Friday, August 4, 2017

Friday's Guest Patricia Layne - Who She Was Before #MFRWauthor #writing #paranormal #mysteries

1. What were you in your life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?

            In some ways, it's fair to say I've been a writer since grade school. I wrote a historical essay in sixth grade that won a local award. The first short story I wrote was in eighth grade. In high school, I began my love affair with poetry. I wrote poetry until a few years ago, when, after a long dry spell, I turned to fiction.
            None of my writing has been enough to support me, however. I've been a waitress, a camp counselor, worked for some youth agencies, and I'm currently working in IT. What's the one thing they all have in common? Interaction with people. The more people I talk to, the wider range of characteristics I have to draw my characters from.
            However, I will confess that my heroes might be a bit geekier than is normal. I do work in IT, after all.


2. Are you genre specific or general? Why? I don't mean genres like romance, mystery, fantasy etc. There are many subgenres of the above.

            My writing seems to skirt the boundaries of genres. The Free Wolves series is close to paranormal romance but the books have a lot less sex and the themes may be slightly unexpected. The Oak Grove Mysteries are close to being cozy mysteries, but don't quite fit all the major criteria. I write what the stories demand. One thing all my stories have in common are strong female characters.


3. Did your reading choices have anything to do with your choice of a genre or genres?

            I actually avoid reading books from the genre I'm writing in. I want to keep my stories true to the characters and not be influenced by someone else. Other than that, I read a wide range of books, everything from bibliographies to science fiction and romance. My favorite books (fantasy/science fiction) aren't even in the genre I write.

4. What's your latest release?
           
            The Baron's Cufflinks, book 3 of the Oak Grove Mysteries. Harmony Duprie, one of my favorite characters, is up to her usual antics. This time she's a person of interest in a murder and has to prove her innocence, while, at the same time, keep her ex-lover out of big trouble. It's probably the most complicated plot I've tackled, but I'm happy with the way the story turned out. Harmony and I had a major argument about the storyline in this one, but we compromised and I think it turned out pretty darn good.

5. What are you working on now?

            I'm working on two projects. The first is a 10,000 word story for a compilation with other authors. It's tentatively titled “Love on the Dunes” and is a followup to the story “Love on the Rocks.” The other is “Wolves Gambit” the third book in the Free Wolves story. I've got the first draft completed, but it needs a lot of editing before it's ready to release. A few chapters in, the plot changed from what I planned so I need to make sure I don't miss anything as far as the story line goes.



6. Where can we find you?

You can reach me at many of the usual places.

Blog: http://pjmaclayne.blogspot.com


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