Toby is very vocal. He’s not as bad as Micco, our Siberian Husky, was but he’s pretty mouthy. He’s also pretty cute. I thought we’d end the week with a giggle or seven. Or at least a smile. Enjoy these crazy pups. Have a great weekend!
The world is still crazy. I’ve started switching off the news and only glancing at the alerts on my phone. I have a meme that says: When I’ve had too much reality, I read a book. I’ve also been know to write for the same reasons. And the kind of books I most often grab/write are the ones that have a Happy Ever After. As is par for the course, the Universe is right on top of things.
Love always wins, Silver.
Kindness always prevails.
And smiles always disarm.
Touché,
The Universe
P.S. And there can be as many winners as players, Silver. Life rocks.
The romance genre is romantic for a reason. And it sells lots of books for a reason. And that reason? Love. Because, as the Universe says, love always wins. And in reality, the big U is also right about love and kindness. And smiles. So, read something that makes you smile today.
Once again, no win, place or show in the Thursday Threads flash fiction challenge. Recent judges are being cool and either picking favorite lines or mentioning what they liked about a piece. Last week’s judge, George, had this to say about my entry: Two friends having an almost playful conversation with some excellent interaction. Carla is a hoot; I was drawn to her strength and snark. Aisling’s quiet strength yet almost shy-like response of keeping things private was great. This was a well rounded and strong tale of two women. I like it, thank you, Silver, for writing this.
Our prompt this week, boys and girls, is: *”It was magical.”* That said, George pretty much set up the scene and the rest is self-explanatory.
****
Aisling sipped her tea, pretending her cheeks weren’t flushing pink from Carla’s question.
After a long period of silence, Carla nudged. “Well?”
Swallowing, Aisling didn’t quite meet her friend’s gaze. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Baloney.”
Heat suffused her face again. She barely managed to keep her hands busy so she didn’t fan herself. “You’re making this much bigger than it is.”
Carla snorted, the sound both cheeky and sarcastic. “Girl, you lie worth shit. C’mon. You know you wanna tell me.”
Aisling stalled by pouring more tea into her cup. “Nothing happened.”
“Right.” Drawing out the word, Carla leveled a knowing look on her. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Trust me, he is totally into you.”
This time she did fan her face. “No he’s not.”
“Me doth think the lady protests too much.”
“Carla!” Aisling worked to project flippant disdain into her voice.
“Aisling!” Carla mimicked her tone. “I saw the two of you sitting on the porch. I had to turn my fan on because the heat was radiating all the way to the third floor. I can’t believe Eunice didn’t march right out there and demand that—” She changed her voice to a higher octave and added a nasal whine. “You are a hussy, sitting here with that…that…man!” She sniffed theatrically. “Shame on you.”
Laughing, Aisling fanned her face with her napkin. “Okay, fine. He kissed me.”
Gasping dramatically, Carla asked, “How was it?”
Her face dreamy, Aisling replied, “It was magical.”
****
Now, I have to write a scene that is magical. 🤣 Writers, feel free to grab some inspiration if it strikes. Readers, have you ever had a magical kiss? (Give me a break. My brain in on over-drive at the moment. Iffy is chasing PITA Pup with sciseros. Pete is laying on my desk, using his tail to dust my keyboard. Jake is snoring. Loki is lurking. And damn book STILL isn’t writing itself.) 😆
Sometimes, you just want to wake up to something ooey-gooey and easy. Which means making it the night before and latting the baking gods work their magic while you are sleeping. You get up, make coffee, preheat the oven and by the time you’re fully awake and ready for the day and have your coffee, you also have the yummy sticky buns.
Cinnamon Sticky Buns
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Rise time: 5-12 Hours
Cook time: 30 Minutes
Total time: 5 – 12 hours
Yield: 10 rolls
INGREDIENTS
10-12 frozen bread rolls (I use Rhodes brand)
1/2 cup butter, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional, walnuts or pecans work great!)
LETS MAKE THEM
The Night Before
1 – Prepare a, 8-10″ bundt or tube cake pan with non-stick spray. I use a silicone pan and it is amazing! The silicone makes it easy to remove the bread and it’s easy to clean.
2 – Place the chopped nuts at the bottom of the pan all around. These will end up on top of rolls when you flip the pan after baking.
3 – Soften ¼ cup of the butter in the microwave at 15-second intervals. You probably only need two intervals, mixing in between. Be careful not to completely melt the butter. Add the brown sugar to the softened butter and mix completely. Spread the mixture over the chopped nuts.
4 – In a microwave-safe bowl, completely melt the remaining butter (about 30 seconds in the microwave). Use a medium-sized bowl because this will be one of the dipping steps. In another medium-sized bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. This will be the second dipping step.
5 – Take each frozen roll one at a time and dip it first into the melted butter, then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture and ensure they are fully coated. Place the coated roll on top of the nut and butter layers. Repeat until the bottom of your pan is completely full. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan, these are going to rise A LOT!! The rolls can be next to each other, but not on top of each other.
6 – Take a piece of foil or plastic wrap and spray one side with non-stick spray. Place over the top of the pan to cover rolls (the cooking spray is so the rolls don’t stick to the foil after they rise). Place the pan in a cold oven or on the counter overnight and they will be ready to bake in the morning when you wake up!
The Next Morning
1 – REMOVE the pan from the oven first and then pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Remove the foil and bake for 30 minutes.
2 – Remove the pan from the oven and allow the pan to cool for a minute or two. Now you are going to flip the pan over onto a large plate or cake pan using potholders. I discovered my 9″ cake pan was perfect for these rolls and the lip keeps all that gooey cinnamon glaze on the rolls. BE CAREFUL because the pan and the rolls are REALLY hot!!!
3 – Allow the rolls to cool for about 5 minutes before serving and enjoy!
TIPS
1 – I use a silicone bundt pan, even going out to buy one specifically because EASY PEASY! Both removing the buns and clean-up.
2 – Because the rolls are frozen, they need time to thaw and rise. If you want to serve this for an afternoon cofffe klatch, you could put it together first thing in the morning and it would be ready to bake by mid-afternoon. Let the rolls rise at least 5 hours.
3 – If you’re serving in the morning, it’s easy to throw together right before bedtime and then when he get up, preheat that oven, bake and enjoy!
Since there was a super moon last night–or is it tonight? Whichever. Supermoon means it’s time to grab a Moonstruck Wolf story to read–or reread. I’m reaching back and snagging BLOOD & FIRE. As an EMT in Austin, TX, Celina Monaghan is all about the comfort food. And working shifts, she’s learned to plan–and execute–aheaqd. You can bed that Rhys Kendric is a big fan. Theirs is a courtship fraught with danger, mystery, and…well…blood and fire. And lots of moonlight. It will take a super blood moon to see these two to their Happy Ever After. Make up a batch of these sticky buns the night before. Come morning, grab the book–just click on a pic of the cover or the title, or open your ereader if you already own it. Put the sticky buns in the oven, pour a cuppa, sit back, and enjoy.
There was a weekend. That means it must be Monday. No soccer. A lot of baseball. Some college football. Some cleaning, thanks to PITA Pup. He decided one of the litter boxes was in his way so he dragged it out ono the area rug in the Florida room and dumped most of it. At least it was the clean one and he didn’t roll in it. Small favors. I did do some stuff on the book. I would say I wrote because…
Writing? What is this mysterious thing of which you speak? Yeah, I was a slug last week, despite good intentions. However, I did knuckle down both Saturday and Sunday–hence the reason I know today is Monday–and got through all the snippets and stray scenes, putting notes on them. Today, after morning coffee and piddling on the ‘net for a bit, I’ll switch to the corkboard view and move the scenes around so they are in some semblance of timeline order. At that point, I can start writing to fill in the blanks. This is my goal for today then the plan for the rest of the week is to write new stuff every day. We’ll see how that works out for me.
I finished off BONDED IN DEATH, the February release in JD Robb’s In Death/Eve Dallas series. The new one, FRAMED IN DEATH, dropped last month but I was doing marthon listening to other series. I used to go back to the beginning of In Death, NAKED IN DEATH and listen all the way through when there was a new release. with 61 books out now, that ain’t happenin’. Now I just go back a book or two to remind of what’s happened and where everyone is for the beginning of the new book.
I tried out my new crockpot. I think I’ve mentioned that I got lucky enough to be picked for the Hamilton Beach All-Star Ambassador group. Every so often, I get an email with a list of products. I can pick one, they ship it to me, I give it a good try-out, and write a review. I’ve loved several of the products and use them all the time. Sometimes, I really like the product but it gets less use due to lifestyle. The lastest one is a crockpot. Now, I already have a big ol’ crockpot. I also have a smaller one that came with a really small one. I don’t crockpot much but the new one is versatile. It has the larger “main” crock that is stoneware. Then it has to metal inserts so you can slow-cook two seperate dishes. I used the previous one mostly for pot roast, where everything got dumped in together. I’m intrigued by the idea of cooking meat and a side dish separately. I tried a skrit steak recipe with a mixed sice of new potataoes and “rainbow” carrots. The carrots are literally purple, orange, and yellow. I should have put the side on at the same time as the meat. Still, the meat was tasty and the sides were okay. They’d be yummy if given more time to cook. I’ll know next time. Bonus, the pans were easy to wash! I’ll be on the look-out for more recipes so I can use it more often. I need to write my review and send it off today. I did remember to take pictures. 😆
To top off our weekend, we splurged and ordered a pizza. It’s been a long time since both LG and I craved pizza at the same time. It was tasty. What about y’all? Any tasty treats? Exciting events? Good books? Plans for the week?
This pic showed up in my X feed this week. There are clues to 40 horror movies in it. I’m not a horror fan but I still managed to come up with about 20 (maybe 22?) movies. Since we’re in Halloween season, I thought it would be fun to share to see how many y’all can identify. Have fun! And have a great weekend.
I have a meme–which is no suprise to anyone who follows me on X–that says “Today is one of those days where I wish I could restore myself to factory settings.” I think most of of us feel this way from time to time but for writers, it becomes almost a daily thing. Luckily, the Universe has something to say on the mater.
Ever wish for do-over days, Silver? You know, hit the reset-button and give ‘er another shot?
Sure.
Will today work?
It’s never too late,
The Universe
©www.tut.comP.S. Silver, they’re all do-over days, you’re a forever being, and whatever you once dreamed of for yourself, I still dream of for you.
Why do writers so often feel like do-overs? We live in our heads and we create imaginary people, places, and events. The majority of us are perfectionists. We want to tell the right story in the right way. That said, our characters and plots often become tulpas. What’s that you ask? A tulpa is an entity created in the mind, acting independently of, and parallel to one’s own consciousness. The term comes up a lot in paranormal reality shows when discussing urban legends and internet “creatures.” People believe so it becomes real. All the writers I know feel that way about our characters.
That said, sometimes we get off track. When tht happens, we have to pull back and hit the reset button. Go back to factory settings, as it were. The good news is, we get as many do-overs as we need to get the dang book written to tell the best story we can. It’s good to know that the Big U has our back in real life too. Is there anything you’d like a do-over for this week?
Here we are mid-week once again. And guess what?! (I’m never sure if that’s a question or a request in the form of a statement. Anyway…) I have words form last week’s Thursday Threas. No wins for me but this was the judge’s favorite line from my entry: “Tall. Svelte. Beautiful. Almost painfully so.” The prompt was a fun one: *“Then you are perfect.”*
****
Aisling stood there like a soldier at attention. Chin up, shoulders, back, hands at her sides, barely breathing. Her eyes watered from not blinking and she closed them for the briefest of moments. She wanted to track the woman’s movements but forced her gaze to remain forward as this stranger circled her.
“So,” the woman said, her voice tinged with ice. “You’re the reason for all this chaos.”
She didn’t reply, concentrating solely on shallow breaths and not screaming.
“Do you know who I am?”
Aisling blinked again. And swallowed.
“Ah, I thought not. You are sadly lacking in your education. I shouldn’t be surprised.
Considering.”
The words bit deep. She had a very fine education, thank you very much and while her parents weren’t the most loving, they’d provided her with food and housing and her advanced degrees. The woman stopped in front of her and Aisling got the chance to really study her.
Tall. Svelte. Beautiful. Almost painfully so. Aisling’s eyes watered again, this time from the sheer power radiating from her. This woman had to be one of the magicks. Was she a fae?
“Let me introduce myself. Humans call me Titania. The Seelie Court calls me queen.”
Aisling locked her knees. Not just fae but Fae!
“I am not quite sure what he sees in humans. The silly boy falls in love so easily. What is it about you?” The Queen circled her again. “Do you love him?”
“No,” she lied.
Titania smiled. “Then you are perfect.”
****
There you have it. Writers, the invitation is there if you are so inspired. Readers, I’m curious. Is there one of the lines in this snippet that catches your eye? That you would pick as your favorite? This inquiring mind wants to know.
Serious questions. Who loves cheesecake? 🙋🏼♀️
Who loves blueberries? 🙋🏼♀️
Who loves chocolate? 🙋🏼♀️
Who loves brownies? 🙋🏼♀️
That’s what I thought. Therefore, our recipe today hits a homerun, touches all the bases, delights all the likes. Right? Right! I mean, c’mon, peeps! Brownies with a cream cheese and blueberry swirl that’s topped with chocolate chips? What’s not to love?!?! That’s a rhetorical, by the way.
Blueberry Cheesecake Brownies
Yield: 16 servings
Prep time: 15 Minutes
Cook time: 40 Minutes
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients
▢ 1 box brownie mix (18 oz) + ingredients listed on box (oil, egg, and coffee instead of water, optional) I use Ghirardelli Double Chocolate
▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla, divided
▢ 1/4 cup blueberry jam
▢ 8 ounces softened cream cheese
▢ 1/4 cup sugar
▢ 1 egg
▢ 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
1 - Preheat oven to 350. Line 9x9 or 7x11 pan with parchment paper.
2 - In a large bowl, stir brownie mix, oil, egg, and water (or coffee) as directed on the box, and 1 teaspoon vanilla until just combined. Reserve 2 tablespoons of batter for the cheesecake layer.
3 - In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla with a mixer until smooth and creamy.
4 - Pour brownie batter into pan. Dollop cream cheese over the brownie batter and spread into an even layer.
5 - Drop spoonfuls of blueberry jam about 1 inch apart on top of the cream cheese layer. Add the reserved brownie batter in small spoonfuls between the jam. Swirl the jam and brownie batter into the cheesecake layer with a butter knife. Be careful not to swirl into the brownie layer. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.
6 - Bake for 40 minutes until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. If necessary, tent with foil to prevent from getting too brown. Cool on a wire rack for about an hour, then chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
7 - Lift the brownies out of the pan using the parchment paper. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Tips
1. Swapping out coffee for the water in a brownie mix intensifies the chocolate flavor.
2. Use a softened block of cream cheese for the smoothest, creamiest cream cheese filling. The kind in a tub is softer and likely won't set up the same.
3. Freeze brownies in single layers between sheets of parchment paper. Wrap in a double layer of plastic wrap and again in foil or in freezer-safe containers. Thaw in the refrigerator.
https://www.foodtalkdaily.com/posts/cookies-bars/brownies/blueberry-cheesecake-brownies-44676427
Sade says y’all need to make and eat these treats. She also says you need to buy the first book in the Penumbra Papers series, THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC, if you don’t have it already. I mean…New Orleans! Zombies! Dragons! Also, Sade hasn’t had her coffee yet so it isn’t wise to mess with her. You don’t know who Sade is? Then you definitely need to grab this book to read while your brownies are baking. She’s an FBI agent with an X-Files mentality and she’s in charge of the FBI’s MAGIC unit. Those things that go bump in the night? Yeah, they’re all afraid of her. Just click on either pic with the cover or the title able. You’ll zip over in a new tab to Books2Read (hint: you can click there, too), to find links to every book in the series. You know, in case you want to binge…
Oh, Sade says enjoy the brownies but she’s got her eyes on y’all. Just sayin’…
September is almost gone. The nights are cooler but the days are still rather August-ish. I’m ready for Fall. Fall is my favoirte. October arrives on Wednesday. That means it’s time to switch tablecloths, dining room centerpiece and the front door wreath. I don’t do real pumpkins anymore. Coons, skunks, and/or possums ate the last ones I put out. It’s been a few years but we still get the little mooches wandering through every night, cleaning up the feral cat leftovers. I have a couple of “fake” pumpkins that light up but I’m always hesitant to put out things easily stolen. Seriously. I don’t know how many times people have tried to steal the cement Nessie in the driveway island. We finally put in eyebolts with oilfield chain wrapped around a thick oak tree.
What’s the world coming to? Especially after all the bad stuff happening. There truly is a mental health crisis on the one hand and a criminal crisis on the other. That’s political stance for the week. Moving on.
I did nothing this weekend. Well, laundry, but that hardly counts. I listened to books in Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series. I sort of watched some college football. I mean, the TV was on and tuned in but… I sort of watched On Patrol Live but I kept falling askeep. I cleaned up after Toby. Don’t ask.
Did I write? Not really. This is becoming a boring refrain. This book isn’t bad. It isn’t boring. Not really. At least not when I go back and read what is written. I mostly know the direction it needs to go. There are some crazy scenes, some scary ones, some sweet ones. Normaqlly when I get stuck like this, it’s because a different story is shouting for my attention. Sadly…there’s only crickets. Silent ones.
Today, I’m at my eye surgeon’s for a six-month check-up. I probably need new glasses but the other facets of my vision like eye pressure and the retinal scarring from the glaucoma should be unchanged. My pressure’s been good since the surgeries and the daily drops. The scarring, not so much. We’re taking both puppers. This should be an adventure. Jake, who normally stays in the waiting room with LG will come back to the exam room(s) with me so LG can deal exclusively with Toby. Sit and down are still not part of his vocabulary despite constant attempts to get him to “listen.” “No!” he totally understands but chooses to ignore that command. Jake was so easy to train he totally spoiled me.
On that note, time to get on with my day. Oh. A word to the wise. It’s only 99 days until Christmas. Just sayin’. How was your weekend?
NEW RELEASE
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Silver James 