It’s my pleasure and honour folks to support and share a little further insight into the very talented Author PJ Bayliss aka Yr Mon Ami…. Twisted Procreator of Poetry, Short Stories, & Aspiring Erotica Writer!
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For those of you whom don’t know him he has written and published two Poetry Books to date called Restraint & Taboo which you can purchase via Amazon!
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I came across this Gentleman’s work at the end of last year, then in the beginning of this year he was one of the first people to read and support my Blog! It was through one of my posts on Books that we discussed Sylvain Reynard’s Novels – Gabriel’s Inferno & Rapture, and how he hadn’t been able to purchase them where he lives in New Zealand…I had recently won a competition and had received signed copies of these Books …and so offered my old copies to PJ….And thus our connection has grown!
Hi Neighbour from across the waves …I’m very excited and grateful to have you as “My First” ever interviewee :-) Ok lets get into it…
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# Debs: So who is PJ Bayliss & Yr Mon Ami?
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PJ: Phew! An easy one for starters…PJ Bayliss is my official non de plume for my writing and I’ve secured things like the @PJBayliss twitter handle and web domain name just in case something substantial comes out of this writing lark. I have the occasional Tweet or update from here, but it’s really reserved for bigger things later on if they ever eventuate.
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I’d hate to be in a position of buying my own name off from somebody at the end of the day.
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Your Mon Ami is a ‘gifted name’ if you like: A small group of lovely ladies I met online came up with the idea after I provided ‘a service’ for them. They wanted to call me “Sir” & “Master” and a manner of similar names, but I rather liked this one.
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# Debs: Have you always been into writing?
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PJ: It’s only been the last six-months that I’ve started to write from a purely fictional perspective, although I spend a lot of time writing for my day job. I guess it is plausible that my clinically detailed approach in writing has been influenced by my career.
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I also dabbled in writing as an Art student a long, long time ago. There’s something I find very appealing about painted artwork and printed media with writing on it.
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# Debs: How do you define Poetry?
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PJ: Ouch! That’s quite a question. I’m sure scholars have this one in their “Poetry 101” final exam questionnaire…
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If I had to define Poetry, I would be inclined to say “Powerful, suggestive words within a verse creates one persons’ poetry.”
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Months ago I was self-critical about Poetry and really struggled to appreciate the poems of others. I grabbed books by the dozen online and in paperback to try to bring myself to terms with it. All I found was numerous examples, methods, and frameworks for poetry around the world.
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The personality of a poet really permeates the verse on any occasion. It’s important for the reader to acknowledge and accept that before drawing any deduction about it being poetry, or not.
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# Debs: Do you have a creative process? Like writing at a certain time of the day; listening to music or prefer silence? And how do you like to write – Phone, Computer or Journal?
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PJ: I believe I have a ‘Mind’s Eye’ when it comes to writing poetry and I almost enter into a complete trance when doing so. It’s quite difficult to explain other than being on another spiritual level in some sense so I can normally shut off distractions or surroundings to write what I wish to. Music, and time of the day, certainly helps though.
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My earlier poems were written into a book first, then tidied up and published. Some would take me months before I felt comfortable with them. I guess through practice & frequency I have been able to create them a lot easier these days.
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# Debs: Who or what inspires you? Do you have a Muse?
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PJ: Inspiration has come in so many various forms, from different people, or personal situations. I borrow emotions from others and try to capture the human spirit whenever I can and I’d like to think my work helps others to heal in the process.
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There is one thing that generally does the trick… a Hamburger. Yeah… It’s strange what a Burger King Whopper can invoke in my mind.
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# Debs: Hmmm….#FoodPorn strikes again. <giggles>
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# Debs: How did you get into Haiku & Tanka styles of Poetry?
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PJ: Last November I was asked to do a Haiku as part of a Blogging award. I was intrigued by the idea of creating a strong mental image with just 12 syllables. I found the Haiku format so easy to use with Twitter, so it became a bit of a habit generating a Haiku each day until I decided to produce a book with 365 Haiku’s for a year.
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Tanka poetry pretty much came with the territory. I must admit, I do prefer them over Haiku due to the extra content and vision they bring to the party.
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# Debs: Words are the essence of story-telling, do you think Music and Pictures enhance that and why?
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PJ: Music & Pictures would enhance practically any situation in my opinion.
Basically I place music & pictures on my posts because the music normally reflects the mood I’m in when writing, or what I think the reader would enjoy listening to. Likewise with the pictures. I guess you can think of them as both being the perfect Wine to complement the meal.
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# Debs: O.o. good answer!!!
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# Debs: Do you ever get “Writers block”? If so, do you have a remedy?
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PJ: I’d imagine practically every writer gets stuck once in a while, and yes; I’m in a bit of a bind right now in fact with my poetry. I think that is a case of wanting to out-perform myself each time based upon the last.
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The sad reality is that Writers Block occurs for such a variety of reasons and specific causes are usually to blame. Some of these causes are simply a condition of the environment. The only thing I could possibly suggest for any writer out there experiencing this is to first acknowledge this condition. Only from there can plans be drawn to resolve it.
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# Debs: Of all the poems you’ve written, do you have a favourite and why?
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PJ: …Why did I agree to this again?… # Debs: Cause we’re mates 😉
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Such a tough question. All of my works are like children & I favor them in different ways. I know myself that you can’t favor one child over and above the others though.
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OK, here goes…. Dreamscape possibly stands out to me for being one of my first poems to really explore the sexual act of lovemaking. As you know, I desperately seek to avoid words of a sexually explicit nature in my writing as I prefer to have the reader discover the scene along the way. Dreamscape comes to me as one of those poems that certainly works well to uncover the scene towards the end while avoiding the typically smut-filled words so familiar to readers these days.
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# Debs: Yes one of my Favourites too…very hot!!!
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# Debs: What do you think about Social Media as an avenue for getting independent writers out there?
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PJ: When I first looked into attending local writing classes the courses were comprised of 50% of Social Media and technology material. I’ve also seen the evidence of an author going the complete opposite direction with local door-knocking, snail-mail, and networking. That didn’t seem to be working so well in that situation to be honest.
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There is a real stigma over Social Media use for anything, let alone writing. It is something that can completely overtake your life and become futile in the endeavor to brand yourself as a writer. I know myself that book sales have not increased dramatically during campaigns where I’ve increased social media advertising content. There is a correlation between the two, but at some point I’m sure the benefits fade away.
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The best advice I ever saw about this subject was from Sylvia Day; in one of her blog posts she simply stated that Writers should to be able to assess the impact of their Social Media effort has against sales and creating content.
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#Debs: Interesting…
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# Debs: What does Sensuality, Lust & Romance mean to you?
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PJ: Where on earth are you getting these questions from?… # Debs: 😇
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OK, Lust is easy. It’s just pure, animalistic instinct that pours from your body when making love. Lust is ‘to die for’ and nothing can get in the way of it. It’s simply physical magnetism.
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Romance is the ‘woo-ing’ phase for me. Setting the scene for establishing love & creating, or strengthening, those intimate relationships we all seek and crave.
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Sensuality is possibly the above two combined, and more. It’s the complete package when it comes to sexuality and love-making I guess. It’s definitely not something that’s expected or predictable in a relationship and I believe sensuality is as much about being spontaneous, a little kinky, and perhaps a smidgin of being twisted when it comes down to it. Above all, it’s a total commitment of the soul.
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# Debs: mmmm…..spot on!!!
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# Debs: If you could make-out with anyone Famous who would it be?
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PJ: Jessica Rabbit… <remember Roger Rabbit’s wife>
# Debs: Hmmm…kinky fantasy hey!
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# Debs: What attracts you to a Woman? And/or people?
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PJ: A sense of humour & being happy in oneself are possibly the biggest traits that attract me to anybody. I love making people smile and prefer it if they can do the same to me.
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# Debs: What excites you in life?
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PJ: Oh vey!…..
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I’m one of those guys where any bound in enthusiasm is usually immediately cushioned through self composure. This is such a hard question to nail…
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I’m pretty much a people pleaser and love to obtain reactions from others through my generosity or effort. I’m the guy who shelters the injured in the rain when I don’t have a raincoat, and certainly wish to be the writer that leaves you with an abandoned sigh of relief when you put my book down.
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# Debs: If you could posses a super power what would it be?
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PJ: Well an obvious one would be the ability to stretch parts of my body into various shapes and sizes, but I think I’d prefer not to have any Super Powers. I’m thinking of Batman here; who’s just a regular, but fit, guy with lots of great gadgets.
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Hope that’s fine with you?
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# Debs: Oh. My….Sounds Perfect to me 😍 <swoon>
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# Debs: If you could invite anyone famous over for dinner who would you choose?
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PJ: Another bruiser of a question…
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I’m gonna have to say Roger Waters from Pink Floyd. That guy seriously rocks plus he has so much to say on the side of humanity and world issues.
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I’d hope he hangs around for a bit after dinner to chill out over a port or three…
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# Debs: Do you have a motto in life?
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PJ: Live and Love as if Life is a Crescendo
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# Debs: Do you like interaction with your readers? Ever had a bad experience?
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PJ: Most definitely yes. I love it, but I am inclined to bring conversations to an end if they’re becoming quite long or if I sense they should be getting off to sleep etc. I think this is because my real-life situation is chaotically hectic and busy, so I become critically aware of taking someone else’s time as they may be in a similar situation.
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I have had a couple of bad experiences many months ago, which I won’t dwell upon much. Let’s just say that the word ‘Gun’ cropped up a couple of times which prompted a quick end to the interaction. It was very unpleasant for me at the time and I ended up loosing sleep or sleeping with one eye open in case they’d tracked me down at home.
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# Debs: What are your future projects?
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PJ: “A Chemical Romance” still remains on my “To be written” list, as always. The first book, Admission, is getting a lot more attention from me lately to bring the whole project forward in time. This is taking a lot longer than anticipated, but it is also something I really want to be rememberable by the reader as well.
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While I’d love to move on from Poetry books to short stories, I think I have at least one or two more poetry-orientated Books ahead of me. One project being a physical paper-back based upon Restraint with the more popular poems included to ensure the price-point is right. The other poetry-based project I’m considering would be called “The Devil Owns a Halo” & will incorporate short stories with various poems. I’m really uncertain about this approach though…
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As you’re aware I’m also working on Chronicle, however, that has been place on hold for now as it’s such a delicate subject to deal with and I know the Chemical Romance stories will thrill my readers.
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# Debs: Do you have a message for your fans?
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PJ: “Fans” – what a novel idea.
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My humbleness aside :) – I really do appreciate every effort to read my material and pimp it out to others. I know just how hard it is to find time for anything these days, so I sincerely understand what it takes to do so in your time.
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Just keep those smiles & great remarks coming as they become the fuel I use to produce more material.
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# Debs: Oh we definitely will Hun 😊
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# Rapid Fire Questions:
- Married or Single? PJ: Married
- Tall or short? PJ: Tall
- Tits or Arse? PJ: Neither, Arse is closet
- Missionary or Doggy style? PJ: Depends who’s on top
- Boxers or Undies? PJ: Boxers
- Batgirl or Superwoman? PJ: Batgirl (Duh!)
- Chocolate or Ice Cream? PJ: Chocolate
- Meat or Seafood? PJ: Seafood
- Beer, Wine or Spirit? PJ: Spirit
- Books or Kindle? PJ: Books
- Camping or Hotel? PJ:Camping
- Beach or Rainforest? PJ: Beach
- Spirituality or Evolution? PJ: Evolution
- Favourite Poets? PJ: Edgar Allan Poe & Robert Frost immediately come to mind.
- Favourite Books? PJ: I can’t say as my recent discovery of fiction novels is responsible for creating new favorites every week.
- Favourite Music? PJ: Rock as a Genre, Pink Floyd as a band, however; I have a huge variety in music tastes.
- Favourite TV Shows? PJ: Kitchen Nightmares, The Big Bang Theory, Breaking Bad
- Favourite Movies? PJ: The Wall, The Matrix, Tron Legacy, … I’m sure these & more are on my FaceBook profile ;)
- Favourite Sports? PJ: All about the same. (Somebody needs to turn me into a fan…)
- Favourite colour? PJ: Blue
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Wow very cool PJ …loved getting to know you a little s’more thank- you SO much 😘 your Awesomesauce!
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And to those who read I hope you all enjoyed as much as I did 😋 ~ Debs xo
# Please check out PJ Bayliss links:
Twitter: @PJBayliss @YrMonAmi
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PJBaylissAuthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/pjbayliss
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/P.J.-Bayliss/e/B00B158XU2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1371003919&sr=1-1
# Amazon Links for PJ Bayliss books:
