Author: P.J. MacLayne

Perils of the Publishing Industry #IWSG

  By IWSG
 
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
 
The awesome co-hosts for the August 6 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Natalie Aguirre, Sarah – The Faux Fountain Pen, and Olga Godim!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

 
August 6 question – What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?
 
First, I apologize. I’m late getting this post up. And it will be a quick one, because I chose to be an indie author back when I first thought about sharing my stories, and I haven’t kept up with all the shenanigans of publishers.
 
My first problem was the time frame needed to get a agent, find a publisher, and see your words make it into print. I was too darn old to wait for all of that!
 
But my biggest issue was the small amount of money authors receive from their hard work. Unless you are a rare author who makes it to a best seller list book after book, the payout is meager. And I knew enough to not get involved with vanity publishers, who promise you the world and you end up with a thousand copies of your book sitting in your spare room. Or stacked in a closet,
 
And vanity presses are getting sneakier. Authors have to stay alert. There are also new scams with people wanting to publicize their work. (I love the emails proclaiming to love my book and never mentioning the name.) AI is making it easier for the scammers and harder for authors.
 

But the one that has always bugged me is Amazon’s return policies.

 
For both ebooks and audio books. They almost turn Amazon into a lending library instead of a book seller. I can easily read a book and return it within the allowable time frame, then move on to another. But Amazon is the biggest vender of books, so I feel stuck, needing to have my books on that platform. Still, I don’t use KDP because I want my stories to be available across many outlets.
 
What issues do other others see? There’s a long list of people sharing their views below. Check out a few of them.
 
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
 

Editing Is Hard #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

August 4, 2025

Tell us about a writing lesson you learned the hard way.

I released my first book in 2014.

Of course, I had sent it through several online editors and a critique group before I published it. But it didn’t take long for a reader to find and point out the first error. Later, I heard about another one. And another. A reviewer said my primary female character winked too much. And they were right.

Luckily, it was fixable. I found enough instances of the word near the end of paragraphs to switch them out without reformatting an entire page or chapter. But it was a lesson I needed. But it also led me to pay more attention to overused words.

But editing is more than grammar and spelling.

There’s pacing and story flow and continuity. (Does the main character start with blue eyes and end with brown ones?) Don’t forget eliminating cliched phrases. {She released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.) Then there’s using the same uncommon word more that once, too close together. Let’s use the word metaphorical as an example. Used once, it’s interesting. Twice, it’s a little less gripping. Used three times close together, it loses its power.

As you can see, editing is hard. There’s always more to learn. And, no matter how many eyes look at the manuscript, an error can slip through.

What lessons have our other editors learned? Find out by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

August 4, 2025

Tell us about a writing lesson you learned the hard way.

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Including Politics In My Stories #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

July 28, 2025

Do you avoid or actively include writing about the current political atmosphere in your stories?

Some folks view it as part of a writer’s job description; to write about politics.

But I write, in part, to give both myself and my readers a chance to escape from the real world. So politics, especially current-day politics, isn’t part of it. Also, including current events can date my work and make it less relatable.

That doesn’t mean I don’t include political references. For example, in the early books of the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, I mentioned that Jake Hennessey smoked marijuana. Once, maybe. When I wrote it, weed was illegal in the state the story was set in. That has changed, and if a reader picks up on the reference, they have to remember how things used to be.

I also skirted around politics in the first book of The Edwards Investigations, The Rimer Files.

Since it is set in the mid-1980s, many people won’t remember specific events from the time. Instead, I tried to create the mood of the era in Pittsburgh, where the story took place instead. Steel mills closing, rampant drug use, unemployment a major issue. Most people won’t be able to tell you who the president of the United States was then, although they might know who the Queen of England was. (Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth II)

But the story more than touches on the issue of the changing role of women in society. It’s a major part of the plot, without going into details. What it doesn’t include are references to specific real people.

So, back to the original question.

Do I include politics in my writing? Like in so many things, I chose moderation. I don’t actively include politics, but I don’t avoid the topic either.

How about our other authors? Do they include politics in their writing? Find out by checking out the links below.

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

July 28, 2025

Do you avoid or actively include writing about the current political atmosphere in your stories?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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The Hardest Job I’ve Ever Done #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

July 21, 2025

Continuing on the topic of money —

What is the hardest thing you have done to earn money?

I’ve never dug a ditch for money, but I helped build a hiking trail (for free) when I was in the Girl Scouts. Dirty work, but fun because of the other girls working on the project. Being a camp counselor was hard, but basically was a summer-long camping trip and I enjoyed it.

Then there was the job I had cleaning a weekly newspaper office in a small town. This was back before the work was computerized, and the night before publication, there’d be the remnants of sticky paper all over the floor and desks. They had to be pulled or scraped off using a paint scraper. That would happen in the afternoon, after the final version of that week’s edition had been taken by car to a print shop in the neighboring city.

That evening, a small team of three would insert the week’s ads (The color ad pages came pre-printed to the office.) into the folded papers and put labels on the ones that were to be mailed. The address labels came on large rolls and were pasted on the papers using a machine controlled by a foot pedal. This was back in the day when the ink used on newspapers rubbed off on your hands, so imagine what my hands looked like when the tasks were finished!

Then there was my gig working at a sugar mill factory.

This involved sugar beets, not sugarcane. The beets came from local farms and would be brought to the factory by the trailer load. They would be ground up and processed, with white sugar being the result.

I had one of the easier jobs, collecting samples. I’d go to certain spots both inside and outside the factory, retrieving tubes of the partially finished product (in different stages of processing) and running a variety of tests on them.

One of the sample sites was outside, behind the factory, in a basically unlit area. Since I was working swing shift, the last sample of the shift was an adventure, requiring the use of a flashlight and nerves of steel.

But that isn’t why I left that job. I was a newlywed, and my husband was working revolving shifts at a different company. It seemed like we never got to spend time together. I didn’t mind the work, but hated being apart.

The worst job?

I did a short stint as a waitress at an extremely busy pizza/Italian restaurant. I’d worked at a small restaurant previously, and thought I knew what I was getting into, but was wrong. This new place was so busy that all I did was run. No time to interact with customers, just run, run, run. I lasted there only one week. And I don’t remember the tips being enough to make me regret leaving.

How about other authors? What is the hardest job they’ve done? Find out by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Buying My Way Into Fame #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

July 14, 2025

Which would you rather have?

Money or Fame?

You’ve likely heard the saying, “Money can’t buy happiness.” But I’ve always thought happiness is a lot easier to achieve with money enough to cover the basics and more. Worry about having enough food? Pay for medical care? Being able to help others without having to check your budget? Not a problem with a good flow of cold, hard cash or the electronic equivalent. It won’t solve everything, but can go a long way.

What about choosing between money or fame?

Here’s my take. I’ve never chased the idea of fame. I wish for readers, but enjoy a quiet life. Like many authors, I’m a bit of an introvert, and it’s draining to interact with strangers for hours, even when the topic is writing. (Like I do when I’m out at events selling my books.)

And money can buy fame. Or, at least, a best-seller title. There are stories of organizations buying mass quantities of books (especially for pre-order) in order to inflate numbers to make it on a bestseller list. (The books are then distributed for free.) Political and religious figures have done this. Safeguards have been put in place to stop this tactic, not always successfully.

Money can also buy an author’s way into numerous opportunities to market their books. I have to limit where I sell my books because I can’t afford to spend money on airfare and hotels all across the country. Or even internationally. And some events can be really pricey.

I limit myself to one event a year where I have to stay overnight. And I’ve never sold enough books to cover the hotel room. I usually sell enough to cover the costs of the venue and supplies. With enough money, I could travel to many places to help connect with new readers.

But fame can bring in money.

In 2025, some of the gift bags distributed at the Academy Awards were worth over $200,000. The speaker fees for Nora Roberts can range between $50,000 to $100,000. Craig Johnson, the author of the Longmire series, “only” receives between $5,000 and $10,000.

So, which do I choose? Remember that I’m an introvert? I choose money. That way I have more control of my life, my time, my interactions with others.

What do the others on this hop choose? Money or Fame? Find out by following the links below.

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

July 14, 2025

Which would you rather have? Money or Fame?

 

 

Wasting My Time #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

July 7, 2025

What is your favorite way to waste time? (be non-productive)

Bird watching? Long walks? Does it help your writing?

What was the saying? Idle hands are the devil’s playground? I haven’t heard that for a long time, thank heavens. Because having free time is good for the creative process. I’ll come back to that.

Oddly enough, there are times I feel like I have less free time now that I am retired than I did when I was working. It took me time to realize that with no structure to my structure to my schedule, it’s easy to accomplish nothing. I’ve developed a severe case of I’ll-get-around-to-it-ivness.

I’m working on it with a mental list of things that need to be done. But there’s nothing holding me to it except my own determination. Some days, I’m short on that.

I’ve developed some new time wasters.

Bird watching was never my thing. But it’s interesting how many varieties of birds I see in my yard. I think we are on a migratory route and I’ll spot an unusual species occasionally. Once, I spotted a downy woodpecker pecking at the railing on my deck. On a regular basis, there are grackles and cardinals and wrens in my yard. This year, I added several kinds of orioles to my list. (I even put up an oriole feeder this year. I’ve had a hummingbird feeder for several years.) Sadly, I haven’t spotted my neighborhood ravens this year.


Another new time-waster is the time I spend dead-heading my outdoor flowers, so they will bloom longer. That’s a summer-only activity, of course. Doing yard work is productive, but does nothing to add to my word count. Or does it?

While I’m deciding which branches on my quince bush need to be cut away from the house, I may be wondering how many people know what an Army blanket looks like? Do I call it an Army blanket in my story, or describe it as being olive green and made of wool and scratchy? And what is the difference between a pine tree and a fir? More importantly, how does my protagonist deal with the senator’s son hiding out in the mountains? And cutting branches may be a metaphor for the word trimming I am doing mentally. 

So, I don’t believe that being non-productive is a waste of time. It refreshes the brain and allows creative juices to flow.

What is your favorite way to waste time? Check out other authors’ responses by following the links below.

And, as always, until next time, please stay safe!

July 7, 2025

What is your favorite way to waste time? (be non-productive) Bird watching? Long walks? Does it help your writing?

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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Genres I Haven’t Tried #IWSG

  By IWSG
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
The awesome co-hosts for the July 2 posting of the IWSG are Rebecca Douglass, Natalie Aguirre, Cathrina Constantine, and Louise Barbour!
July 2 question – Is there a genre you haven’t tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?
I can’t say that there’s a genre I want to write But  I always said that I can’t write science fiction, but guess what? I wrote it. At least a very watered down version. My book, The Rise Of Jake Hennesssey, was  set twenty or so years in the future. I tried to figure out what changes might have happened to the small town of Oak Grove, where the Jake Hennessey and Harmony Duprie books took place.
Three years later – did I get it right? Well, I’m glad I didn’t include any predictions on politics. I wouldn’t have anticipated the current political climate. But, it can change again before the 20 years is up. And the technological changes are still a possibility.
Will I try again? Well, since then, I’ve gone semi-historical in The Edwards Investigations mystery series, and looking into the future isn’t compatible with that premise.
Check out what some of the other authors have to say about writing in a new genre. Check out some of the links below.
And, as always, please stay safe until next time.

The Difference 150 Years Can Make #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

June 30, 2025

You have been chosen to participate in a time travel adventure, (You’ll end up the same area as you are now.) You get to choose between traveling 150 years in the past or 150 years in the future.

Which do you pick?

Before I begin, I’ll make a confession. When we were considering where to live after retirement, scientists’ guesses of anticipated environmental changes played into the decision. (Plus changes we’ve already seen. The weather along the southern coast of Oregon is different from what it was when we lived there 35 years ago.)

What the question doesn’t specify is how long the adventure would last. A day? A week? A year? That would play a huge part in my decision.

Would I be given appropriate clothing for the era? (How would scientists know the correct clothing for the future?) How about money?

I’ve always been a bit of a history buff, so going back 150 years sounds satisfying. This area was the center of the new oil industry and fortunes rose and fell as wells were drilled and ran out. But 150 years ago, the area was in a downturn from the oil boom and the economy was rough. So, I’d like to make sure I had enough cash to last the anticipated visit. A long stay might necessitate a job and that might be hard to come by at my age.

By Niagara - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21009058

By Niagara – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21009058

It doesn’t appear that I’d run into any of my ancestors. Most of them were farmers and came from various parts of Europe 25-35 years later. (And the genealogy records don’t indicate that any of them ever lived in the little village where we moved to.)

But it was part of the Gilded Era, and some of the grand old homes in the area were being built. So, there was money to be had, if you were in the right line of employment.

If I had the opportunity, I’d want to interact with the local native tribe, called the Senecas by white settlers. (Although the tribe has been displaced by the U.S. Government a couple of times, some of their descendants still live in the area.)

What about 150 years in the future?

Well, I expect the climate will still be livable. (One reason we chose to move here.) It shouldn’t be underwater or a desert. But it wouldn’t surprise me if it were more heavily populated as more people migrate from bigger cities.

I won’t even try to guess at the political climate. Hopefully, the medical field has continued to advance, and many common ailments have been cured. It would be nice to know what the future looks like for the sake of my descendants.

So, given the choice, I’d choose to go back 150 years. What about you? Backward or forward?

How about the other authors? Would they choose to go back 150 years or look to the future? Find out by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

June 30, 2025

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Wandering The Rolling Hills #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

June 23, 2025

Chat with readers about a childhood event that still sticks out in your mind,

Something you’d like to go through again.

I have a lot of warm memories of my childhood. Being one of nine children, it may not have been typical, but it helped shape who I am. To pick one event that sticks out doesn’t seem possible. Should I chat about sledding on a car hood in the neighbors’ cow pasture? Or swimming in a deep spot in a creek? Helping on an archeology dig as part of a summer program? Spending hours wandering the woods and fields that surrounded our home?

How about the summer I went on an overnight trip to practice wilderness survival skills? That may have been the summer after my sophomore year in high school. It was part of a summer school program which was an enrichment opportunity, not a requirement for grades.

The trip was the culmination of a several-week course, in which we learned the basics about local flora and fauna. Since I’d been involved with the Girl Scouts for years, I already had a solid base of knowledge, but wanted to expand on it from a different perspective.

We were a small group, maybe a dozen kids, and two teachers.

I was one of only three girls. (No, I never fit in the standard teen-girl mold.) We met at the school, with our backpacks or bedrolls, and took a school bus to a lake about an hour away. The adventure was “survival light” in that we didn’t have to find our own water and some basic food was provided.

The afternoon was spent fishing for sunfish at the lake, which would become our supper. With the help a a park ranger, we gutted and filleted our catch. At the campsite, a short hike away, there was an abundance of trees with edible leaves (think sassafras) and wild carrots. (We didn’t have to haul in pots and other cooking implements.) We collected our own firewood, and slept on the ground. There was no rain, thank heavens. (I was already experienced in starting fires, so I left the fun to others.)

I don’t remember what we did for breakfast, probably a typical egg-in-a-hole. (Basically French Toast with an egg in the middle.)Then, we cleaned up after ourselves, and hiked to a different spot to be picked up by the bus.

As I wrote this, I wondered what my parents thought about it.

They were brave, letting me find my own way on an unusual path. Did they regret it when I hopped on a Greyhound bus a few years later to go to a college in Wyoming, sight unseen? It’s probably a good thing they didn’t know about it when my husband and I took our three-day old baby camping in a wilderness area.

What about the other authors on this hop? What childhood event are they sharing? You can find out by following the links below. (Most post Monday morning.)

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

June 23, 2025

Chat with readers about a childhood event that still sticks out in your mind, something you’d like to go through again.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Remodeling #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

June 16, 2025

Hypothetical: Someone will pay to redecorate your living room. what would you like it to look like?

Thanks, but no thanks.

My living room doesn’t need much, other than a lighter color paint on the walls. (Maybe even just one wall.) It already has two matching deep brown recliners you can sink into, a matching sofa, a coffee table with a faux marble top that looks straight out of a Victorian room (and a matching side table) a curio cabinet, a full-height bookshelf, and a gas fireplace. It’s a room that wraps around you and welcomes you in when you enter through the front door. The house is an old Victorian era house (but not Victorian style—it looks more like an old farmhouse) and the room matches the house’s personality.

Now, my kitchen is a different matter, and I’d welcome a full remodel.

It’s smaller than I expected from the pictures. The first thing it needs is more square footage, and that requires an addition. It also needs new cabinets, sticking with a natural wood (I’m guessing these are over fifty years old) and new flooring. The laminate was installed badly, and it can’t stand up to the amount of foot traffic it gets. (The flooring is on my to-do list.) A large family were the previous owners, and I can’t imagine cooking for a family that size in the current space.

I want the room to be big enough to have space for a small kitchen table. I’d prefer to not sit at the dining room table to eat every meal. Seriously, I don’t think anyone who does any real cooking would get along with the room.

The color of the walls needs changed, too. They are currently a millennial gray-blue and I’d prefer something bright and airy. A pale blue could work. A shade of yellow might look okay, but I’d need to ponder my choices. The appliances should be replaced, but I doubt I’d be able to find any with the personality and reliability of what is there already.

I have no clue how much this would cost. (The addition alone would likely be an arm and a leg.) But unless I get rich off my next release, it won’t happen.

One thing I should note: I have no experience as an interior designer. I’d be leaning on others for help.

What about the other authors? What are they remodeling? Find out by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 June 16, 2025

Hypothetical: Someone will pay to redecorate your living room. what would you like it to look like?