Friday, June 2, 2023

P. J. McLayne is Visiting and talking about her newest release #MFRWAuthor #The Rise of Jake Hennessey #jewel thief

 

1. Tell me about your latest release or the book you wish to feature? Genre?

 

 The Rise of Jake Hennessey is the last story in the Harmony Duprie world and occurs twenty-some years after the events in The Ranger’s Dog Tags. Jake Hennessey is a semi-retired jewel thief, who is living out his life as a bar owner and supposedly model citizen in the small town of Oak Grove. But all that is upset when a federal agent saunters into Jake’s bar, claiming Harmony’s life is in danger. The book is suspense/mystery with a touch of romance.

 

2. Where did the idea arise?

 

 Jake Hennessey was developed as a background character in the first book of the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, but as the series progressed, he became more important and became a major part of the story. There were several times I tried to write him out, and it didn’t work Still, he wouldn’t reveal his secrets to me until after I had finished the six books of the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. Then, at his insistence, I went back and wrote the story of how he and Harmony met, a prequel to the Harmony books, but written from the point of view of Jake.

 

Then, in order to give Jake a chance at a happy ending, I wrote The Rise of Jake Hennessey, a sequel to the entire series. But I made him work for it, including several attempts on his life.

 

3. How much research was involved? Did you stay on point or be distracted by wanting to look at just one more thing?

 

The book is set twenty-some years in the future, so I had to make predictions of what changes might have happened. Some were easy - like changes to cars, but others were more subtle. Would federal agencies still have the same names? And what would the relationship between them be? I didn’t spend too much time on research for this book, unlike some of the others I’ve written.

 

 

4. How long did you take to write the book?

 

It took me over a year to write this story. But I bought a house and moved halfway across the United States in that time, which left no time for writing. Plus, after the move, it took several months to get settled in and get back into the writing habbit. And yes, the book was yelling me all that time, telling me to get my act together and get back to work.

 

 

 

5. Now a bit about you. How long have you been writing? What is your Sun Sign?

 

 I started writing back in the days of ancient history, after I graduated from high school. I started with writing poetry, and had some small success with being published. As I got more involved in the computer field, the poetry became harder to write, to my despair. But one year I attempted to write a book for NaNoWriMo and although I didn’t ‘win” I was hooked and I’ve been writing books since.

 

My sun sign is Libra. I think it fits, most of the time.

 

6. Do you write in a number of genres or stick to one?

 

So far, I have tackled three different genres — paranormal, mystery and suspense. I started with paranormal, with Wolves’ Pawn, intending it to be a standalone. It turned into a three book series, but each one can be read on its own.

When I started writing The Marquesa’s Necklace, the first book in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries, it was supposed to be another paranormal, with the original title of The Ghost That Loved Me. But my characters wouldn’t stand for it, and it became a mystery.

The two Jake books—The Fall of Jake Hennessey and The Rise of Jake Hennessey—are best described as suspense, with crime and action subplots. (And a touch of romance, of course)

My current work in progress is a historical mystery, set in Pittsburgh in the mid-1980s, when the city was in the midst of major changes. It features a female PI, and is grittier than the Harmony books. (And yes, the research for this one is taking me a lot of time because I am trying to make it as realistic as possible.

 

 

 

7. Where on the internet can you be found?

 

I can be found in a number of places:

 

                                                  Website: https://pjmaclayne.com

                                                  Facebook https://facebook.com/pjmaclayne

                                                  Twitter https://twitter.com/pjmaclayne

                                                  Amazon http://www.amazon.com/P.J.-MacLayne/e/B00HVE8WZI

                                                   BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/p-j-maclayne

                                                  Newsletter http://eepurl.com/cL73Cz

                                                   Instagram https://instagram.com/p.j.maclayne

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