci-fi/fantasy type stuff. Or they don't read at all. A typical boy thing. Girls just seem to like to read more, over all, and like a wider range of genres.

Thanks Jordan! It's great to here from an active librarian's POV, what the teen boys are reading. 8)

You're welcome :-) It also helps that they do like to sit and talk with me for a long time about whatever's on their mind, and that the one is always asking me what we have.

Um, Unnatural is another one. It's a gay vampire series, apparently nothing like Twilight, and he's LOVING it. We've ordered it for the library but it hasn't come in yet, so he wants to donate his own copies, and yet he loves them so much, I'm having a hard time convincing him he needs to keep his copies so he can reread them over and over again.

Jordan wrote: "Oh yeah, and the one reading JCP, LOVES Yaoi Manga. He can't get enough of it.

Most boys I see are reading Manga or comic books and yeah, sci-fi/fantasy type stuff. Or they don't read at all. A..."

My 15-year-old boy loves reading, mostly action/adventure stuff. If they have guns and fast cars, he's reading it!

Josh wrote: "Antonella wrote: "Of course there had to be a child...
..."

Shoot. Me. Now."

I know, right? I was glad for the epilogue but the kid bit made me say Arrrggghhh...

I did have to keep reminding myself that these were basically kids, every time I thought, "Why is he doing that?" I don't read much YA so I'm used to adult characters, who likely wouldn't have made the same decisions - but a teenager with PTSD, I can definitely see behaving in a way that doesn't seem rational to the adult mind.

Okay, I finally finished it. I liked the book. It didn't seem particularly literary and it makes sense that she wrote it as YA, since that's how it felt. The ending seemed too pat. And I was really comfortable with darting between present and past - it seemed a nice way for both the brutal and beautiful parts of that year to unfold - but I did not like jumping 10 years into the future at the end. I found it very jarring. And the kid? Sorry, it didn't fly for me. But I did find the story gripping up until the weird epiloguey ending.