Blog-Mountain Musings - P.J. MacLayne

Literary Success #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne August 19, 2019 August 20, 2019 Open Book

Aug 19, 2019

What does literary success look like to you?

At one time in my life, I would have defined literary success as getting my poetry published in a major magazine. I never accomplished that goal, although my poems got accepted by a number of smaller literary magazines. Each publication felt like success.

Then I started writing books. And to me, literary success felt like writing one good enough that I was willing to share it with the world. I wrote Wolves’ Pawn, decided it was ready, and released it to the world. While the world didn’t buy the book, each sale felt like a success.

Next came The Marquesa’s Necklace, and from the moment I published it I felt like a success. I wasn’t a one-book wonder. I’d proven to myself that I had more good books in me, and they weren’t all the same plot over and over. And that was success.

Each time a reader takes a moment to wrote a good review, and buys more of my books, that is success.

Once upon a time, when I was running a paid aid, The Marquesa’s Necklace made it into the top 100 for its genre. It only lasted for an hour or so, but that was definitely success.

Now, with each new book I write, success seems harder to achieve. I’m always shooting for more and for better, and it’s harder and harder to achieve. I’m an addict, searching for my next literary high. Maybe it’s a compliment from another author. Or selling enough books at an event to not only cover the cost of the event, but to make a small profit. Or gain new subscribers to my newsletter, or get more views on my latest blog post.

Would I like to write a nationwide best seller? Absolutely. Do I expect it to happen? Expect-no. Hope-yes. That would be the ultimate literary success.

In the meantime, I’ll remind myself to take joy in the small successes. Writing a line or a paragraph I know is way above average. Finishing my next book. Cheering a reader on as I see the books in a series being bought one after the other.

That’s what I define as literary success. Now, I’m off to find out how everyone defines it. Follow the links below to come with me.

Aug 19, 2019

What does literary success look like to you?

Rules:

1. Link your blog to this hop.

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.

The Hardest Part #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne August 12, 2019 August 12, 2019 Open Book

August 12, 2019

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

When I first read this question, my thought was “But it’s all hard!” However, that wouldn’t make a very good blog post, so here we are.

After giving it some thought, the answer was simple. Beginnings. It’s hard to find the right place to start, whether it’s a book or a blog post. Often it takes me three or four tries to write the beginning of anything. (It took me three tries to get this far!)

Unlike the advice in song from The Sound of Music, Do_Re_Mi, stories don’t always start from the beginning. They need to start at some point that will draw the reader in. How bad would it be to have every book start with the birth of the main character?

Sometimes, it’s finding the right ‘voice’ to tell the story. When I wrote the prequel to the Harmony Duprie mysteries, I wanted to write in from Jake’s point of view. I tried four different beginnings, but none of them worked. Jake just didn’t want to reveal his secrets. Once I switched to Harmony’s point of view, the story came easily.

When I wrote The Marquesa’s Necklace, the first book in the series, I wrote an entire chapter that ended up being deleted. But it wasn’t a lost effort, because it helped me to develop Harmony’s personality. Plus, I used parts of it in my reworked first chapter.

In fact, I pulled out the first paragraph from the first draft. You’ll see why I got rid of it!

It was another quiet day in the library—just the way I like it. As an ex-librarian, I appreciate the times when only a few patrons are scattered in the stacks or perusing the racks of periodicals. Back then it gave me time to shelve books or straighten out the magazines. Now that I spend much of my time doing research for a writers’ co-op, these times are when I am most productive. None of my old coworkers object when I accumulate a large pile of books on the table I stake out as my territory for the day. They know I will put them back in the proper place before I leave. I don’t necessarily need all these books, but they create a wall I can hide behind.

The same is true for my Free Wolves series. Although the prequel to Wolves’ Pawn came to me a dream, writing the first chapter wasn’t easy. And I wrote it with pen and paper, so while I have the original somewhere, you aren’t going to get the original opening paragraph!

Each book I write, it gets a little easier to write a good first chapter. That doesn’t mean they don’t go through numerous revisions, only that I don’t end up having to delete the whole thing and start over.

By the way, endings can be hard, too. But I’m just going to leave this here and head over to check out what the other authors have to say. You can come with me by following the links below.

August 12, 2019

What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?

Rules:1. Link your blog to this hop.
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.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/eeae40

Writing Kryptonite #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne August 5, 2019 August 8, 2019 IWSG

August 5, 2019

What is your writing Kryptonite?

What’s the one thing that could make me give up writing?

I almost did, a few years back, but not on purpose. And you may have heard the first part of this before, but keep reading.

That was when poetry was my focus in writing. For many years, the words came easily. I have notebooks and binders filled with my poems. But somewhere along the way, I lost the words. I was doing good if I wrote two poems in an entire year. It hurt. It hurt bad enough that I considered giving up writing altogether.

But a story floated around in my head and wouldn’t go away. It wouldn’t work as a poem. So, I wrote it as a novel. At least, I tried. And words came back to me.

Now, I’m happily working on the fifth book in the Harmony Duprie series. But I’ve been tempted to give up. Why?

I’ve been hit by my Kryptonite-lack of sales. Why write when no one is reading? A book isn’t complete until someone reads it. Plus, it costs money to get a book ready for publication. If I can’t recoup those costs, it’s like throwing money away.

Interior artwork from Superman: Secret Origin vol. 1, 1 (November 2009 DC Comics)
Art by Gary Frank

But then I remember the people who encourage me and like my stories. The ones that buy them even if they don’t write reviews. So, I keep trying. That’s the advice you hear in the writers’ group-keep writing! Maybe one of these days I’ll write a best seller. (I also hear a lot of writers are having a hard time, not just me. Go buy a book even if it isn’t mine!)

So, I’ve been weakened by one form of Kryptonite but not knocked out. I’m still writing. (I should break 26000 words tonight!) Still, I know there are other forms of the nasty stuff. I hope I don’t run into them.

Because I have an idea for another series. I’ve written one draft of the book, but the time frame and location are all wrong. How would you like a story about a gritty female PI with a darker edge? She’d be no Harmony Duprie.

But while I think about it, I’m heading over to see what the other authors in the hop believe their Kryptonite is. You can too, by following the links below.

August 5, 2019

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Research #OpenBook BlogHop

By P.J. MacLayne July 29, 2019 July 29, 2019 Open Book

July 29, 2019

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

I can’t answer this question as it’s written. The truth is, I’m always researching something. Maybe not for the work in progress, but for ideas that I don’t even know exist yet. I’m a keen observer of life, and possibilities for my writing exist everywhere.

Part of that research comes from the forums I follow daily. One of those is aimed at mystery and crime writers, and includes ex-cops, a judge, a medical examiner and other experts. The ideas I get from there may or may not find their way into a Harmony Duprie Mystery, but when one does, I know it’s a fairly accurate description of how ‘stuff’ works.

Because I don’t plot out my books step by step ahead of time, I don’t always know what I need to know for a book until I need to know it. Guns appear in all of my books, but I can tell a pistol from a revolver and a shotgun from a rifle and that’s about it. There’s a lot I can find on the internet, but I’m lucky enough to work with a number of people who are very knowledgeable on the subject and are more that willing to help me out. They were the ones to tell me the rifle that appears on the cover of Wolves’ Knight is real and not a fake.

Image by Lorri Lang from Pixabay

Another thing I spend a lot of time with is google maps. Although I set my stories in familiar territory, I end up mixing fictional places with real ones. Maps help me figure out real roads my characters might take and hopefully make the story more believable. Yes, I really checked to see how many left-handed exits there are along the interstate in Pittsburgh for The Baron’s Cufflinks.

I know that other authors on this blog hop are more methodical in their writing, so I’m looking forward to hearing about their research. Follow the links below to find out how they do it.

July 29, 2019

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Is It Naptime? #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne July 22, 2019 July 22, 2019 Open Book

July 22, 2019

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

It’s only sitting down in front of a computer and typing, right? Or using a pen and a piece of paper. How can that be tiring? It’s not like you’re digging a ditch or anything.

But finding the right words to put on that piece of paper can be tough. Words are easy. Words that say what you mean are hard. Especially when you have to string them together not only in a sentence, but then a paragraph and a page and a chapter. Shoot, even putting the words together for a blog post can rough. And the a writer will do this day after day after day. Yes, it’s tiring.

But guess what? It’s exhilarating and energizing at the same time, like the ups and downs of a roller coaster. When the words on the paper are not only good, but perfect, it’s a thrill that can’t be beat.

Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay

It might be a couple of paragraphs, or maybe only a short sentence. Here’s one of my favorites from Wolves’ Gambit, the third book in the Free Wolves’ stories.

“Misfits, rebels, and malcontents.”

It’s not even a complete sentence. but read in context, it says so much.

In contrast, here’s a selection from The Marquesa’s Necklace, the first book in the Harmony Duprie series:

The bus ride home seemed longer than the morning’s trip as I studied each person getting on for a potential threat. Was the little gray-haired lady with the oversize purse and shopping bag packing a handgun? Did the teenage boy wearing a long black coat keep ninja stars in his pockets? And the woman in her mid-twenties holding a little girl’s hand? Was the child was just a prop, borrowed for the afternoon, solely to throw off suspicion? In reality, was the woman a super spy waiting for a chance to drug me and cart me off to her remote hideaway?

Yes, I know, neither seems like it was that much work. Simple words. But the second selection? That was probably the fourth revision. The apparent simplicity is deceptive. But when I finally got it right, it was sweet!

I’m sure you get the point by now. Writing both exhausts and energizes me. But one part of writing that always energizes me and other writers are good reviews. So if you enjoy our work, please leave one! (We love comments on our blogs, too.)

And it would be great if you will follow the links below and visit with the other writers in the group. Happy reading!

July 22, 2019

Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Rules:

1. Link your blog to this hop.

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.

It’s All Fun & Games Until Somebody Dies #Openbook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne July 15, 2019 July 15, 2019 Open Book

July 15, 2019

What was your hardest scene to write?

Spoiler alert: I’ll be revealing a minor plot point that extends over a couple of books in my mystery series. I don’t believe it will decrease the pleasure of reading the books if you haven’t already.

Those of you you have read the Harmony Duprie books know she is a logical person. Logical almost to a fault, in some instances. When I set out to write a scene where she allowed her emotions to have free rein, it was tough.

The set up for the scene took place in an earlier book, and I thought the extended time frame would help me gain the distance I needed to do a good job of including the emotion Harmony felt without getting too emotional myself. Yeah, I was wrong.

I’ve written a number of murders into my stories and Harmony has dealt with them in a rather detached manner. They weren’t anyone she was close to, so she was able to view them thru a researcher’s eyes. When her own parents died (before the story starts) she had friends in the community to help her.

That included the mother of one of her best friends who became a surrogate mother to Harmony for a few years. And that’s who I killed off. She wasn’t the victim of any of Harmony’s villains, the bad guy was an enemy that Harmony couldn’t beat. Breast cancer.

For the story, I had to have Harmony stay strong for her friend and break down at the same time. And that was tough. At least I had about 1000 miles between them, which allowed Harmony to remain calm on the phone while falling apart. Of course, once she got home and behind a locked door, her sorrow was released.

From The Contessa’s Brooch

Naturally, I wasn’t in the mood to hang out with the guys even after I got done with as much as possible. All I wanted to do was go home, drink a glass or two of wine, and ugly cry. I didn’t even feel bad when I told Eli he’d have to do supper on his own.

I was on my third glass when someone knocked. I decided to ignore it. My eyes were swollen, my throat hoarse and my nose red from blowing it. No way I wanted company.

But the knocker was determined. And had a key. So, when Eli opened the door and held his arms out, I let him wrap them around me while I cried more.

The thread about the death runs through three or four chapters, while Harmony is busy solving the current mystery. Jumping back and forth between logic and deep emotion was rough on Harmony, and on me. I shed a few tears myself.

But that isn’t the toughest scene I’ve ever written. In a story that will never be published, I killed off the main character. Writing her death and her funeral took several boxes of tissues. I knew readers would hate me, and rewrote the story with a happy ending. Even that version won’t ever be published- it simply isn’t good enough.

Now, I’m going to take a deep breath, shake off the doldrums, and head over to see what the other authors participating in the blog hop have to share.

July 15, 2019

What was your hardest scene to write?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
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.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/1c38625e53c14049ac41aaa0f3e856f3

Seasons in Writing #OpenBook blog Hop

By admin July 8, 2019 July 8, 2019 Open Book, Uncategorized

July 8, 2019

Despite the recent snow in the Rocky Mountains, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Do your stories and worlds reference seasons and do they play into the plots of your books?

Did you hear about the snow sculpture contest in the park?” she asked.

“No,” I said. How did I miss that? “Who’s sponsoring it?”

“Oh, it’s unofficial.” She put more grated cheese on top of her spaghetti and passed the container to Freddie. “Started with some little kids building old-fashioned snowmen, and then a bunch of high schoolers got involved. Pretty soon parents got into the spirit of things as well. Now there are dragons and castles and all sorts of creations scattered on the shore of the lake. Makes me hope the cold weather sticks around so they last longer.”

That’s a short snippet from Her Ladyship’s Ring, the second book in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. This is the first scene that came to mind when I saw this week’s topic. Since Oak Grove, the town where she lives, is located somewhere north of Pittsburgh, it seemed only natural to bring the weather into the story.

I could likely find at least one weather-related snippet from every one of my books. The out-of-doors is important in my life, so it’s natural to include it in my stories.

Here’s another from Wolves’ Knight, the second book in the Free Wolves series.

The storm clouds rolling in from the west made the night seem even darker than normal, bearing the promise of an early snow. Tasha had her window down, hoping the cold air would help her stay awake. When she caught the first trace of smoke, she assumed that someone had been smoking in the car, never wondering why she hadn’t caught the scent sooner. When the odor got stronger, she pulled over to the side of the road, thinking the car had developed a problem.

But it’s not just bad weather that get featured, I also set scenes on picture-perfect summer days, crisp fall nights and rainy springtimes. a few happen in the sweltering heat of Florida.

But maybe I have it easy because all my books are set in the real world. (Well, mostly. Do you believe there are shifters among us?) Other authors may not have it so simple. Let’s go find out!

July 8, 2019

Despite the recent snow in the Rocky Mountains, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Do your stories and worlds reference seasons and do they play into the plots of your books?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
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.

Pieces of Me #IWSG

By P.J. MacLayne July 3, 2019 July 3, 2019 IWSG

Welcome to the Insecure Writer’s Support group blog hop for July.

July 3 question: What personal traits have you written into your character(s)?

I think every one of my major characters has a small piece of me written into their personality. But the one that has the most of me is Harmony Duprie, the main character in my female sleuth series. At least, that was true in the first book. She has grown and evolved in each book, and has developed her own unique personality. In fact, I’ve changed the series name to recognize the fact. What were once called the Oak Grove Mysteries are now the Harmony Duprie Mysteries.

One easy to see similarity between Harmony and myself is our profession. She’s en ex-librarian turned internet researcher. I planned on being a librarian when I was growing up, and took some college classes in the field. I even worked as a part-time librarian in a small town for a year or so.

Of course, as a librarian, Harmony has a love of reading. I’ve given her tastes similar to mine. That erotic novel about the billionaire dinosaur-shifter president? She won’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. But she’s more than willing to tackle the driest historical accounts to find the interesting tidbits of information.

Another aspect of my personality that Harmony shares is her need for having time alone. Although she enjoys her friends, there are times that she just wants to be by herself. Her little apartment serves as her sanctuary. I have my writing cave.

But I keep discovering aspects of her that have no basis in my likes and dislikes. She likes to start her morning with a cup of coffee—not unusual. (But I don’t like coffee at all and don’t drink it!) here’s a quick snipptet from the first book, The Marquesa’s Necklace, that features her habit:

I must have set my alarm out of force of habit, because I woke up earlier than I needed to. I was sitting on the second-to-bottom step drinking my coffee, reading the paper, and patting Piper when Elijah arrived. He put his coffee down, pulled a doggie treat out of his pocket, and tossed it to Piper. Piper didn’t bark or growl or anything. He just wagged his tail, gobbled up the goodie, and allowed Elijah to pat him.

“What’s up with that?” I asked, astonished. “Piper doesn’t let strangers touch him, not ever!”

Elijah picked up his coffee and sat down beside me. “Piper and I reached an agreement,” he said, picking up the front section of the paper. I was done with it, and had moved on to the sports section. “I bring him dog cookies, and he lets me help keep an eye on you. He figured it was a fair trade, from what I can tell.”

I snorted into my coffee cup. “Sounds to me like you got the raw end of the deal.”

“Depends on your point of view, I guess.” He avoided my eyes and I didn’t press the issue. I hadn’t gotten enough sleep to worry about what he meant.

We sat in companionable silence, sipping our coffees and enjoying the crisp morning air. It wouldn’t be much longer that I could do this. Once winter arrived, I’d be banished back to my apartment. At least until spring. Winters tend to be long here.

Of course I didn’t tell him, but I enjoyed having Elijah share the moment with me. He would be gone all too soon. I’d lost my ghost in the library.

If you want to find out more about Harmony, check out her stories HERE.

Don’t forget to check out how other IWSG authors share their personal traits with their characters.

The awesome co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre,Jennifer Lane, MJ Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor!

It’s a Trap! #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne July 1, 2019 July 1, 2019 Open Book

July 1, 2019

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

At some point in the distant past, storytellers discovered they could be paid for their writing and became writers. Not long after that, other people figured out how to take advantage of them. And so it goes today. With the advent of the digital revolution for books and other forms of the written word, scams have adapted and changed to the new market.

It doesn’t matter if a writer is going indie or the traditional publisher route, there are traps in both methods. I’ll concentrate on traps for those of us who write indie.

The biggest one I know of (And I haven’t ever been caught in!) is vanity publishing. That’s where a company charges a hopeful writer to publish their book. They may hide the price behind editing fees or setup fees or cover design, but the end is the same. The writer ends up with overpriced physical books to sell and not much else. As tempting as it may seem, my advice to an aspiring writer? Don’t do it. There are ways to get your book published without signing a long-term contract with a fly-by-night company. I could write a whole post about it!

Contests are another area that often catch as aspiring writer. Sure, some have been around forever and actually can assist an author in getting noticed. But others charge large fees and then give out minimal prizes. Then there are the contests that charge no fees but put all the “winners” (Everyone!) in a book and charge an outrageous amount of money to purchase copies. Or invite the winners (Everyone!) to an awards ceremony at their own expense.

There are other scams that could catch both the experienced as well as the inexperienced writer. I’ve read the stories about editors and cover designers taking an author’s money and disappearing. Then there’s the small press publishers who were legitimate in the beginning and after a number of years fail, leaving authors with no way to get their money or their rights back. It’s hard to avoid those.

But there’s a website out there that’s on the side of writers. It’s a good place to start if there’s a question about a company’s services. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have run it for years. I strongly suggest that all writers check it out HERE.

When you’re done, come back here and head on down to the links below to see what the other authors are sharing. That’s where I’m headed!

July 1, 2019

What are common traps for aspiring writers?

Rules:

1. Link your blog to this hop.

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.

It’s All In the Name Open Book Blog Hop

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By P.J. MacLayne June 24, 2019 June 24, 2019 Open Book

June 24, 2019

How do you select the names of your characters?

A long time ago, I was introduced to the concept that some cultures hold that names hold power. Different cultures interpret that in different ways, but I have used the idea to help come up with the names of my characters.

But there are a number of other factors that come into play. I previously worked a job where I dealt with names. Every know and then, I’d run across one that was just so unique I had to explore its background. And the really cool ones I’d write down in a notebook to refer to later. I’d never use a someone’s whole name for a character, but the process gave me some cool first and last names.

Speaking of not using real names, Google is my friend. When I come up with a name, I search to see if it belongs to a real person. If it does, and I really want to use the name, I’ll change the spelling of the name. Sure, I can’t avoid using someone’s real name once in a while, but I cover that with the copyright statement.

I also try to uses names as an indicator of ethnic background. (You know that research I referred to earlier? That’s where it comes into play.) In my first book, Wolves’ Pawn, I decided my main character would have a Native American background. That led me to research traditional names for members of various tribes. That’s where Dot, the main character in Wolves’ Pawn, last name come from.

In Wolves’ Gambit, I dealt with feuding wolf-shifter packs. Because they limited their contact with the outside world, I decided to use old-fashioned names for one of the packs. On top of that, I used alternative spellings.

But sometimes a name just comes to me. That’s what happened with Harmony Durpie, the main character in my mystery series. I don’t know where it came from, it was a name that found me. Eli, on the other hand, came to me because I was listening to the song “Eli’s coming” one day when I was writing!

One thing I try really hard to watch for is that I don’t give characters names that use same first letter. That makes it easier for readers to keep them straight. I do make exceptions though-calling twins similar names, for example.

I will admit to using the names of people I’ve met once in a while. I enjoy naming my villains with the names of people I don’t like. Of course, I still disguise the names so they can’t be connected to real-life people.

I haven’t used any of the name generators that are out there-yet. What I do refer to are the baby-name sites that exist. If I have an idea for a name, they help me narrow down my choices based on sex and ethnic background.

The truth is, I never know where the next name will come from. I ran across one recently that I need to add to my list of potential names Liam. It’s been around for a while, but I ‘found” it again recently. Which makes me wonder if it will show up in my next book!

Now, let’s check out all the other authors to see how they name their characters.

June 24, 2019

How do you select the names of your characters?

Rules:

1. Link your blog to this hop.

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.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/p/e7beb9483e3443fc80bcef612ea7da0a

P.J. MacLayne

Literary Success #OpenBook Blog Hop

The Hardest Part #OpenBook Blog Hop

Writing Kryptonite #OpenBook Blog Hop

Research #OpenBook BlogHop

Is It Naptime? #OpenBook Blog Hop

It’s All Fun & Games Until Somebody Dies #Openbook Blog Hop

Seasons in Writing #OpenBook blog Hop

Pieces of Me #IWSG

It’s a Trap! #OpenBook Blog Hop

It’s All In the Name Open Book Blog Hop

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