Wednesday Words: Wave Goodbye

Wednesday has rolled aorund again. How does this keep happening? Seems like we just **WAVED** goodbye to Wednesday yesterday. As you can probably guess, today’s #1lineWed **THEME** is **WAVE**. I did some searching through my WIPs, now that GHOSTS is live–though I was tempted to check GHOSTS because I think there’s some waves there but instead, I thought I’d offer a fresh snippet. This one always touches my heart whenever I reread it.
****
“Maks.”

His name whispered in the dark, enticing him to follow the sound. He didn’t move. As long as he hid in the shadows, no one could find him. He didn’t breathe for a long time as he listened.

“Maksim.”

Her voice. Sultry. Tempting.

“Maksim!”

Her voice. Strident. Taunting.

Lover.

Mother.

Both had betrayed him. And they weren’t the only ones. He’d been delivered into his own personal hell.

The faces chased each other in and out of his memory. Beautiful. Ugly. Soothing. Horrifying. The memories blended together in the shadows of his mind until he could no longer separate them and he saw only an amalgam of their faces fused together.

“Maks.”

His voice. Mikhail. The one who’d found him. Who saved him so long ago. Who couldn’t save him now. No one could save him now.

“Come back, Maks.”

He didn’t want to. He had no place to go back to. It had all been destroyed. He’d been destroyed. Body. Soul. His brain…so fragile…like it was made of glass. If he opened his eyes, if he faced the world, he would shatter like crystal thrown against the wall. Better he stay in the Stygian depths of his madness. The voices had been silenced. Finally. Likely, his imagination had conjured them like a bitter fantasy of what could never be again. He was supposed to die.

Pain. So much pain. No. He would not remember. He would not talk, would not reveal the secrets he held. No matter what they did to him. They broke him like his body was a wave crashing on jagged rocks. Over and over but he remained true to his brothers. To the Vor. He’d kept the secrets, no matter what obscenities those others perpetrated on him. More pain. Bones breaking. Joints popping. Skin splitting. The blackness swallowed him whole, and he welcomed it.

Floating. A sea of shadowed mist. The pain held at bay by…something. A miracle maybe.
What was that sound? He listened. Considered. Skin brushing paper? Yes. Maybe. Was someone folding paper nearby?

“What are you doing, Katya?”

“Folding origami cranes, Uncle Misha. If I make one thousand cranes, my wish that Uncle Maks will wake up will come true.”

“Ah, Katya.”

He heard the heartbreak in Mikhail’s voice. In the child’s. Small hands patted his cheek. Sweet lips kissed his forehead. Then the sound of rustling paper once more.

“How many more, Katya, before your wish comes true?”

“Nine hundred and ninety-nine.”
****
I really need to get back to my Moonstruck Mafia Wolves. I have Irish, Italian, and Russian mobsters to choose from So many characters, so many stories. I should wave hello to the series. 😉 Writers, any wavy words to share? And readers, where do you prefer to catch your waves–at the beach or the lake?

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

Tuesday Treats & Titles: Potted Herb Cheese

If there’s one thing I love, it’s a good dip. I’m also a fan of both cheddar and bleu cheese. This “potted” dip is easy peasy, tasty, and hits the spot. Also, you can make ahead!

Total Time: 2 Hr. 15 Min.
Prep Time: 15 Min.
Cook Time: 2 Hr.
Servings: 16 servings, 2 Tbsp. dip and 2 crackers each

Two kinds of cheese—cheddar and bleu—combine in this ultra-creamy cheese spread that’s a dream on crackers.

What You Need
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 pkg. (4.5 oz.) ATHENOS Crumbled Blue Cheese
1/2 cup BREAKSTONE’S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. dry sherry
1 Tbsp. GREY POUPON Dijon Mustard
stoned wheat crackers
**Please use alcohol responsibly.

Let’s Make It
1 – Mix all ingredients except crackers in food processor container; cover. Process until well blended.
2 – Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours for flavors to blend.
3 – Serve as a spread with crackers.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Size Wise: When eating appetizers at a social occasion, be mindful of eating so you savor the taste and are satisfied with one serving.

Tip 2 – Substitute: Substitute chopped fresh or frozen chives for the chopped parsley.

My Tip 1 – If, like me, you don’t have a bottle of sherry hiding in the pantry, here are some alternatives: The most similar will be other wines like dry vermouth (not sweet), or madeira—you can use equal amounts of these in place of dry sherry. Hard apple cider or dry white wine, also in equal amounts, and while they won’t bring quite the same depth of flavor, they add enough acid and fruity notes. A good non-alcoholic sub would be unfiltered apple cider. Remember: Because most recipes just call for a tablespoon or two of the stuff, the substitute won’t make or break the recipe.

My Tip 2 – Use whatever crackers you like. Personally, I like Parker House crackers and Pita Chips.

Also, if you can nibble on this by eating only two crackers, you’re a better dieter than I, Gunga Din. Just sayin’…

As always, CLICK to hit My Food & Family to get all the pertinent details. And since she just got back from Paris where there’s wonderful cheese and other goodies. Believe it or not, Sade, who is a notoriously failed cook, has made this. She even went out to buy a food processer just to make it. Me? I just use my mixer on high. Whatever. Anyway, y’all totally need to indulge in Sade’s latest round of adventures, GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES. Personally, I think it has all the feels. And action. Magic. Lots of mayhem. And a black cat. What more could you want in an urban fantasy? Just click on the title or the cover to go to Books 2 Read to find a link to your favorite on-line book store. What kind of dips do y’all enjoy?

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

Monday Once Again

Monday again coffee girlTechinically, this is the first Monday of June. Ah, June. The month of brides and bugs. It’s warm days and a little rain, green grass, more flowers. School’s out–thought there are still places that haven’t truly gone back to school yet. It’s family vacations and baseball (I do love the boys of summer). June’s a good month.

So, I had to brain last week and there wasn’t enough coffee in the world to help me do the braining I needed to do. That said, I got stuff done. GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES released. And as soon as I get the print cover, I’ll have it ready to upload for print. I also got NIGHT WISH ready for print–as soon as I get the cover for it, too. Formatting for print is what takes massive braining. On that note, I at least now have templates for Penumbra Papers and the Nightriders for print versions. Progress. Now I need to get a newsletter out. Ah yes. A self-published author’s work is never done.

In sports news, I has a sad, as the LOL cats say. The OSU Cowboys are out of the NCAA Baseball tournament, and my Cowgirls are out of the Women’s College World Series. They put up a good fight but due to a weather delay it was like 2 a.m. on Sunday morning before their last game ended. Yes. I fell asleep. I did learn the final out came at 2.17 a.m.They didn’t go quietly, so there’s that. OU is…?? If I remember to come back and update this because I’m typing this on Sunday evening and there’s been another weather delay. The Alabama/Florida State game has to finish and then OU takes on James Madison for a slot in the finals, which are supposed to be played today. We won’t talk about my Cardinals. They’ve been hit with injuries and…well, their play is suffering a bit. Ah well. UPDATE on the WCWS: Florida State beat Alabama so there’s another “what if” game. And due to the weather, both the OU/JMU what-if and the Bama/Florida State games are moved to this afternoon with the final to be played on Tuesday. You know, if case there are any other softball fans out there. 😉

In reading news, I’m still meandering through the Elder Races series by Thea Harrison. I also read NIGHT WISH. There’s a really dumb reason. See above when I mention templates. They are copy and paste. I copy a chapter and then paste it into the template document at the beginning of that chapter. There’s all sorts of formatting involved. Anyway, I ended up with two Chapter 14s in the working print copy. And I had two Chapter 14s in the copy I’d used for the digital upload. I. Panicked! I realized I hadn’t bought a copy of the book–I usually do. So I bought a download. And I checked. Nope. Chapters 13, 14, and 15 were just fine. WTH?!? And then it hit me. I’d pasted when I should have copied. Oops. I fixed all copies but then I got sucked into NIGHT WISH. Dang, that book isn’t bad at all. 😉 Anyway…

Writing? Pffft. What’s that? Oh, yeah. It’s supposed to be my job. I haven’t decided what project is next I have two that need to get done. I’ll probably do the short novella for a Christmas anthology first. That way, it’s done. After that? We’ll see where inspiration takes me. I’m still reeling a bit from the intensity of writing GHOSTS, and the braining last week.

There was a weekend. It was filled with a siren test, lunch at our fave Mexican restaurant with the Kids, and softball. And naps. Had a really long and  much needed nap on Saturday after consuming all that wonderful food. We all need a weekend like that occasionally, right? Sunday was piddling and laundry. No nap. Ah well.

TV? Sports, baby. That’s it. Maybe I’ll catch up on the ol’ DVR later this week. In the meantime, that’s pretty much my life at the moment. I’m going to get another cup of coffee and maybe sit outside and enjoy the early morning birds. Anything good (or bad 😦 ) happen to you this week or weekend?

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

Friday Sinema: Soundtrack

So. I did a thing. Okay, I’ve done lots of things but this is a new thing. Previously, I set up a playlist thingy in Spotify and posted it on the Penumbra Papers playlist page here on the site. This time around, I did something a little more…portable. I did a “mix list” on YouTube. You can click and listen to all the songs back-to-back. While you’re reading or just relaxing. Happy Firday. I’m taking the weeknd off. Siren test, Mexican food with the family, and more softball! Have a good one, whatever your plans.

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

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Hoedown

Yesterday was a brain day. And there are days when I don’t brain well at all. When it comes to formatting and making sure everything is right because one, I’m a professional and two, I’m a professional. That said, I’m a writer, not a publisher, though I’ve become one in this self-publishing world. I’ve been stuck in my chair at my desk for two weeks now. Edits, revisions, and formatting is far more demanding and time-consuming than writing. Writing comes in fits and starts. The process after? Yeah, gotta knuckle down and that that $#!+ done. Then the Universe popped in to say hi and remind all us writers that other stuff is important too.

Often, Silver, the very most spiritual thing one can do is get busy. Physically busy. Hoeing, chopping, planting. Connecting, moving, grooving. Dipping, swirling, twirling.

Especially dipping, swirling, twirling.

2, 3, 4 –
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Yes, Silver, “hoeing” is a word.

So, I’m taking the big U’s advice. I’m going hoeing, even if it’s just a walk around the block with Jake.  And then I’m watching lots and lots of softball so the mush that is currently my brain can begine to function like a real brain. So…I’m off… 5, 6, 7, 8…

Pssst – New Release Alert! Click on the cover up there on the right and go grab your copy of GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES.

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

Wednesday Words: Witches, Warlocks, and Wizards–Oh My!

Another Hump Day, another week of Wednesday Words. Today’s #1lineWed THEME is **WICHES, WARLOCKS, WIZARDS.” It just so happens that GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES has those in spades. 😉 This snippet is from early in the book. Sade and Caleb just left the Director’s office and she gets a message…
****
They split up, Sade headed to her office on the far side of the small bullpen. The MAGIC Unit wasn’t huge. A few agents moved in and out, mainly for training, though Sade supervised a few agents in addition to Caleb. She found a message on her desk.

Agent Marquis—some guy named Chris Saint John called.
He’s flying into Reagan via private jet tonight. Says he’ll meet
you here sometime after 8.

Sade stared at the message, choking on the slightly hysterical bubble of laughter welling in her throat. Chris? Saint John? Dear lord. She’d have to burn the evidence of her incompetent agent. Kristian St. John had never been called “Chris” in his life. But why was Sinjen coming here? Okay. She knew why he was coming. To see her. Because she’d canceled his trip a few weeks ago. It had been almost a month—okay, over a month since they’d last been together.

Wanting to bang her head against the desk, she wadded up the message instead. Then she smoothed it out and fed it through the small shredder next to her desk. Scrunching her fingers through her hair, she pretended she wasn’t getting a headache. She missed Sinjen. Way more than she wanted to. Which spelled trouble. Which she didn’t need any more of, given her current case. But at the same time, being apart from him was almost a physical ache and that scared the bejeebus out of her. She’d made some discreet inquiries but had come up blank. Yes, Werewolves tended to mate for life if they found their true mate. And yes, they could feel the pull if they were apart for too long. Dragons also mated, and there was some sort of mystical bond formed, but not one of her informants would elucidate.

Gargoyles bonded. Sort of. It was a conscious act and the bond could be broken by either party. Elves and the Fae? She let out a groan. They married for power, prestige, and progeny. Witches and warlocks were basically Human and wizards were just…a pain in her ass, but basically souped-up-on-magical-steroids Human. Then there were Vampires. They didn’t mate. They didn’t marry. They didn’t do Humans except for sex and blood. Vampires didn’t love. All she had to do was consider the master vampire who’d raised her. She’d been a pawn and she’d heard him admit that he would see her dead rather than lose his game with Oberon. If it became necessary.

She’d been three.

No. Vampires didn’t do love. Obsession? Maybe, but not love. Which didn’t explain Sinjen. Or did it?
****
FYI, I pulled the trigger on Amazon last night about 5:30 pm. It should be live any time now. I’ll be finishing the formatting for the other etailers and uploading the MS to Draft2Digital for distribution to other stores. I really hope y’all enjoy this book. It was hard to write, took forever, but I really think…nope. I’ll let y’all be the judge. Our question of the day: If you could only have one, what magical power would you pick?

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

Tuesday Treats & Titles: Dalgona Coffee

I’d really thought I’d have GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES out int the wild by now, because I have all these “Sade” recipes stored up. Ah well. Next Tuesday! Until then, here’s something our favorite FBI agent loves to indulge in when she has the time and inclination.

Total Time: 10 Min.
Prep Time: 10 Min.
1 serving

Discover Dalgona Coffee, the trend that has swept social media! This whipped coffee, named for the way it tastes like Korean dalgona candy, uses only a few ingredients and a minute of mixing for a beautiful, mousse-like coffee experience. Dalgona coffee works great with any milk of your choice.

What You Need
2 Tbsp. MAXWELL HOUSE Instant Coffee
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. boiling water
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup ice cubes

Let’s Make It
1 – Combine coffee granules and sugar in small deep bowl. Add boiling water.
2 – Beat with mixer on high speed 1 min. or until thickened to mousse-like consistency.
3 – Pour milk into tall glass. Add ice.
4 – Top with coffee mixture.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Substitute: Prepare using your favorite variety of non-dairy milk.

Tip 2 – Substitute: Substitute granulated monk fruit sweetener or your favorite granular no-calorie sweetener for the sugar.

Tip 3 – Note: Instead of using the electric mixer to beat the coffee mixture, you can use a whisk to vigorously beat the coffee mixture by hand 5 min. or until thickened.

Want all the recipe details? CLICK over to My Food and Family. If you want to find out why coffee is Sade’s favorite, you can read any of the first four books in the Penumbra Papers series. If Amazon is your favorite store, click on the book covers to head over to the Amazon series page. If you prefer other e-tailers, click on these titles for a quick trip to the Books2Read universal page for each book. THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC is book 1 and set in New Orleans. Book 2, SEASON OF THE WITCH, pairs Sade and and master Vampire, Sinjen, for the first time as they deal with a  killer in Chicago. THE DEVIL’S CUT, book 3, introduces Sade’s Werewolf partner Caleb’s mate, Adele. THE SOUND OF SILENCE is the story of the Gargoyle Sentinel, Roman, and his little Witch, Verity. Book 5, GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES, should hit the virutal shelves the end of this week. Sade and Sinjen’s story continues. Trust me, it’s one crazy ride. You’ll need the caffeine so make yourself some dalgona coffee and enjoy the trip. 😉

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

Memorial Day Monday

Soldier silhouette, american flag and grave stones.Here in the States, it’s Memorial Day. Way back when, it was called Decoration Day and it was a time for families to decorate the graves of and commorate the memories of loved ones lost in the line of duty in the military. It’s a time to remember all those who made the supreme sacrifice so we can keep the hard-won rights we enjoy thanks to our Constitution. I try very hard not to get political in public but given the current state of affairs, my tongue is bloody more often than not.

Interesting conversation overheard:

Person (upon seeing a soldier in uniform): Oh, hey! It’s Memorial Day weekend. Thanks for your service! (Person walks off looking self-satisfied for “doing his duty” and complimenting an active duty soldier.

Soldier (calling after the dude): Memorial Day has nothing to do with my service and everything to do with remembering my brothers and sisters in arms who died serving this country.

Yeah. Pretty much sums it up.

In other news, I think I’m on my final pass of edits. Last weeks was a totla Charlie Foxtrot when it came to technological stuffs. My Word program glitched which made it look like my printer had glitched and I wasterd several days diagnosing the problem, wanting things right when I got edits back. My editor normally works off a hard copy but had to settle for working on-line because I couldn’t print. Anyway, the problem magically fixed itself, printing wise. I’ve discovered that all the typo fixes I’d made previously didn’t save. Yippee. Not. And yes, it has made the process longer. Still GHSOTS & THE ANCIENT STONES should be uploaded later this week.

Softball was crazy this weekend. Super-regionals were just that. OU swept Washington, run-ruling them in the second game. Yeah…really. (Psst. Washington was ranked as the 16th seed and they got twisted up by the “slight.”) There are two unranked teams playing–Georgia and James Madison. As of my setting this up, OSU has not played their 3rd game, as they split the first two with Texas. Now it’s winner takes all. I’ll come back to update…And I’m back! Pistols firing! The Cowgirls pulled it off in a nail-biter of a game. Scoreless until the 5th inning and the Cowgirls finally scored and kept the Longhorns from crossing home plate for the next two innings. Final score 2-0, Cowgirls going to the National Championship series!

LG and I went out to our favorite BBQ restaurant Saturday night. We took Jake and he was a little stressed at first because it was a new place. Once the crowd left and it got quieter, he settled in and the waitresses and manager all came to play with him. We hadn’t been in since the lock-down, occasionally ordering to-go but not often. Anyway, it was nice. We visited with the staff and were all social and everything. Also, maybe I sold some books, as they didn’t know I was an author. We’ll see.

TV has been baseball and softball. Go Cards! Go Cowgirls! Go Sooners! I have heard a rumor that Live PD might be back but not on A&E. I’m basically boycotting that channel for dropping my favorite show. No word on which network/channel will pick them up.

Reading/listening is mostly hit-n-miss due to edits. I’ll finish the current Elder Races book maybe today. Not sure if I’ll keep with the series or if I’ll switch to the new Molly Harper Mystic Bayou book that just dropped. We’ll see what’s up in my head.

Don’t have much else to reveal. My world is pretty much revolving around GHOSTS–editing, formatting, and getting it ready to go into the wild. It will be available in wide distribution and print so that means three versions of formatting. The print will take a bit longer because Only will need to do the full-sized cover after she gets the number of pages. It’s a science. 😄

So, my week ahead is all centered on getting the book into the hands of readers. And the start of the NCAA Softball WCWS. All games televised, though I miss the days when Only and I used to attend in person. Awesome M/D bonding time. What’s your week looking like?

Posted in Writing Life | Leave a comment

Friday Sinema: Kings and Queens

Most of you know that I have a playlist/soundtrack for each of the Penumbra Papers books. Roxette’s “She’s Got the Look” has always been Sade’s theme song. From the very beginning. Welpers, Sade might just have another theme song. At least for GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES. What do you think? Does this remind of of her? (And yes, there will be a Youtube Mix List for this book on my channel. 😉 Have a great weekend!

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

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Decisions

As each day goes by, I get closer and closer to releasing GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES. This books scares me. A lot. One, it took so long to finish writing. Two, it’s not the book I started writing several years ago. Three, I took some chances (okay, I didn’t, the characters made me! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!). Four, while this story made me laugh and cry and there were more than a few tears (and not the blood and sweat kind but the all-the-feels kind), I don’t don’t know if readers will feel the same. Four, this series has never done as well as I’d always hoped it would and trying to figure out why is a whole ‘nother post. Five, I’m worried those who do read the series won’t like this book. So, when it’s ready and I pull the “trigger” on it’s release–probably sometime next week–I’m going to remember this message from the big U.

Next time you feel fear, Silver, either right after a major decision or just before one, it usually means you’re exactly where you need to be.

Nice,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Funny, Silver, how good you are. Really good.

Because the fear will be real, baby. And I can only hope the book is as good as I think it is. Forget about me. I just want my words and books to be good. So tell me, what do you fear?

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