Thursday Thoughts: Universal Buttons

Posted on August 12, 2021 by Silver James

The world is pretty crazy. I cringe when I walk into a room with a TV tuned to the news. I can’t look at any of my social media feeds–which isn’t fair to the people I care about–but it’s self-preservation because the stupidity just…burns. I admit that I have hot buttons. Push them, the world is going to get  reaction. Usually, it’s poor Boone and Jake. Loki is smarter. He knows when to disappear. And it’s Lawyer Guy. I listen to him gripe. He listens to me. That’s in the marriage rules. Anyway, when this popped up in my inbox, I stopped to think about it, and I decided it was worth sharing.

You know those folks who push your buttons, Silver?

Here’s the deal: Once you love your life and yourself so much that you no longer care about their behavior… they disappear.

Spiritual housekeeping,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

The power of self-love, Silver, is all of that and so much more.

I think the Universe just might be on to something. I walked away from a professional organization because they let the bullies dictate the rule. I can’t abide bullies. And man, the world is full of them right now. And yeah, all those hot buttons are getting pushed. So what am I doing about it? I’m walking away. I’m an adult. I can ignore the stupid. And then I write. I get to dictate the rules in my world. I get to punish the bad guys, make sure the good guys win, and those who matter get their Happy Ever After. Take time today and every day for a little self-love, people. Learn to take the power back. Find a way to channel the good you find and ignore the rest. I know. Easier said than done, but hey, it’s worth a try, right?

P.S. I’m still working on making them disappear. It’s a Work In Progress…like one of my books.

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Wednesday Words: Heal Me

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Silver James

Guess what today is? #1lineWed which means a new snippet and today’s theme is **HEAL**. Have I mentioned Ronan O’Connor? Yeah, he’s the very sexy Wolf who is the nominal leader of Boston’s Irish mob. Wanna guess who his mate is? I think I’ve introduced Maura Brannigan here before. Or not. Anyway, she’s an assistant district attorney. Fate is such a…brat sometimes. 😉 Anyway, apropos of nothing, have a snippet that currently is a random scene in the book. It’ll find it’s place eventually.
****
Why did Maura even bother locking her door? Finding Ronan O’Connor sitting in her living room no longer freaked her out. No. Not sitting. Lounging. He sprawled on her couch, feet propped on her coffee table, the TV tuned to something sporty. He muted the program, watching her as she dropped her purse and keys on the hall tree before stripping out of her coat and kicking off her boots. Ignoring him, she headed to the kitchen. After an interminable day at work, she wanted two things—the bottle of wine chilling in the fridge and a hot bubble bath.

He followed her, and as soon as she turned from the fridge, he snagged the bottle out of her hand. A corkscrew appeared as if by magic. Maura didn’t bother with a wine glass, grabbing a plastic tumbler instead. This was no time for the finer things. He smirked, damn him, but poured a healthy amount into the glass she held out. She stepped around him, still not speaking, and schlepped to the bathroom. She shut and locked the door, then realized she’d forgotten the bottle. Opening the door, she reached out, retrieved the bottle from him, shut and locked up once more.

Ten minutes later, she was naked but for steaming water and bubbles. The door opened. Of course it did.

“Why can’t I keep you out?” she asked without opening her eyes.

“And why would you want to?”

The faint Irish in his voice washed over her as gentle as the bubbles in her bath. Focus, she ordered her brain. “Gee, let me think…because I don’t like you.”

“Why do you keep lying to yourself?”

Good question. She did like him. Despite everything. Like the fact he was the number two boss of the Boston underworld—at least the Irish portion of it. He was a criminal. And Maura Brannigan was the up-and-coming, shining star of the District Attorney’s office. It was just a matter of time before they were together in a courtroom, her at the prosecutor’s table and him across the aisle with his defense attorney.

“Go away, O’Connor.”

“That’s not gonna happen, Maura.”

Frustrated, she slugged back the wine left in the tumbler. Before she could set the glass down, he’d refilled it. “It won’t work.”

“Oh? Ya seem to be relaxin’ with all that wine in ya. I think it’s workin’ just fine.”

She opened her eyes so she could roll them at him. “Us, Ronan. We won’t work. We can’t work.”

“He’s dirty,” Ronan said, cutting her off.

Maura saluted him with her glass. “As I found out today. Thanks for noticing.” She sat up, ignoring the way his eyes dropped to her chest. She could be a burlesque queen for all the bubbles covering her. “I can’t fix this.”

“No, ya can’t. The man made his bed and crawled into it with the scum.”

She wanted to scream. “How many murderers and rapists will get out because of him? How many victims and families who finally started to heal will be torn apart?” She choked back a sob. “Too many, Ronan. Too fucking many.”

And then she was out of the tub and cradled in his lap as he sat on the closed lid of the john. He held her and soothed her and she cried. Maura never cried. Except this once. With this man. Just for now. Tomorrow would be a different story.
****
And that’s the crux of it. I’m going to enjoy watching these two dance their tango. Writers, any healing words to share? Readers, when you’ve had a bad day, what do you reach for to help heal your frazzled nerves?

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Tuesday Treats and Titles: Lemon-Blueberry Bread

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Silver James

I love blueberries. Blueberry muffins. Blueberry pancakes. I even buy extra packages of dried blueberries to add to our trail mix. I also like lemon. I put lemon in my tea, on fish, and lemon meringue pie is a favorite. Mix the two flavors? Yummers!

Total Time: 1 Hr. 15 Min.
Prep Time: 10 Min.
Cook Time: 1 Hr. 5 Min.
16 servings

Sweeten up your family’s day with our Lemon-Blueberry Bread Recipe. This Lemon-Blueberry Bread Recipe makes use of a great combination of fruit flavors.

What You Need
1-1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp. flour, divided
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup BREAKSTONE’S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup blueberries

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 350°F:
2 – Combine 1-1/2 cups flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, sour cream, oil, lemon zest and vanilla until blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until blended.
3 – Toss blueberries with remaining flour; stir gently into batter. Pour into greased and floured 9×5-inch loaf pan.
4 – Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 5 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min. Remove bread from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Substitute Applesauce for Oil in Baking: Looking to cut some of the fat from your baking recipe? Applesauce makes a great substitute for all or part of the oil in muffin, brownie, cake and cupcake recipes. Just use 3/4 cup applesauce in place of each cup of oil. (Note that this substitution is not recommended for cookie recipes or for fats other than oil.)

My Thoughts? Healthy is one thing but does applesauce change the flavor? Not sure I’d try this for this particular recipe because…lemon! And blueberry!

My Food and Family is my go-to for recipies so CLICK HERE to get all the details of this one! Blueberries grow wild in West Virginia and when they ripen, all the kids go picking and the mates get together–well, except Hannah, because…well…it’s Hannah!–to bake, preserve and generally have a good time. MOON SHOT tells the story of the Wolves coming back together and moving to West Virginia so they could finally take care of business. I’d suggest reading the rest of the books because…that’s just me. I like to start at the beginning. You can read MOON SHOT for free with a Kindle Unlimited subcription or buy it for your own library. 😉 Just click on the picture above or the title to head on over to grab your copy.

What about y’all? What two flavors do you like to pair together?

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Dog Day Monday

Posted on August 9, 2021 by Silver James

Starting the second week of August means we really are hitting the Dog Days of Summer. What does that actually mean? Bein’ raised in the South, we always figured the term meant that it was so hot, the dogs wouldn’t get off the porch because that’s where the shade was. Curious, I checked the Farmer’s Almanac, which had this to say:

The phrase is actually a reference to the fact that, during this time, the Sun occupies the same region of the sky as Sirius, the brightest star visible from any part of Earth and part of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog. This is why Sirius is sometimes called the Dog Star.

In the summer, Sirius rises and sets with the Sun. On July 23rd, specifically, it is in conjunction with the Sun, and because the star is so bright, the ancient Romans believed it actually gave off heat and added to the Sun’s warmth, accounting for the long stretch of sultry weather. They referred to this time as diēs caniculārēs, or “dog days.”

Thus, the term Dog Days of Summer came to mean the 20 days before and 20 days after this alignment of Sirius with the Sun—July 3 to August 11 each year.

Who knew!?!? Well, now you do, if you didn’t before. There was also a weekend and week and wepre facing a new week. Friday, Lawyer Guy and I celebrated our 38th anniversary. He’s such a romantic. He bought “cut crystal” plastic plates and Stella Artois Summer Solstice beer so we could celebrate while we ate our sub sandwiches. It was too hot to cook and/or go out. And we’re kinda homebodies anyway. It was fun.

In the “I Can’t Make Ths $h!t UP” category…LG went to the grocery store. Wait, that’s not the weird part. He does that to pick up stuff he needs that he forgot to put on my list and he always asks if there’s something I need. Anyway, he pulls into the lot and parks. There is a Harley motorcycle parked in one of the handicapped slots. And by George, it does sport a handicap liscense tag. LG heads inside and as he turns down one aisle, he finds two people riding in the handicap scooters. The woman is rather…large. And wearing shorts and a leather vest over a tank top. The man is thin with a snake-like ponytail that hangs to his belt. He’s wearing a wifebeater and his vest. None of the patches are…significant. Oh, and the dude is also carrying one of those HUGE old-fashioned Colt .45 pistols shoved into his belt. To make a rather long story short, the guy RUNS OVER A LITTLE DEBBIE’S DISPLAY. He knocks it over, runs over some of the product and just keeps on rollin’, his old lady following, though she did dodge the fallen boxes. LG and another customer reset the display and picked up and stacked the undamaged products. The Black gentlemen then offered to take the damaged items to checkout as he’d been headed that direction when the mishap occurred. The whole time LG and the nice guy are picking up, they are talking about the other two. I really need to hang out with LG more. Weird stuff always happens to him!

Saturday was siren test and lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant with the Kids. Only totally forgot it was our anniversary. She did manage to figure out how long we’d been married, based on her age. This was not a big deal. At our age, we’re just happy to be together and still breathing! 😉

In writing news, I did some! I’m now working on Chapter 6 and I should hit 18K words today, if not more. Progress! So far, all the various characters are playing nice. Let’s hope that continues.

After getting swept by the Braves, my Cards bounced back and played well against the Royals. They still have a long row to hoe to make it to one of the Wild Card slots for the post-season. They’ve done it before and there’re rumors about Flaterhy and Mikolas coming back to their spots in the starting rotations. I tried to watch some of the Olympics but most of the sports I’m interested in never really made the screen. Ah well. In the long run, USA topped the list with 39 gold medals and 113 total medals. The surprise wins were awesome. I didn’t do much other TV watching. Most of the shows I like are on hiatus.

In other news, it’s hot. But not as hot as out West. My sympathies go out to all those suffering from the heat and the fires. It’s awful out there.

Stormy is here every day this week. Baseball Boy’s back-to-school date is a week and a half earlier than Sotrmy’s. Lawyer Guy already has “guy  stuff” planned for them. He’s a good kid and a pleasure to be around. We got lucky with our kids.

And that’s all the news that’s fit to print from my neck of the woods. What’s goin’ on in yours?

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Friday Sinema: Summertime

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Silver James

Y’all know I’m a southerner. And y’all know that I find the fine folks at It’s a Southern Thing to be hilarious. Why? Because they are so dead on! Today’s video is all about the things you will never hear one of us say in the summertime….

Also, happy 38 to Lawyer Guy. Here’s to many more years of you having to put up with me. 😉

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal POV

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Silver James

So…writing hasn’t exactly been easy-peasy for…oh…quite awhile now. Writing was something I always did. If I wasn’t writing, I was thinking about writing because the stories were all there, milling about in my head just waiting for me to jot down the words. Then stuff happened. Not necessarily bad stuff…just stuff. Stuff that got in the way. Stuff that took my mind off the whys and they wheres and the whos and the hows. The last book took me forever.  I partially blame Stuff, but I also partially blame the book because it kept taking wild detours. Since THE GHOSTS AND THE ANCIENT STONES released, I’ve been fiddling around with a couple of different projects, all of which need to be written ASAP. Yet the words just aren’t gelling. Except sometimes the are. Then the Universe popped in for a visit…

Believe me, I know all about it. I know the stress. I know the frustration. I know the temptations of time and space. Silver, we worked this out ahead of time. They’re part of the plan. We knew this stuff might happen. Actually, you insisted they be triggered whenever you were ready to begin thinking thoughts you’ve never thought before.

Good on you,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Silver, new thinking is always the answer.

The Big U is right. The project that is sort of whispering in my ear is not my normal way of of doing things. It’s like writing a TV series with an ensemble cast. No one story within the patchwork of the whole is as important as the next character’s. It’s weird. And it’s kind of wonderful in away. I get to control the entire timeline for this group of Wolves. And I have more Wolves than I have heroines at the moment and you know what? That’s okay. Not all of them may find their one. But the ones who are? Yeah, I’m liking herding these cats. And I’m adding words, usually every day, though not always in huge amounts. One sentence at a time, right? Right. Progress is better than procrastination. I’ve been doing enough of that for…like…forever!

So, readers, would you read a book that’s set up like an episodic TV show? And writers, have you ever deviated off your plan and find something that works better for you? Inquiring minds want to know!

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Wednesday Words: Little Miss Sunshine

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Silver James

It’s August. That means plenty of **SUNSHINE** in this neck of the woods so lots of inspiration for the #1lineWed challenge. I sort of stalled out on the WIP but a very wish author once advised, “If you get stuck, move to the next scene you know is going to happen.” That works great for her because she’s a plotter. 🤣 Still, as a puzzler, I can always move to a different scene, and actually, if not the scene after my sticking point, it is something that happens the same morning. So…win! Anyway, This is sort of riff on last weeks scene with Bowie and Fiona. Shannon is Bowie’s sister and they live together. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
****
Shannon walked into Rosie’s and didn’t bother with going to a table first. She walked straight behind the counter, grabbed a mug, and poured her own coffee. Melba, the Black woman who commanded the counter, raised an eyebrow.

“I’m guessin’ that’ll be a full Irish for you this morning.”

“For sure,” Shannon replied after taking a sip. “And dibs on my own pot of coffee.”

Melba threw back her head and laughed, still chuckling as she yelled through the window separating the front of the diner from the kitchen.

Shannon marched over to a table occupied by two men. One grabbed a chair from another table and pulled it up. She sank into, still guzzling her coffee.

“Well, aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine this fine day,” the other guy said.

“Shut up, Aidan.”

“Where’s Bowie this fine morning?” Brendan, the one who’d grabbed the chair for her, asked.

“He’s at home making cow eyes at the waif he dragged home last night.” She held up her free hand, index finger wagging, as she slugged back another gulp. “I don’t know a thing nor am I curious. I wait tables at Clancy’s. That’s the only O’Hara business I have.”

“How is the girl?” Brendan actually looked concerned.

“Beat to hell but she cleans up nice. She was still sleeping and Boo’s sitting there in the living room like he expects the cops to burst in any minute to raid the apartment.” She finished the coffee and was about to to pour herself another cup when Melba appeared. She poured, tsked, and strolled off, ample hips swaying to the bluesy tune she hummed.

Melba returned in a few minutes with plates balanced on one arm, in that hand, with the coffee pot in her other hand. She passed the plates like a blackjack dealer in Atlantic City and refilled all the coffee cups.

Without a word, Shannon dug into her breakfast—eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, and baked beans. A basket of warm Irish soda bread, along with a tub of butter and a jar of marmalade appeared moments later. She didn’t speak. She ate. The two men watched her, mouths slightly agape.

“What?” she growled when she looked up. “Have ya never seen a woman eat before?”

They exchanged a look then Aidan spoke. “No wonder your tits and ass are so fucking spectac—” He swallowed the last part of that word as his body slammed forward and his forehead collided with the table.

“Keep a civil tongue in your mouth.”

Two pairs of eyes tracked from Aidan to the tall man standing behind him. Mick O’Connor. Shannon managed to swallow the food in her mouth. Brendan just gulped. Aidan didn’t move but he did mumble an apology.

Mick stared at the woman who drove him crazy. Maybe Ronan was right. But he knew. If he ever let the wolf out to play, little Miss Sunshine would be his. Forever. And he couldn’t afford that. Not now.
****
Ahhhh. I love the tension of unrequited love in the air. What about you readers? Do enjoy it when an author makes two characters work for their HEA? Writers, what about you? And do you have any “sunny” words to share?

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Tuesday Treats and Titles: Minty Lime Freeze

Posted on August 3, 2021 by Silver James

While we might have slightly cooler temps at the moment, this IS August and the heat will return. Why not enjoy a cool and light dessert that’s easy to make and lets you pretend to be sipping mojitos on a beach somewhere…

Total Time: 3 Hr. 15 Min.
Prep Time: 15 Min.
Cook Time: 3 Hr.
12 servings

A cool cocktail translated into a refreshingly zesty dessert. This silken treat has mojito flavors but no alcohol, so it’s really more mocktail than cocktail.

What You Need
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 pkg. (3 oz.) JELL-O Lime Flavor Gelatin
1 Tbsp. zest and 1/4 cup juice from 3 limes
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP LITE Whipped Topping, thawed
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
1-1/2 cups finely crushed pretzels
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Let’s Make It
1 – Line 9-inch round pan with large sheet of plastic wrap, with ends of wrap extending over side. Beat Neufchatel and 1/4 cup sugar with mixer until blended. Add dry gelatin mix, lime zest and juice; mix well.
2 – Whisk in COOL WHIP and mint; pour into prepared pan. Combine pretzel crumbs, butter and remaining sugar; sprinkle over dessert. Use ends of plastic wrap to gently press crumb mixture into top of dessert.
3 – Freeze 3 hours or until firm. Invert dessert onto plate; remove pan and plastic wrap. Let dessert stand at room temperature 15 min. to soften slightly before cutting to serve.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Size Wise: Sweets can be part of a balanced diet but remember to keep tabs on portions.

Tip 2 – Special Extra: Stir 1/2 tsp. rum extract into COOL WHIP mixture before pouring into prepared pan as directed.

Tip 3 – Note: If you can’t get enough juice from the limes, add enough bottled lime juice to get the desired measure of juice needed to prepare the recipe.

My Tip – I noticed that the picture shows garnish on the serving slice. If you want to be fancy, place a thin slice of lime and a mint leaf on each slice as your serve it.

You can check all the pertinent nutritional details at MY FOOD AND FAMILY. Any time I think of summertime drinks, I think of Mother’s, the bar in Key West where the Hard Target team hangs out. Since I just finished rereading DOUBLE TROUBLE, which is a Barefoot Bay/Hard Target crossover, I remembered that Bear, Mother’s bartender has his way in the kitchen too, and now I want to reread DOUBLE CROSS because there’s a crossover with the Wolves, including the Boston Mob Wolbes. 😉  Why did I reread DT? Because Nick, the hero, and his cousin Dom, who’s part of the HT team, go to Boston. And yes, this is me being all sly and stuff. Anyway, at the moment DOUBLE CROSS is mostly a standalone, but the team has a history with the Wolves. You can read DOUBLE CROSS for free with Kindle Unlimited or grab it for a bargain $2.99. Just click on the cover or title to get yours.

What about y’all? Do you like “mocktail” desserts?

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Crescent Moon Monday

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Silver James

It’s August.  Summer vacation is coming to a close and school is gearing up to start. Shelves of school supplies entice me when I go to Wallyworld. I’m a sucker for office and school supplies, which is silly because I no longer have a studient in the house and I really don’t use Post-Its, paperclips or stuff like that there. I have white boards and markers for notes. And my big white board is full.

Today IS Monday, right? I’ve been discombobulated all weekend because the usual weekday morning weather guy was on the Saturday/Sunday morning news. I rushed out Saturday morning to get the trash to the curb (since Friday is trash day) and only then realized the trash can was empty. Sunday, I had that same weird feeling of deja vu. I’m not sure what that says about my brain capacity–that I depend on such things to know the day of the week. 🙄

Not much is going on in my neck of the woods. It’s been hot. Way hot. And humid. Which makes it feel even hotter. A small front moved through yesterday, bringing rain and slightly cooler temps though did nothing for the humidity. But it IS August and to be expected.

I’m up to around 13K words on the Irish Mob Wolves. Have no clue of a title yet. It is kinda fun that all the characters and romances are gelling in one story. This is something new for me and I’m enjoying the challenge. I do wish I wouldn’t get distracted by procrastination quite so often. I’d be much further along than I am. Ah, well.

Since my sleep pattern is messed up, I tend to fall asleep in the middle of anything I happen to be watching on TV so nothing of interest there. I did listen to a terrific book, Darynda Jones’s A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY. It took me two days to decide on the next book to listen to. Darynda is at her snarky best with this new series. It doesn’t have the heavy paranormal/UF vibes of her Charley Davidson series but the characters are just as appealing. Only two books so far, the first one being A BAD DAY FOR SUNSHINE. I recommend them. I’m currently listening to Ilona Andrews’s The Edge series. It’s been a few years and I’m enjoying them, currently on the 2nd book.

I broke down and did some yard work. The youpan trees in the backyard had some branches that gave into gravity and grew straight down. Not even the dogs could get under them. Then I noticed that the crepe myrtle bushes that came back had buds on them. Yay! After the February Deep Freeze™, I worried about them surviving. It’s late for blooms but hey! I’ll take them. Some of the oldest branches didn’t make it so I cut some of them out, too, to spruce things up a bit. I also weeded half the driveway island. The lights went kaput on Nessie and I’ll restring them after my next Wallyworld run. It was DARK out there this morning before sunrise.

Looking forward, Stormy is coming to play today, and the end of the week while Baseball Boy does his in-service stuff before start of classes. Big Daddy (aka Lawyer Guy) went shopping for models for them to build together. Actually, Stormy builds them and LG watches because Stormy is just that good, even at his age. Crazy that he’ll be a second grader this year. ]

And that’s all the news that’s fit to print. I’m avoiding real world news because I just get depressed. Or mad. Neither is helpful. So, I’m going to drink another cup of coffee, finish checking email and blogs and them I’m going to get lost in the story of my Boston Wolves. Who did cool stuff this weekend? Who’s doing cool stuff this week?

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Friday Sinema: Cat Man Do

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Silver James

Okay, I want this dude for a friend! How cool is he?!?! Have a great weekend!

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