74 Comments
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Trevor Wittmer's avatar

Good man, JB. I'll give you a little confession. Because I'm now an official Big Sook, and my only recent criterion for reading enjoyment is that people are nice to each other (Except for the murderer; they can be an arsehole) my most frequent reading these days is the cosy mystery (I know, I know), most of which read like a mills and boon with murder, and I mean clean murder.- bugger all blood and very little gory description. So, long story short, I'm into the romance idea and will be reading them. Just don't let too much gratuitous snarkiness sneak into the story, ok?

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John Birmingham's avatar

I have my daughter standing over me with the harsh blue pencil of correction, removing 95% of my first draft snark. “Yeah, that’s very funny, Dad. CUT IT NOW,”

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Suzi Hammond's avatar

I'm sure your daughter is a fine editor & general gruppenfuhrer but, please, just once, a kissy spy thriller romance with plenty of snark! And not only from the villain. okay? Let's see who the good guys really are beneath all that tortured smoochy moral rectitude.

Of course, Lewis Carroll already snaffled 'The Hunting of the Snark' as a title but there's room to work around that. Looking forward to it. X

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insomniac's avatar

I started sobbing at the thought of possibly having to maybe think about reading a romance novel. That was enough for me.

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Potato Shaped Man's avatar

Preach, Mr. Insomnomnomnomniac.

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Ginger Cat's avatar

Looking forward to this. If anyone is interested in spy romance, I can also recommend The Blonde Identity (Ally Carter).

"They started out as enemies and ended up making kissy face. Apparently this is a thing which happens quite a lot in romance novels"

Oh my sweet summer child: welcome to the world of romance tropes. There are ... a lot.

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Mary-Ann Lovejoy's avatar

Good for you! Liberate your inner romantic, I’m all for that.

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Michael Barnes's avatar

That sounds joyous. A bit too heteronormative for my reading tastes based on the cover art, (my go to romance remains Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth) but look forward to hear it going gangbusters up the charts.

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Anita's avatar

Can’t wait to read these. Because it’s mostly women who read romance it’s always been seen as a bit cringe. But it’s consistently the biggest selling genre.

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Obviouslynotmyrealname's avatar

Will they be for me? Who’s to say. But I’ve read every other book you’ve written so my cheque is basically in the mail already.

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Justin's avatar

Yeah so have I. I’ll bite

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Tricia R's avatar

Well, after I fell off my chair and nearly (but not quite!) spilled my Friday arvo Aperol Spritz, I subscribed and am looking forward to checking out this new JB world!

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John Birmingham's avatar

Now I want an Aperol Spritz!

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Tricia R's avatar

Do it!! Best way to start the weekend!

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Matthew F.'s avatar

I cannot wait to get this comment posted so I can scamper off and tell my partner what you’re up to - she’s been on the romance circuit for years and loves it. I can tell you they’re a pretty cool crowd, I’ve been to a bunch of their events as a stall-helper for her and they’re super organised and supportive and without a lot of the weird turned-in cattiness of SF fandom.

(Although I hope you’ll forgive me if I hold off actually subscribing until I know if anything expensive is going to come from the dental checkup on Wednesday…)

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John Birmingham's avatar

The stack is free. Good luck with that dentist. They terrify me.

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isabel robinson's avatar

Their bills terrify me!

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Greybeard's avatar

Oh well. While we're confessing I might as join in (don't worry Ben, I won't mention the goat and the watermelon). I may have enjoyed a few Historical Mysteries of the genteel murder and eventually-requited-affection school. Lead on MacBirmo and we'll see where this goes.

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William Ferguson's avatar

Mother fucker .. and it's not even April 1st. Please don't make me admit I might read some romance now.

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Tony Neilson's avatar

So, less ‘splosions, more smooching? As long as you finish the WW3.1 series, that’s fine…

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John Birmingham's avatar

These guys. https://toggl.com/

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John Birmingham's avatar

WW 3.2 will be out in August! My new dictation software and time management app are insanely effective.

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Liz Johnston's avatar

Good on you. I have written novel nobody read except friends and family who struggled to be polite. Publishers said it didn't fit a genre. It is now somewhere unread in guts of Amazon Kindle. Perhaps you will be luckier if you give it a go. It was a great experience in being free to make it all up instead of reporting other people's words and being troubled by pesky sub-editors and the like. Enjoy!

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John Birmingham's avatar

I went looking for your book. Did you use a pseudonym?

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Davey's avatar

That's great news!

I don't know if you're familiar with the YouTube channel of Jill Bearup (another JB!), but she vlogged about writing her first romance novel, Just Stab Me Now. The videos were highly entertaining, especially the way she talked about the character with the placeholder name of 'hot enemy'.

I think you're going to love this new sandpit!

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John Birmingham's avatar

Omg! “Just stab me now”??? I am so in.

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Vicki Anderson's avatar

I am in! I swore off love a while ago but maybe you can present an alternative perspective! Yeah nah in truth I just like your voice in most anything you write.

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John Birmingham's avatar

This is why you’re my favourite

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Jo's avatar

Oh. My. God. I am here for this.

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John Birmingham's avatar

Thanks Jo.

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