#IAmWriting - P.J. MacLayne

Tools of the Trade #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne January 17, 2021 January 18, 2021 Open Book

Jan 18, 2021

What software do you use for your writing? Bookkeeping? Artwork? Calendar?

I believe in sticking to basics, unless a piece of software really can do something exceptional. I’m also frugal, so this list will be short.

I do most of my writing in LibreOffice, a basic but free office suite. It’s all I need to thrash out a story. It has the capability of doing more advanced functions, which I’ve never taken the time to learn. Not only is it a writing program, it also has a spreadsheet portion which I use for my bookkeeping. Again, I’m not using any of the advanced features, but I don’t need to. I have access to Microsoft Word, and will run my document through it to check margins, indents, and other formatting, but it isn’t my primary tool.

Artwork? I leave the majority of that to my graphic artist. Folks, I’m just not good at it. I can throw together something painfully simple using Canva, but I don’t have an eye for anything spectacular. Fonts? Spacing? Balance? Colors? Not my specialty.

First round of editing is done on ProWritingAid. I used to use the free version, and the character limit made it a struggle. I was gifted with a full version of it by my daughter, and it’s a world of difference. Yes, sometimes I disagree with the results and it occasionally skips a misplaced word, but overall, it does everything I need in a first-round check. One warning- it can get confused with commas in some cases, but don’t we all?

I use WordPress for blogging for one simple reason—the amount of documentation out there for help using it, and much of it free. Once I found the right template to use, I’ve stuck with it.

Calendars? I’ve got nothing. I’ve tried several things, and none “stick.” Of course, the past year, I haven’t needed to do much, and I’ve got most of the sticky notes cleared off my desk.

I’ve heard of a new tool called Fictionary. It’s supposed to help with plotting. There’s good “buzz” about it, but I’m waiting until I get my current WIP back from my editor before downloading the free trial.

Want to hear about more? Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors’ (ALLi) guide to ultimate tools and tech. It’s got everything from a favorite pen to distraction eliminating software. I didn’t even know that was a thing! You can find it here The Ultimate Guide to Tools and Tech for Indie Authors — Alliance of Independent Authors: Self-Publishing Advice Center.

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

Before I go, I should mention one more set of tools—the good old-fashioned paper and pen. Sometimes, that’s the only thing that will satisfy my creative urge. Scrawling words on paper and watching the loops and dots formed from the ink flow.

Let’s find out what tools the other authors use. Just follow the links below. And if you have a favorite you think I should try, tell me about it in the comments.

Until next time, please stay safe!

Jan 18, 2021

What software do you use for your writing? Bookkeeping? Artwork? Calendar?

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.

Out of My League #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne January 10, 2021 January 10, 2021 Open Book

Jan 11, 2021

Is there a genre you would never try to write? Why?

Let’s start with the genre that I can’t conquer.

Romance.

Oh, I’ve tried. I have three or four romances stored away on my computer, where they will stay. Frankly, they aren’t very good. Well, one has potential, but it’s written from the man’s point of view. Is that still considered a romance? I honestly don’t know. Perhaps someone reading this blog can tell me. Throw in the added complication that the story trends towards action-adventure and you have a book in search of an identity. Add the problem of the time frame—the 1980s—and there are too many issues to make reworking it feasible.

But I believe in romance, and romance will continue to be a part of my stories. It just won’t be the primary plot.

There is a genre I can’t see myself writing. Science Fiction.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to read science fiction. Writing it? I don’t feel up to the task. The whole world-building thing seems like a project that’s out of my league. I can hear some of you say, “But P.J., didn’t you build a world for your wolves and another one for Harmony?”

Yes and no. I think of it adding layers to the world we live in, not creating a whole new one. And it’s really only one world. If you pay attention, the Free Wolves adventures bleed into the Harmony Duprie mysteries. Subtle references, they are there more for my amusement than for anything else. But I’m always hopeful a sharp-eyed reader will spot the line and it will make them smile. Has anyone noticed the name of Eli’s company?*

When it comes to science fiction, I feel the readers expect and deserve more than that. They should read of a fully-fleshed out world that is different than our own. The situations that the inhabitants face may bear similarities to our own, but there should be elements that make it not a carbon copy of how we live today. And I don’t feel I’m up to the task.

However, I’ve also learned never to say never. If some perfectly wonderful plot threw itself in my face, I’d be a fool to ignore it.

And I am a writer in search of her next plot. As I wrap up the last Harmony Duprie mystery, I haven’t figured out what to tackle next. So many idea, but none are claiming time in my head. I’ve always thought Counselor Carlson from the Free Wolves had a story to tell, but so does Vanessa from The Ranger’s Dogtags. We’ll see.

In the meantime, let’s see what genres our other authors avoid. Yoy can too, by following the links below.

And, as always, until the next time, stay safe.

*For those of you who haven’t read any of my books, my wolves are shifters. And Eli, Harmony’s love interest from the mystery series, owns a company called Shifter Technologies

Jan 11, 2021

Is there a genre you would never try to write? Why?

Who’s the Boss? The Story or Me? #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne December 27, 2020 December 27, 2020 Open Book

December 28, 2020

Who’s the boss, you or the story?

Let’s switch this around a bit. Who’s the boss, you or the characters in the story?

I’ve said it before and nothing has changed – my stories are character driven. I can have a rough plot planned out and get a third of the way into the story, only to have the characters turn things around and tell me how the story is REALLY going to go.

One of my favorite examples of this is Tasha from Wolves’ Knight. (She played a minor part in Wolves’ Pawn, as well.) I had this nice little romance to a good-looking game warden all planned out for her. I even wrote out the scene of their first kiss. That’s when she stopped me. Told me it wasn’t going to happen; that she had her eye on someone else. (I won’t say who, you’ll have to read the book to find out.)

I went digging in my old files and found that deleted scene. It’s full of mistakes (it never made it into the first draft of the book) but this is the first time anyone but me has seen it.

The spray of the falling water made the cool air even chillier, and Tasha zipped her coat up part way. The bench was nothing more than a large old log that someone had sliced the bark from to create a flat area. It was low enough to the ground that Jaime had to rearrange his long legs several times to get comfortable. They sat side by side for a long while, not touching, and not saying anything. Yet the silence seemed natural to Tasha.

A patch of sky was visible through the trees, and she was watching the clouds skimming past the stars when a red streak flashed by. She pointed upward “Did you see that?”

“What?” Jaime asked, inclining his head towards hers to see what she was showing him.

“A meteor. It’s gone.” Tasha turned her head to find his barely an inch from hers.

“That’s okay. I found something else to look at,” he murmured. Then he closed the gap between them and lightly pressed his lips to hers.

Surprised, it took her a second to react, and by then he’d pulled away. “Sorry,” he said.

“Don’t apologize. It was nice.” Actually, it had been more than that, but Tasha wasn’t going to tell him. Not yet.

“Just nice?”

One side of her mouth rose. “I don’t know. Let’s see what happens if we do it again.”

This time she was prepared for the meeting of their mouths. And yes, she decided, the second time was definitely better, especially as she had the chance to return the gesture. “Hmm, better,” she said when the kiss ended. Much better. He tasted just like his musk aftershave and his kisses stirred a part of Tasha that she’d neglected too long.

“Practice makes perfect?” he asked with a grin, wrapping one arm around her waist.

“Let’s find out.”

That’s when Tasha started yelling at me. I only wrote a few more paragraphs before she stopped me and refused to cooperate until I listened to her. Then, I had to go back and make a few changes to set up the storyline she wanted. It worked out well, but it wasn’t what I planned. Jaime remained in the story, but in a different role. I still have a soft spot in my heart for him, but he wasn’t the man Tasha deserved.

And I can’t ignore Harmony Duprie, from my amateur sleuth series. (Which originally was planned as a paranormal romance and switched genres on me!) Harmony has a way of changing villains on me. I’ll have someone set up to be the bad guy, she’ll shake her head and poof! A new villain appears. I’ve learned to go with the flow. She did it again in my WIP, the Ranger’s Dogtags. I can’t give you any hints without creating a spoiler, so you’ll have to wait.

But here’s a short snippet to give you an idea of what the book is about:

Sorenson rubbed his chin. “In these days of patient privacy, hospitals won’t release any information to you. Especially because you aren’t the next of kin.”

Which gave me an idea. I texted Lando again. “Did you check his parents’ house?”

“Not there.”

Another theory shot down the drain. “Lando says he isn’t visiting his parents. Where else do we need to check?”

“You won’t like it.” Sorenson blew out a deep breath and looked me in the eyes. “It wouldn’t be the first time a man disappeared to spend time with a secret lover.”

Logically, it made sense. My heart screamed that it wasn’t true. My voice quavered despite my efforts to hold it steady. “Is there a way to check without access to Eli’s financial information?”

“Phone records. And we’d need a warrant for those. Which we won’t get, since he is in Florida and I have no jurisdiction. If we want to go down that path, he might have had a burner phone.”

I took another sip of my coffee. It tasted as bitter as the concept of Eli having a mistress. Or was I the hidden girlfriend?

I don’t have a release date for the new book yet, so stay tuned.

Back to the original question. The stories and the characters ore very much in charge when I write. I try to lead them where I want to go. Sometimes they cooperate, and more often, I have to adjust to their ideas to make the story better.

I’m trying to predict what the other authors on this loop will say. Let’s go find out by following the links below.

Until next time, please stay safe!

December 28, 2020

Who’s the boss, you or the story?

To Write Or Not To Write: Finding The Joy #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne September 6, 2020 September 6, 2020 Open Book

September 7, 2020

Even if you knew you would never sell another book, would you keep writing?

I’ve asked myself that question more than a few times. I’ll look at a particularly bad month of sales and ask myself why I’m putting myself through the agony. Then I offset my bad mood by reading a good review and get my emotions back in balance.

When I first started writing poetry, back in the Dark Ages, I knew nothing about publishing. I wrote for the joy of stringing words together into a thing of beauty. That joy was only slightly dampened by the work that went into reaching out to magazine editors to try to get published.

I had to relearn publishing when I started writing fiction. I’m still learning. And I’m not very good at it. Perhaps that’s why the sales of my books are so close to non-existent.

But someone has described writing as a hunger. I’m hungry to get these stories out of my head, into book form, and share them. I can’t force anyone to buy them. But if I don’t put them out there, no one can take a look and decide to give one of them a chance.

The “experts” say that if one book flops write another one. And another one. Write a series. I’m up to eight books now and two series and I still haven’t “found” my audience. Or they haven’t found me.

I haven’t given up. I’m almost done writing the first draft of my ninth book now. With lesser expectations than the last eight. It’ll need a lot of cleaning up, but the story line is good, and it’s a great way to wrap up the series. Will it sell? I don’t know. Will I publish it? Yes.

I already have another series in my head. No, I lie. I have four possible series in my head. Make that five, now that I think about it.

So, would I stop writing if I knew I’d never sell another book? Not likely. I’m more worried about running out of time than I am running out of ideas. Even if no one ever buys another of my books, I get a great sense of personal satisfaction out of writing them. And joy.

Image by inno kurnia from Pixabay

I’m curious as to what the other authors on this hop feel about this. You can find out by following the links below.

Until next time, stay safe.

September 7, 2020

Even if you knew you would never sell another book, would you keep writing?

Stuck in the Corner #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne July 12, 2020 July 12, 2020 Open Book

July 13, 2020

Have you ever let a story write you into a surprise corner? Do you backtrack or shift gears?

Have any of you ever seen the old movie, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World? It’s a comedy from 1963 about a bunch of strangers trying to get their hands on a large stack of cash. I started writing a scene once that had all the elements to become a miniature version of that. Not in a comedic sense, but the same kind of general chaos. It included Harmony, my main character, throwing her stiletto heels at a car. And the FBI, Sheriff’s Department, and Highway Patrol all showing up to the scene. Along with three bad guys and one person of questionable intent. With Eli, Harmony’s boyfriend, along for the fun. And another car with potential bad guys—or were they just curious bystanders?

It was a fun scene to write. But it came too soon in the story. The rest of the book couldn’t match it. It had to go.

Well, not entirely. I cut it way back. The original is too long to include here, as it was an entire chapter and more. The final version only included Harmony, Eli, three bad guys, and the one person of questionable intent. Harmony still got to throw her stiletto heel at a bad guy. It promptly got lost in a drainage ditch. (If anyone is interested, the revised scene is part of The Baron’s Cufflinks.)

That’s not the first time my characters have steered me in a different direction than I planned to go. When I wrote Wolves’ Knight, I had a love interest all planned out for Tasha. Big, burly, good looking, the perfect match. I even wrote the beginnings of a love scene. That’s when Tasha rebelled.

See, she didn’t want to be with this guy and made it clear to me. It took her a little longer to reveal who she wanted to end up with. Then let me figure out how to make it happen. I got lucky. I only had to go back and add a few minimal sentences to set up for the revelation later in the book. Looking back, I realized what a wise decision that was on Tasha’s part.

I’m a pantser. For those of you who don’t know, that means I don’t plot out my stories before I start writing. I know the beginning, and have a good idea of the end, but the middle has to be discovered. As a result, sometimes I end up where I don’t need to be. Last week, I ripped out two days’ worth of writing because it was leading nowhere in the story line.

To answer the question—yes, I’ve written myself into a corner, probably in every story I’ve written. I’ve both backtracked and shifted gears, depending upon what the book needed. Sometimes both. But that’s okay, because those corners often contain the essence of where the book really needs to go. I just have to dig it out from all the unnecessary words.

Now I’m off to discover the hidden corners of the other authors on this hop. Join me by following the links below.

Until next time, stay safe, everyone.

July 13, 2020

Have you ever let a story write you into a surprise corner? Do you backtrack or shift gears?

Rituals for Writing #IWSG

By P.J. MacLayne May 5, 2020 May 5, 2020 IWSG

May 6 question – Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE? Care to share?

Just give me that rock and roll music… (and a good headset)

Although lately, I’ve been branching out into other types of music to help me get in the zone, depending upon my mood. Tradition Celtic melodies. Modern Native American songs. I keep thinking I should look for Gregorian chants but haven’t yet. I’ve got a nice collection of CDs and LPs, but I like finding new musicians and singers.

Basically, I look for music I don’t really listen to, but serves to shut out the distractions around me. It allows my mind to concentrate on writing.

But back to rock and roll…classic rock, of course. The era of singer-songwriters. Lots of female singers. Buffy St. Marie. Joni Mitchell. Janis Joplin. Linda Ronstadt

And here’s a nod to my favorite. He doesn’t fit any of the categories above, but he’s always my fallback. John Denver.

And that’s as much of a ritual as I’ll own up to!

Be safe out there, please.

#IWSG April Check-In

By P.J. MacLayne March 31, 2020 March 31, 2020 IWSG

April 1 question – The IWSG’s focus is on our writers. Each month, from all over the globe, we are a united group sharing our insecurities, our troubles, and our pain. So, in this time when our world is in crisis with the covid-19 pandemic, our optional question this month is: how are things in your world?
The awesome co-hosts for the April 1 posting of the IWSG are Diane Burton, JH Moncrieff, Anna @ Emaginette, Karen @ Reprobate Typewriter, Erika Beebe, and Lisa Buie-Collard!

Covid-19? What’s that?

Okay, I can’t run with a joke. This situation is a mixed bag for me. I know too many people who are in the high risk groups not to worry. The ones I worry about the most (Hi, Mom!) are taking this seriously and doing all the right things. Decreases my stress level somewhat.

The trick is, I work for a hospital. (No, I don’t deal with patients. I’m not one of the heroes.) And I am able to work from home. That doesn’t mean I’m isolated from all the concerns and preparations, but we aren’t in a major city and had more time to work on social isolation. No deaths in the state yet. Keep your fingers crossed.

I have more time to write as a result. And I’m taking advantage of it. I’m editing one book and pretending not to write another. I don’t like working on more than one project at a time, but this book demanded to be written. There’s a bit of guilt that I have the luxury to write when people are losing their jobs and are worrying about having a place to live.

But I am hanging in there. And I hope that everyone who reads this is doing okay. The daffodils are coming up, and the promise of spring is in the air. We’ll make it through this.

Image by MrGajowy3 from Pixabay

Killing Off A Character #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne March 29, 2020 March 29, 2020 Open Book

March 30, 2020

How do you feel about killing off one of your major characters?

If you’ve read my Free Wolves stories, you know I’ve killed off quite a few characters. Minor ones, mostly, but I’ve thrown in a major one here or there. Villains are easy to kill off in those books because it’s true to a wolf-shifter heritage. Staying ‘civilized’ is more of a challenge. And I’ve seriously injured my main characters, but they’ve pulled through.

In my Harmony Duprie Mysteries, I’ve set about writing stories that don’t necessarily include anyone dying. Yes, I’ve had a murder or two, but they were off-camera. The stories are relatively light-hearted, and don’t contain a lot of gore. We’ll get back to them later.

In the first book I wrote (the one that went through about four revisions before I decided the plot was flawed and it would never be published) I actually killed my main character in one version. It made sense for the story, but I knew that readers would hate me for it. So, I switched up the story and gave it a happy ending.

But I cried hard as I wrote my heroine’s death. And cried harder when I wrote her funeral. And cried more when the hero (her lover) scattered her ashes to mingle with those of her late husband. In the revised version, they got to stay together as they aged, a no-tears, happily ever after ending. It was a good ending, but I thought the original was better. (Can’t say I liked it, but it was better.)

Now, let’s go back to Harmony. I’m currently editing the fifth book in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, (The Samurai’s Inro) and I’m worried about her stories getting ‘stale.’ I love the character but she needed a shake-up. And the only thing I could come up with was killing of a major character- Eli, her lover. And I wasn’t happy about it.

Harmony and I have been known to have arguments about the plot of her stories, but oddly, she wasn’t talking to me about this idea. I didn’t know if she agreed with it or if she was mad at me for even suggesting it!

Well, as Harmony is wont to do, she let me know how this was going to go down in a dream. (Hey, I won’t reveal her decision now…that’s another book.) I’ve had several dreams about this book, leading me to places in the story I didn’t know it needed to go. I’m somewhere near 15000 words in a book that I haven’t officially started writing yet!

Let’s just say I’m okay with killing off a main character if it’s true to the character and to the story. It can be a fine line between that and not alienating the readers. If it’s well-written, true to the plot, and not done for the shock value, a good writer can make it work.

That’s how I see it. And if you follow the links below, you can find out what the other authors think.

Off topic: I hope everyone out there is doing okay. Things will get better. It’ll take some time, so hang in there.

March 30, 2020

How do you feel about killing off one of your major characters?

Traditions in My Stories #IWSG

By P.J. MacLayne March 3, 2020 March 3, 2020 IWSG

March 4 question – Other than the obvious holiday traditions, have you ever included any personal or family traditions/customs in your stories?

When I first saw this question, my instantaneous response was “Yes, of course!” Then I got thinking about it and couldn’t come up with a solid example.

I could mention going for walks in the fall and shuffling through fallen leaves, but that seems like a stretch. Or building snowmen and going sledding in the winter. The truth is, I want my characters to develop their own traditions.

Like the way Harmony, the main character in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, always carries dog treats so she can give one to her landlords’ dog, Piper. Or the way she always pats some part of her car, Dolores – the roof, the hood- the trunk- before she gets in. Or how she counts the stairs going to her apartment on the third floor. But that may not be as much of a tradition as a symptom of her un-diagnosed ADD.

I tried harder in my urban fantasy/paranormal series, The Free Wolves, to create traditions as part of my world building. That was a necessity because part of the conflict in the series in tradition vs the modern world. To create a character who supports traditions while at the same time breaking those traditions frequently made for some great tension.

Here’s a quick snippet from Wolves’ Knight that highlights the conflict:

“In here, between us, I’d appreciate it if you call me Gavin. I’d get rid of the title if I could, but that’s not going to happen.”

“Pack tradition is hard to change.” Tasha used her free hand in a futile effort to return her hair to a resemblance of neatness.

“I didn’t realize how hard it would be.” Gavin frowned. “I thought that as our generation came into power, we’d be able to change all those things we talked about when we were younger. It never ceases to amaze me how many people our age are happier sticking with tradition because it’s easier.”

You can find out more about my books by checking out the other pages on this website.

So, the answer is no. I haven’t included family traditions. I leave it up to my characters to create their own.

The awesome co-hosts for the March 4 posting of the IWSG are Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

Organizing My Stories #OpenBook Blog Hop

By P.J. MacLayne March 1, 2020 March 1, 2020 Open Book

March 2, 2020

Share how you keep your characters, storylines, etc., organized. Do you use an outline? Notecards? Post-its all over your walls?

As many of you know, I’m what is called a pantser. I don’t plot out my entire story ahead of time. I usually know the beginning and the end, but the middle is a mystery until I get there.

That doesn’t mean I don’t have to keep track of my timeline. My current work-in-progress, The Samurai’s Inro, runs over four weeks. There were times, as I wrote, that I lost track of what day of the week it was. Harmony is a creature of habit and follows a schedule, so I had to know if it was her day for the self-defense class or to clean her refrigerator. I ended up having to go back and “walk” thru the days, to make sure I didn’t send her to work at the library on a Sunday. I ended up with three different pieces of scrap paper scattered on my desk to track her calendar. Then, because I lost track of one of the papers, I had to go back and start all over.

By the way, I love to throw Harmony off her schedule.It’s loads of fun figuring out how she would react.

And you’re right, it’s not an efficient system, if you want to call it a system at all. But it works. Well, most of the time.

What’s more difficult is tracking a series over the course of several books. I’ve started a “book bible” for the Harmony series, but haven’t kept up with it as good as I should have. What color is Freddie’s hair? How about Sarah’s? I frequently have to go back to earlier books to get the details, and when I do, I add them the the file. (In fact, let’s play a little game. The first person to tell me what Janine’s last name is (she’s the chief librarian, remember?) will win a free ebook copy of the Samurai’s Inro when it is released. That’s a couple of months off. Leave your answer in the comments)

The Free Wolves series was a whole different creature when it came to tracking the stories. Because each book is a stand-alone story, with only the slightest of overlaps in the characters, I didn’t have to work as hard to keep things straight. They also weren’t quite so linear- I didn’t cover every single day- so I had more latitude in how each story flowed.

I’m currently working on the next-next Harmony book, and I’m 3 or 4 chapters in and still on day 1. (I’ve written everything by hand so far, and have’t the foggiest idea what the word count is.) I need to start keeping track now so I don’t end up in the same situation I was in with Inro. Will I? Somehow, I doubt it!

And that’s how I do it- track my stories, that is. I’m pretty sure we have some plotters on this hop, and I’m going to go check them out and see if they can inspire me to join their ranks.

Happy reading!

Share how you keep your characters, storylines, etc., organized. Do you use an outline? Notecards? Post-its all over your walls?

Tag: #IAmWriting