#Young John Lennon

[waveofahand]

6.000 hits for "The French Kiss!" Thank you!

It's been a couple of years, but The French Kiss -- a one shot about JohnandPaul in Paris -- was the first McLennon fic I ever wrote, and it may still be the most purely romantic of the stories. Maybe. Part of me thinks that Chapters 48 and 49 from "Hello, Goodbye" (The extremely angsty Book II from the "Carry that Weight" Angst Trilogy, as opposed to the more meandering, lots-of-sex-lesser-angst Book III). So much old baggage between John and Paul gets resolved in those two final chapters of book II, after SO MUCH difficulty between them, that the romance angle is upped quite a lot. But if they are not the most romantic scenes I've written of the two of them, then "French Kiss" might still have that claim. I actually will depend on readers to let me know. (Although a few have told me the think this one is sadder, yet more romantic, so I can't tell!)

But it thrills me to see the first thing I ever wrote getting traffic, and so I thank you that the story keeps getting hits! I'm very appreciative! UPDATE: Actually, someone reminded me that this one-shot is pretty romantic, too.

[beatleshalloween]

John and George! Lennison!!!

[imagine-mokey]

A great colored photo of John and Paul!

[art-ro-vert]

[loadingmercurywithapitchfork]

(inspired by @/groovegalz 's post cause i wanted to make my own w/ other musicians)

[crepesuzette2023]

Another dreadful flight for our Paul

(photo: Bill Ray)

[the62ndbugsfan]

We'll follow the sun...

[harrisonsbabygirl]

[swaying--daisies]

“How Lucky Was I, to have those men in my life?”

I think Paul really spoke for all of us 😭

(The cropped versions are wallpaper friendly! 🥰)

[waveofahand]

John and Paul, Poignant and Complete

This image has always struck me as so poignantly revealing of their whole relationship. John is fuzzy and undone, Paul is watchful and at the ready. John looks like someone who is emotionally all over the place -- nearly impossible to make out, so to speak. And Paul is so contained and hyper-aware of him, as though he is ready for anything, accepting of anything, that I wouldn't mess with him. And the hand, as though calling John back, back to him, pulling him back and away from whatever mood, emotion or feeling is leading John off into God knows what. Just -- for me -- a very poignant and complete portrait of these two, in spirit.

[beatleshalloween]

Story newly updated!

The Beatles find themselves transformed back in time in separate time periods, living lives as different people, while able to remember their old life in the 1960s.

[imagine-mokey]

This is kinda a prequel, but if you haven't read "the Lost is Found," you really won't get this take.

A young teenage John Lennon wants to find out if an old bridge in the outskirts of the city of Liverpool, is really haunted.

An old rumor about a tragic woman, and her ill-fated children, led the stories of her and her children being the spirits of this place. So John figures midnight on Halloween would confirm if the legends were true

[the-boney-rolls]

It was New York, around 1974, and I think it was around the first time they had gotten back together again. I got a knock at the door at the Pierre Hotel where I had taken over a suite for months and months…. About three in the morning there’s a knock on the door and John was there, and he had Paul with him! The two of them had been out on the town for the evening. He said “Can we come in? You won't believe who I've got here,” and I said, “Wow I thought you two had…” and he said, “No no, all that's going to change.” It was great! We just spent the evening talking. It was kinda a strange thing between them, there was a little bit of distance every now and again. But that must've been the first time they were back together since the big bust-ups. They actually asked me if I'd join the two of them and become a trio with them, and we'd change the name to something like David Bowie and The Beatles because they liked the idea of it being DBB. But, you know, the next morning it just never came to anything.

David Bowie on BBC 6 Radio Music in 2004

[midnighttraindemo]

copies of mojo i found at the library :)

[beatlepaul4ever]

“Dear god, please do not take my photograph with this idiot! I’ll never live it down!” wails Macca’s companion. “I’m only trying to hold the wanker up, he’s pissed as a newt.”

[paulandjohn]

John & Paul: A Love Story In Songs tells the story of the tempestuous, tender, intimate, phenomenally creative relationship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It’s about how two damaged young men merged their souls and multiplied their talents to create one of the greatest bodies of music in history.

It starts in 1957, when the two of them meet, before taking us through their rise to fame, stupendous success, acrimonious split and aftermath. I tell the story through songs, since it’s my belief that it’s impossible to understand the music of the Beatles except through the alchemy between John and Paul - and you can’t understand that alchemy except through the songs. John & Paul offers a whole new narrative of the Beatles; one which scrapes away the clichés in order to reveal the group and its two principals afresh. It’s a story full of joy, love, pain and pathos. But don’t take my word for it…

The first new Beatles story in decades - and the one that will make your heart burst.

Caitlin Moran

No writer has ever gotten to the heart of the John/Paul saga as brilliantly as Ian Leslie. This extraordinary book sheds light on a cultural mystery: how two nowhere boys from Liverpool formed a teenage bond that transformed the future, and in so many ways, invented it. John and Paul is a bold, original, empathetic revelation of why our world is still fascinated by this friendship-and still trying to live up to it.

Rob Sheffield

I’ve been working on this book for the last three years and it’s now pretty much done - we’re in the very last round of copy edits. It’s the best thing I’ve ever written and I can’t wait to share the whole thing with you. The notes section has been completed (I am so glad to say). The pages have been typeset. Most excitingly: we have a jacket design. Actually two, because John & Paul has two terrific publishers, one in the UK (Faber), one in the US (Celadon).

The Ruffian is deeply intertwined with John & Paul: A Love Story In Songs. The book sprang from a long piece that I wrote about McCartney on here back in 2020. It went so unexpectedly viral that I started to think, huh, what if…? I’d already been thinking, vaguely, of a book about the two of them, but now it seemed viable. I got a similar response to my piece on Peter Jackson’s Get Back, also published on The Ruffian. Those two pieces became my kind of standard for the book - I wanted the whole thing to elicit as powerful a response as they did.

It’s been a massive undertaking and without income from The Ruffian I simply wouldn’t have had time to do this story justice. Over the months to come, especially as we get nearer to publication, I’ll be sending J&P-related posts exclusively to paid subscribers. These will include pieces on the writing of the book, extra material I had to leave out, and perhaps some extracts. There will be other goodies too; my publishers have some exciting plans.

YOU CAN NOW PRE-ORDER ‘JOHN & PAUL’

Yes, it’s out there on the virtual shelves, waiting for you. And I would absolutely love you to pre-order (to those of you annoyed by this arguably redundant term, I apologise but it’s handy).

Every sale of this book counts but some sales count more than others. Pre-orders are simply more valuable to authors. Why? Because they move the algorithmic needles. The more orders a book receives before its publication date, the more prominence the retailers give it when it arrives, and so the better it does on release It’s all about the big mo. The prize is a spot on the bestseller lists in that first week. So let’s give it a go…

If you can afford it, please smash your preferred link and get your order in now (UK and US retailers below):

UK

Waterstones

Amazon

Foyles

Blackwells

U.S.

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Bookshop

Audible