Conversations with Pj Braley – CanvasRebel Magazine

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Pj Braley

Hi Pj, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I have always loved to read. I think it was the main reason I liked school: there were so many books to read and experience. One day, probably in middle school, I checked out a novel called “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.” I found the story compelling, but it was only when I realized that the main character, Francie Nolan, grew up to be an actual author that writing suddenly became very real to me. I thought that if a little girl in Brooklyn could become an author, then perhaps another little girl so far away in Florida could become a writer, too.

So, I began writing stories, poems, and letters to my friends and kept reading and learning. As I grew up, writing was where I lived, where I hid, and where I celebrated being alive. Writing was like a puzzle with endless pieces that I found fascinating and challenging.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

My writing path was not a smooth road. I fell in love, married, and embarked on a career with a family, a home, and pets. My career initially left little room for creative writing, but I constantly looked for ways to incorporate my love of words into my daily work life. I know it may sound silly, but I used to read the dictionary on my lunch breaks. Plus, I always managed to set aside some time at home to scribble a bit. At some point, about fifteen years ago, a story began to form in my mind about a race of aliens. Over the next several years, I asked myself questions about them: what did they look like, what did they eat, how did they manage to stay hidden, but most of all, I asked myself, what did they want? I didn’t know then that by working out the answers to these questions, I was learning how to write speculative fiction. The main challenge was to actually write the book. Deciding to finish my degree took a lot of time away from my “alien novel” (as I had classified it), so I had to put it off for five years. However, during that time, I worked on answering the questions in my mind and, as I was to learn, a dream delayed is not a dream denied.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

Writing is my first love, but living inside your head is sometimes too solitary. I love being with people, and several times in my life, I set aside my writing for other, more gregarious pursuits. I took music, art, and dance classes, made new friends, and sought new experiences. However, my writing was never far from my mind, and I always returned to the magic of words.

I mentioned earlier that I thought about my alien book for several years before I began writing it, mostly because it was such an undertaking. None of my friends had ever written a book, and all I could think of was that it would be impossible to finish, it would be terrible, or that no one would want to read it. One day, I thought, “If not now…when?” Then everything just clicked. My priorities realigned; I started writing, and I haven’t stopped. That is what I am most proud of…that I didn’t let my fears hold me back. It’s scary you know, putting yourself – your words (or art, music, or performance) – out there for others to judge.

Any big plans?

My first novel, The Fire Slayers, was published in November 2020; the second, Finding Persephone, was published in 2022, and I am looking forward to the third book being released in November 2024, all by Between the Lines Publishing. I also have an urban fantasy set in post-WWII Tampa that is in final edits for release next summer and the fourth novel in The Fire Slayer series should be forthcoming next fall.

I just love waking up every morning and knowing that it is another “writing day.”

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