Tag: #IAmWriting

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Quilting Together The News #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

October 13, 2025

Do you think the rise of independent media is taking over from corporate media?

For instance, the news is increasingly going independent, providing a level of legitimacy to written independent media.

Back in the dark ages, when I was in high school, each week we had a front-page news quiz based on the local paper. It would be basic questions like, where is the hurricane predicted to hit? Or who is the president of Ghana? Just the news, no commentary. The local paper covered international, national, and local news. Just the news, no commentary, except on the editorial page. Of course, there was always Walter Cronkite, delivering the evening news.

When CNN first started as a news channel, it was the news. Twenty-four hours a day. Back then, it covered both national and international topics. I had it on all day, every day, as background noise as I went about my life.

But independent news was happening on a small scale. Community organizations passed out flyers on street corners. Nationwide, alternative groups produced magazines that were distributed by subscription and on newsstands.

Then, the internet happened.

It wasn’t an immediate change, but text-based channels spread different points of view from the mainstream companies. At first, they couldn’t be trusted, as much of what was posted was from unreliable sources. Then, the big companies started filling in the gaps, and we didn’t have to wait for the paper or the news on TV to get information. But the mistrust we’d developed for anything on the internet extended to the big companies.

The news today (at least in the US) is a mess. It’s all filtered through political leanings. No one source can be considered trustworthy. Not only do people need to research the topics they are interested in, they have to look into the reputation of the people posting it. So much of what can be found is no better than a bit of information that has been put through a game of telephone—rumor and innuendo. If it hasn’t been made up entirely.

Do I think that independent news is taking over from mainstream media?

Short answer – no. I believe we’re in a transition phase, trying to find a balancing point between the two. I’m unsure of what the current state of the news will morph into. At some point, I suspect the smaller sources will fall away, just like so many small newspapers have closed. And when was the last time an organization handed out a newsletter on the street corner? (Has social media taken over that function?)

There’s also new technology to consider in the equation. How will a site’s algorithms affect what news you see? When will someone create a tool to defeat them? And with AI creating news, not just reporting it, how can we be sure what we read is accurate?

Now, how does this translate to media in general? As far as music and movies go, there’s so much money involved that I don’t know how independents can break the barriers involved. As authors, we know how that works. Without the money to buy publicity, or the right connections, it feels like a battle we can’t win. Yet many of us keep trying.

How do the others on this hop feel? Find out by following the links below.

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

October 13, 2025

Do you think the rise of independent media is taking over from corporate media? For instance, the news is increasingly going independent, providing a level of legitimacy to written independent media.

 

 

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The Lows and the Highs #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

October 6, 2025

Did you face any hiccups in your publishing this year?

How did you navigate that?

Confession: I haven’t published anything major this year – yet. Yes, I’ve posted on my blog regularly, but this year has been a mixed bag in my writing journey. I even tried taking my writing to Medium, but couldn’t get any traction there. It made me feel like writing was a chore, not a joy. 

The high point is that I’ve sold 90 books at festivals and book events. (And I have two craft shows scheduled before the end of the events.)

The low point is that I haven’t published a new book this year. And the book I published in November 2024 has gone nowhere, despite using a alternative route for publicity. (That didn’t work.) It didn’t help that the print copies of the Rimer Files were delayed and weren’t available for the last show of last year.)

On the bright side, I wrote a short story that will be part of an anthology to be released in November. The 10,000 words took me close to five months to complete. I rewrote the first 3000 words four times before I was satisfied with where the story was going. Once I finished, I was reluctant to let go of my protagonist, Amos Headley. There is so much more he could tell me.

Overall, it was a rough year.

At times, I felt like giving up. But my characters wouldn’t let me. Same for my readers. When one customer bought 9 of my books all at once, it gave me a needed push. But so did the readers who bought the entire Harmony Duprie series on line, all at once. Or one at a time, across one or two weeks.

But mostly, this year was a year of digging deep and staying with it.

How about all of you? How has your publishing year gone? I’ll be looking forward to the answers at the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

October 6, 2025

Did you face any hiccups in your publishing this year? How did you navigate that?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Feelings in Flowers #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

September 15, 2025

Victorians had a whole language around flowers. Do you have a favorite bloom?

Do you know what it means? What does it mean to you?

At least he’d already sent Duprie a gift: an expensive bouquet that the saleslady assured him was correct for the occasion. Something about the language of flowers and pink camellias.
The Fall of Jake Hennessey

I’ve played with the language of flowers in several of my stories. Which was perfect for Harmony Duprie, as she was fascinated by the era. (She lived in a Victorian-era house and was remodeling another.)

What is my favorite bloom? It’s lilacs. I love the delicate blooms, the soft scent. There were four large lilac bushes on my parents’ property. (But they predated my parents’ ownership of the home.) I planted two of them when we moved into the home where we are now. They haven’t bloomed yet, but the one very old bush by the corner of the house has. (Not every year, but I’m hoping I can bring it back to better health.)

I looked up the meaning, and the results were confusing.

Some lore associates lilacs with young love and first loves, which makes sense as they are one of the first flowers of spring. But it was also common for widows to wear lilacs as corsage in remembrance of their deceased husbands. Some sites I researched indicated it was dependent on the shade of purple, others were mute on the topic.

What do lilacs mean to me? I associate them with spring and new beginnings. Plus, I love the way they make a room smell. Barely noticeable, but comforting.

What about the other authors  who join this hop? What is their favorite flower? Find out by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

September 15, 2025

Victorians had a whole language around flowers. Do you have a favorite bloom? Do you know what it means? What does it mean to you?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 

With A Touch Of Humor #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Sept 1, 2025

Share the funniest scene you’ve written.

Alternatively, the scariest scene.

I don’t write funny. What I write are humorous moments in the middle of serious business. And Harmony Duprie, my favorite ex-librarian turned internet researcher, is the perfect character for this.

Harmony is an intelligent woman who sometimes suffers from an occasionally lack of common sense. Her logic doesn’t always work the same way as everyone else’s. That results in unexpected fun and adventures.

Here’s the setup for my selection: Eli Hennessey, Harmony’s longtime boss/lover/partner, has been hospitalized for several months after a serious injury. She’s been trying to track down the person responsible for causing the auto accident. In this scene, she’s discovered an intruder in his room, holding him and two others hostage. Harmony is determined to upend the situation.

I gathered my weapons. The paperback book. The mirror. My purse. If I rushed into the room, there’d be additional items to grab. This wasn’t a precision operation.

But I wanted to start with a message.

I fought to pull off the chain around my neck with one hand. If I threw the dog tags to the right spot, Eli would see them and know I was there. Small enough comfort, but a ray of hope.

The bedframe was my initial target. I didn’t wait for the clang of metal against metal to tell me if my aim had been good. The paperback, thrown in Eli’s general direction, followed the dog tags. Next, the mirror and my purse.

By then, I was halfway into the room. I grabbed the closest stuffed animal and hurled it at the attacker’s head. Instinctively, he raised his right hand—his gun hand—to fend it off. He knocked it away, and it hit the floor and started singing ‘It’s a Small World.’
from ‘The Ranger’s Dog Tags’

On the face of it, it isn’t funny.

But when I imagine my slim, 30-something, glasses-wearing, brown hair in a bun, heroine facing down an unknown opponent, wielding nothing more than a stuffed animal, it makes me smile.

By the way, the stuffed animal makes another appearance in a conversation between Harmony and Eli..

“The minute my dog tags came flying through the door, I knew you were here. And when you followed them, I thought I was in a dream. Or a nightmare. But never tell my mother you used her latest stuffed animal as a weapon.”

“I hope that song haunts him for the rest of his life.”

“You should ask your cop friend to have it piped into his cell on a continuous loop.”

I grinned. “Tempting. But wouldn’t that fall under cruel and unusual punishment?”

“He’d deserve every minute.”

The whole book was fun (but tough) to write, but this scene is one of my favorites. (Obligatory self-promotion: You can find out more about The Ranger’s Dog Tags at https://www.pjmaclayne.com/?page_id=6458.

I’m looking forward to reading the excerpts from out other authors. You can find them at the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe! 

Sept 1, 2025

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Share the funniest scene you’ve written. Alternatively, the scariest scene.

Investing In My Writing #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

August 25, 2025

What is the best money you’ve ever spent in your writing endeavor?

What is the worst?

The politically correct answer is that the best money I’ve ever spent is what I’ve paid to the various editors along the way. Having other eyes look over my manuscript, checking for errors I’ve missed, is worth every penny that I’ve spent. It’s also the easy answer. But thank you, Angela Pryce, Cornelia Amari, and Angel Nyx, among many others. (All of you out there on Critique Circle, you deserve kudos, too.)

But it isn’t my final answer. Some years ago, after being a vendor at a couple of cons and a craft show or two, I realized how many opportunities occurred outside. I had no desire to spend hours in the baking sun of a Wyoming summer.

So, I bought a canopy. Just a cheap one, but it’s done the job for seven or so years. I’ve never got the hang of putting it up by myself, but I almost always get help from a next-door vendor. (And help them in return.)

This year, I’ve used it at four outdoor events. (And sold over 70 books!)

I want to mention a runner-up. Some years ago, I was gifted a lifetime subscription to ProWritingAid. I can’t call it an investment because i didn’t pay for it. I use it regularly.

What is the worst?

I’ve paid for blog tours for most of my new releases, using well-known and reputable organizers. None of them proved successful. They brought nothing in sales, and only one or two reviews despite their efforts.

How about other authors? What were their best and worst investments? Find out by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

August 25, 2025

What is the best money you’ve ever spent your money on in your writing endeavor? What is the worst?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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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!

Click here to enter

 

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!

Click here to enter


Farewell NaNoWriMo #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

April 14, 2025

It’s official. The NaNoWriMo organization (National Novel Writing Month) is shutting down.

What’s your reaction?

My first attempt at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) was in 2011. I’ve talked about it before, but I didn’t “win” that year. The goal is to write 50,000 words in November, and I made it to 49,000 words, but the story ended and I didn’t have more words to add.

It was my first attempt at writing fiction, and I wasn’t satisfied. But I was also hooked. I rewrote that story four or five times, including changing point of view twice, before I gave it up. Not because it was bad, but because it was too derivative of someone else’s work. That story is archived now, and will never be resurrected.

I tried again the next year, and “won.” I made it to over 50,000 words and had an almost complete story. After finishing it, I started the process of revision. But the writing was stiff, and it needed a lot of work. I set it aside, ready to work on the next story that was tumbling around in my head. I’ve won several times, but eventually stopped participating because I had other writing to do.

It’s a shame to see NaNoWriMo come to an end.

The challenge helped a lot of people get a taste of writing, and the rewards for winning assisted writers in developing their skills. But all good things come to an end. I haven’t delved into the details, but I understand that it has to do with opinions on the use of AI in writing. (We’ve previously discussed that topic on this hop.) I worried about how AI would affect writers, but shutting down NaNo wasn’t part of it.

I predict there will be efforts to replace NaNoWriMo with something similar. Probably more than one. I can’t imagine any of them will be as successful as the original. (Think about the number of attempts to compete with Facebook.)

How do the other authors feel about NoNoWriMo shutting down? Find out by following the links below.

As always, please stay safe until the next time.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


April 14, 2025

It’s official. The NaNoWriMo organization (National Novel Writing Month) is shutting down. What’s your reaction?

Writing vs Creating vs AI #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Do you suffer from Automation Anxiety?

(the fear that advancements in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, will lead to widespread job losses, rendering people’s skills obsolete and potentially leaving them unemployed, causing significant worry and stress about the future of work.)

Before I dive into the post, I want to mention that the topic was suggested long before the breaking news of Meta using a pirate site to train their AI. More on that to come.

In the early 1800s, workers in England were upset by the increasing automation in wool and cotton mills, worried that the new machines would do away with their jobs. They began protesting, including destroying the new equipment, with the center of the movement being in Nottingham. (Yes, of Robin Hood fame.) Their leader was purported to be Ned Ludd.

The movement was eventually ended by the use of the legal system, which included sending protesters to Australia. But it left the legacy of the Luddites, a term applied to people opposed to new technology.

I’m surprised that the term hasn’t crept into today’s many discussions on the use of Artificial Intelligence in the areas that have long been considered part of the human fabric, the creative arts. While computers were viewed as enhancements to the fields of science and math, no one saw them as competing with most other fields. After all, their input and output could be shaved down to a string of 1s and 0s.

I was along for the ride as that changed.

I started with WordPerfect on a DOS-based personal computer and made the switch to Word on Microsoft a few years later. It’s transformation from being a fancy typewriter to a computing tool happened rapidly, faster than most users could keep up with. The addition of spell check felt revolutionary, a boon to writers at all levels.

Then came the flurry of on-line tools to assist writers. Hemingway, Grammarly, ProWritingAid and others. Now, those programs may suggest changes to not only spelling and grammar, but phrasing as well. (A simple form of AI.)

Through all of that, writers felt secure in being creators. Surely, machines would never replace the spark of creativity that was humanity’s alone. But AI didn’t remain in a static form.

I have mixed emotions about its current state. It’s gotten so much better at mimicking human creativity, but it’s still not perfect. It depends on a skilled human entering information for a computer to manipulate. Even then, the programs don’t always get it right. (Check out the problems with six fingers.)

Enter Meta’s AI

First, my thanks to Author Angel Nyx for alerting me and other authors to the information in regards to the current issues with Meta’s AI tool. Meta (Facebook) made the business decision to use a pirate website (LibGen) to train the tool. It’s an ethics issue as well as a legal one, because that means Meta used copywritten works without the author’s permission. Several law firms have already tackled the possibility of lawsuits. (FYI – I gave up pursuing pirate sites some years ago, tired of playing whack-a-mole. And yes, several of my books are on the above-mentioned site.)

Back to the original question – do I suffer from Automation Anxiety? It bothers me, not for myself, because I don’t support myself with my writing, but for other writers, I worry. Heaven knows, I don’t get enough attention on this blog to be concerned that AI is going to become my competition. However, there are fields in which it could affect jobs. (I’m thinking of technical and other non-fiction writing.)

But I don’t believe that AI is ready for prime time. I’ve read a few pieces I suspect were AI generated and found them boring, repetitive, and filled with all those phrases that an editor loves to hate. I’ve also heard the precautionary tales of AI generated legal briefs that made up the sources they sited. Not a good thing for a lawyer to present to a judge. That means AI can’t even be trusted for basic research.

How about the other authors on this hop? How do they feel about AI? Find out by following the links below.

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

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

March 24, 2025

Do you suffer from Automation anxiety? (the fear that advancements in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, will lead to widespread job losses, rendering people’s skills obsolete and potentially leaving them unemployed, causing significant worry and stress about the future of work.)

Writing and/or Revising #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Discuss: “Write the book you want to rewrite—

because most of writing is revising!

“Don’t agonize over every word in a first draft; that will only slow you down. Just write the story. Get it onto the page. Drafting is the stage where you capture the idea. Revising is where you figure out how to really tell the story well.” -Beth Kander, author of I Made It Out of Clay

When I started writing, I was a speed demon, throwing words on paper with little worry about their “rightness.” I just wanted to get the story in my head out of there and make room for more. And, as Kander notes, that meant those stories needed a lot of revision.

My earliest attempts didn’t result in what I consider publishable works. Not only was the writing stiff, but the stories themselves lacked merit. No number of revisions would fix them. One, I revised at least eight or nine times, including changing points of view, before finally giving up on it. Another, I started over from scratch after trying to revise it for a decade. (That resulted in Edwards Investigations: The Rimer File.) As I have said several times, the story wasn’t a revision of the first draft written long ago; it was a tribute.

My writing pace has slowed down in the past few years, and I suspect it’s because I can’t turn off my inner editor.

I struggle to find the right word – or a better word – or a better word than that – as I write. (Last night I spent 15 minutes deciding if I should use ghost, haunt, or haint.)  I worry about the order of sentences. I stress whether the story is going in the right direction, or if I need to go back and add a scene or take away a paragraph. Little things that I might not catch in a revision bother me. I have to go back and change them. Big things might never get written if I think they won’t work out.

And yes, I know what the advice is, not only from Kander and others. Write first and then spend the time in revisions. But editing as you go can be a hard habit to break.

Even writing these blogs takes me what I consider to be too long. I don’t want to come off like I know it all. I don’t. Not even close. At the same time, I want to be an encouragement to other writers. We’re all reaching for the same goal – to get our words seen by as many readers as possible.

I worry too much.

About getting things perfect, although I know I won’t. I want my words to mean something. To me, at least, and hopefully to others.

So, I suspect I will continue writing at a snail’s pace. It’s frustrating. And satisfying when I pull together a line that sings. It happens once in a while.

How about the others on this hop? How do they interpret this quote? Check out their posts 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

March 17, 2025

Discuss: “Write the book you want to rewrite—because most of writing is revising! Don’t agonize over every word in a first draft; that will only slow you down. Just write the story. Get it onto the page. Drafting is the stage where you capture the idea. Revising is where you figure out how to really tell the story well.” -Beth Kander, author of I Made It Out of Clay