Thursday Thoughts: Universal Clinging

Posted on October 22, 2020 by Silver James

One of the hardest things an author has to do during the process of writing, editing, and publishing, is figuring out when to stop. It’s a hamster wheel. Heck, I don’t often read my own books, not because I don’t love them, but because I ALWAYS find something I want to fix. It’s so hard to just…stop. Of course, as I just pulled the trigger on NIGHT WISH–which is live now, by the way–the idea of clinging to a WIP is on my mind. And of course, the Universe is right on top of things.

Often, Silver, having what you want is a function of letting go of what you have.

If you know what I mean.

Want something?
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Odd, huh, Silver, the stuff some folks cling to?

It is odd, though I finally broke the habit. Well, mostly. Way back in 2006, a friend told me about National Novel Writing Month. The whole premise is to write a book of at least 50K words during the month of November. I’ve done it every year. And I’ve won it every year. More than a few of the books written during NaNo have gone on to publication. I would never have finished SEASON OF THE WITCH, my first NaNo project without figuring out how to stop clinging. In 11 days, I’ll be participating in my 15th NaNo. And when December 1st comes around, I’ll have a new book done, turned in, and I won’t be clinging onto it. Writers, do you cling? And readers, what do you cling to?

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Wednesday Words: Squeeee

Posted on October 21, 2020 by Silver James

Today’s #1lineWed THEME is **ONOMATOPOEIA** which not so much a phrase as it is a device. Like, squee. Not that I’m excited or anything that NIGHT WISH is live on Amazon and Kobo. Yes, you can click on the title OR the really cool graphic and head over to buy it. Please note, the price will be going up in about a week. Or so. Anyway, I’ve been playing with graphics and here’s the snippet that goes with the graphic.
****
Gen
I STARED at the woman on the TV. Tall. Lithe. Defined muscles. Big smile and not even breathing hard. I had to be out of my mind—and bored brainless

“Just let it flow,” the personal trainer intoned, voice filled with all things sugar and spice.

“Ha. Easy for you to say,” I panted, suddenly craving a buttermilk spice muffin with pecans. I bent from the waist, attempting to follow the exercise guru’s every move. A feral growl froze me in place. Peeking between my legs, unable to breathe, I stared at the man standing in the doorway. All six plus feet of pure male wearing low-slung jeans and nothing else. This was so not fair. He had the body fat of a hummingbird. The cruel injustice of that fact was not lost on me.

“Damn, woman.” Wizard’s voice turned my insides to melted marshmallow goo.

I blinked. Rapidly. Until I got dizzy. Eyes closed, I reached for some equilibrium. Before I found it, he was behind me, a muscular arm around my waist, his groin pressed to my backside and glory hallelujah was he glad to see me. Bracing my hands on my thighs, I pushed until I was upright. His chest pressed against my back and I could feel the outline of every single one of his muscles.

“I want you, Pink.” Rough and ready. That’s how Wizard sounded as he growled into my ear. Growled!

My heart stuttered and black spots swam across my vision. Just the blood draining from my head, I told myself. That’s all it is. That’s all it could be. I did not have visceral reactions to strange men. Not even one as magnificent as this one. And that thought instantly cleared my vision and my brain.
****
So, any of you been there done this? Inquiring minds want to know? 😉 

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: No-Oven Peanut Butter Squares

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Silver James

I’m all about the no-bake, quick and easy yummy treats, especially when they resemble a favorite candy–Reeces Peanut Butter Cups. Only these are home-made. The hardest part of the whole recipe? Waiting the hour for them to chill so you can cut and eat! 😉

Total Time: 1 Hr. 10 Min.
Prep Time: 10 Min.
Cook Time: 1 Hr.
24 servings

Try your hand at our No-Oven Peanut Butter Squares after watching this helpful video. See why these easy-to-make creamy peanut butter squares are so tasty!

What You Need

1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 pkg. (4 oz. each) BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
Reynolds® is a registered trademark of Reynolds Consumer Products LLC

Let’s Make It
1 – Line 13×9-inch pan with Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil, with ends of foil extending over sides.
2 – Microwave butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 45 sec. or until melted. Add sugar, graham crumbs and peanut butter; mix well. Spread onto bottom of prepared pan; cover with chocolate.
3 – Make shallow cuts in top of dessert to mark 48 squares. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Use foil handles to remove dessert from pan; cut into squares following scored lines on dessert.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – How to Make Thicker Servings: Prepare recipe as directed, using a 9-inch square pan and reducing the chocolate to 2 pkg. Cut into bars instead of squares.

Tip 2 – Easy Microwave Melting of BAKER’S Chocolate: Microwave BAKER’S Chocolate to be used in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 30 sec.; stir. Microwave 30 sec. more; stir. Continue heating and stirring in 10-sec. increments until chocolate is completely melted.

Catch the how-to video and nutritional info on My Food and Family by CLICKING HERE. I have Lainey from NIGHT MOVES on my mind as I’m working on formatting my next book. She…popped a surprise in the upcoming release, NIGHT WISH. When I mentioned Tuesday Treats and Titles, she informed me that peanut butter and chocolate are really high on her list of cravings currently. I don’t have links for NIGHT WISH yet, but I do for Lainey and Hollywood’s story, NIGHT MOVES. You might want to reread it, if you’re a fan. If you’re new to the Nightrider world, start at the beginning, NIGHT SHIFT.  You know the drill. Click on the cover or the titles for the buy links. What about y’all? What’s your favorite flavor combination this time of year?

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Monday Chills and Thrills

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Silver James


Yes. I’m running late. I can explain! No, really. See, after we got back from family time yesterday, I sat down to edit NIGHT WISH. And I just kept working. And working. And working. And, dang it! The story is better than I thought, which means y’all will probably hate it but what the heckfire. I worked all the way through to the end. It’s edited! Except for a few things I need to run a search on this morning and fix because I noted something in the “grammar” continuity that needs checking. Anyway. That part is almost done! Then I start the formatting and there’s not enough coffee in the entire world to get me through that with my sanity intact. Anyway. By week’s end.

In other thrills, if anyone cares, the LA Dodgers came back from a 3-game deficit to win the NLCS. They’re headed to Arlington (Texas NOT Virginia) to take on the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Serious. We don’t care who wins and after watching the playoffs? There should be some really good baseball going on. Yay!

On to the chilly part of the post, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr  

OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I EFFING HATE THIS STUPID NEW WORDPRESS $#!+!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’d finished the post in the HTML editor. It was funny and clever and done! And I went to check it for typos and only the first effing paragraph was there when I clicked out of HTML mode to “regular mode”!

There’s not enough coffee in the world for this on a chilly Monday morning. So, no more clever. I’m too p!$$3d. Here’s the deal:

  1. It’s chilly outside, and inside. 66 on the thermostat. Mid-40s outside.
  2. Hence why I wasn’t up and moving early to get this posted close to usual time. (Also, I procrastinated looking for a clever cold morning/hot coffee meme once I was up, thanks to Loki, who was perched on the pillow beside my head looking like he wanted to eat my eyeballs if I didn’t get up to feed him.)
  3. Still doing the JD Robb In Death Marathon.
  4. Jake and I have to go to Wallyworld. He will get his pup-cup from Starbucks after.
  5. Only TV was baseball.
  6. Plan for the day-get this #*$!!^* post posted. More coffee and calm-down time. Search, find, fix. Real clothes. Wallyworld. Starbucks. Formatting. With luck, no one will speak to me until dinner time.

Hope you had a good weekend. Drop a comment if you want to share. I promise NOT to snarl at you. Happy freaking Monday.

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Friday Sinema: Southern Princess

Posted on October 16, 2020 by Silver James

It’s a Southern thing, y’all. Just go with it and enjoy the laughs. Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Excuses

Posted on October 15, 2020 by Silver James

This is something we all do. You can admit it to yourself. You don’t have to acknowledge it here. I’ll admit it out loud. I make excuses. Especially when I should be doing something–like writing. Or editing. Or marketing. I look for ways to dodge doing it. I’ve been known to iron–a chore I abhor until I’m actually doing it, at which point I discover that it’s a rather soothing exercise. Anyway, I’ve discovered–along with many of the writers I know–that the Universe is dead on with this message: 

Show me someone, Silver,, who keeps getting in your way, and I’ll show you someone who keeps making excuses.

Tricky, tricky, tricky –
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Oh, Silver, you slay me.

I totally get in my own way. And shouldn’t. It’s unproductive. Especially when I make up excuses or find other activities to occupy the time I should be working on writing, editing, and marketing because that’s what successful writers do. And I want to be one that. Successful. I’m gonna get right on that. Just as soon as I get out of my own way and stop making excuses.

What about y’all? Are you guilty of this?

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Wednesday Words: No Face Mask Required

Posted on October 14, 2020 by Silver James

I have no idea how it can suddenly be Wednesday again but it is and therefore it is time for more Wednesday Words. I won’t mask my astonishment that time flies. Or that I’m currently using masking tape to piece together my edits. Okay, they aren’t really that bad. As you might have guessed, today’s #1lineWed theme is **MASK**. This snippet is mostly self-explanatory. Warning, it gets a bit sexy so you might want to be aware of who is reading over your shoulder. Just sayin’…


****
Gen
I have no idea what possessed me to walk away, leaving him in my living room. I should have thrown him out. All right, I should have requested that he leave. There was no way I could physically make him leave. I heard the front door shut and my locks click. I stopped at the entry to my kitchen. I’d been thinking about a glass of wine before I’d heard the motorcycle stop in my driveway. No, I fervently wished I’d ignored the sound and had taken the bottle to the bathroom where I’d planned on a long bubble bath.

Exhaling, I turned—and almost buried my nose in his chest. I jerked backwards, putting space between us, and glanced up. He was looking at me. No. That’s not what he was doing. Looking was too tame a word. His eyes were glued to me, his focus so intense it raised goosebumps on my arms.

“Back off, Wizard.” I meant to say that with a firm tone, like I dealt with minor miscreants who came into my office. Instead, my voice whispered out, making the order more of an invitation.

Something flickered, like a red flame, before his lids lowered to mask what lurked in those unusual green eyes of his. Before I could move, he grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand to his crotch, flattening my palm against him. He was fully erect and my fingers curled around him in self-defense.

One fingertip brushed across my cheek before tracing the outline of my lips. He leaned in and his breath warmed the fragile skin behind my ear. My body all but hummed in anticipation and I forgot to breathe.

“You’re mine, Pink.”
****
I almost feel like I should post the blurb and cover again because I haven’t gotten around to making snazzy graphics to share, entice, and get readers hyped up to buy the book next week. I’ve been working on getting it ready to publish instead of the fun stuff. Anyway, writers, are your characters masking anything you want to share? Readers, what Halloween mask would you wear to go trick-or-treating?

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Tuesday Treats: Apple Streusel Muffins

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Silver James

After summer came blazing back over the weekend, fall decided to peek around the corner and remind us that Halloween and Thanksgiving, along with fall harvest, are arriving soon. Apples, nuts, spices and streusel for the win! These muffins are quick and easy for breakfast, afternoon tea or coffee, or for a late-night snack. You know you want to try them…

Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 20 Minutes
Total time: 30 min
Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients
FOR THE MUFFINS
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 1/2 Tablespoons sour cream
2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup walnuts or pecans chopped (optional)
1 cup apple (peeled, cored, and diced)

FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

FOR THE VANILLA GLAZE
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 Tablespoons half and half
1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions

TO MAKE THE MUFFINS

Preheat oven to 375.

1 – Line muffins tins with paper liners.

2 – Cream together butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs and sour cream. Mix until combined.

3 – Add in dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in nuts and apples. Spoon batter into muffin tins. (3/4) full. (Batter will be thick)

4 – Meanwhile, combine ingredients for streusel in a medium mixing bowl. Sprinkle the streusel over the muffins. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

5 – Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes before placing on a cooling rack to cool completely.

6 – Whisk together glaze ingredients and drizzle over muffins. Store in an airtight container.

Food Talk Daily has all the details for this recipe. This is one of those fairly easy recipes that is scrumptious and everyone enjoys munching on them. To celebrate Halloween, I will mention that a certain dragon shifter is very fond of them. Of course, the clan’s kitchen makes large quantities of these muffins because…well…we all know that dragons have huge appetites. And before you light your fire, Nikos, you know I’m right. And yes, someday, you ARE going to get your own book. But you’re the one who decided to pursue our favorite FBI agent and frankly, pitting you and Sinjen against each other is too much fun. It’s you’re own fault you know. *makes note to make my office nonflammable* Nikolas “Nikos” Constantine, Drakon of Clan Kholikikos, makes his first appearance in THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC. Truthfully? This book has my favorite opening line ever:  This was only Day One of what was shaping up to be a bloody weird week and the gods had been drinking again. Sade is in New Orleans to solve a series of preternatural murders. It’s available at a variety of on-line book sellers. Just click on the cover or the title for the Books 2 Read link that lists all those etailers in one hand spot.

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Thanking Monday

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Silver James

First, Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! Enjoy a day filled with food, family, and friends!

Second, lookie-lookie! *points to the cover on the left* That’s my new cover for NIGHT WISH. I’m excited. I have one goal this week–to get it edited, formatted and uploaded to Amazon and Draft-2-Digital so those of you who have been waiting so patiently can finally read Wizard’s and Gen’s story. Want to see the “back of the book” blurb? Of course you do. 😉

A Wolf sees pink…
Wolf shifter Jack “Wizard” Dimond is no hero, but the woman in the ridiculous pink dress makes him want to be one. His wolf only wants to claim her as their mate. Too bad that can’t happen. Circumstances are in play that Wiz has no control over, and he’s riding the sharp edge of moonstruck crazy.

A woman walks out of a wedding…
Geneva Pruitt makes a single fateful mistake—stopping at a convenience store minutes before it’s robbed. Being rescued by a sexy member of the outlaw Nightriders MC sends her life careening out of control. Set up by her brother and betrayed by the man she loves, she struggles to piece her life back together.

Family is thicker than blood…or love.
Wizard must abandon his mate to keep his brothers in the Club safe. Geneva has to make a choice—surrender to her brother’s demands or fight for her heart. Can these two mismatched souls find their forever together, or does Fate have different plans?

In other news, life continues to happen. I know there was a week and a weekend. I just don’t really remember much of what occurred. I was locked into “Desperate Writer on Deadline” mode. I listened to some of the In Death books. I watched some baseball. And The Masked Singer. Sadly, I don’t remember who was unmasked other than he was the Giraffe. I should probably Google or Bing that. Or you can. Whatever. I drank a lot of coffee. I actually bought groceries. Which reminds me. I need to make a Wallyworld run today. Jake will be happy. Car ride, pets, and puppucino. I want his life! 😆

Also, I’m still hating the new WordPress editor. Everyone who dislikes your bloggin/website platform, raise your hands! 🙋🏼‍♀️

There’s baseball this week. The ALCS–Rays and Astros–and NLCS–Dodgers and Braves–games are playing. Once the League champions are determined, we’re on to the World Series, at a neutral site. Which is just weird. This has been such a crazy year for baseball. Well, all sports really, but I don’t care about or watch the NFL or NBA. Anyway, as much as I love Autumn, I get sort of sad because there’s no more baseball after the Series, until spring.

Speaking of my upcoming release, I need to remember to jot down lines that hit me as being…catchy. So I can use them in graphics for marketing. That’s my least favorite thing about being a writer. Marketing. The graphics can be kind of fun, if a total time suck.

And on that note, I’ll stop boring y’all. The big news is NIGHT WISH. COMING SOON TO AN ON-LINE BOOK SELLER NEAR YOU! What about y’all? Anyone got big news to share? Small news? Anything? Bueller? Bueller?

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Friday Sinema: NSFW Latte

Posted on October 9, 2020 by Silver James

Okay. First, this is NOT safe for work or sensitive ears. There is bad language. Lots of it. There are also lines that made me not only laugh out loud but occasionally howl with laughter. Would that be HWL in net speak? Second, I have nothing against Pumpkin Spice Lattes or the people who enjoy them. Just sayin’…

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