Another Monday Blues Song

Posted on August 19, 2019 by

Monday and I’ve got the formatting blues… C’mon, y’all, sing along with me. 🙄 My brain, it is Swiss cheese. And then it gets paranoid and then it remembers shitstuff and I start over… Anyway, the Nightriders have all been updated in two versions–Amazon and for wide distribution that has no mention of Amazon or links there. They’ve all been uploaded to the ‘zon. I’m hoping to get an update notice on my Content and Devices page when they all go through. I’m not sure what exactly triggers an update. If worse comes to worst case, for those of you who own the books, you might need to delete them from your Kindle (NOT from your library! JUST your Kindle) and then download them again. That should give you the latest version. The quick way to tell is to go to the back of the book and check my book list. It’ll be up-to-date with BLOOD & FIRE and CRASH & BURN having buy links. Anyway. That got done. And NIGHT FIRE is formatted for print. I’m waiting on the print cover before I can get it fully uploaded and done. Tomorrow, I’ll get NIGHT FALL formatted for print and then I’ll start uploading all of them to D2D for wide distribution. I’ll keep y’all in the loop on when they go live.

In other news, my RWA chapter meeting was Saturday. We had a great program on “Writing the Emotional Rollercoaster.” According to the author and editor presenting the program, after we did a little writing exercise, I’m doing something right, at least in the scene I shared, which was from NIGHT SHIFT. (The scene where Easy hides in the kids’ playfort,) Anyway. It was fun to see the gals and emerse in writing stuffs that didn’t have a deadline, or entail formatting. 😂

My Cards are sporadic in their wins but they are staying at the top (or near it) of their division so that’s a yay! College football starts up here at the end of the month. Fall can’t be too far behind. I’m totally on board for cooler temps!

LIVE PD keeps showing scenes close to home. Seriously! This weekend, they showed a “previously happened in Oklahoma” segment where a guy ran from a traffic stop, roared up the street I’m on like 10 times a week, and crashed out at an intersction less than a mile from my house, and one that I also drive through constantly. The reason he ran? Because four bad dudes driving an SUV that looked JUST LIKE THE OHP VEHICLE INCLUDING DOOR DECALS, FLASHING EMERGENCY LIGHTS, and SIREN!!!! had tried to rob him and he thought they were chasing him. 🤯 Yes, that is my head exploding. I can’t make this stuff up! And if I did, readers would ding me for being so over the top.

I’m back in a bit of a reading slump. The next book I really want releases in a week. I’ll do a reread of the series, but there’s only 3 full-length books and a novella. I’ll have them listened to before it drops. I’m trying to listen to Maria Vale’s THE LAST WOLF. Some reviewers have compared this book to Anne Bishop’s The Others series, which I adore. This book? The beginning is really slow and I’m have trouble getting into it. It’s through Audible Escape so I’m not out anything if I don’t finish it. I’m going to give it about an hour of listening time and then I’ll either be into it or it’ll be a DNF.

That’s what’s up in my world. What exciting (or not) things did you do this weekend?

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Friday Sinema: Just 3 Girls from Oklaho–no wait…

Posted on August 16, 2019 by

Okay. I laughed probably more than I should have. Take a few minutes out of your day and enjoy…

Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Amazement

Posted on August 15, 2019 by

It’s August. In fact, August is almost half over. I got married in August. Lawyer Guy was born in August. School starts in August. And in our family, it’s really odd that so many times, passings occur near in time to celebrations. Birthdays. Anniversaries. Holidays. We mark our lives by the comings and goings. Pretty sure y’all are reading this then skipping ahead to what the Universe says and I can see you scratching your heads. “What is this about?” you’re asking.

It’s not the career you choose, Silver, the friend you marry, or the path you take that determines success or happiness in life, but that each day, in some small way, you seek to amaze as much as be amazed.

You “Wow” me,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Oh, Silver, when we’re this good, I just want to give you the biggest hug…. Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmh!

See, it all started with “…thr friend you marry…” Because I married my best friend, who I met in the middle of one of my myriad careers. It was the best friend I married who finally sat me down and said, “Quit and write full time. We’ll figure it out.” And that put my on my current–and last–career. I’ve often taken the wrong fork in the road while shuffling along the path of my life. But, despite all of this, I can honestly say that while I’m often amazed–and go out of my way to stop and notice even the smallest of things that are amazing, I don’t always attempt to amaze. Unless I’m telling a story, putting words on a screen that leads a set of characters on their own journey. And if I’m really, REALLY lucky and really, REALLY good, my words, characters, and their story will amaze someone and I can touch their lives, in a small way.

What amazing thing have you done this week? Me? It was one of the feral cats who now meows at me when I meow at him. We carry on a conversation while I’m putting out their food and the look on his face is one of…amazement. Because we understand each other. What’s more amazing than communicating?

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Wednesday Words: The Games We Play

Posted on August 14, 2019 by

It’s Wednesday again. How can that be? I’m soooo confused. My brain feels like a Scrabble board with all the tiles spilled out across it and none of them making words. Good thing that I’m on my A game and I’ve got this whole #1lineWed thing in the bag. Or on the blog as the case may be. Anyway, today’s THEME is **GAME**. I went searching and came across this snippet starring the Russian and his heroine. The Russian’s story is darker and sexier, as are his appetites. He’s even more reticent than the other Wolves, so no telling when he’ll tell me the whole story. In the meantime, we’ll just have to be satisfied with snippets. Like this one. All I’ll say is that this scene takes place in his office above Nightshades, one of the clubs owned by the MC. The rest is fairly self-explanatory. 😉
****
She stood before my desk, legs shoulder-width apart, arms folded defiantly across her chest, disguising her plump breasts. Her lips formed a tight line slashing above her chin to connect her cheeks.

“Do you understand why you are here?”

Her nostrils flared and her pupils dilated. I saw each of her reactions, minute and telling.

She would not meet my gaze as she mumbled, “You know why.”

“No, I do not. You must tell me.”

“I want you.”

“You want me to do what?”

She threw up her hands, the odor of her frustration singeing my Wolf senses like a sulfur match flaring in the dark. “I don’t know!”

“You must decide, dorogaya, and tell me. This is a requirement before we go further.”

“Gah. Are you trying to play Fifty Shades with me?”

I did not laugh. “This is no game.” I rose. Stalked her. Trapped her against the closed door. “Each time I touch you, your emotions are exposed. You cannot hide them—or yourself—from me so do not try. I see everything, dorogaya. There in your eyes, the raw need. Your body is wet, aching for me.”

She licked her lips, eyes huge as she nodded.

“I have a deep desire to know how much your body can take. How much before you let those sensations take control of you. To have you bare and open. To make you feel and not resist.”

“Yes,” she whispered. “That is what I want.”

I had stripped her naked without removing a stitch of her clothing. “Da. There you are. Raw. Unguarded. Now we begin.”
****
Anyway, the Russian’s story is several books down the road. I have bits and pieces of it and I can already tell that writing his book is going to wreck me. His character is so wonderfully flawed and complex and his heroine is…not who she thinks she is. Until he teaches her the truth. *bwahahaha* What about y’all? Writers, got any game-y words to share? Readers, what’s your favorite game?

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Tuesday Treats: Amazing Muffin Cups

Posted on August 13, 2019 by

So…as y’all may or may not be aware, I’m doing something different with my Nightrider series. Starting August 21, the digital editions of the books will be available at a whole bunch of different retailers. It’s been fun to reread and revisit all the couples and other characters. And since I featured Elijah “Easy” Cross, the hero of NIGHT SHIFT for #ShirtsOffSaturday on my Facebook page, I figured I’d feature one of Samantha “Sam” Prescott’s go-to recipes for breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner that satisfies a full-grown Wolf, a growing boy, and a picky little girl. This is also a great brunch idea for a party. Just sayin’…

Total Time: 45 Min
Prep Time: 30 Min
Cook Time: 15 Min
Servings: 12

Make these breakfast muffins and see why Mexican cheese, ORE-IDA Shredded Hash Brown Potatoes, and sausage make for some truly Amazing Muffin Cups!

What You Need

3 cups ORE-IDA Shredded Hash Brown Potatoes
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 pkg. (12 oz.) breakfast pork sausage link s
6 egg s
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese
1/4 cup chopped red pepper s
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 400°F.
2 – Combine potatoes, butter and black pepper; press onto bottoms and up sides of 12 Muffin pan cups sprayed with cooking spray. Bake 12 min. or until lightly browned.
3 – Meanwhile, cook sausage as directed on package; drain on paper towels. Cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
4 – Spoon sausage into potato cups. Whisk eggs in medium bowl until blended. Stir in cheese and red peppers; spoon over sausage. Sprinkle with chives.
5 – Bake 13 to 15 min. or until centers are set.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Substitute: Prepare using KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese.

Tip 2 – Substitute: Substitute chopped green onions for the chives.

My Tips: Substitute bacon or ham for the sausage, OR go for the link sausage and sprinkle crumbled bacon on top as “garnish.” 😏 Also, not a fan of black pepper or red peppers so I’d ignore the pepper, and substitute onions for red peppers. Not as colorful but hey…flavor!

Anyway, y’all know the drill. Head over to My Food and Family for all the nutritional details. You can still read (for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription until 8/20) how Sam and Easy got together–though I will warn people that their story is not an easy one, despite the hero’s name. The Nightriders live on the dark and dirty side of the Moonstruck World. Now that Sam’s settled into club life, she’s discovered that she really enjoys cooking though she does miss the adrenaline rush of working alpine search and rescue at times. She also wants to know if y’all eat breakfast-for-dinner too? *raises hand* We most often do waffles, eggs, and bacon for dinner instead of breakfast. 🙃

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Monday at a Time

Posted on August 12, 2019 by

Monday. Again. And at the time y’all are reading this, I will have had only one cup of coffee, right before hitting the road. Family funeral. Not the kind of road trip to enjoy. ‘Nuff said. Moving on.

Last week was a week. Things happened. I shall now bore you by telling you all about them.

Writing: I’m updating the Nightrider books to go on wide distribution. They come off Kindle Unlimited on August 20th. I’m setting them up to go wide (hopefully) on August 21st. I don’t want Amazon mad at me by jumping the gun. The ‘zon’s Terms of Service are very explicit. Anyway, I have to remove all mention and links to the ‘zon. And I’m going through each book to clean up typos, and in some cases, rewording things. I’ve learned a lot since I first started publishing, and continue to do so with each subsequent book. Anyway, I’m making mostly minor changes but with the updating of the back matter, I hope that triggers an update at the ‘zon. What does that mean? It means that you’ll have a notice on your “Content and Devices page.” You can click on the “Update Available” and the newest version will be downloaded to your Kindle. 🙂 I periodically check that page to see if I have updates on books I own. Anyway, I’ll remind you again when it’s time. I’ve complete 3 1/2 books at the time I’m typing this. I might have finished that 1/2 book by bedtime last night. Anyway, within the next few days, I’ll begin the upload process and then I’ll get NIGHT FIRE and NIGHT FALL formatted for print, get Only to do the print covers for me and I’ll get them uploaded, hopefully by the end of the week. Busy times. If I get it all done, that means I can start new words next week.

Critter things: Loki got a booster for his feline vaccinations last week. Poor little dude was under the weather for about a day. Now he’s back to normal and terrorizing all and sundry. Jake, who has been my gentleman doggo (but for eating oatmeal cookies, bedtime munchy bone treats, and getting into the trash–all when left alone) decided to escape Saturday. Loud, noisy and possibly scary stuff was going on around the house, which might have contributed to his need to run. My BiL was here and we took off on foot while Lawyer Guy jumped in his truck because…if there’s one thing Jake loves, it’s to go for a ride. We chased over a block, then he came back our way. LG was there, stopped in the middle of the road, but Jake wouldn’t get IN the truck. Nope. He went under it. Good thing LG’s truck is a 4X4 so it sits higher off the ground! Anyway, we finally coaxed him out, got him in the truck and then safely back in the house. Bad doggo! But we still love him.

The reason for all the noise? We had a crew on top of the house chain-sawing and removing a HUGE branch that came down Thursday night at 2:15 a.m. during a series of thunderstorms. Jake, Loki, and I heard it hit the house. Adidas, Boone (who normally freaks over storms and loud noises), and LG slept through it. When I say HUGE, I’m not exagerating. The thin was the size of a regualar tree. The base of the branch was over 4 1/2 FEET around. And it was at least 40 feet long, if not longer. Needless to say, large men clomping about, chainsaws sawing, and large log thumping, the house shook more than once. I don’t totally blame Jake for making a break for freedom. Except it was hot. There are cars that don’t pay attention. And I wasn’t sure he’d find his way home.

Exciting times. Not.

There was baseball. The Cardinals mostly won but they’ve dropped back in both the division and wild card races. Still in contention and there are more games to play. They’ll really have to be on their game to pull off a championship. Pun mostly intended.

Reading/listening slowed down. I should go back and count my Nightrider books in my GR reading challenge because I’ve read these suckers from the title page to the final line of my book list in the back. By the time I stop for the night, my eyes are so blurry I have trouble even seeing TV much less reading so the book I started a week ago on my Kindle is still there, waiting patiently. My listening has slowed down too because I can’t listen and read and I’ve been sticking close to home but for said excursion to the vet with Loki and a couple of grocery runs. I did break down and take Jake to Starbucks one day but that was only about 20 minutes. Still, I’m on the last published book in Ann Aguirre’s Ars Numina series. There’s supposed to be two more books coming but I haven’t seen anything about release dates. I think I’m know what I’m going to listen to next, but that’s not for this week’s round-up.

So, are you bored yet? That’s my life and how I’m living it. So much glamour and excitement, right? *falls over laughing* What’s up in your world?

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Friday Sinema: Falling in Love with a Devil

Posted on August 9, 2019 by

Interesting what pops up when I plug in a search term on YouTube. “Being Bad” got me this video (newly released) by Avril Lavigne. I have no idea why but I’m glad it did. There’s just something abuot her voice that always catches my attention. Add in an intriguing title and a video to match? Inspiration! If this song doesn’t end up on a Penumbra Papers (Sade and Sinjen) playlist, then it might just be the inspiration I need to restart an old project–a “gas light” historical paranormal that’s sort of Dracula meets Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Only in England. 😂 Hope you have a great weekend!

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