#OpenBook - P.J. MacLayne

Comparing Me to Me in Writing #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne January 16, 2022 January 16, 2022 Open Book

Jan 17, 2022

What part of writing are you best at? Not compared to everyone else, but compared to you?

I once had a reviewer tell me how good I was at writing female characters. Which seemed strange to me, because, after all, I am a woman. So, I asked her about it, and it turned out she thought I was a man, based on how well I wrote my male characters!

Granted, I chose my pseudonym partly to disguise the fact that I am female. I wrote poetry when I first started writing, and it was a well-known ‘fact’ that it was harder for women poets to get published than male ones. (Lots of suspicions, but how do you prove something like that?) When I tackled fiction, I ignored the advice that said I needed a different pen name, having grown attached to this one, so the possibility of me being a man carried over.

But that’s part of what I like to think I am good at – being able to give my characters unique voices, allowing their personalities to come through their words. In the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, Eli is thoughtful and logical, Jake is seemingly impulsive but has a hidden agenda, and Harmony – she may appear to act irrationally, but that’s because her mind works in differently that most people’s.

The same goes for my Free Wolves series. Each of my main characters face varying challenges in different ways. That means not only do they have distinct personalities, so do the books themselves.

How does this happen? Where did I learn to do it? I suspect it was all those hundreds of books I’ve read., and the many, many people I’ve interacted with in my life. All those overheard snatches of conversations in stores and restaurants. Although I wasn’t very good at learning several languages besides English, I could work my way through the accents of non-English speakers and hold conversations with them. I understood their meanings even if the words weren’t perfect. I ‘read’ them.

And that’s what my characters do for me. They let me ‘read’ them, and translate their meanings to the readers. That’s why I feel like I can portray them accurately, in their voices.

Do I get it perfect? Heck, no. I don’t know how many times I get a character wrong at the beginning of a story and have to go back and change them. I’ve made bad guys into good guys and good guys into bad guys and everything in between. It’s a matter of understanding them.

I put a lot of effort into improving my writing. I’ve come a long way, and some parts are getting easier. I keep pushing the edges to become even better. But at long as my characters keep talking to me, there’s at least one thing I’m doing right!

We have a lot of talented writings in this group, and I’m looking forward to finding what each thinks their best talent is. You can find out too, by following the links below.

As always, until next time. please stay safe

Jan 17, 2022

What part of writing are you best at? Not compared to everyone else, but compared 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.

Books That Made Me Cry #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne January 9, 2022 January 10, 2022 Open Book

Jan 10, 2022

Do you remember the first book that made you cry? Or maybe the last one?

I’m getting old, and there’s a lot I don’t remember. Like the first book that made me cry. You don’t want to know how many years ago that was.

But here’s the thing. I’m not a crier. Well, I don’t cry at the expected moments. I hold my emotions in until they decide it’s time to let them go.

So, a book may move me, but that doesn’t mean I will cry while reading it. Or maybe I will cry at a part of a story when I am really crying about something else. I’m really good at compartmentalizing my emotions until I’m alone.

I remember crying while reading All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. (Won’t tell you what part of the book did it.) Moonless Nights by Cornelia Amiri was another one that drew tears. Long, long ago, I remember crying when I read Ivanhoe. I doubt it would make me cry anymore, as I would be too involved in analyzing the change in social norms of the time.

I’ve also cried while I’m writing my own books. I figure I’m doing something right if my characters can draw me in far enough to pull out my deepest emotions. I can only hope that my readers get at least a glimpse of those feelings.

In my latest release, The Ranger’s Dog Tags, I tried to play with the reader’s emotions. The rest of the books in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries are on the “light” side, but I broke the standard as I wrote this one. I knew it would be the last story in the series, and I wanted the reader to experience a side of Harmony that she hadn’t had to deal with in the other books, and give her the ending she deserved. Did it work? I’m not sure. Sadly, no one has mentioned it. (Although I have received reviews calling the book the best in the series, and that’s worth something.)

How about you, dear reader? What books have made you cry? Don’t forget to check out what made the rest of the authors on this hop cry. Just follow the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe!

Jan 10, 2022

Do you remember the first book that made you cry? Or maybe the last one?

Who’s Coming To Supper? #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne December 26, 2021 December 26, 2021 Open Book

Dec 27, 2021

If you could invite anyone in the world to be your dinner guest, who would you invite?

This should be an easy answer. But sometimes I think too darn hard, and this is one of those times. Out of anyone in the world, who would I invite for dinner?

I started by eliminating a few people from the table. I wasn’t in the mood for a political discussion, so poof! Every politician was off the list. And for sake of efficiency, I decided to not include folks who are dead. There are a bunch of kids who I’ve worked with in the past, and I’d like to know how they turned out, or even if any of them remember me. But all I have to go by at this point are my memories and my imagination, so I’ll pass them by for this discussion.

Then I came up with a great idea. I’d love to throw a dinner gathering for all those wonderful people who helped me in my many careers along the way. I’m going to use fake names to protect the privacy of a few of them. How much fun would it be to have ‘Ann’ who gave me my first job as a waitress in her little restaurant chatting with ‘Jerry’, my current boss in IT. (Okay, I know Ann died a few years ago. So, I am breaking my own rules. Oh, well.)

Or how about ‘Jane’ who insisted I come work for her in a law-enforcement field talking to ”Randy’ who hired me away from that agency? And ‘Jeanine’ who hired me to work with a youth organization hitting it off with ‘Paul’ who ran a local community newspaper back in the day?

Can I throw in some of my favorite coworkers from along the way? What a mix of people I’d have! The state-licensed alligator trapper ‘George’ and ‘Daryl’, who restores old cars in his spare time. I don’t know that I’d ever get a moment to eat, I’d be so busy catching up!

Who else can I add? The unnamed lady who made costumes for dead roaches and mounted them in displays? No, I think she needs to stay home and far away. Very, very, far away.

Well, now that I know who I’m going to invite, I have to figure out how to organize this little adventure. Actually, I think I’ll pass that on to someone else. The headache is starting just thinking about it!

Who would you like to invite to dinner? Let us know in the comments. (And you don’t have to play by my rules. 🙂 ) To find out who the other authors are inviting, just follow the links below.

Until next time, please stay safe. And have a Happy New Year1

Dec 27, 2021

If you could invite anyone in the world to be your dinner guest, who would you invite?

Favorite Furniture #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne December 19, 2021 December 20, 2021 Open Book

Dec 20, 2021

Since we’re in the middle of holiday craziness, here’s an easy one. Do you have a favorite piece of furniture? Take a picture, show and tell!

Thank goodness I don’t have to think too hard about this one!

As usual, I’m giving you a two-for-one. I couldn’t decide between them, and they both deserve a mention.

The first one is this papasan chair I received for a birthday present about twenty years ago. The cushion is a recent replacement, but the frame is original. It made with a wonderfully soft and cuddly fabric, with a cushion that’s perfect for sinking into to sit and read a book or listen to music. Getting out can be a bit harder. For days when I need a little added warmth, I keep a throw handy to cover up with. If I get ambitious, I can clean off a corner of the nearby bookshelf to hold a cup of tea or hot cocoa.

Second is the rocking chair my mother gave me when I was pregnant with my first child. There’s nothing extraordinary about it, but it’s been used to rock an assortment of babies to sleep, and for that alone it deserves a place of honor in my heart. It’s been long promised to go to my daughter when the right time arrives. (The crocheted afghan on the back was made by one of my sisters. I don’t know if it will get passed down with the chair or not!)

That’s it for now. May your week be easy and your spirit bright, and may whatever comes your way bring a little cheer. Whatever holiday you choose to celebrate this time of year, may it be a good one.

Don’t forget to check out what our other authors are showing off by following the links below.

Dec 20, 2021

Since we’re in the middle of holiday craziness, here’s an easy one. Do you have a favorite piece of furniture? Take a picture, show and tell!

When I Was A Child #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne December 12, 2021 December 12, 2021 Open Book

Dec 13 2021

How did you picture your life as a kid versus how it turned out so far?

When I was a child, I measured the world in a different way. How high could I climb up the oak tree? How far up the hill could I pedal my bike? How far could I go in the back pasture before I lost sight of the top of the willow trees beside the house?

I remember standing in the kitchen when I was 8 or 10, trying to figure out how old I would be in the year 2000. Couldn’t make the math work. Decided it didn’t matter; I’d probably be dead by then.

What I wanted to be when I grew up changed on a regularly. I had a short-lived fantasy of being a hermit. Then I was going to be a librarian or forest ranger. It upset my high school teachers that I had no desire to get into one of the science or math fields.

It turns out that the field I eventually excelled in didn’t exist at that time. Computers took up entire rooms. I discovered my passion for ones that fit under the desk. Now we hold them in the palms of our hands and call them phones. I can see and talk to my 93-year-old mother with a simple device that allows her to bush one button to communicate with her children and grandchildren across the country. We are living in the age of science fiction.

When I was a teenager, I had an accident on my bicycle and spent nearly a week in the hospital. One of my injuries involved my left ear. A few years ago, I was undergoing a series of test for vertigo, and the technician asked about my inner ear injury. I explained it to him, and he asked “Didn’t they do an MRI?” I smiled and said “MRIs didn’t exist back then.” We are living in the age of science fiction.

Once upon a time, authors laboriously wrote their books out by hand or typed them on a typewriter. Then they repeated the process to make corrections. Once finished , they stuffed the final copies into oversized manila envelopes or boxes to mail off to an agent or a company’s slush pile. Now they can see their edits on a screen and never have to touch white-out or correction tape. Instead of mailing them, the documents can go electronically to their destination. We are living in the age of science fiction, and there’s no going back.

I wouldn’t want to, either. Go back, that is. It’s not all roses and sunshine, but I have too many friends and family members who wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for the advances in science and medicine. Maybe I wouldn’t have made it to the year 2000 if it weren’t for the changes. My life doesn’t resemble what I expected as a kid, and I’m good with that.

What about you, reader? Has your life turned out differently from what you expected? Tell us about it in the comments. And to see how the other authors on this loop feel, follow the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe!

Dec 13 2021

How did you picture your life as a kid versus how it turned out so far?

Collaboration in Writing #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne December 5, 2021 December 5, 2021 Open Book

Dec 6, 2021

Have you ever written fanfiction or a story that was part of some else’s ‘world’? How does it differ from writing a story entirely on your own?

Does writing fanfiction about your own stories count? No? Then I haven’t written any. The first book I wrote was terribly derivative of a story by someone else, but didn’t use the same characters. Its flaw was that it borrowed heavily from the plot. And that’s why it’s tucked away in a file, never to see the light of day. I don’t count it as fanfic.

But I have been part of an anthology, where 11 authors got together and wrote short stories of sand, surf, and sea, using each others’ characters. That was a challenge, as we worked together to make sure that the characters stayed true to the creating author’s image. We also had a very loose timeline, so the stories were presented in chronological order. I think I put almost as much effort into the story for that anthology as I do for my books!

That effort was organized in part by PJ Fiala, who also instrumental in creating this group…thank you!)

The same group did a second collaboration, but it didn’t have the same level of success as the first one. It happens. Those stories featured Lando and Scotty, two recurring supporting characters from the Harmony Duprie books. I hold the copyright on those stories, so maybe I’ll do something with them in the future.

Remember Amazon Worlds? I was invited to join one, but that was right after the two anthologies. I turned down the invite because my own stories were screaming at me to write them, and I had limited time for writing. (I think Amazon closed down the ‘worlds’ effort shortly after that.)

Would I ever join another ‘group’ effort? Absolutely. I loved doing it. Shoot, I might even try fanfiction, given the right story.

As for the fanfiction of my own stories…I’m thinking the story I’m working on now might qualify. It’s a prequel to The Harmony Duprie books, written from Jake’s point of view. I haven’t set a release date yet. Shoot, I still am fighting with myself about the title!

I have no idea how many of the other authors on this blog have worked on collaborative efforts or fanfiction. I’m looking forward to reading more posts. The links are below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe!

Dec 6, 2021

Have you ever written fanfiction or a story that was part of some else’s ‘world’? How does it differ from writing a story entirely on your own?

Favorite Young Reader Novels #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne November 28, 2021 November 28, 2021 Uncategorized

Nov 29, 2021

What was your favorite young reader novel growing up?

Was that even a category back in the dark ages? I had to look this up, because the definition of young reader baffles me.

What does young reader mean?

Both middle-grade books and young adult fiction are for young readers. Middle-grade fiction is comprised of books intended for readers between the ages of 8 and 12, while young adult fiction targets readers between the ages of 12 and 18.

That’s from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/whats-the-difference-between-middle-grade-fiction-vs-young-adult-fiction#what-is-young-adult-fiction. And that’s a really broad spectrum of readers. The difference between the reading ability between an 8-year-old and an 18-year-old is light years.

Now, for your consideration. I read James Michener’s Hawaii the summer after eighth grade. That made me 14, probably. And I read it in one weekend. I was also devouring Nancy Drew books in that same time frame. And cereal boxes, if I had nothing else nearby. In other words, I read whatever I could get my hands on.

To make it cleaner, let’s eliminate the adult books I was reading and stick with the ‘approved’ ones. In eighth grade, I was still in my ‘read a book a day’ phase. I’d get a book out after school, read it on the way home and after my homework was finished, and return it to the school library in the morning. I was also reading a lot of bibliographies and historical fiction. I never thought of reading only from one category. I’d read whatever looked interesting or a book the librarian suggested.

Then there were the Reader’s Digest Condensed Books. I’m not sure how many years my mother bought them, but I’d devour them in no time flat. Sure, they might have ‘condensed out’ the more adult portions, but they introduced me to authors I might not have come across on my own.

So, that’s stacks of books, many I don’t remember. That doesn’t mean some small piece of them didn’t stick with me. But, I won’t claim any of them as my favorite. I don’t have one.

Back to where we started – I still can’t wrap my head around the young adult definition. A good book is a good book. I may be old, but I can enjoy a well-written story about teens, and I hope the opposite is true.

Let’s see what the other writers think. Just follow the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Nov 29, 2021

What was your favorite young reader novel growing up?

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.

Nailing The Beginning of a Book: #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne November 21, 2021 November 21, 2021 Open Book

Nov 22, 2021

Which part of your book do you spend the most time on? Beginning, middle or end? Something else?

Sometimes it seems that the more I think I know about writing, the harder it gets. That’s how I feel about writing the beginnings of my books.

The first couple of stories I wrote, I simply sat down and wrote. The opening was the opening. Things have changed. For The Ranger’s Dog Tags, I can document eight different versions of the beginning. Eight. And those are the ones I kept. I can’t tell you how many I started and then tossed.

You know what’s the toughest part? Finding the right place to start. I can throw all kinds of words on a piece of paper, but that doesn’t mean they are the right words. Or the right moment to introduce the reader to the adventure.

I dug out the earliest documented attempt to begin what became The Ranger’s Dog Tags. Here it is, in all its painful ineptness. “Four alarms blaring at the same time,” quickly changed to “Four alarms on my phone blaring.” I have one sheet of paper covered with variations on that theme.

And how did the book start once it had gone through countless edits?

The squad car screamed down the street, its red and blue lights tearing through the darkness. I feathered the gas pedal and waited for a second set of headlights to pass. Dolores, my salsa-red F-type Jaguar, growled in anticipation.

Quite the difference. I lost 3/4ths of the beginning chapter in the editing process.

I’ve got two books in progress right now. (One is deep in edits, the other is only at about 7000 words- a long way to go.) In the opposite of what I usually experience, I actually added most of a chapter at the start of the first one. For the second one, I have shrunk my initial beginning from about 2000 words down to 450, and turned it into a prologue.

Not that the middles and ends aren’t important. I will fight myself over that last paragraph. I want to wrap up the story as well as I started it. The story may be over, but those final words are the what the reader will walk away with. That’s as true for these blog posts as it is for a book.

Want to find out which part of a story the other authors feel is the hardest? Just follow the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe. And if you are celebrating the US Thanksgiving this week, Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov 22, 2021

Which part of your book do you spend the most time on? Beginning, middle or end? Something else?

Treasures Remembered and Saved #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne November 7, 2021 November 7, 2021 Open Book

Nov 8, 2021

Do you still have a treasure from childhood, can you tell us about it? How about any of your characters?

I grew up in a large family. Both of my parents also came from large families, so there were cousins galore. Everything got passed down and passed around—clothes, toys, books, bikes—you name it. So, I don’t have any ‘treasures’ from childhood.

There are a few things I wish I still had. The mustard seed necklace that was a Christmas gift. A 1964 JFK silver half dollar. I don’t know what happened to either of them. I wasn’t into dolls or stuffed animals, typical things youngsters save.

My teenage years are different. That’s when I started thinking in terms of ‘me,’ and keeping things for myself. Granted, some of those things were ‘borrowed’ from my older siblings when they didn’t want them anymore.

I still have most of the vintage (1960s) Boy Scout mess kit used by my two older brothers. I’ve taken it camping time and time again and it’s still in decent shape—a testament to how well-made it was. It’s packed away in a box right now, or I would have shared a picture.

The little but functional oil lamp I bought with money from my first job still sits on my desk. And I do mean little—it’s all of four inches high. It’s travelled with me from Pennsylvania to Wyoming to Oregon to Florida and back to Wyoming. I own a couple of ‘real’ oil lamps now, but my this one is still my favorite. (And here’s a picture!)

How about my characters? Do they have any childhood treasures?

I’m sure Harmony has some childhood books on those four bookshelves in her apartment. There are at least a few Nancy Drew books, and some old James Bond paperbacks. There are probably copies of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Knowing Harmony, she kept every college textbook relating to her major in library science, too.

Of course, we know she has her mother’s African Violet and John Denver CDs. They are reminders of her childhood.

How about you? Do you still have any of your childhood treasures? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

Follow the links below to check out what the other authors on this hop have to say.

And, as always, stay safe until next time.

Nov 8, 2021

Do you still have a treasure from childhood, can you tell us about it? How about any of your characters?

Not The Legal Me #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne November 1, 2021 November 1, 2021 Open Book

Nov 1, 2021

Did you write under a pseudonym? Why?

Long, long, ago, when I first starting writing, I didn’t like my given name. It was plain, boring, and easily mispronounced. I needed a name that I could identify with. I experimented with a variety of potential pseudonyms, and finally settled on one. Thus, Bobbi Jo Aspen—B.J. Aspen—was born. The first few poems I had published were under that name.

Where did the name come from? Well, the Aspen part may be unexpected. Most folks assume it was a tribute to one of my favorite musicians, John Denver. Well, that’s wrong. Aspens are one of my best-loved kind of trees. (Don’t get me started in how beautiful they are in the fall when they turn gold on the side of a mountain.) The Bobbi Jo? That’s a sideways tribute to the song “Ode to Billy Joe.”

But the name didn’t stick as I got older. I wanted something a little more ‘mature.’ A weirdly addressed piece of junk mail gave me my inspiration, and I became ‘P.J. MacLayne.’

Why use a pseudonym besides finding a ‘better’ name? When I started writing, it was widely understood that men had a better chance of being published than women. By choosing the names I did, I sought to increase my chances of publication. Did it work? There’s no way to prove that.

The other part of using a writing name is security. These days, of course, if you are on the internet, security is almost nonexistent. But in the not-so-long-ago, using an alias made it harder to get personal information about a writer. These days, if you want to be a successful indie author, you have to be willing to exchange a bit of yourself to give your readers a sense of community. (I still struggle with the security vs accessibility part of being an indie author.)

I’ve been using the moniker ‘P.J. MacLayne’ long enough that it’s a part of me. If someone were to call out “Hey, P.J.,” in a public place, I’d look to see who it was.

Several of the authors on this loop use pseudonyms. (The internet told me so!) I wonder if they do it for the same reasons? You can follow the links below to find out.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Nov. 1, 2021

Did you write under a pseudonym? Why?

Tag: #OpenBook

Comparing Me to Me in Writing #OpenBook Blog Hop

Books That Made Me Cry #OpenBook Blog Hop

Who’s Coming To Supper? #OpenBook Blog Hop

Favorite Furniture #OpenBook Blog Hop

When I Was A Child #OpenBook Blog Hop

Collaboration in Writing #OpenBook Blog Hop

Favorite Young Reader Novels #OpenBook Blog Hop

Nailing The Beginning of a Book: #OpenBook Blog Hop

Treasures Remembered and Saved #OpenBook Blog Hop

Not The Legal Me #OpenBook Blog Hop

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