Friday, May 30, 2014

Author Spotlight - P. J. MacLayne

We're back to author spotlight this week. I'm excited to present this author. She's written a paranormal romance, one of my favorite genres. So, we'll get right to it. 

P.J. MacLayne is a computer geek by day and a writer by night. Until a few years ago, she focused on writing poetry. But there were always stories floating around inside her head that were too long to fit into poetic form.
            Then, a few years ago, she heard about National Novel Writing Month. It sounded like fun, and she thought about giving it a try, but let it slide. When it rolled around again a year later, she couldn't resist.
            For those of you who have never heard of it, National Novel Writing Month (fondly called NaNoWriMo) challenges writers to write an entire novel in the space of one month. Well, 50,000 words, at least. It's harder than it sounds, according to P.J., especially working a full time job at the same time. I concur. I didn't make the word count she did. 
            That first year she only wrote 49,000 words and ran out of story. But it was enough to get her hooked. Right now, she has three books in the works, in various states of progress. Thankfully, two of them are part of the same series, and that makes it a lot easier to keep track of her characters.

            Her current book, Wolves' Pawn, was started two years later, and is actually the result of a dream. She admits to having a lot of weird dreams, and thinks it's because she has to be so organized at work, that at night, while she sleeps the creative side of her brain takes over. she never thought she'd end up writing a paranormal romance, because most of her other books (currently unpublished) are more in the cozy mystery genre. But she says the story wouldn't let go of her and she had to write it down.
            P.J. says she fell in love with her main character, Dot, and hopes the readers will too.  Writing Dot's trials and tribulations made P.J. feel guilty, but the promise of a happy ending made her keep going. So here's a quick excerpt from the book. And yes, Dot has to get herself out of a bad situation once again.




Hope you enjoy the excerpt: 

            They were being followed. The four right turns they’d made proved it. One SUV, one pair of motorcyclists. She and Tasha needed to split up. Dot spotted a break in traffic, geared down, made a hard left and headed down an alley. Tasha followed her, but oncoming cars blocked their pursuers for the time being. At the end of the alley, a left-hand turn put them going the opposite way she wanted to go, but also gave them a chance to pull into the parking lot of a biker bar. She nosed her bike among the others and checked to see that Tasha did the same.
            A couple of bikers stood outside smoking, and she pulled off her helmet as she walked up to them, fluffing up her hair with one hand, waiting until Tasha caught up with her. “Follow my lead,” Dot said quietly. Then, fluttering her eyes and leisurely unzipping her jacket, she went up to them. “How’s it going, boys?”
            “Better now,” grinned one. “Care for a smoke?”
            Dot accepted a cigarette and let the biker light it for her, while she watched the parking lot and the street beyond. “You ever have any trouble with anyone messing with your bikes here?”
            “Used to, but since the bar owner added a new security system,” he poked another of the men in the ribs, “We haven’t had any problems.”
            It must have been a long-standing joke, because both men roared with laughter. Dot grinned. “We were a little worried,” she said. “We stopped at a convenience store down the road and a couple of suspicious guys were eying our bikes. We hope to have time for a beer, but are afraid to leave them for very long.”
            The SUV that had been following them slowly rolled down the street, and Dot felt Tasha jab her in the ribs. She barely nodded in acknowledgment. “If you ladies want a beer, we’ll keep an eye on things out here for you. We’re waiting for a friend anyway.”
            “Thanks.” Dot dropped the cigarette on the ground and ground it into the dirt with the toe of her boot. “Maybe I can buy you one later.”
            “Well, I would like that but the old lady wouldn’t and she’s inside, so I’m going to have to decline the offer.” He grinned. “Maybe another time.”
            She pouted and sighed. “Just my luck.”
            “What are you doing?” Tasha asked as they headed inside.
            “Just playing the game,” Dot explained in a low voice. “And I’m not done yet.”


            You can purchase Wolves' Pawn at the links below:


Connect with P. J. on FB and Twitter


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