Friday, April 19, 2019

Adrien English Turns 20!

Next year is the 20th Anniversary of the original publication of Fatal Shadows, the first book in the Adrien English series.

It's a milestone for me personally, but it's also a bit of a milestone for M/M Romance.

I want to celebrate that milestone--but in order to do so, I need to start planning now.

I threw the question out to my Facebook friends and they came up with a bunch of great ideas including:

1 - A short ( or very short) story of where & what Jake & Adrien are up to now.

2 - A quarterly Cloak and Dagger Books newsletter from Natalie and Angus telling us what’s up in the AE world. There can be a Q&A section where readers can ask their favorite characters questions. Patreon Exclusive and then wide later. ðŸĪĢðŸ˜ģðŸĪŠ

3 - Maybe you could commission some art? Or do a fun contest? A party where everyone wears shirts that say "uh huh"?! 😂

4 - Why not ask the readers where they see Adrien and Jake now? Their thoughts on the characters-how did they find the series, the impact of Jake and Adrien as a couple and separate. Lord knows you don't have the time to write more

5 - 😀 Some kind of virtual party is certainly in order ... with Tab ... and murder.

6 - This means that Jake would be in his sixties and Adrien in his early fifties? ðŸ˜ģ
But I think they‘ll stay forever handsome and sexy. 😊

7 - A dinner in Pasadena. Somewhere old school there.

8 - Cake. And champagne. Champagne cake. With raspberries, to make it healthy

9 - Maybe just a re-release with the addition of existing codas and updated cover art? Something simple that will mark the anniversary but not be a time drain for you.

10 -  We need to have virtual parties for sure! And maybe turn Fatal Shadows into graphic novel? :)

11 - I think you should fix yourself a drink and toast to AE and his little bookstore.

12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK

13 - Maybe an anniversary coda?

14 - Go Big. 2 Week Online Tribute Show: (Various guest stars talking about the books, you know,) leading up to anniversary reception at some real place...GRL, I guess? Or at least a hotel in the vicinity of GRL. (If you take this idea do this plan, you should totally let me help.)

15 - How about a party in a bookstore...in Florida...okay, it's not close to GRL, but I happen to be part owner of a bookstore in Florida...I'd provide cookies.

16 - A short interlude. Like first day of spring snippet.

17 - To celebrate, I suggest a collection of flashfics, some old and some new, similar to Christmas codas. Little stories with Jake, with their families, friends. Lovely little moments.
It doesn't have to be as challenging as a whole book. Could it work for you?

18 -  A MURDER!
.....or maybe just create a drink named murder....

19 - Mary calmes does a monthly he said he said with Sam Cage and Jory Harcourt it’s great! They’re in her newsletter. It’s framed like an advice column response, but basically ends up being a snippet of their ongoing lives.

20 - I see the Adrien English bookstore mentioned in other author's books. Perhaps you can gather all the mentions into one place. I can't recall even one book where I've read it but I bet the readers of this group could come up with several.

21 - It has to be a real party though. That takes place in a physical space with cake and booze.

:-D :-D :-D

22 - Wow! How about just a teensy story about Jake and Adrien 20 years in?


So those are some possibilities--a LOT of possibilities, in fact!

I'm interested in hearing which ideas people are most interested in--or if there are other possibilities no one has yet thought of.

What do you think? What should I do to mark Adrien's 20th Birthday?



59 comments:

  1. I really like the party at the bookstore in Florida. Whoever thought of that was genius! :p. Hey I'd even throw in lemonade. Or Tab.
    \

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  2. Something from Jake's PoV? Possibly moving things on maybe not 20 years, but 10? And showing Adrien's mother ill, with something that's long-term bad news (though she doesn't die yet). That would let J&A both adjust to sort of being bumped up a generation - they're not their parents' "children" any more: they are now the responsible effective adults, if you see what I mean. What does that do to their relationship?

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    1. Oh, that's a sad one! But yes, certainly a game changer for any couple.

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  3. These two are my favorites so far:
    1 - A short ( or very short) story of where & what Jake & Adrien are up to now.

    17 - To celebrate, I suggest a collection of flashfics, some old and some new, similar to Christmas codas. Little stories with Jake, with their families, friends. Lovely little moments.
    It doesn't have to be as challenging as a whole book. Could it work for you?

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    1. Yes, either--or both--of those ideas are very doable!

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  4. Hi Josh,
    This is better than a visit from the Easter bunny, thank you. My suggestion (assuming you don’t want to write another A and J book) would be one of your lovely cross over / pop up appearances e.g Adrien and Jake in The Boy with the Painful Tattoo, and Stephen and Mark in The Haunted Heart. Both appearances were unexpected and a complete joy - like a visit from old friends. Maybe Adrien and Jake could pop up again but with no clue from in which book/ series they will feature.
    Sarah A
    PS re-read both Snowball in Hell and This Rough Magic last week so really looking forward to Slay Ride.

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    1. The crossovers are fun--and relatively easy. I like that idea!

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  5. I LOVE the idea of a short story, catching us up on where these two are in their life. :)

    I also like the idea of a newsletter, as was suggested like what Mary Calmes does. Those are funny. The quarterly Cloak and Dagger Books newsletter from Natalie and Angus can be part of this.

    A sale of the books and audios would be cool. ❤❤❤

    I also heard that you were releasing an audio box set. Please let that be true!

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    1. I really love the idea of a Newsletter too. Now that I've experimented a bit (in Slay Ride) with the newspaper format, I think I could maybe do something fun.

      I do plan to do audio box sets--that probably will happen next year (mostly because the logistics are taking longer than I'd imagined.)

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  6. Holy shit, I actually screamed when I read this, I love Adrien and Jake SO MUCH, I'd be ecstatic with whatever new content you came up with. I mean, if I could choose I'd obviously go with number 12, a new full-lenght novel with Adrien solving misteries and Jake being in love with him, but I suppose beggar can't be chosers, right? I don't know what's your stance on fanfiction (I know some authors are against it), but I guess you could, I don't know, make a fanfic contest or something? I'd totally take part in that.

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    1. Oh man, how did I miss number 12?! I'll never, ever turn down another Adrien English novel; I love that series so much.

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    2. I think trying to do another novel is doubtful. Certainly right now it feels like just too much to try to take on. But there have been lots of great suggestions that would be manageable.

      Fanfic? I don't have anything against it. and I love the idea of lots of people engaged and energized.

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  7. Replies
    1. It's hard for me to picture that! In my mind they're forever young.

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  8. Hi Josh,

    I would love another full-length Adrien English mystery with alternating POVs. *sigh*

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    1. I definitely have to come up with some Jake POV things. :-)

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  9. So many thoughts on this. I think a book only makes sense (to me, IMHO) if it ties up the loose ends of the series - i.e., the Paul Kane trial, who's Natalie's baby daddy (LOL), etc. I don't want a 'contemporary' story written with Jake in his 60s and Adrien in his 50s. I prefer to remember them (and all the characters) as they were. Froze in time, so to speak.

    I like the idea of new covers or even reissues of the book (paper and ebook) including the codas, but inserting the codas in chronological order with the books).

    A party or some kind of 20th anniversary remembrance or keepsake is also a nice idea.

    Or, how about this... 're-write' the series from Jake's POV. *Steve ducks and runs.

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    1. I don't mind doing a coda or a short story far down the line, but I agree about them being frozen in time. The 20 years idea would be something I'd approach as AU. :-D

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    2. And rewriting the series from Jake's POV?

      HA. HA.

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  10. Has it really been 20 years, yikes! I would love a 10, 15, or 20 year catch up. How is Lisa, his sisters, Jake’s family’s acceptance, or not..... So many directions, so many stories. And on a side note, any outtakes, chapters that never made a book, that could be fun.

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    1. I definitely have to look and see what I might have...The original story was written in long hand, but I have a feeling I didn't keep any of that.

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  11. I am all for the write another book option… LOL! Honestly , it all sounds great to me. More Adrien and Jake, that's all I want, in whatever form they take

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    1. People have certainly come up with a variety of inventive options!

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  12. Anything with A & J would be amazing. i love seeing them pop up but seeing where they are now would be extremely exciting. However, knowing you, I'm sure you have something amazing planned. I'm sorry I won't be at GRL incase you do something special there. Hugs CJ Baty

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    1. Well, I'm certainly going to try to come up with a bunch of entertaining options! I don't know about GRL--it wouldn't be this year anyway though.

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  13. 12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK / 12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK /12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK

    ;)

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  14. A catch up on Jake and Adriens lives! I just loved So This is Christmas because we finally got to see them as a couple without all the struggles. Don’t get me wrong I loved the build up, as I reread that series probably more than any other. But they worked so hard for their HEA, I would love some more happy times, with a mystery thrown in of course. I just really enjoy touching base with favorite characters (like others have mentioned we get Jory in Mary Calmes newsletter, gives me my Sam and Jory fix).

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    1. I am definitely getting the message that people want to see where A&J are now! :-D

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  15. Woaw! What a milestone! Congratulations. *_*
    I love all the ideas about a new long or short(s) story(ies). The newsletter is also a super fun idea.
    Another idea (but probably too hard to launch) would be to really create Cloak and Dagger, your own virtual store :D It could be just a shop, it could be a game or a mini game (like Stephen King did with the Dark Tower), a platform for fans... Many possibilities ^^

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  16. I like the idea of collecting all of the shorts into one volume, and maybe including one or two new ones to spice it up. I'd love a print copy of it! This would, hopefully, be less time consuming than some other things? Are there enough stories for a book? - Jordan

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    1. The IngramSpark version of So This is Christmas has all the codas and interviews. There aren't enough for book on their own, but there could be a better way of collecting them.

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  17. I want to see the wedding...maybe them celebrating an anniversary and with a flashback to the wedding. honestly though I'll be happy with anything you do with them...best series of all time.

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    1. I think we would definitely need a peek at that wedding! ;-)

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  18. All of these suggestions sound good to me so I'm really not being much help. Ready to travel to Florida etc. I keep reading the entire series over and over again. I just love Adrien and Jake and I thank you Josh for writing these wonderful stories.

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  19. Just lost a couple of paragraphs. Darn it.

    Recapping: I liked the idea of snippets/slice of life/interlude bits. Not set in the far future, though. I'm in the "keep them young" camp. (lol) Like, Adrien in his thirties, Jake in his forties.

    Virtual parties sounded cool. I don't do Facebook, but there are other mediums.

    References to Cloak and Dagger: did L.B. make any references in her stories? I believe I saw a namecheck by Rhys Ford, who has set a number of her books in LA. There were a couple of other namechecks I've seen by mystery or romantic suspense authors. I know at least one surprised me because the book was very realistic. Other references didn't surprise me much after I considered the kind of book it was and who the author was.

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    1. I don't think LB did. I know they are out there -- I always think cameos are a fun thing to do whether with your own series or someone else's.

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  20. I'm rather new to this series, and have to admit that I didn't even notice that Fatal Shadows was 20 years old when I read it. That's amazing! I've definitely enjoyed the series, as well as the others...totally hooked! That being said, I've never thought of book time as being the same as real time, so I would say that since So This is Christmas is only a few years old, that the timeline pick up within a few years after those events. Time flies so fast in reality, it would be lovely to slow things down a little for Adrien, Jake, and the rest of the cast.

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    1. That's my thinking. But it would be fun to try different things from different angles for the purpose of this particular milestone (even though you and I know all that getting older stuff is strictly AU) :-D

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  21. I would welcome anything having to do with Adrien and Jake. They were my introduction to the m/m fic world.
    Just my opinion here - but I think it would be a disservice to your long-time and early supporting readers to make whatever you choose to do to celebrate those 20 years only available at first to Patreon members. Some of us have been around for all those 20 years and should be able to partake of any anniversary celebration. Patreon members get exclusives, and that is as it should be. But A and J were around well before that was set up - and all should be able to enjoy them. As I said - just my opinion...

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    1. I do plan on doing a little something exclusive for Patreon, but 99% of any and all celebration projects will be available to all my readers. I agree it would not be fair to leave them out.

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  22. Wow I'd die for another book on Adrien and Jake. I love Adrien.

    1 - A short ( or very short) story of where & what Jake & Adrien are up to now.

    12 - WRITE ANOTHER BOOK

    13 - Maybe an anniversary coda?

    Actually anything more on Adrien and Jake would be a real treat. Can't get enough of those two!

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    1. I'm definitely seeing a consensus of opinion! :-D

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  23. I love the Adrien English series, whatever you give us, however small, will be a huge gift. Personally I prefer a story, something that explains to me what Adrien and Jake do nowadays or maybe a summary of how their lives have been until now. Thanks for asking for our opinion.

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    1. I think there will definitely have to be some new fiction even if just a series of vignettes. Something!

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  24. I love Adrien and Jake so much, I'd love to read any new thing about them, even if it's just a little glimpse of their lives.

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    1. Steve Leonard came up with a great idea I'm thinking about for here on the blog. It would entail rewriting a select number of scenes from Jake's POV. I have to think it through.

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  25. Aaaawww,I love Adrien and Jake! My fav are 1,8,12 (please!) and 13 XD XD XD

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  26. A short story, a long story, flashfics or a new book! 😂 Please i just need more of them, and I would love love love to know where they are now (and together of course❤️)

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    1. I don't know about a whole novel. That's unlikley at this time. But I do think there will be some new fiction. Not sure how much or exactly what.

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  27. 20 years! WOW! I really really really love Adrien and Jake... They've really stood the test of time, to me! <3 XD So, personally, I'd love a short ( or very short) story of where & what Jake & Adrien are up to now OR write another book XD OR would you ever consider writing something from Jake's perspective?
    Thank you, Josh, for so many wonderful books and couples whom I adore, and thank you for Adrien and Jake — they are a special place in my heart!

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    1. I have an idea for next year (thank you, Steve Leonard) for rewriting a few crucial, key scenes from Jakes POV. ;-)

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  28. I second the wedding idea even it's just a short story please!!
    so my vote would goes for 1, 12 if it not too late lol.

    But if you want to write a long one how about a story begin with they adopt an orphan who involve in murder case and just because Jake did say he love children.

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