#OpenBook - P.J. MacLayne

A Little Bit Of Summer #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne October 24, 2021 October 24, 2021 Open Book

Oct 25, 2021

Do any of your characters garden? Or keep houseplants? How about you?

The cushions in my favorite easy chair were slit and the stuffing thrown all over the front room. My books lay scattered on the floor and the bookshelves pulled down on them. My African violets, inherited from my mother, had been dumped from their pots, the dirt spread everywhere. A quick glimpse of the little kitchen showed pots and pans strewn all over. The Marquesa’s Necklace

Don’t worry, with tender, loving care from Harmony, the African Violets survived and showed up in other books in the series. The light that streams through the kitchen window of her small apartment is perfect for them. However, I’ll guarantee that she doesn’t sing to them, but that’s a topic for another day.

Harmony also helps her landlords with their yard work. That includes a large flower garden, so she gets her fill of gardening during the spring and summer. Plus, she’s remodeling an old Victorian house, and dream of restoring the formal rose garden to it’s original glory.

The forecast promised an unseasonably warm day, so I canceled the plans for Auntie Hilda to mingle with the after-church crowd. Instead, plain old me worked on the rose garden at Eli’s. It had a long way to go to match its glory years, but I had a vision. Working with the gardening club, we’d mingled heritage roses in with modern stock to achieve a display both colorful and fragrant. The Samurai’s Inro

As for me? Well, it’s fall in Wyoming, and time for me to move my flowers indoors. I got a plant light this year, and I’m hoping the geraniums will stay healthy longer, getting artificial sunlight along with real sunlight when the weather cooperates. I have one that’s about 12 years old.

Due to the hazards of Wyoming weather, I have learned to plant in pots, so moving them inside is only a problem of running out of space. (We can get snow in May and September, hailstorms anytime in between.) It’s not like living on the Oregon coast, where flowers bloomed all year, and I had a large garden and grew a variety of vegetables. Where the gladiolas would cross-pollinate and I’d end up with variegated buds, and I could make jam from the wild blackberries that grew along the edge of the garden. Yes, sometimes I miss living there. But I need my mountains.

Oh, and why an African Violet? It’s a tribute to my mother, who kept one alive for years and years. I was never in a position to get a cutting from it, but I’ve kept it alive in another way.

I’m betting on a couple of our authors including gardening in their books. Follow the links below, and let’s find out!

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Do any of your characters garden? Or keep houseplants? How about 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.

Sports In My Little Town #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne October 17, 2021 October 17, 2021 Open Book, Uncategorized

Oct 18, 2021

Are any of your characters fans of a particular sports team?

There’s not a whole lot to do in most small towns unless you plan your own event or go somewhere else. That’s why high school sports take on an almost cult-like following. And Oak Grove, my fictional town in the Harmony Duprie series, is a true small town. Harmony may not belong to the cult, but she still keeps an eye on local teams. I pay homage to that in the books.

‘Football Coach Predicts a Winning Year.’ That one made me smile because Coach Henderson had predicted the same thing for the last fifteen years, and it hadn’t happened yet. The school was too small to field a team that matched its rivals. But there was always hope. From The Baron’s Cufflinks

Not much was going on in Oak Grove that night, with most of the high-schoolers out of town for a football game. From The Marquesa’s Necklace

I’ve explored that concept more in my work-in-progress. (I’m still playing with potential titles, but let’s call it The Thief and The Angel for now.) This is from a conversation between Jake and Harmony.

“I see they’ve hired Coach for another year,” she said.

“Is that a good thing?”

“Oak Grove is too small to have a decent team.” She closed the sports section and laid it on the stair behind them. “We haven’t had a winning season in years. But the alumni and school board don’t want to give up on it. And every year, at least one boy gets a college scholarship, so they keep the team going. In a good year, two or three boys will get scholarships, even if they are to colleges no one ever heard of.”

While none of my characters are huge fans of a particular team, many of them follow sports in general. I can use sports as a way to establish time and personality. If I write about American football, it’s fall. Basketball belongs to winter and spring, while baseball is summer.

Then there’s personality. In The Ranger’s Dog Tags, I imagined Detective Timothy Horace as a football linebacker. When I figured out that he was a golfer, it changed how I wrote him. (his physical size remained the same.) Although he was could use his size as a physical weapon, he preferred a more subtle approach to his job.

I have a coworker who can recite stats on numerous baseball players (not just one team.) so, it would be easy for me to write that into a character. I just haven’t done it yet. But I’m playing around with a new plot in my head, so who knows?

Let’s find out if any of the other authors have superfans in their books. Just follow the links below.
And, as always, stay safe until the next time.

Oct 18, 2021

Are any of your characters fans of a particular sports team?

Writers Writing on Everything #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne October 3, 2021 October 3, 2021 Open Book

Oct 4, 2021

Does ‘show don’t tell’ ever run up against your personal prohibitions?

The slogan for the group seems especially apt for this weeks discussion. “Writers Writing on Everything.” But do we?

I thought I had an easy answer to this, because if you’ve been following me for even a short time, you know I don’t write detailed sex scenes. There are several reasons for it, but it boils down to that I don’t think I’d be any good at it. I’m okay with an occasional sex scene in a story, but I find many of them boring and repetitive. It’s not because I have a personal prohibition against it.

So, I got to thinking. What don’t I write about? I’ve got behind-the-scenes sex, guns, violence, drugs, and rock-and-roll. (Well, maybe not so much on the rock-and-roll. You’re more likely to come across a reference to John Denver in my books.) What am I leaving out?

In a process of elimination, I figured it out. Horror. I don’t write horror. I don’t read it, I don’t like it, I don’t write it. I don’t watch horror movies or suspense movies that lean towards horror. There is enough horror in this world without adding to it in the name of entertainment. I can’t deal with the idea of hurting another person for the joy of it.

Would I ever ‘tell’ it in a story? If the story absolutely demanded it, maybe, but I’d do everything I could to avoid including even the telling of such a scene in one of my books. I’ve had arguments with my characters about the plots of books, and this is an instance where’d I’d put my foot down and write it the way I wanted it written. And that would mean no horror elements.

Does that go against the idea of writers writing everything? Well, I also wouldn’t write Christian romance. Or a treatise on how Martin Luther changed the role of women in European society. There’s also the old advice about writing what you know, and I know I’m not qualified in either of those subjects. Same with horror.

I will happily keep writing my sex scenes behind closed doors, leaving the details up to you, the reader. I think I’ve found the level of violence in my stories I’m comfortable with, and will continue that way as the story calls needs. As for rock-and-roll —I need to up my game. I wonder what kind of music my wolf shifters listen to?

While I ponder that question, I’m going to check out what the other authors on this hop will tell, not show. You can, too, by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Oct 4, 2021

Does ‘show don’t tell’ ever run up against your personal prohibitions?

Genre Shaming – Are You Guilty? #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne September 27, 2021 September 27, 2021 Open Book

Sept 27, 2021

Have you experienced or witnessed genre shaming, where readers/authors degrade a genre? If so, how do you deal with it?

I’m guilty, and I admit it. I can’t handle the concept of a dinosaur shifter billionaire US president romance. There’s one out there, somewhere, or at least there used to be. If I recall correctly, it was a novella, and I didn’t finish reading it.

I became aware of genre shaming years ago, when “experts” touted the concept that anything that wasn’t “serious” writing was not valuable. That including science fiction, action adventure, and of course, romance. (And heaven forbid that a comic book might be considered literature!) I didn’t know any better, and accepted it, but that didn’t stop me from reading and enjoying books from those genres.

Two things happened around the same time frame. I realized that the act of reading is more important that what genre is read, and I started doubting the experts. What’s wrong with reading to escape the real world for a few hours? Any story that opens a reader up to new ideas and new ways of thinking is valuable. There are benefits to reading what is comfortable and easy as well.

I’ve read poorly written “high literature” and well written Westerns. The storylines of comic book heroes resemble classic literature. While I may prefer vampires that smell like dirt over ones that sparkle, I won’t deride someone else for their choice. I’ll be glad to share my opinion on a particular book, but I won’t give bad marks to a story because of its premise. (Okay, I might make an exception in the case of that dinosaur billionaire shifter story.)

My response to people who genre shame? I ask them what’s wrong with reading paranormal or motorcycle club or an apocalyptical combination of the two? And who gets to define what “literature”? Today’s popular but scorned book may become the next decade’s classic.

I think I’ve rattled on long enough. Let’s find out what the other authors on this hop have to say. Just follow the links below!

As always, until next time, please stay safe. And read!

Sept 27, 2021

Have you experienced or witnessed genre shaming, where readers/authors degrade a genre? If so, how do you deal with it?

Have Food Will Write #OpenBook Blog Hop

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

Sept 6, 2021

Does food play an important part in your writing? How about sharing a favorite recipe of one of your characters, or maybe one of yours? (We haven’t done this in forever!)

None of my main characters are bakers or chefs or work in a restaurant. But food is an important part of my writing with many conversations happening over a shared meal. Here’s a bit from The Ranger’s Dog Tags, in a scene between Harmony and Vanessa Salters, an ATF special agent.

She waited while Bea brought our food. The slice of meatloaf was so thick I wondered if I’d be able to eat even half of it. The rich aroma of the gravy alone made me realize how hungry I was. I’d have to bring Eli here someday. I put down my fork, my appetite suddenly gone.

Vanessa noticed but didn’t comment. “Now, about your living arrangements. You said you’re in a hotel? You aren’t staying at Mr. Hennessey’s place?”

I shrugged. “I’m not comfortable with him not being there.”

“Got it.” She chewed on a forkful of corn. I took a tiny bite of the meatloaf. It was better than what I make, so I took a second, bigger bite.

From there Vanessa goes on to outmaneuver Harmony into allowing Vanessa to become her bodyguard, (and Harmony hates bodyguards) but you’ll have to read the book for that.

I’m not going to give you the recipe for the restaurant’s meatloaf—I don’t have it. Frankly, I suspect the real secret was in the way they made their gravy. Instead, here’s a recipe for Hamburger Soup. I love it because it’s so flexible and it makes a large enough of a batch that there’s plenty of leftovers for later. It’s great for a cold winter day, which we may be seeing sooner than we are ready for! (depending upon where you live, naturally)

Hamburger Soup

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs lean ground beef (or substitute ½ lb Italian sausage for an extra kick)

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cups shredded cabbage

1 sweet bell pepper, chopped

1 tbls minced garlic

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

4 cups beef stock ( I usually use more)

½ tsp seasoning salt

½ tsb basil

¼ tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, brown the beef, onions celery, garlic and pepper until the meat is no longer pink. Add the cabbage and cook together for a couple of minutes. Drain. (I find it easier to add most of the vegetables after draining the fully cooked meat.) Add the seasoning.

Transfer the meat and vegetable mixture to a stock pot, add the beef stock and tomato sauce. Mix. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30-45 minutes and serve. (I like it with shredded cheese on top.)

I’ve used both yellow and green peppers at the same time to give it some added color. I also like to add sliced carrots.

As a bonus, here’s one of my favorite food scenes from the book, when Jake gets Eli to eat hospital food.

“Here, let me help you,” Jake said, reaching for the bedside table.

Eli shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”

Jake lifted the covers from the various dishes. “Jello. Naturally. Some sort of broth. How original. No wonder you don’t want to eat. I need to sneak in some real food. A steak or a big juicy cheeseburger. Applesauce? What was I expecting? It’s sprinkled with cinnamon. That’s a good place to start.”

Eli shook his head and looked away. “I’ll pass. Save it until you leave. I don’t want to eat in front of you.”

Clear as day, he was lying. I crossed my arms and glared. “You love applesauce. Tell me the truth. Why don’t you want to eat?”

He rolled so his back was to us. “I can’t do it. Last time I tried, I ended up with food all over me. The nurse had to clean me up and change my gown, then feed me like a baby.”

“Hurt your pride, did it?” Jake asked. “Was she cute, the nurse?”

“If you go for the grandmotherly type.”

Jake snorted. “Okay, here’s the deal. Roll over. I’m going to help you. You hold the spoon, and I’ll guide it where it needs to go. Ready?”

Then I watched the most amazing thing ever. Jake propped himself on the bed, opened the silverware packet, removed the spoon, and placed it in Eli’s shaking hand. Together, they dipped out a spoonful of applesauce and, ever so carefully, Jake helped Eli put it in his mouth.

Not a drop spilled. In fact, Eli may have licked the spoon.

No recipe to go with this one – only a link where you can find out more. The Ranger’s Dog Tags

Now I’m hungry, so I’m going to check out the other posts in this hop and see what everyone else is cooking up.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Sept 6, 2021

Does food play an important part in your writing? How about sharing a favorite recipe of one of your characters, or maybe one of yours? (We haven’t done this in forever!)

Why Do You Write What You Write? #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne August 29, 2021 August 30, 2021 Open Book

August 30, 2021

“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” – Flannery O’Connor. Authors have many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write?

I can’t claim to write for any earth-shaking reason. I’m not trying to impart any deep message. I write because there are these stories stuck in my brain and the only way to get them out is to put them on paper (or the computer screen, if you want to get picky.)

I’ve told this story before, but the first piece of fiction I wrote was in eighth grade as a class assignment. I’d written essays previously, but this was my first attempt at a made-up story, and was inspired by a book I’d read recently. My teacher wasn’t thrilled, and I only got a C for a grade. But something inside clicked.

I didn’t write any more fiction for a long, long time. I wrote essays, articles for newsletters, and poetry—lots of poetry, some good and some bad—but no more stories. (Well, some poems were stories in a different form.) That was enough.

Then I ‘lost’ my poetry. I blame it on a right brain/left brain situation. But I also ‘found’ a story that wouldn’t become a poem, no matter how I looked at it. I tried writing it as a book and became addicted. Toni Morrison said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” That’s what I’m doing. Writing books I’d like to read.

See, I like my characters. Even the villains. I like discovering their stories. Yes, I go back and read my own books, trying not to cringe at things I could have written better, but enjoying the story.

I want other people to read my stories, too, and hopefully be entertained. That’s why I’m here and on other social media. Maybe, just maybe, someone will read a post and be inspired to give one of my books a shot.

Even if they don’t, I’ll keep writing. Jake Hennessey is bugging me. I’m trying to avoid him, but he’s gnawing at the back of my brain. So, I’ll get back to editing his story, in case someone besides me wants to read it.

Before I do that, I want to find out why the other authors on this hop write what they write. If you follow the links below, you can find out, too.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

August 30, 2021

“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” – Flannery O’Connor. Authors have many reasons to write. Why do you write what you 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.

Diversity in My Writing #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne August 23, 2021 August 23, 2021 Open Book

August 23, 2021

Do you write diverse characters? If so, how do you avoid cultural insensitivity?

Quietly. That’s how I write diverse characters. They’re people , first and foremost, and although their diversity shapes them, it doesn’t define them.

Take Luke and Joe, Harmony’s landlords. They are two older men who live together and share a passion for restoring an old Victorian home. Here’s a reader’s introduction to them:

It isn’t much of a place, but what I choose to afford, and the landlords keeps it in good repair. It’s the entire third floor of a three story home, and Luke and Joe have the bottom two floors. They are getting older so I help them out with basic maintenance and they keep the rent low. (from The Marquesa’s Necklace)

Were they a couple? At that point, I wasn’t sure. But some gay men of their generation weren’t open about their relationship status. The neighbors could pretend they were “just” housemates, and ignore the implications. Sure, society has become more accepting, but if that’s the way Joe and Luke wanted it, I was glad to oblige. Their love of old houses is what defines them in the series, anyway.

In contrast, I wanted there to be no question about Detective Horace from The Ranger’s Dog Tags being a black American, because it would play into the story. (and he insisted on it.) I modeled him as a combination of several men I’ve worked with. Here’s his intro:

I didn’t anticipate being greeted by a brick wall of a man with deep brown skin when I opened the door. If I wasn’t mistaken, that was a gun in a holster under his left arm. And a police badge attached to his belt. (from The Ranger’s Dog Tags)

Again, I didn’t want Detective Horace to be defined solely by his skin color, and it never gets mentioned again. His position as a detective for the Orlando Police Department was the more important characteristic. That, and his size. His size gets mentioned throughout the story, almost as a running joke. For example, “I was afraid that Horace would break any of the furniture, all of which had seen better days.” That, plus Harmony’s nickname for him, ‘The Mountain.’

The second part of the question is easy and tough. How do I avoid cultural insensitivity? The easy part is by treating my characters the same as I treat my friends from similar backgrounds. But I’m not perfect, and I’ve been known to mess up. Phrase something poorly, or miss the point. I try to be cognizant of what I put in writing, and I think seeing the words staring at me help me to be more aware. (Plus, I have time to think about what I am saying, instead of blurting out the wrong words!)

Over the years, I’ve interacting with people from a lot of different backgrounds, and learned a lot from them. I try to let that flow into my writing as I populate my stories. That way diversity happens naturally and isn’t forced. You know, like would happen in the real world under the best of scenarios. (Which, I’ll admit, don’t happen nearly enough.)

Let’s find out what the other authors in this hop have to say. Hopefully, there will be links you can follow below. (This feature hasn’t been working right lately, and it’s making me crazy!)

Anyway, until next time, please stay safe.

August 23, 2021

Do you write diverse characters? If so, how do you avoid cultural insensitivity?

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.

All I Want And More #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne August 15, 2021 August 16, 2021 Open Book

August 16, 2021

What do you wish you had an unlimited supply of?

Let’s skip the all too obvious ones—money and time, although I could use both—and dig a little deeper.

How about unlimited readers? Well, I guess they are out there if I could find them. Perhaps I should refine the wish. How about unlimited loyal readers? It would be nice to be a best-selling author.

Now I’m getting somewhere. Sure, that would lead to the money angle I ignored, but it would also provide me with the more important ego-boost of knowing my work is appreciated. The ego-boost that would encourage me to keep writing.

While it’s true that I write my stories partly for myself, I hope that other people enjoy them. But I won’t know that unless they tell me, and not many readers leave reviews. Perhaps if I had a more loyal followers I’d get more feedback? I can wish.

But as the old saying goes, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.’ I can wish and I can dream but I’m willing to work for what I want. I keep trying, but I certainly haven’t found the magic formula that draws in an unlimited supply of loyal readers!

What do our other authors wish for? You can find out by following the links below.

As always, please stay safe until the next time.

August 16, 2021

What do you wish you had an unlimited supply of?

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.

A Favorite Piece of Literature #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne August 8, 2021 August 9, 2021 Open Book

August 9, 2021

Do you have a favorite piece of literature? What is it and why is it your favorite??

This will be a quick one, because I am on the road and writing from yet another hotel room.

I’m guessing that I can’t claim one of my own books. It would be hard to pick only one of them, anyway. Oh, you want to know?

I’d choose Wolves’ Gambit. It’s probably the book that has sold the least, but I think the plot and characterization is

among the best of what I’ve written. (Although The Ranger’s Dog Tags comes in a close second.) I really like Tasha, my main character, but I have a fondness for the underdog. Which she is. I’ve considered writing another story featuring her, but it hasn’t happened – yet.

Now, on to my real answer.

Anne McCaffery remains one of my favorites, specifically the Harper Hall trilogy of the Dragonriders of Pern series. Yes, my favorites don’t include a dragonrider as the main character! I told you I have a thing for the underdog. By the time McCaffrey wrote this stories, she’d established her world and was able to concentrate on the plot more than the environment around them. Frankly, if you look back to her dragonriders as a whole, you can see how rough her first few books were, and how much smoother her later stories flowed. (I won’t include the books written by her son in the analysis – they don’t live up to her standards, in my opinion. Even including the non-dragonrider books McCaffrey wrote, The Harper Hall books remain my favorite.

I’ll be dropping in on our other authors as time permits, but I hope you’ll go visit them, too. All you need to do is follow the links below.

That’s it for this week! As always, until next time, please stay safe.

August 9, 2021

Do you have a favorite piece of literature? What is it and why is it your favorite??

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 Joy? of Growing Older #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne August 2, 2021 August 2, 2021 Open Book

August 2, 2021

What’s something you look forward to as you age? And what do you miss from your youth?

Sorry I’m a day late with this. I’m on the road with limited internet access.

I admit it, I’m not just getting old, lots of folks would say I AM old. I own it and accept it. So what are some of the things I’m looking forward to?

First thing that springs to mind is retirement. I’m looking forward to not having to go to work every day, except for those tasks I set for myself. I may not sleep in, but how nice will it be to start the day with my beverage of choice, and listen to the birds greeting the morning and the grass warming up in the sunshine. Or maybe change the scene and watch the snow fall gently onto to welcoming earth.

Sure, I’ll want to train myself to write on a different schedule. Perhaps in the morning when the day’s projects won’t have stifled my creativity and my mind is still fresh. We’ll see. And I should have more time for other projects. I haven’t done any needlepoint for too long.

With any luck, we’ll be able to travel. That depends on factors out of my control, so we’ll play it by ear. I don’t plan on huge trips, but there are many places in the U.S. I’d like to explore.

What do I miss from my childhood?

Long summer afternoons spent wandering the backroads and, with my best friend, creating new paths in the forested hills in our area. Picking huckleberries and wild raspberries. Drinking fresh spring water straight from pipes driven into the side the hills. In the winter, we would go sledding in the nearby pastures. While I can do those things again, sadly, my best friend from those days is physically unable able to join me.

I’ll be heading over to check out what the other authors on this look are looking forward too. You can too, by following the links below.

Until next time, please stay safe!

August 2, 2021

What’s something you look forward to as you age? And what do you miss from your youth?

Tag: #OpenBook

A Little Bit Of Summer #OpenBook Blog Hop

Sports In My Little Town #OpenBook Blog Hop

Writers Writing on Everything #OpenBook Blog Hop

Genre Shaming – Are You Guilty? #OpenBook Blog Hop

Have Food Will Write #OpenBook Blog Hop

Why Do You Write What You Write? #OpenBook Blog Hop

Diversity in My Writing #OpenBook Blog Hop

All I Want And More #OpenBook Blog Hop

A Favorite Piece of Literature #OpenBook Blog Hop

The Joy? of Growing Older #OpenBook Blog Hop

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