Author: P.J. MacLayne

A collection of bookish memes your audience can relate to.

I wasn’t sure if this sounded like fun or not. But I’ve shared a good meme or two along the way, so although there’s no overriding theme, here’s a few I’ve enjoyed.

My husband shared this one with me. Made me chuckle.

Not sure who I stole this one from.

I borrowed this one from another author, Terry Odell. Looks like I do have a theme going, after all— word play.

I ran across this one today. Describes my writing method beautifully.

And one more. I can’t resist adding one for my new book.

Now let’s go see if the other authors can make us giggle!

April 16, 2018 – A collection of bookish memes your audience can relate to.
Humor is a great way to connect with your audience, and positions itself as a highly-shareable content type. Is there a particular reading pet peeve you could create a narrative around? Or perhaps a favorite fandom your readers might enjoy, too? Pinterest is a great platform to find relevant images — just make sure to always credit back!

Rules:
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2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

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I’m tickled to announce the official release of Wolves’ Gambit. Lori Grenville, a minor character from Wolves’ Pawn, bugged me to tell her story, and here it is!

Wolf-shifter Lori Grenville was rescued from near-slavery and a brutal pack leader by the Free Wolves. To pay back the favor, she’s dedicated her life to helping others in the same situation, leading shifters to safety and a new start, risking her life in the process. She’s faced down alphas and has no qualms in undermining pack structure. 

Now she’s challenged with the task of restoring an alpha to his rightful place. If she gets it right, she can stop a war from ripping apart two packs and spreading across an entire state. If she fails, she’ll be among the first to die.

There’s still the option of walking away and letting the Jaeger and Destin packs destroy each other. That means she’ll fail in her original mission of rescuing the daughter of the Jaeger alpha before the girl is forced into marriage for political gain.

Lori hasn’t failed in a mission yet. This one may be the exception.

Although Wolves’ Gambit is the third book in the Free Wolves series, each book can be read as a standalone.

Thanks to K.M. Guth for another great cover.

You can get Wolves’ Gambit in e-book form here:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1368542376

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wolves-gambit-1

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BZLFCPV

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1128396666?ean=2940159062932

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BZLFCPV

Amazon AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07BZLFCPV

The paperback version will be available soon.

First the soup! Winter is over, but while the cold air and snow sticks around in some parts of the world, I thought I’d share this recipe. I won’t be able to start gardening for a few more weeks.

Hamburger Soup

1 1/2 lbs hamburger (or for added flavor, do half hamburger and half Italian sausage)
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 sweet bell pepper, chopped (and if you want, add a yellow pepper for added color)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 8oz can tomato sauce
4 cups beef broth (I always end up using more)
1/2 tsp seasoning salt
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, brown the meat, onions, celery, garlic and pepper until the meat is no longer pink. Add the cabbage and cook together for a couple of minutes. (Tip: Unless you have a really big skillet, all the cabbage isn’t going to fit. No worries. Just add what’s left to the pot in the next step.) Drain and add the seasonings.

Put the beef stock and tomato sauce in a stock pot. Add the meat and vegetables mixture. Mix. Simmer 30-45 minutes. I like to serve with some shredded cheese to throw on top and some warm bread to dip in your bowl. Happy eating!

Now the new release.

Wolf-shifter Lori Grenville was rescued from near-slavery and a brutal pack leader by the Free Wolves. To pay back the favor, she’s dedicated her life to helping others in the same situation, leading shifters to safety and a new start, risking her life in the process. She’s faced down alphas and has no qualms in undermining pack structure.

Now she’s challenged with the task of restoring an alpha to his rightful place. If she gets it right, she can stop a war from ripping apart two packs and spreading across an entire state. If she fails, she’ll be among the first to die.

There’s still the option of walking away and letting the Jaeger and Destin packs destroy each other. That means she’ll fail in her original mission of rescuing the daughter of the Jaeger alpha before the girl is forced into marriage for political gain.

Lori hasn’t failed in a mission yet. This one may be the exception.

Although Wolves’ Gambit is the third book in the Free Wolves series, each book can be read as a standalone.

Excerpt:

     With a smooth motion, she swung the shotgun to her shoulder. Without taking time to aim, she squeezed the trigger. The recoil pushed her against the wall, which held her up. The wolf, still advancing, snarled and tightened the muscles in his hindquarters. Lori didn’t have time to figure out his plan of attack. She fired the second barrel. He dropped to the floor, whined, and crawled under a table.
     She retrieved two more shells from her pocket and reloaded. Outside, a lone wolf howled. It echoed in the night but received no answer. Surely Eugene hadn’t taken down an enemy already? Or had he abandoned her?
     With her back against the wall, she took a deep breath and braced herself for another attack. An oppressive silence, broken only by her breathing and the soft whimpering of the wolf she’d shot, blanketed the bar. Lori jerked her head, trying to shake a few stray hairs away from her eyes. She didn’t dare loosen her grip on the gun.
     Then two wolves, side by side, emerged from the darkness outside and hurtled through the window frame. A third followed. The first two paced towards her shoulder to shoulder. When she pulled the trigger, the scatter of one shot hit both of them. One stumbled for a fraction of a second, but didn’t stop. In two steps, they’d be on her.
     She fired again, the recoil pushing her hard against the wall. The double damage at close range forced them back. One limped to the window and crawled out. The other sought refuge behind the bar.
     She still had the third wolf to deal with and empty chambers. She broke open the gun and dumped the spent casings. They clattered to the floor, rolling towards the center of the room. The last wolf gathered himself for his onrush. Her hands shaking, Lori pulled more ammo from her pocket. One slipped from her fingers and rattled to the floor. There was no time to get another. She dropped the lone round in the chamber.

You can buy the e-book version at these retailers:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1368542376

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wolves-gambit-1

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BZLFCPV

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1128396666?ean=2940159062932

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BZLFCPV

Amazon AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07BZLFCPV

Keep scrolling for the giveaway!

And a Giveaway! In celebration of the release of Wolves’ Gambit, one or more lucky people will win an e-book version of Wolves’ Pawn, the first book of the series. You can enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

April 9, 2018 – Recommend books to your readers in your genre(s).

Here’s the thing. I try not to read books from my genres while I’m writing in that genre. And as I usually have a project going in both series at the same time, that means I rarely seek out new authors on those genres, and that most of my reading is in other genres.

There is one writer I’d like to recommend from the cozy mystery category. Jenna Bennett, the author of the Cutthroat Business series, is a hybrid writer. That means she writes and publishes as an indie, but also sells her stories to major publishing companies (sometimes using a different name.)

But back to the Cutthroat Business books. (also known as the Savannah Martin mysteries.) I read A Cutthroat Business, the first book in the series, long before I ever thought of writing a mystery myself. So, it’s earned an exemption from my rule about not reading in my genre. Besides, I love the overall story line and most of the books. Jenna is up to number fifteen  now, Home Stretch, but she’s also written a couple of novellas in the series as well as books outside of the series.

While not each of her books is gold, at least they are silver. And since I’ve grown fond of her characters, I’ll keep on reading.

Interesting side note: Jenna has changed the covers of her first books several times. I don’t know if that has helped her sales or not.

The second series I’m going to recommend are also mysteries. If you read this blog regularly, you already know I’m a fan of Craig Johnson and the Longmire books. Again, I liked the earlier books more than I like the later ones. (He’s up to number thirteen.) I think he’s gone more commercial, whether it’s because he was spending more time on the TV show or under pressure from his publishing company, I don’t know. Still, his books are worth the read, and I support him as a Wyoming writer.

Interestingly enough, most of the books I’ve read lately are romances. That’s one genre I’ve tried and failed to write. Sure, all my books have a romantic element, but they aren’t pure romance. That’s very true for my newest book, Wolves’ Gambit. The action takes precedence over the romance. (It’s there. Maybe not where you expected it.)

So there are my recommendations. Let’s head over to the other authors and see what they are reading.

April 9, 2018 – Recommend books to your readers in your genre(s).

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April 2, 2018 – Work time vs. family time. How do you manage it all?

Being a writer is at it’s heart, a lonely task. Hours sitting in front of a computer or a notepad, trying to get the right words to spill from your brain into some resemblance of a story. But not all of us live solitary lives. There’s work and families to consider in how we schedule our time.

So how do I do it?

Easy answer—not very well, I’m afraid.

I admit to spending far too much time in my writing space, away from my family. Especially when I’m at a turning point in the story and the words are flowing freely. While my husband watches television, I work on whatever my latest story is. I’ve tried to do it in the same room he’s in, but it’s too easy to get distracted by whatever is flashing across the TV screen.

So, I try to limit myself to writing when everyone else has gone to bed. Get in a lot of writing in a short period of time. If I mull where the story is going when I’m doing other things, hopefully I’ll be able to capture the thoughts later. Of course, that partially depends on my characters not changing things up on me when I have the opportunity to put words on paper.

Because there is another factor that plays into this time management mess. I have a full-time job, and work really hard not do any writing while I’m supposed to be doing something else. Granted, I’ve been known to sneak in a few minutes of writing here and there, but I can’t let it interfere with doing what I get paid for. But occasionally work bleeds over into my time, so I don’t feel too guilty about taking back a few spare moments.

And I haven’t even mentioned the time spent on social media trying to promote my books. Which I do badly, I’m afraid.

Speaking of promotion!

Now let’s head over to the other authors and see how they juggle it all.

April 2, 2018 – Work time vs. family time. How do you manage it all?

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March 26, 2018 – Being the CEO. How do you handle all the tasks you must juggle in this writing/publishing world? Do you hire out certain tasks? Why or why not?

I thought I got into this writing gig with open eyes. I’d done my research, figured out what I needed to do, made a plan for releasing my first book. How wrong I was.

As an Indie, it’s not just writing the book. There’s a whole host of other things that have to be done.
Editing is the first thing that comes to mind.

No matter how much you edit and correct your story, chances of you catching every error are slim to none. Even a second set of eyes is unlikely to spot every mistake. There are numerous grammar checking sites and programs on the internet, but even they aren’t perfect. How many people does it take to catch every slip of an extra space or misspelled word? No one knows. It hasn’t happened yet.

Then comes putting your words into the proper format for publication. It’s a time-consuming process of you don’t have the correct program. (and different companies may have slightly different requirements.) I decided that I didn’t want to devote the time and energy to figuring the process out. So I pay a formatter to prepare the book for me.

But a book is more than words. There’s the cover. Now, I’m aware that there are some talented folks out there who not only write books, they design their own covers. Not me. I don’t have the skill. Luckily, I know someone who is a graphics artist and she actually likes making my covers. (Here’s to you, K.M. Guth!) Have you seen my covers? Isn’t she great?

Once all those pieces are in place comes the task of getting your book up on various book-selling sites. You can do that through a company like Smashwords or Draft2Digital, you can pay someone else to do it, or you can do it yourself. I’ve gone with the do-it-myself route. (mostly) It takes a bit of time, but once you’ve figured out each retailer’s system it gets easier. The one exception if for Apple- I don’t own the hardware and software that will allow me to load to their site. So I go through Draft2Digital. ( It also gives me access to some overseas distribution) By doing it myself, I have more control over the pricing of my books and can change the cost on a whim.

But the work doesn’t end once the books are available at the various retailers. Somehow you have to get people to buy them! There are lots of social media websites to help with that (many I didn’t know about when I started this adventure.) That could be a whole post of its own, but I’m sure you’ve heard of Facebook , Twitter, etc.

I’ve tried several different methods to get the word out about my new books in the past, without much luck. I’m going to try something new when I release my next book in a few weeks. We’ll see how it works out.

Oh, my next book, you ask? Tell you more about it? Sure!

Wolves’ Gambit is the third book in the Free Wolves series, but can be read as a standalone. It’s the story of Lori Grenville, who we met in Wolves’ Pawn. (Bet you don’t remember her!)  I’ve slated the book for release on April 15th. Here’s the blurb, in case you’re interested. 🙂

Wolf-shifter Lori Grenville was rescued from near-slavery and a brutal pack leader by the Free Wolves. To pay back the favor, she’s dedicated her life to helping others in the same situation, leading shifters to safety and a new start, risking her life in the process. She’s faced down alphas and has no qualms in undermining pack structure.

Now she’s challenged with the task of restoring an alpha to his rightful place. If she gets it right, she can stop a war from ripping apart two packs and spreading across an entire state. If she fails, she’ll be among the first to die.

There’s still the option of walking away and letting the Jaeger and Destin packs destroy each other. That means she’ll fail in her original mission of rescuing the daughter of the Jaeger alpha before the girl is forced into marriage for political gain.

Lori hasn’t failed in a mission yet. This one may be the exception.

And I have another great cover, thanks to K.M. You want to see it? Okay, here ya’ go!

Now let’s head over and find out how everyone feels about the topic.

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I’m pleased to welcome Jennifer Lowery and her new release Worth The Risk. And now, here’s Jennifer.

Hello peeps, Jennifer here to rock your military romance socks off! My new release, Worth the Risk, Book #3 in my Wolff Securities Series, is available now for pre-order—Woot! It will release March 20th so get your orders in now! If you haven’t read the first two books, no worries, these are standalone as well as part of a series—although I do hope you’ll read them all 😉 The Wolff brothers are a tight-lipped bunch but I managed to get them talking long enough to write their books, lol, so the more support the better!

A friend and author asked me why the hero of this book had me falling in love with him. A great question and one I am happy to answer here for all of you. Kell Wolff, the hero of Worth the Risk, was one of the most forth-coming Wolff brothers, even if he didn’t say much, lol. I knew from day one he was running—literally—from his past and the woman who tore his heart out. He was a fun mix of thrill-seeker and loyal, the one you wanted watching your six. He had kind of a warped sense of humor his brothers don’t care for, but Kell gets a kick out of needling them. He was kind of dark, but not in a tall, dark and brooding way. More, haunted. And I’m a sucker for the strong, silent types. He did manage to surprise me at the end of the book—sorry, no spoilers here—and I was so touched I fell for him all over again. I enjoyed watching Kell come to life and I hope you do, too!

If you’d like to read Kell’s story, click on this link: Amazon
If you would like to read the first two books, Maximum Risk and Not Without Risk please go to my website HERE for purchase links.
P.S. The first book in the series, Maximum Risk, is on sale for .99 cents for a limited time!

Blurb:

How much is too much? We know repetition is important to remember things. That’s why we see the same commercials over and over again. But, how much is too much? What’s your favorite ad and what’s your least favorite ad. (Can be television, radio, billboards.)

Those of you who have read my blog with any regularity know that I don’t watch TV.  The number of ads and the way they repeat them over and over and over is one of the reasons I stopped. Seeing the same bad commercial three times within an hour was enough to drive me away from watching a show. And eventually, TV in general.

That doesn’t mean I don’t catch an occasional ad or two when I wander into the room when my hubby is watching the news. Or just flipping through channels. As a result, I have a few ads that are among my least favorite.

The first ones that come to mind are the Progressive insurance ads. The first one or two featuring Flo were okay, but she is just as annoying as all get out. (I’m trying to keep my words clean.) And she gets worse with every new commercial. I have to wonder how effective the character is in selling insurance. I think she’s outlived her usefulness. The Geico ads are at least slightly better. The gecko isn’t near as annoying. (Although I liked the older version of him better.)

The whole category of ads for the medicine of the week ranks a close second on my least favorite list. Have you ever really listened to the list of potential side effects? They are often worse than the condition they are fixing! What really gets me is the commercials say “And don’t take medicine X if you are allergic to medicine X.” Well, no duh! I’m not a doctor and I don’t play one on TV, but I could tell you that. And we wonder why our prescriptions cost so much, but that’s a topic for another blog post.

I can’t tell you my favorite ad. I don’t have one. Heck, usually I make a point of watching the best of the Super Bowl ads, and I didn’t do that  this year. I’m going to date myself and tell you about one I remember from way back. Anyone remember the Budweiser frogs? (I’m not endorsing the company here. Shh, don’t tell anyone, but I don’t like their beer.) But that string of commercials was tongue-in-cheek enough to make them interesting. For those of you who are too young to remember, here’s the first one. Simple but effective.

Now let’s hop on over (see what I did there?) to the other author’s pages and see what they have to say.

March 19, 2018 – How much is too much? We know repetition is important to remember things. That’s why we see the same commercials over and over again. But, how much is too much? What’s your favorite ad and what’s your least favorite ad. (Can be television, radio, billboards.)

Rules:
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2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
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Surprise! We do not live in a perfect world. This world is filled with the less-than-wonderful or totally broken. Things that don’t fit together well and opportunities that don’t work out the way we planned. Screws fall out all the time.

But advertisers would like you to believe that if you use their product, birds will sing, the sun will shine brightly and all the world will be a glorious place. The pillows on your bed will all be fluffed just right and your mother-in-law won’t see a speck of dust when she visits.The shirt you pull out of your closet won’t have a solitary wrinkle and will still smell summer-fresh.

But it doesn’t work that way. And does anyone believe those commercials any more? They are full of smoke and mirrors and parlor tricks. Follow the yellow brick road and don’t look at the man behind the curtain. So why do advertisers keep shoving them down our throats?

The standards for beauty have changed throughout the years. In ancient Greece, unibrows were desired. In the 1800’s in France, a slight double-chin was a mark of beauty. In the 1960’s, the “look” was unisex and skinny, with Twiggy being the standard. No curves allowed.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m an advertiser’s nightmare. I can’t remember the last time I bought something based on an ad. But I know that young people are more susceptible to the images that surround them. I’m that crazy lady that will tell young teens that they don’t need to go on a diet when I  overhear them talking about it in the grocery store. Or that the jeans they wear don’t need to cost some extravagant amount of money to look nice.

Besides, I’m not perfect. Not by a long shot. And you know what? I think if I saw someone “real” in a commercial, I might actually stop and watch it. Someone who’s hair didn’t fall neatly back into place after the wind caught it. Someone who’s bra strap slipped off their shoulder when they weren’t paying attention. Or they accidentally wore mismatched socks.

Because I don’t want to know what the clothes will look like on a perfect body, I want to know what they will look like on me, with all my bulges. I don’t care what your food looks like under camera, I want to know how it actually tastes.

The world’s an imperfect place and we should celebrate all those loose screws.

Let’s check in with how the other authors feel.

March 12, 2018 – In years gone by, clothing stores, makeup manufacturers and the like have only used models with those perfect bodies and skin to show us their products. How do you feel about this? Would you like to see “real” people in ads?

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Between work, family, and writing, sometimes the space in my head gets really crowded. It can be hard to stay focused on any one project. Especially right now, as I’m in between two stories. I’m working with beta readers and editing Wolves’ Gambit, and I’ve started the next book in the Oak Grove Mystery series. (No title yet. I’m not even done with the first chapter and Harmony, the main character, has already let me know the story isn’t going to be what I planned.)

So I’m having a hard time focusing. But there are a few things I do to help fix that.

Staying up later at night and writing after everyone else has gone to bed. helps After I’ve done my social media check-ins I can concentrate on my words.

I’m one of those people who works better with music in my ears. Not so much that it helps me concentrate, but it works to shut out other distractions and keeps me focused. I may not actively listen to the words, especially if the songs are old favorites, but the general flow of the music is more important. Tonight’s choice is Carly Simon.

I also have a slide show of my favorite mountain photos as my desktop background. So when I pull myself away from whatever document I’m working on, I have something beautiful to stare at, even in the middle of the night.

One distraction I haven’t eliminated is the mess on my desk. I use it for everything. Writing, bill paying, internet surfing, even occasionally work. And it’s a disaster area. I really need to take a couple of hours and find places to put all the “stuff.” Organization isn’t exactly my strong point! (And no, I won’t show you a picture of it. At least it isn’t as bad as the drawing below!)

Well, while I contemplate what stack of papers I can eliminate, I might as well head over to find out how the other authors organize their writing. If you have any ideas to help me out, please leave them in the comments.

March 5, 2018 – It’s been a while since we shared anything about our writing spaces and processes. What’s one or two things you must have in order to sit down and write productively?

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