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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