Wednesday Words: Vagaries of The

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Silver James

So I used to be the person who came up with the themes for #1lineWed over on twitter. It’s not always easy but today’s prompt? Seriously? It’s *THE*. That’s it. It is almost impossible to write a sentence that does not contain the word “the.” See? Since I don’t really want to count how many times “the” appears in the current WIP, I decided to post what turned out to be a rather long snippet but one that’s been freshly written in the past few days. Things are moving along and Ronan is certainly bedeviling Maura. *bwahaha* Side note, why is there not a *bwahaha* emoticon? Asking for a friend… Anyway, this should be fairly self-explanatory.
****
Movement caught Maura’s attention. A tall man, impeccably dressed and the bane of her existence, leaned against the rear wall. Ronan O’Connor, Irish mob boss. And the man starring in all her wet dreams. What was he doing here? He might be standing across the room but she could seen the corners of his eyes crinkle as his lips curled upward into a faint semblance of a smile. He knew she’d seen him. And it was almost like he knew what she was thinking. The man was dangerous. And trouble.

The crime-beat reporter for a local TV station stood up. This woman was cool, confident, and put up with bullshit from no one—especially not Alex. She was impeccably dressed and looked like she’d be right at home in the Kennedy family compound out on Hyannis Port. “Do you have any suspencts?” Her voice rang out, dampening the mild buzz of conversation in the room.

Alex blinked, started to speak, then jerked his head around to stare at Maura. “I’ll let my associate answer that.”

Maintaining a perfect poker face, she traded places with him. Before she could answer the reporter’s question, others shouted at her. Who was she? Spell her name for them. Etc. Etc. Etc. Her voice frosty, she focused on each person who’d been yelling at her until they grew quiet.

“First Assistant District Attorney Maura Brannigan. M-a-u-r-a B-r-a-n-n-i-g-a-n. And to answer your question, Ms. Phillips, no. We do not have a specific suspect at the moment but we do have a person of interest we wish to question.”

A hush fell over the room and the crowd actually leaned forward in their seats. The crime reporter smiled and again, her voice cut the distance between them like a knife. “Are you in a position to share that information with us?”

Maura glanced over at the police officers. The Commissioner nodded. She didn’t smile but she let her eyes relax just a bit. “I don’t have much to share, Ms. Phillips. The body parts belong to known associates of the the victim that was found. He has a brother who was, according some some reports, a…” She paused and let a very small smile touch the corners of her lips before finishing, “the victim’s partner in crime.”

Phillips flashed a dazzling smile and dipped her chin in a small kudos. “So, you’re saying that the brothers had a falling out and in classic Cain and Abel fashion, one killed the other.”

Arching a brow, Maura returned the kudos. “All I’m saying, Helen, is that we have a body and his brother is missing. My job is not to investigate but to prosecute once all the facts are in and an arrest has been made.”

That statement set off another round of questions all directed toward the police. The PIO took over the microphone with a glower in Maura’s direction that he made sure no reporter could see. She smiled to herself. My work here is done, she thought to herself.

As the PIO attempted to regain control, a uniformed officer hustled into the room and jogged up to the line of notables. He whispered something into the Superintendent in Chief’s ear. The man paled but nodded. The chief caught the commissioner’s eye. They exchanged a look. The commissioner grabbed the department’s PIO and whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened before she could hide her surprise. She recovered, nodded to both the commission and the chief and with brisk steps, approached Alex. She deftly moved in from the side, not quite elbowing the DA out of the way.

Maura had to look down to hide the fact she was biting back laughter. The indignant look on Alex’s face was priceless. He sputtered as the PIO adjusted the microphone and took over.

“Apologies, everyone. Those are all the questions we have time for today. Any further questions can be directed to my office or to ADA Brannigan.”

Maura jerked her head up, too shocked to hide her emotions as she sought out Alex. He still looked pissed that his platform had been so precipitously removed and he was glowering at her. He mouthed, “What the hell?”

She gave him big eyes and a vague shrug of one shoulder. She didn’t have a clue and she also had no clue why she would be singled out to answer questions on this case. Alex had claimed it as his very own. He was the point person.

“We’ll finish this in my office, Miz Brannigan,” Alex hissed as he brushed past her. She turned to follow but the commissioner called her name. Both she and Alex turned to look at the man.

“I need your ADA for a moment, Alex,” the Commissioner explained.

Alex shot her a sour look and marched away after snarling, “Make it quick.”

Maintaining her composure, she faced the Chief and the Commissioner. “Don’t worry about your ride,” the Chief said. “I’ll get a squad car to take you back to your office.”

She nodded in thanks but let her gaze trail over what was left of the audience. Ronan O’Connor had disappeared. Good.
****
There you have it folks. Maura’s caught between a rock and a hard spot and I guarantee things will not get easier for her in the next few chapters. Writers, free theme today. Have any words you want to share? And readers. what is THE one book that you are looking forward to reading?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tuesday Treats & Titles: Cheesy Bread Pulls

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Silver James

Looking for an easy, gooey snack? You know for cozying up to watch a Hallmark movie, or the Superbowl? I would have said the NCAA Championship game, but they played that last night. Oh, well. There’s still basketball. And hockey!  Anyway, this one has lots of possibilities and can be tweaked to meet individual tastes.

Total Time: 45 Min.
Prep Time: 20 Min.
Cook Time: 25 Min.
24 servinges

Made with a round sourdough bread loaf, these Cheesy Bread Pulls are a neat way to present friends and family with garlicky, bacon-studded goodness.

What You Need
1 sourdough bread loaf (1 lb.)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Big Slice Mild Cheddar Cheese Slices
6 slices cooked OSCAR MAYER Bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1 green onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Reynolds® is a registered trademark of Reynolds Consumer Products LLC

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 350ºF.
2 – Use serrated knife to make vertical cuts, 1 inch apart, in top of bread loaf, being careful to not cut through to bottom of loaf. Turn bread 1/4 turn; repeat cuts.
3 – Cut each cheese slice into thirds; press into cuts in bread along with the bacon. Place loaf on large sheet of foil.
4 – Mix remaining ingredients until blended; drizzle over bread. Wrap with Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil; place on baking sheet.
5 – Bake 25 min. or until heated through, unwrapping bread after 15 min.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Size Wise: Enjoy this warm, cheesy bread but remember to keep tabs on portions.

Tip 2 – Substitute: Prepare using OSCAR MAYER Natural Smoked Uncured Bacon.

Tip 3 – Cheesy Chili Bread Pulls: Prepare as directed, using KRAFT Big Slice Pepper Jack Cheese Slices, and substituting 1 drained can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles for the crumbled cooked bacon, and 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro for the green onions.

My Tip – I like sharp cheddar so I vote for using that instead of mild.

I’m leaning on my fall-back for good recipes. Click over to My Food and Family for all the nutritional details. Also, Dr. Liz Graham-Lightfoot dug out her copy and waved it under my nose. “Hey! Even us nerd girls can cook. Cheesy Bread Pulls and soup got me through grad school! Now, I have to make three loaves because Michael and Micah each want their own loaf! I mean, how unfair is that?” Sounds like a plan to me, Liz! And also, like father, like son. 😉 If you’d like to read how a wildlife biologist and a former Army sniper turned forest ranger bond over a couple of kidnapped wolf pups, you can read their story in BAD MOON. It’s going wide and you can find the current list of online booksellers at Books2Read. Just click title or a pic with the cover to go find your favorite store. If you already have your copy, thank you! What about y’all? Any favorite cheesy snacks?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Monday the 10th of Never

Posted on January 10, 2022 by Silver James

Oh, wait. The Johnny Mathis song is “The Twelth of Never.” Yeah, yeah, I’m older than dirt because I remember slow dancing to that song at Teen Town in junior high. Or what is now called middle school. Whatever. Anyway, we are a third of the way through the first month of this year. I…can’t…even. I reallky should stop watching the news but ya know, with nuttin’ but reruns on, pulling up a comfy chair with a diet soda pop and a bag of microwave popcorn is kinda entertaining. Kinda. Like watching a train wreck. Hey, the popcorn’s tasty even if I’m teetering between these two faces–and thoughts!

So, there was a week and a weekend. In writing news, BAD MOON is now live a bunch of different places with more coming. I think I’m down to four books now that still need to go wide. The ones with publishers, I have no control over. I did get some new words but most of last week was pend on “administrative” stuff–cleaning up ;the timeline, moving some scenes, adjusting others, find and fix names, that sort of thing. All necessary to turn out what I hope is a quality read. Progress, right? I am hoping for many more new words this week.

I’ve pretty much been in a reading slump of late. I only finished one book in all of last week. Then I snarfed down a short Louis L’Amour books on Saturday. I do love me some Sacketts. I’m currently embarking on a series by a new-to-me author. They’re romantic suspense with some supernatural overtones and so far so good. Let’s hope I stay connected because that’ll be THREE books toward my 150-book goal this year.

On the home front, I’ve done some more decluttering but not necessarily by intent. Boone, bless his old senile* heart decided he wanted to used one of Only’s beanie babies as a chew toy. I got it away from him but it necessitated clearing out the entire corner bookshelf of her stuff. I needed to do it sooner than later anyway. Now they’re all dusted and put away in a plastic bin. Then, we were looking for some information and I ended up clearing out my inbox and one file cabinet drawer–sorting, tossing, and filing. I really should tackle my desk one of these days…*runs screming*

Sports. You can’t make this shitstuff up. As our president would say, “You can Google this.” A Yale transgender swimmter on the women’s swim team beat a Penn Univeristy transgender swimmer on the women’s team. The Yale is going F-M and the Penn is M-F. Yes, it makes my head do this:

I made homemade waffle batter the other night for dinner. Waffles and bacon. Yum! Awesome comfort food and it was a cold, drizzly night out there. Yeah, yeah, it’s freaking January. It’s SUPPOSED to be cold. I know, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I’m old and grumpy. Cold weathe rmakes my knees hurt.

Stormy came over Saturday afternoon to spend th enight. Only and Baseball Boy celebrated their anniversary with dinner at a fave restaurant and an overnight stay at their favorite B&B, the Monastery at Forest Park. I’d like to go stay there for a couple of days for a writer’s retreat. It’s a really cool place so check out the link. FYI, the little dickens was explaining an experiment on Mythbusters to me and got really technical–like how many units of some electrical measurement it would take to do whatever they were doing. I boggled. I shouldn’t, but I did. The little dude is SEVEN!

What else is going on in my life? Welpers, not much, so I guess I’ll wrap things up. Today is a Wallyworld day. I managed to lose my list last week and missed a few items. I need to restork them this week. And then I’ll get back to decluttering and writing, not necessarily in that order. Anything cool in your world? Have expectations for the week?

*He really IS getting demntia. He keeps trying to climb on the sofa tables or large storage bins so he can…I don’t know. Go through the wall? Or through the big bookcase in my office? I mean, is there a portal there I can’t see? Bless his heart. He’s not in pain, he gets around, he eats, he drinks, he does his business. So we just love him, shake our heads, and move along.

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Friday Sinema: Hope It’s Not Gonna Be This Kinda Year

Posted on January 7, 2022 by Silver James

Uhm…I have no excuse. Nor an explanation. Except it’s a catchy tune, the cinematography is perfect for the…uhm…story(?) and while this might be country, it remnds me of every music video I’ve ever seen. Don’t give up on it. Watch to the very end. We’re a week into 2022. I hope this year isn’t the same verse as last year. Just sayin’…

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thursday Thoughts: Universal My Way

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Silver James

I’m what’s known as a hyrbid author. I have books released through publishers and I also self-publish. I had a publishing contract first, but back in the day when self-publishing first came to prominance, I made the decision to take my first paranormal series–Moonstruck–through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) and I put them all, as they were released, into what was Kindle Unlimited and might be called Kindle Select now. In the past two years, I’ve watched the number of my page reads dwindle to the point that the royalty from selling 1 book was making me far more than several books combined under KENP (Kindle Edition Normalized Page–which means you don’t actually get paid for the number of pages in the book but by the number of pages that the ‘Zon decides is in your book). For example, the other day, I sold 2 books and received $2.07 in royalty. The same day, I had 73 pag reads for a royalty of 29 cents. It’s been like that for at least the last 9 months. So, this fall, I decided to get proactive. As my self-published books came up on their KU renewal dates, I took them out, updated their back matter to fit a wide variety of online bookstores and put them wide. In the midst of this, the Universe hit me with the following:

Life is a chance to do things your way, Silver; not the cheapest way, not the most popular way, and not how others think you should.

And a very, very, very precious chance, at that.

Got chills?
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Keep calm, Silver, and get Notes from the Universe.

Yeah. It gave me the impetus to keep going. I need to find a wider audience. It may take awhile, and the ‘Zon certainly does no favors for authors who aren’t excusively in their sphere but hey, deep down, I know this is the right thing for me. Part of the decision stemmed from the fact my backlist has been out there awhile. Part of it was the chance to find new markets and new readers who aren’t dialed in to the ‘Zon. So, I’m staying calm. I’m making plans and changes because I had the chance to do so. I feel lighter, having made the decision and carrying it through. Most of my books are wide now. I have 5 more that come off this month and that’s the last of them. Anything new I publish will be wide. I such at marketing so I’ll probably never hit a best-seller list but that’s okay. I may not make the bucks I made back in the beginning before everyone and their aunt and uncle decided to self-publish. There’s a lot of…books out there. I’ll just leave it at that. So, the Universe hit me with some good advice and I followed it. I thought some of you might want to know why I made the decision I did. And now you do. So, what about y’all? What chance would you like to take but you’re hesitating over it?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wednesday Words: Fish or Cut Bait

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Silver James

And here we go with our first #1linWed prompt of 2022. Whoppee! Up north, it’s cold enough to go ice fishing. Down south, there are fish to fry. Back east there are some big fish, or least they think they are. Out to the west, especially in Hollywood, they fish for compliments. Have I offeneded everyone? Whatever. Idioms, people. It’s all about the idioms. Now, where was I? Oh, yeah. Our first THEME of the year is **FISH**. In today’s snippet from the Boston Wolves, Mick needs to fish or cut bait before Shannon goes after other fish in the sea…
****
“What’s up with you and Mick?” Fiona asked. She sat cross-legged o the floor, her back leaning against Maura’s chair.

“Yes,” Maura agreed. “What’s going on there?”

Shannon chugged a long drink from the bottle of beer in her hand. “I’ve no clue what you’re talking about. Mick runs Clancy’s. I work there. That’s it.”

Bridget had just taken a drink from her lass of wine and snorted some through her nose. She hasitly grabbed a napkin and wiped her face and the front of her sweater. “That’s it? The hell you say.”

Another sigh huffed from between Shannon’s lips. “You tell me.”

Fiona rolled her eyes and uttered an exaggerated snort. “He stares at you when you’re workin’ at Clancy’s. Constantly.”

“And he flirts,” Bridget added. “I’ve seen him. Granted, he’s subtle but the flirt is there.”

“You can’t prove any of that by me. Jeez, I’ve tried, but anytime I suggest gettin’…well…together, he shuts me down. Cold. Like walks away and ignores more for days.” Shannon swallowed some beer. “And, yeah, I’ve seen him flirt with lots of girls. And despite what you all think you see when it comes to him an’ me, a girl knows when she’s not wanted. Trust me on that.” She stared at the women sitting around her. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t sweat the small stuff.”

That declaration was greeted with snickers. “Small stuff? Is there anything small about these guys?” Bridget asked, batting her lashes and making a kissy face..

“Like I would know,” Shannon groused.

Fiona peered at her. “And why would ya not? Bowie does nothing small. He’s…insistent that I’m his. I mean, Mick O’Connor is a big boss. You’d think he’d be right on top of things.” She grinned, pink coloring her fair skin, causing her freckles to glow. “Bowie certainly is. On top of things.”

“Shush, Fee. That’s m’brother you’re goin’ on about,” Shannon ordered. “It’s bad enough we live in the same apartment. I don’t need t’know what the devil m’baby brother is up to.”

Fiona’s grin turned cheeky. “He’s up to mmphhmmph.” Shannon smushed her palm against Fiona’s mouth.

Chugging the rest of her beer, Shannon pushed off the couch. “Well, I’ve had enough waitin’ around. Big or small, if Mick O’Connor is too dense to get the message that I’m interested in goin’ the next step with him, then he’s not man enough for me. I’m tired of bein’ celibate and there are other fish in the sea.”

“What about Brendan?” Bridget asked, smirking.

“Ewww. M’brother’s bestie? No.” She gave an exaggerated full-body shudder. “Just…no.”

The sound of what could only be a masculine throat clearing tugged all the women’s eyes to the doorway. Mick O’Connor himself stood there, stony-faced and glowering. His gaze flicked across all of them before coming to a stop on the one with black hair. He pinned Shannon in place with the force of his stare.

She blanched. “Oops.”

“Come with me.” Mick’s voice left her no choice.
****
There you have it. What do you think Mick is gonna do? Yeah, me too.😉 So, writers, do you have any fish in your WIP? And readers, tough question today. What’s your favorite fish? Mine’s a toss up between lobster and crab. What do I have in my house? Canned tuna. What can I say?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tuesday Treats & Titles: Bacon Crack Candy

Posted on January 4, 2022 by Silver James

I don’t have a picture of this particular treat to share. Frankly, I haven’t made it. Yet. And the batch I scarfed down was a treat from a friend. And yeah, I didn’t stop eating long enough to think about taking a pic to use. I suspect there’s a few of you out there who want to try this if you don’t already have a recipe in your box. It’s got to totally be a Southern thing but also a hit for anyone who likes bacon!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 16-inch x 111-inch tray yields apprximately 40 pieces

Ingredients
1 1/2 sleeves saltine crackers
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 lb Bacon

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a greased or sprayed rimmed baking sheet (16″ x 11″) and cover with foil or parchment so it also comes up the sides.

2. Chop the bacon into bits and cook in a pan until crispy. Drain on some kitchen paper, pat down to remove as much grease as possible, then set aside.

3. Put down a single layer of crackers to cover the pan

4. In a saucepan, add the sugar and butter and heat until it has all melted and begins to boil. Be careful because this mixture is HOT. Give it a stir and when the syrup is boiling, continue to boil for 3 full minutes.

5. After 3 minutes, pour the mixture, CAREFULLY (It is hot remember!) over the crackers and place in the oven for 5 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the bacon all over. Allow to completely cool then break in to pieces.

I have no tips though I’ve heard a rumor that there’s a version with melted chocolate chips,* for those of you who are adventurous. Me? I’m just happy with the sweet and the bacon. I’m not the only one. Celina Monaghan is a Texas girl and EMT. You can bet every time she walked in with a box of this, her ambulance crew thought she was the bomb. Now, after mistaken identities, a harrowing experience involving a Blood Moon, and other mayhem, she jonly whips some up for her mate, Rhys Kendric. You can explore their story in BLOOD & FIRE, a Moonstruck Wolf novel. This book is currently going wide and is available (or will be soon!) at a variety of online booksellers. You can find your favorite store by clicking on Books2Read, the title or either cover pic. What about y’all? Are you bacon fans?

*Okay, I KNOW there is a version that’s chocolate and pecans (I have that recipe too because this stuff really is crack) and it’s the bomb. But I’m tellin’ ya, the bacon version is pretty darn tasty! Can you say Superbowl snack?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

2022’s First Monday

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Silver James

I almost feel like there should be a fanfare of trumpets and beat of drurms. Or something. Maybe not. Monday is just Monday afterall. So. New year, new month, new week, new day. I should feel all productive and raring to go. Or something. I’ll work on that, after another cup of coffee. Baby, it’s cold outside and I just want to curl up with a good book and snooze. However, new new new so…whatever. Coffee, don’t fail me now. So much for my word for the year. I used to do that. A lot. Pick a word as my theme for the year. I got out of the practice a few years ago. Then someone reminded me and I said to myself, “Self, we should do that. Good idea, right?” And it came to me. Balance. I need balance in my life. And I mean that in every sense of the word–physical balance, life/work balance, procrastination/productivitiy… Basically, every corner of my world needs some balance. Does this mean I made resolutions? Oh to the hell no. Did I set goals? Not really. That said, I have some hopes for the coming year that I’ll discuss as we go along. If I remember. Heck, maybe I should order some of that Prevergin (or whatever–also spelling) they advertise on TV. Or that sleep thing. Both would help. Moving on.

Does anyone else find the week between Christmas and New Year’s to be…weird? Like you should be both introspective and proactive, reflecting on the past year and predicting the coming one. Me? I just procrastinate and try to figure out what needs to get done before the calendar flips over and what I can put off until it does. I also stare at the new calendars I got for Christmas and try to decide when I should actually put them up. I waited until Jan. 1.

Writing. I did a little. Very little. Mostly, I edited and updated two books–MIDNIGHT CAFE and BLOOD & FIRE–and got them uploaded to D2D. I also added some updates to the website with the new links as both books are going wide. I have five more books coming up this month. Speaking of writing, I’m hoping to get out of my rut. I’d dearly love to complete a book in each of my series. I figure fans of each one will be happier with me if I do. I wonder if there’s something I can take to boost my creativitiy? Besides coffee, I mean. Anyway, Nightriders, Penumbra Papers, Moonstruck Wolf (which will be the Boston Wolves), Hard Target, Red Dirt Royalty, and the Christmas story/maybe the novel in the new anthology series with other authors. That’s 6 books. That’s a book every two months. I used to write a book a month, or close to that. Then I got old and procrastination moved in and made itself at home. We’ll see what happens. I need that balance between lethargy and creativity and I need to balance out the series with new releases. Heck, I’d love to throw the Cajun Wolves in there, but that’s probably pushing it.

On the homefront, I want to finish decluttering my office. I’m making a little progress but I desparately need some organizaiton in here, and in my life. At least half the stuff in here belongs to Only. This was her room before she married and moved out. Thing is, they don’t room eithe. So, I’ll box it up for her to take a box home to sort. Hopefully. I have a floorplan in my head but the execution is complicated. This has to move there so I can move that to this’s spot, but another thing has to be cleared and shuffled around before this can move. See? Complicated. Small bites, as a friend likes to remind me. This where that some of that balance comes in–balancing sitting at my computer working (or playing mindless games) and beling lazy or getting up and sorting through shitstuff. That gets me up and moving, getttin on a two-step ladder to reach a high shelf, and improving my physical balance by climing, bending, reaching, etc. See what I did there?

Speaking of decluttering, I DID clear out three shelves in my built-in clothes pantry. The closet is next. I’ve got stuff in there I haven’t worn for at least 10 years. Why the fuckfrack am I keeping it? I doubt much of the stuff shoved to the back even fits anymore. And again, that whole balance thing–mentally and physically. I will not talk about a balanced diet. Nope. Moving on.

In other news, my OSU Cowboys beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl! Pistols firing! I have no fingernails left because the Cardiac Cowboys were riding the range on Saturday. Argh! But they came back and then held on. OU also won, beating Oregon. College football is mostly over now. There’s one last bowl game tomorrow night, Kansas State against LSU and then I guess Georgia and Alabama square off in the national championship game on the 10th. *yawn*

I did cook for New Year’s. I fixed a brisket, my home-made BBQ sauce, baked beans, deviled eggs, and I thawed the extra pan of rolls I made for Christmas. All was yummy. I haven’t done brisket in a loooong time. The pan is still soaking in the sink. I’ll get around to scrubbing it. One of these days. 😉

I’m in a real reading slump and it’s killing me. I spent literally hours going though the list of paranormal romances on Audible. I found a couple I thought might hold my attention. I didn’t feel confident to spend the money to buy them. I’m cheap when it comes to new-to-me authors and/or book/series. I don’t want to be that customer–you know, the one who buys the book, reads it, is bored, and returns it. I do that a lot, which is why Audible Plus, my library and Hoopla are all friends of mine. Any suggestions?

Nothing new on TV. I do enjoy THE OSBORNES WANT TO BELIEVE and FRIGHT CLUB on the Travel Channel. Listening to Sharon and Ozzy makes me giggle. Poor Jack. Jack Osborne is also on FC, with the Ghost Brothers, 3 black dudes from Texas(?) who are paranormal investigators and made of all kinds of awesome. They share clips of the paranormal and try to freak each other out. Fun times. Yes, I am warped. Shut up.

So, that’s it for this first Monday of the first week of 2022. Let’s just hope that this year isn’t all “2020, too.” (Say it out loud and you’ll get it if you don’t have it already.) Do you have goals for the year? Wishes? Aspiratitions? Do you have a word of the year? Share!

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Friday Sinema: Christmassy New Year’s Eve

Posted on December 31, 2021 by Silver James

Happy New Year’s Eve! If you get out and about, celebrate wisely. Designated driver or ride share, people! Just sayin’. In the meantime, I didn’t see this video until after Christmas and it made me giggle a little. Plus, Blake Shelton* in if tux? What’s not to like? Also, stick around for the “outtakes” at the end. Just sayin’! See y’all next year.

*This was filmed 3 years before Blake and Gwen tied the knot this summer.

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Present

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Silver James

2021 is quickly drawing to a close. I’m not making plans for 2022. Not until I see what it brings, at least. That might sound rather negative but hey…2021 was supposed to be all “Yay! 2020 is over! 2021 is gonna be great!” Yeah. Right. I saw a meme the other day that said “I just realized that 2022 is pronounced 2020 too.” With that in mind, I’m not truly in a bad headspace. I’m really not. Promise. By the end of January, all of my books will be in wide distribution. (That’s over 50, people! FIFTY!) Not resting on those laurels, though. I have more books in me. And without making promises, I do see better writing days ahead. Anyway, when this message from the Universe popped up in my inbox, the lightbulb went on.

Silver, all that you need, to have all that you want, lies inside of you, right now.

Everything,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Silver, what a package.

I’m not sure about that last bit. What you see is pretty much what you get with me. The rest of the message? Totally. I get it. The power to be me lies inside. The power to become what and who I want to be, to do and go where I want. My happiness is up to me. My success is up to me. I just have one thing to say back to the Universe. I got this! Because I do. Or will. I’m a work in progress and 2022 is a new year to build. I can add to my foundation. I create new. I can do and be and laugh and cry and love and yeah, I can even get angry. Damn but it’s good to be alive. Life belongs to me and I’m going back to living it to the fullest, despite…stuff.* So Happy New Year, my friends. Be all you can be–or want to be. It’s all right there inside you for you to do what you want.

*I try to stay apolitical here but it gets harder and harder.

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments