P.J. MacLayne

In this week’s character interview, we meet Kat Benson from Beach Blanket Murders: The Ocean Can be Deadly

As I looked at the pretty young dark-headed young woman sitting across from me I noticed she’d checked her watch twice since she’d come into the room for her interview. As Associate Dean for the Graduate School at UNC, Chapel Hill, I planned to interview her for several reasons and wondered if she was in a great hurry.

“Good morning Kat. I’m Dr. Judith Lucci. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed for the University newspaper. As you know, we’re doing student interviews as part of resume building so that when you get your graduate degree next semester, you’ll already have experience with interview techniques. Does that sound okay to you?”

“Yes, yes, that sounds great I’m excited about the interview.” Her voice was young, her eye eager and I had her total attention.

“Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, where did you go to undergraduate and a little bit about your family. I watched as Kat formulated her response. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was so pretty, tiny and petite, with her emerald green eyes and her perfect smile. Truly a lovely girl.

Kat took a breath and began. “Well, I’m sorta from everywhere. My dad is retired military, Navy actually, so I’ve lived all over the world. I’ve got two older brothers. It’s been a great experience for me to have been so many places, all over the world, at such a young age. My dad retired my high school senior year, and we moved to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. I went to undergraduate school at the University of New Orleans and became intrigued with the art, history and culture of the Big Easy so deciding to get a graduate degree in art history was a no-brainer.”

I nodded. “What made you pick the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for graduate school? Of course, were delighted to have you,” I added.

“Oh, it was definitely the reputation of the school and my brother went here and loved it.” She hesitated a minute and added, “I wanted to put a little distance between my boyfriend and I just so I could figure out whether it was a serious relationship, you know, the real deal,” she added with a serious smile.

I grinned at Kat and said “That’s the first time I’ve heard that response but I appreciate your honesty.”
Kat blushed a little bit and said, “I guess that wasn’t the best answer.”

“I think it was a very honest answer and its fine. I’ve noticed you’ve checked your watch three times in the last 10 minutes. Are you in a hurry?

Kat blushed even more, the red flush spreading from her neck to her face. “Yes, I sort of. I’m going to meet my old college friends from the University of New Orleans and my boyfriend, Liam… who lives in New York… for a long weekend at the beach. I’m so excited and I’ve been waiting for this for what seems like forever. Please forgive me if I’m acting rude.”

I really liked this girl. “No problem, I just hope your weekend is everything you’ve been looking forward to.”

“Oh, I’m positive it will be. Nothing could possibly go wrong. All my best friends are coming and who knows, if I get my wish, maybe I’ll get a marriage proposal!”

I smiled again at the eager young woman and hope everything went according to her plan. “Kat, I want everything you want. Now tell me, what are you planning to do with your graduate degree? Where are you planning to work?”

Kat’s smile was direct. “Well, I’m a little on the obsessive-compulsive side so I started researching where I might want to work last year.”
I smiled at her. She was so young and eager. I remembered when I been young and idealistic. Anyone would be lucky to get her. “And, what’s the verdict? What’s your ideal job?”

“Well,” she said with a huge, warm smile. “I want to work at the Smithsonian…I want to live in DeeCee…”

I smiled at her in return. “DeeCee, huh. Lots of opportunity and lots of traffic! Talk to me next spring. I’ve great contacts there who would love to have you,” I said as I stood and offered her my hand. “Have a wonderful time on the Outer Banks. I hope it all goes well with your boyfriend,” I added as I smiled into her happy face.

“Oh, it will,” she assured me. “Nothing could go wrong. We’re perfect for each other. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

“Please do,” I said as she stood to leave. “Keep in touch with me during the next semester. I want to help you reach your dream of living and working in Washington.”

“Promise,” she said as she clasped my hand. She was gone in a flash leaving a scent of violets, a wave of energy and an exceptional impression.”

That young woman is going to go places, I thought as I returned to my computer. Little did I know what the next few days had in store for her.

Alex Destephano Novels
Medical Thrillers that Chill the Heart

Michaela McPherson Mystery
Tough, Gritty Crime Thrillers

JudithLucciwrites@gmail.com
www.JudithLucci.com
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And don’t forget our preorder giveaway! Details HERE

I’m pleased to present the new cover for Enforcer by Ryleigh Rhodes. Ryleigh and I were working on our first books at the same time, and critiqued each other’s work.

The book is currently in edits again as Ryleigh prepares for it’s re-release sometime near the end of the month. In the meantime, get a load of the new cover!

After surviving Iraq, Claire finally has her life on track. The nightmares have stopped along with her need for physical therapy. She has friends and a husband she wouldn’t trade for the world. Nearing the end of her residency, tragedy strikes with the loss of her husband in Afghanistan. Friends rally around her, but will her heart ever fully recover? Left to pick up the pieces and raise her twins alone, Claire struggles to rebuild herself.

Cover Artist: Rebel Edit & Design
Photog: Kruse Images & Photography: Models & Boudoir
Model: Matthew Hosea

Ryleigh can be reached on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ryleigh.rhodes.author

You can find her other books on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Ryleigh-Rhodes/e/B00LJZOGR8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1465906921&sr=1-1

I’m pleased to present the new cover for Enforcer by Ryleigh Rhodes. Ryleigh and I were working on our first books at the same time, and critiqued each other’s work.

The book is currently in edits again as Ryleigh prepares for it’s re-release sometime near the end of the month. In the meantime, get a load of the new cover!

After surviving Iraq, Claire finally has her life on track. The nightmares have stopped along with her need for physical therapy. She has friends and a husband she wouldn’t trade for the world. Nearing the end of her residency, tragedy strikes with the loss of her husband in Afghanistan. Friends rally around her, but will her heart ever fully recover? Left to pick up the pieces and raise her twins alone, Claire struggles to rebuild herself.

Cover Artist: Rebel Edit & Design
Photog: Kruse Images & Photography: Models & Boudoir
Model: Matthew Hosea

Ryleigh can be reached on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ryleigh.rhodes.author

You can find her other books on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Ryleigh-Rhodes/e/B00LJZOGR8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1465906921&sr=1-1

What tools does it take to write a book? There’s lots of goodies available for the beginner or experienced writer,with varying claims of how they can contribute to success, but what does a writer really need?

Many, many years ago, (I won’t tell you how many,) I made my first attempt at writing a book. I even finished it. There’s a copy of it stored in a box somewhere, but that’s where it will stay. (It’d bad, folks, really bad.) I used the only tools I had available to me at the time- a pen and paper.

I don’t remember how many words that book was, or how long it took me to write it. Or how long it took me to type it out on an old manual typewriter once I’d completed it. But by gosh, I wrote it.

The second book I wrote, many years later, I also wrote by hand. Same with the third. There was something about seeing the words spill out from the end of the pen that made me feel as if I was creating something worthwhile. Somewhere around the fourth book, I switched to typing into a word processing programming on a computer. It was different, looking at the words on a screen instead of on paper, but it was faster.

And editing was so much easier. Instead of scribbling in margins or over top of words on paper, all I had to do was delete a few letters and replace then with better words. Because editing is as much about writing as is writing a first draft.

There are several tools that every writer should have for editing. The first one is a dictionary. Misspelled words and words used incorrectly happen to the best of writers. A dictionary—either the old hard-bound type or one built into the word processing program—will help eradicate typos. Second is a rarely-used Thesaurus. A Thesaurus is great when a writer can’t come up with just the right word, but it can be a crutch as well and should be used as a last resort.

There are various tools a writer can use for editing. There are sites on line that check grammar, word usage and punctuation. There are also pages where writers can post their work for other writers to critique. Two of these are ProWritingAid and CritiqueCircle. If a writer has access to an in-person critique group, that can be even better. Nothing like bouncing ideas off fellow writers to make improvements.

But there are a couple of tools that every writer should use that don’t come in book for web page format. The first of these is perseverance. It takes a lot of work to write a story, no matter how short or long it is. It’s one thing to put a few words down on paper and start writing a book, it’s another to finish it.

And perhaps most important, is an active imagination. Mark Twain may have said that “substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside source” but that doesn’t mean writers have to stop trying to find new ways to express those ideas. Someone had to be first to write a vampire romance novel, And although my idea of a sci-fi time- travel medieval romance may not have worked for me, other writers have done a much better job with it.

So there it is. My list of the tools a writer needs. Pretty darn basic, Now if the topic had been what I wanted it would have been a different story., To find out what tools other authors use, follow the links blow. And feel free to tell me about the tools you use in your writing in the comments.

June 13 Tools every writer needs
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.
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What tools does it take to write a book? There’s lots of goodies available for the beginner or experienced writer,with varying claims of how they can contribute to success, but what does a writer really need?

Many, many years ago, (I won’t tell you how many,) I made my first attempt at writing a book. I even finished it. There’s a copy of it stored in a box somewhere, but that’s where it will stay. (It’d bad, folks, really bad.) I used the only tools I had available to me at the time- a pen and paper.

I don’t remember how many words that book was, or how long it took me to write it. Or how long it took me to type it out on an old manual typewriter once I’d completed it. But by gosh, I wrote it.

The second book I wrote, many years later, I also wrote by hand. Same with the third. There was something about seeing the words spill out from the end of the pen that made me feel as if I was creating something worthwhile. Somewhere around the fourth book, I switched to typing into a word processing programming on a computer. It was different, looking at the words on a screen instead of on paper, but it was faster.

And editing was so much easier. Instead of scribbling in margins or over top of words on paper, all I had to do was delete a few letters and replace then with better words. Because editing is as much about writing as is writing a first draft.

There are several tools that every writer should have for editing. The first one is a dictionary. Misspelled words and words used incorrectly happen to the best of writers. A dictionary—either the old hard-bound type or one built into the word processing program—will help eradicate typos. Second is a rarely-used Thesaurus. A Thesaurus is great when a writer can’t come up with just the right word, but it can be a crutch as well and should be used as a last resort.

There are various tools a writer can use for editing. There are sites on line that check grammar, word usage and punctuation. There are also pages where writers can post their work for other writers to critique. Two of these are ProWritingAid and CritiqueCircle. If a writer has access to an in-person critique group, that can be even better. Nothing like bouncing ideas off fellow writers to make improvements.

But there are a couple of tools that every writer should use that don’t come in book for web page format. The first of these is perseverance. It takes a lot of work to write a story, no matter how short or long it is. It’s one thing to put a few words down on paper and start writing a book, it’s another to finish it.

And perhaps most important, is an active imagination. Mark Twain may have said that “substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside source” but that doesn’t mean writers have to stop trying to find new ways to express those ideas. Someone had to be first to write a vampire romance novel, And although my idea of a sci-fi time- travel medieval romance may not have worked for me, other writers have done a much better job with it.

So there it is. My list of the tools a writer needs. Pretty darn basic, Now if the topic had been what I wanted it would have been a different story., To find out what tools other authors use, follow the links blow. And feel free to tell me about the tools you use in your writing in the comments.

June 13 Tools every writer needs
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.
WordPress:



Custom Blog:

Code for Link:

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This week I’m presenting Hank James, one of the characters from Copper Moon—The Meeting. The story is PJ Fiala’s contribution to the Stories of Sun, Sand and Sea collection, available now for preorder. And don’t forget about our giveaway! Find out how to enter at the end of the post.

This week I’m presenting Hank James, one of the characters from Copper Moon—The Meeting. The story is PJ Fiala’s contribution to the Stories of Sun, Sand and Sea collection, available now for preorder. And don’t forget about our giveaway! Find out how to enter at the end of the post.

As I’ve mentioned on here previously, as a kid I read constantly. Frequently a book a day. So it should be no surprise that I sometimes read books that were technically above my age level. Some that i even hid from my mother, because I figured that she’d take the book away from me.

One of those books was Hawaii by James Michener. I read the book the summer after eighth grade. For those of you who have never read the book, it’s a sweeping saga of the history of Hawaii, approximately 1000 pages long, sex included. I devoured it, and finished reading the book in about three days (including a weekend.)

After that, I became more “adventuresome” in my book selection, although my choices were somewhat limited because I got most of my books from the school library. A Catholic school. No sex in those books. But that was alright, because I could find books that were written for more mature readers and therefore held my attention.

My mother was also a big reader, so I also started hitting up her bookshelf. And the books that no longer fit on the shelves and were being stored in the attic. That’s where I found “Ivanhoe” by Sir Walter Scott. It’s based in the era of knights and chivalry and Robin Hood. It was first published in 1820, but the copy I read was produced in 1928. How do I remember that? I don’t. I now own the book. It has a few pages missing, and is definitely worse for the wear, but it now has a place on my bookshelf.

The reason Ivanhoe stuck in my mind is that it didn’t have a happy ending for all the characters. Rebecca, who was quietly in love with the knight Ivanhoe, and knowing it would never work out between the two of them, gracefully bows out of the picture. I always felt bad for her, but admired her bravery.

(This isn’t the edition I own, but it’s in the spirit of the 1928 version.)

One last book before I close. Somewhere around my senior year of high school, i picked up a copy of Bury My Heart at Wooded Knee by Dee Brown. It was the era of the Vietnam War, but civil rights was still a very much discussed topic, but no one talked about the Indians—now called Native Americans. It was an eye opener for me, and to this day I pay more attention than many people to the ongoing battles that Native Americans have to fight to retain their culture in today’s society. It may have been what influenced me to have Native American references in my first book, Wolves’ Pawn.

Feel free to tell me about how the books you read as a teenager in the comments below. And to find out what our other authors have to say, follow the links below.

June 6 How the books you read as a teenager affected you. Could also be how they influence your writing now.
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.
Wordpress:

Custom Blog:

Code for Link:

get the InLinkz code

As I’ve mentioned on here previously, as a kid I read constantly. Frequently a book a day. So it should be no surprise that I sometimes read books that were technically above my age level. Some that i even hid from my mother, because I figured that she’d take the book away from me.

One of those books was Hawaii by James Michener. I read the book the summer after eighth grade. For those of you who have never read the book, it’s a sweeping saga of the history of Hawaii, approximately 1000 pages long, sex included. I devoured it, and finished reading the book in about three days (including a weekend.)

After that, I became more “adventuresome” in my book selection, although my choices were somewhat limited because I got most of my books from the school library. A Catholic school. No sex in those books. But that was alright, because I could find books that were written for more mature readers and therefore held my attention.

My mother was also a big reader, so I also started hitting up her bookshelf. And the books that no longer fit on the shelves and were being stored in the attic. That’s where I found “Ivanhoe” by Sir Walter Scott. It’s based in the era of knights and chivalry and Robin Hood. It was first published in 1820, but the copy I read was produced in 1928. How do I remember that? I don’t. I now own the book. It has a few pages missing, and is definitely worse for the wear, but it now has a place on my bookshelf.

The reason Ivanhoe stuck in my mind is that it didn’t have a happy ending for all the characters. Rebecca, who was quietly in love with the knight Ivanhoe, and knowing it would never work out between the two of them, gracefully bows out of the picture. I always felt bad for her, but admired her bravery.

(This isn’t the edition I own, but it’s in the spirit of the 1928 version.)

One last book before I close. Somewhere around my senior year of high school, i picked up a copy of Bury My Heart at Wooded Knee by Dee Brown. It was the era of the Vietnam War, but civil rights was still a very much discussed topic, but no one talked about the Indians—now called Native Americans. It was an eye opener for me, and to this day I pay more attention than many people to the ongoing battles that Native Americans have to fight to retain their culture in today’s society. It may have been what influenced me to have Native American references in my first book, Wolves’ Pawn.

Feel free to tell me about how the books you read as a teenager in the comments below. And to find out what our other authors have to say, follow the links below.

June 6 How the books you read as a teenager affected you. Could also be how they influence your writing now.
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.
WordPress:



Custom Blog:

Code for Link:

get the InLinkz code

Today I’m tickled to present Beck Holland’s character interview. Beck
Holland is the leading man in After the Storm, which will release as
part of our anthology, Stories of Sun, Sand, and Sea. He comes from a
well-known family and resides in Ember Cove, Alaska, where he’s lived
his entire life. When he’s not playing handyman, you can find him
playing guitar and singing in the local bar.