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paranormal romance, because most of her other books (currently unpublished) are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.
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
Thanks for the spotlight spot, Jai Elle!
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