Month: June 2025

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?

Unpacking Plots Of T.V. Shows #Openbook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

June 9, 2025

Do you find it is harder to not unpack a plot in a movie, predicting what will happen, now that you write your own stories?

I no longer watch TV.

Well, not on a regular basis. And I don’t follow any shows. I gave it up years ago, when I was working full time and taking college courses in the evening. There was no time to keep track of television programs. Besides, I hated commercials. I spent more time picking them apart than paying attention to what they were selling, irritating the heck out of my husband.

Back them I was critiquing their use of devices like the obvious minority representation. There had to be an African American, a Hispanic, and a woman. Or twisting a stereotypical representation of a woman to a man. So, instead of a dumb housewife, you had a clueless guy. Don’t forget the nerdy, glasses-wearing, blond kid with a bad haircut.

Of course, that bled into critiquing the shows themselves for similar infractions.

And man, there were a lot of them. Which led to critiquing for plot holes. (this was before I started writing my own fiction. Great training, eh?) When I began to analyze the first few minutes to figure out how the story would end, it destroyed the experience. The last show I sat through was when Longmire was still on a “regular” channel, not Netflix. And I only stuck with it because I’d enjoyed the books. (I read the first ones before the show started.) Still, I’d pick at the changes that had been made to the stories to make them fit television.

Shoot, I’ve found myself judging the performance of weather forecasters.

Especially on overdone storm predictions. I realize they are working for the ratings, but seriously, not every storm needs to be seen as an end of the world event.

But I do the same thing to many books I read. (Especially romances.) I once had someone complain they didn’t know who the villain was in a book I wrote by the end of the first chapter. I took that as a win rather than the criticism it was meant to be.

What do I do instead? I’d love to claim that I spend the time reading, but no, I spend too much time in front of a computer screen. Writing, on social media, sometimes mindlessly scrolling through various sites. It’s a bad habit and too easy to fall into.

How about other authors? Do they attempt to decipher the plots of T.V. shows while  they are watching them? Check out their posts by following the below links.

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

June 9, 2025

Do you find it is harder to not unpack a plot in a movie, predicting what will happen, now that you write your own stories?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Books That Impacted Me #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

 
The awesome co-hosts for the June 4 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Pat Garcia, Kim Lajevardi, Melisa Maygrove, and Jean Davis!

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.

June 4 question – What were some books that impacted you as a child or young adult?

Confession: I was one of those kids that devoured books. I often read one a day, if not more. I read everything I could get my hands on. Biographies, histories, fiction of all sorts. I’m sure I was reading above my age level, sometimes without the knowledge of my parents. (I read James Michener’s Hawaii the summer after eighth grade.) Our attic was filled with old books, and I read every one, including old encyclopedias.
 
But my favorite was the Nancy Drew series. They were my go-to for Christmas and birthday gifts. I gave away my collection when I went to college. In recent years, I bought several of the yellow-covered versions, but when I re-read them, I was dismayed at the level of racism the books included. They still maintain a place on my bookshelf, but I haven’t attempted to add to my small collection.
 
 
 
But they have influenced my writing. Harmony Duprie, the protagonist of my first mystery series, was partially inspired by Nancy Drew. (Without the racism, of course. In fact, I tried to subtly tackle the issue.) But the books taught me a lot about creating characters and plot.
 
As a young adult, I discovered the worlds of fantasy, starting with the Lord of the Rings. I haven’t tried writing in that genre, not feeling up to it, but I continue to enjoy it. Still, the strong women that exist in those books play a role in the female characters I love to write.
 
To find out what books influenced other writers, check into some of the other posts in this hop. There’s a long list below.
 
As always, until next time, please stay safe.
 
 

My Favorite Summer Plans #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

June 2, 2025

What are your favorite summer plans?

In childhood, summer meant long walks on the backroads of Pennsylvania,

And thru the fields and forests. Bicycling. Hours of reading and doing crafts. Fishing in the “crick” down past the neighbor’s pasture.

For many of my adult years, it meant trips to the mountains. The Big Horns. The Beartooths. The Never Summer Range. Or maybe walks on the Oregon Coast beaches with my children, where the hills tumbled down to the ocean. There were also the years when the West Coast got switched to the East Coast, and the walks were on the long, sandy beaches of Florida and the Atlantic.

Since I retired, my summer plans have changed. I spend my time in my yard, tending to whatever flowers and other plants I’ve managed to keep away from the local white-tailed deer. I no longer have to go to the mountains, since I am living among the rolling hills of the northern Appalachians. I’m there. Or maybe I will repaint my front steps. (Yes, they are purple.) Mornings, I can birdwatch from my little deck. Of course, I have a list of normal chores to take care of.

Then there are the weekends.

And a whole range of festivals and similar events. (You can check the front page of this website to see the current list. https://www.pjmaclayne.com/  ) This year, I’m trying something new. Our borough has a community yard sale the first weekend of June that brings in lots of people, and I’m going to attempt to sell my books this year. It’s free, so worth the try. I’m also adding a few new events to my repertoire. (Waterford and Lancaster.)

So, those are my plans. And somewhere in there I have a short story I need to finish. (I’ve restarted it three times now. Each version has been an improvement.)

How about the others who are  posting on this hop? What are their plans? Find out by following the  links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

June 2, 2025

What are your favorite summer plans?

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