{"id":1109,"date":"2015-05-04T14:54:49","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T18:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beydeckard.com\/blog\/?p=1109"},"modified":"2015-05-04T14:57:14","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T18:57:14","slug":"happy-birthday-joseph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/happy-birthday-joseph\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Deal – Guest Post by Joseph Lance Tonlet"},"content":{"rendered":"

My guest today is Joseph Lance Tonlet, author of Grif's Toy <\/a>and the Amazon-banned Brothers LaFon<\/a>, two fantastic books that you should really check out if you haven't already. :) When he sent me this blog post, it made me damn happy that I'd get to share it with all of you. <\/em><\/p>\n

So... Without further ado... Joseph.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Today is my 49th birthday, but this guest post isn't really about my birthday, or even birthdays in general.<\/p>\n

When I began this journey of writing, well over a year ago, I also created a social media pen name profile. You know, for places like Facebook, Twitter, etc. It was then, very early on, that I had to decide who Joseph Lance Tonlet would be. Meaning, how much of myself\u2014the real Joe\u2014would be incorporated into the online\/fictional JLT.<\/p>\n

Society demands we keep certain things to ourselves; i.e. there are topics we just don't share or talk about with anyone lest we be labeled a freak, or a pervert, or worse. In addition, there's the \u201cauthor branding\/appeal\u201d aspect to consider. Indeed, if the goal as a writer is to sell books, then how one presents one's self needs to be considered.<\/p>\n

Well-meaning \u201creal life\u201d friends freely gave advice on what parts and pieces I should share, and which I should keep to myself. Their reasoning ran the gamut from maintaining a certain level of mystique, to being cognizant of how people's perceptions of me (JLT) could potentially affect book sales.<\/p>\n

The more I listened, the more convoluted and\u2014to be honest\u2014contrived it all sounded. Feeling somewhat disheartened by the whole marketing aspect, I stepped back and asked myself, 1) How inauthentic do you want to be? and 2) What's your goal here? The answers: 1) Like most folks, I want to be as authentic as possible, and 2) My goal is simply to write. Once I did that, asked myself those two basic questions, the decision was easy: I'd be me. The real<\/em> me. Without question, far more genuine than I dare to be with most \u201creal life\u201d friends and family.<\/p>\n

Much to my surprise, I've been embraced in a way I could never have dreamed of. Indeed, the \u201cvirtual friendships\u201d I've been fortunate enough to forge have been nothing short of fucking brilliant. And the reason for that? I believe it's because I'm being real\u2014warts, twisted kinks, and all.<\/p>\n

Back to the birthday bit. As I mentioned, today is the big four-nine. (A number, by the way, I'm choosing not to dwell on, LOL!) Over the last week, the mailboxes, both real and virtual, have delivered birthday greetings. Receiving cards from family and friends is special, and I'm always very grateful to anyone who has taken time out of their busy day to drop a card in the mail to me. However, this birthday is different. This is Joseph Lance Tonlet's first birthday...and the reason for this writing.<\/p>\n

The Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc, etc, etc messages I've receive have seriously bowled me the fuck over. Do JLT's birthday wishes mean as much or hold the same weight as the ones I received for Joe? You're damn right they do. Hell, perhaps even more. Why? Because they're being sent to the \u201creal\u201d me. They're being sent to person I've put out there who is the most authentic version of myself that I've ever been allowed to present. There is nothing more meaningful than that, and to borrow Sally Field's often misquoted quote, \"You like me, you really<\/em> like me!\"<\/p>\n

So, I guess what this post is really about is expressing my gratitude. My gratitude for your friendship, and my gratitude for embracing the real me in a completely unimaginable way. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you!<\/p>\n

xoxoxo,
\nJoe<\/p>\n

\"divider\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Joseph, I'm damn proud to call you my friend. Happy birthday, buddy!
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

PLUS:<\/strong> Go check out the May Birthday Celebration and Giveaway<\/a> Joseph is participating in over at Two men are better than one<\/strong> for a chance to win a signed paperback or ebook!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My guest today is Joseph Lance Tonlet, author of Grif’s Toy and the Amazon-banned Brothers LaFon, two fantastic books that you should really check out if you haven’t already. :) When he sent me this blog post, it made me damn happy that I’d get to share it with all of you. So… Without further ado… Joseph. Today is my 49th birthday, but this guest post isn’t really about my birthday, or even birthdays in general. When I began this journey of writing, well over a year ago, I also created a social media pen name profile. You know, for … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[173],"tags":[300,242,241,299,192],"class_list":["post-1109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-authors","tag-birthday","tag-brothers-lafon","tag-grifs-toy","tag-guest-post","tag-joseph-lance-tonlet"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Screen-Shot-2015-05-04-at-2.44.10-PM.png?fit=419%2C313&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4sexs-hT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":696,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/review-of-grifs-toy-by-joseph-lance-tonlet\/","url_meta":{"origin":1109,"position":0},"title":"Review of Grif’s Toy by Joseph Lance Tonlet","author":"Bey","date":"October 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is definitely not my normal sort of read. How the hell do I rate this? I have no real experience with romances, and this is definitely romantic. Yet, here I sit here with a grin on my face, heart hammering, feeling a little dazed and in need of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Life"","block_context":{"text":"My Life","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/my-life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/grifs-toy-tonlet.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/grifs-toy-tonlet.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/grifs-toy-tonlet.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/grifs-toy-tonlet.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":906,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/interview-with-joseph-lance-tonlet-author-of-the-bestseller-grifs-toy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1109,"position":1},"title":"Interview with Joseph Lance Tonlet, author of the bestseller Grif’s Toy","author":"Bey","date":"December 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome back to my blog, Joseph! Thanks so much for having me back, Bey\u2014it's such an honor! \u00a0 So... You've been published for over a month now. How does that feel? Wow. I'm not sure I can adequately convey the almost overwhelming emotions sharing Grif's Toy with the world invoked.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Authors"","block_context":{"text":"Authors","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/writing-2\/authors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/interviews.jpg?fit=432%2C327&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1686,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/do-you-like-things-dark-massive-spotlight-post-and-giveaway\/","url_meta":{"origin":1109,"position":2},"title":"Do you like things dark? Massive spotlight post and giveaway!","author":"Bey","date":"May 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Over at Diverse Reader there's a big giveaway happening featuring such authors as Nicholas Bella, R Phoenix As Raissa, Joseph Lance Tonlet, Louis Stevens, Jenna Johanis, Varian Krylov, Brina Brady, Jack L Pyke, Wulf Franc\u00fa Godgluck... and myself! Seriously a fun spotlight post of Dark Erotica: each author had the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Better the Devil You Know"","block_context":{"text":"Better the Devil You Know","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/book-updates\/better-the-devil-you-know\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/chained-boy-edit.jpg?fit=1000%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/chained-boy-edit.jpg?fit=1000%2C685&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/chained-boy-edit.jpg?fit=1000%2C685&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/chained-boy-edit.jpg?fit=1000%2C685&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2534,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/signed-paperback-of-exposed-giveaway\/","url_meta":{"origin":1109,"position":3},"title":"Signed Paperback of Exposed – Giveaway","author":"Bey","date":"March 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I still haven't received my paperback proof of Exposed from CreateSpace. They usually take a day or two to ship it out to me but this time, according to UPS, it's both supposed to arrive today and it hasn't been picked up from the location in the States yet. How\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Better the Devil You Know"","block_context":{"text":"Better the Devil You Know","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/book-updates\/better-the-devil-you-know\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Exposed-cover-paperback.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Exposed-cover-paperback.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Exposed-cover-paperback.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Exposed-cover-paperback.png?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":580,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/joseph-lance-tonlet\/","url_meta":{"origin":1109,"position":4},"title":"Joseph Lance Tonlet – M\/M Author","author":"Bey","date":"September 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today's interview is with Joseph Lance Tonlet, up and coming author of Grif\u2019s Toy (November, 2014) Hi Bey. Hi everyone. Let me start of by saying what a privilege it is to be here. I\u2019m throughly humbled; not only from the fledgling writer perspective, but also being interviewed by someone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Authors"","block_context":{"text":"Authors","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/writing-2\/authors\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/interviews.jpg?fit=432%2C327&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":888,"url":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/6-awesome-mm-books-for-10-all-proceeds-to-the-trevor-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":1109,"position":5},"title":"6 Awesome M\/M books for $10 – All proceeds to the Trevor Project","author":"Bey","date":"December 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"So\u00a0Rain Carrington,\u00a0Varian Krylov,\u00a0Matt Ortiz, Joseph Lance Tonlet, Brad Vance and I got together to offer everyone something for the holidays. We're calling it \"Hot Reads For The Trevor Project\" and\u00a0all proceeds go to The Trevor Project* Get ready to lower your thermostat because your winter is about to get hot!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Caged"","block_context":{"text":"Caged","link":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/category\/book-updates\/caged\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TPC-twitter-1024x512.jpg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TPC-twitter-1024x512.jpg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TPC-twitter-1024x512.jpg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/TPC-twitter-1024x512.jpg?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1109"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1118,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions\/1118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beydeckard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}