Thank you for making Lone Star the #1 Bestselling title in Gay and Gay & Lesbian fiction on Amazon Kindle this week. I'm so pleased you're enjoying this little holiday story about second chances.
I have absolutely no idea how I missed this!! Holy moly I love it! The music is perfect. The video is perfect. The book is perfect! I think I mentioned before that I've been thinking a lot the last few weeks about second chances. This book gave me hope!! That second chances ARE a good idea! You are the best!
I discovered your books this summer as I was preparing to leave on an extended trip and needed some fun reading to take on a newly acquired kindle (the airlines' weight restrictions and heavy books pushed me to resort to technology). I have been a fan ever since and, as a native Texan who lives in Austin, was especially thrilled to recently find a holiday-themed piece set in my own back yard. As someone who grew up gay in a rural Texas setting, you should know that you struck more than one chord for me with your development of the two main characters. Many of the colloquial expressions felt natural, but a few went slightly awry. I do have one suggestion if you get to do a rewrite-- "y'all" is only used in the plural sense and we wouldn't use it to refer to a single person unless we were including his family or friends in the comment. I hope you'll take that as constructive and not as a negative. I thoroughly enjoy your writing and the sensibilities, natural flow, character development and their inherent flaws that you stir into the mix. Josh, thank you for the hours of pleasurable reading you've given me thus far. I look forward to continuing my journey through your works. Your new fan, Jim in Austin
Hi, Josh, Thanks for the reply. "Y'all" is the contraction of "you all" and as a somewhat observant language person whose family has been in the state a long, long time I don't think I've ever met a native Texan who used "y'all" in the singular, though I do have sister who has trouble spelling it. Sometimes folks from my state are embarrassingly strident in using the accent and usage to garner attention. You may have noticed a couple of politicians recently (one authentic the other not so much) who have done the same, much to the chagrin of a good part of the population. Anyway, the use of the second person plural employed in the singular rang false to me so much so that I felt I should mention it. Last night I was reading the beginning of "Mexican Heat" before I went to sleep and was enjoying getting lost in the intrigue when I read something like "tu pequen~o (sorry, writing on the Mac, I can't get it to put the tilde over the n) asno elegante", which made me laugh, but did rather spoil the mood. I'm guessing you used an on-line translator or looked the words up in a Spanish/English dictionary, maybe? In Spanish what you said was "your little elegant burro". Funny but maybe not what you intended. OK, I realize I've just criticized your writing twice, but I want you to know that I do very much enjoy your work. Everything else is so well executed that I thought I should mention these two instances. At any rate, I'm definitely a fan and now I am quite curious to see what will come out of this extremely hot man's mouth the next time he speaks Spanish. In fact I'm curious what he does with the elegant little burro. Guess I should've finished the scene...Does this mean you're into bestiality?! Should I be looking for symbolism and deeper meaning? Thanks again for replying, Jim
I have absolutely no idea how I missed this!! Holy moly I love it! The music is perfect. The video is perfect. The book is perfect! I think I mentioned before that I've been thinking a lot the last few weeks about second chances. This book gave me hope!! That second chances ARE a good idea! You are the best!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI discovered your books this summer as I was preparing to leave on an extended trip and needed some fun reading to take on a newly acquired kindle (the airlines' weight restrictions and heavy books pushed me to resort to technology). I have been a fan ever since and, as a native Texan who lives in Austin, was especially thrilled to recently find a holiday-themed piece set in my own back yard. As someone who grew up gay in a rural Texas setting, you should know that you struck more than one chord for me with your development of the two main characters. Many of the colloquial expressions felt natural, but a few went slightly awry. I do have one suggestion if you get to do a rewrite-- "y'all" is only used in the plural sense and we wouldn't use it to refer to a single person unless we were including his family or friends in the comment. I hope you'll take that as constructive and not as a negative. I thoroughly enjoy your writing and the sensibilities, natural flow, character development and their inherent flaws that you stir into the mix.
ReplyDeleteJosh, thank you for the hours of pleasurable reading you've given me thus far. I look forward to continuing my journey through your works.
Your new fan,
Jim in Austin
Thanks for the kind words, Jim. Very glad you're enjoying the work.
ReplyDeleteIn my defense, I worked with a girl from Texas (Dallas) for many years and she used y'all in both the singular and the plural.
And it looks like there is an ongoing debate on whether is "can" be used singularly or plurally.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%27all
Not that I have any stake in the debate. I just don't want to look like I didn't exercise due diligence. :-)
Hi, Josh,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reply. "Y'all" is the contraction of "you all" and as a somewhat observant language person whose family has been in the state a long, long time I don't think I've ever met a native Texan who used "y'all" in the singular, though I do have sister who has trouble spelling it. Sometimes folks from my state are embarrassingly strident in using the accent and usage to garner attention. You may have noticed a couple of politicians recently (one authentic the other not so much) who have done the same, much to the chagrin of a good part of the population. Anyway, the use of the second person plural employed in the singular rang false to me so much so that I felt I should mention it.
Last night I was reading the beginning of "Mexican Heat" before I went to sleep and was enjoying getting lost in the intrigue when I read something like "tu pequen~o (sorry, writing on the Mac, I can't get it to put the tilde over the n) asno elegante", which made me laugh, but did rather spoil the mood. I'm guessing you used an on-line translator or looked the words up in a Spanish/English dictionary, maybe? In Spanish what you said was "your little elegant burro". Funny but maybe not what you intended.
OK, I realize I've just criticized your writing twice, but I want you to know that I do very much enjoy your work. Everything else is so well executed that I thought I should mention these two instances. At any rate, I'm definitely a fan and now I am quite curious to see what will come out of this extremely hot man's mouth the next time he speaks Spanish. In fact I'm curious what he does with the elegant little burro. Guess I should've finished the scene...Does this mean you're into bestiality?! Should I be looking for symbolism and deeper meaning?
Thanks again for replying,
Jim