Wednesday Words: Best of the Worst

Posted on May 26, 2021 by Silver James

So, there’s a “writing” competition, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. The point is to write the worst first line ever. And the best of those worst lines wins. It all started “on a dark and stormy night…” Today’s #1lineWed request is the worst line in a WIP. At the moment, with editor brain and no nails as my real editor and beta reader both peruse the book, I want to post one of my favorite first lines. So, without further ado. here is the opening to THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC.
****
This was only Day One of what was shaping up to be a bloody weird week and the gods had been drinking again. Too bad Sade Marquis didn’t have that option. She was on duty. Dammit. Not to mention it was only ten in the morning. However, if things got any stranger, she might change her mind.

She occupied the one booth that gave her a broad view of the whole place. Déjà Vu. All over again. Back in the early days, right after graduating from the FBI Academy, the New Orleans Field Office had been her first assignment. She’d leased an apartment upstairs from Déjà Vu. The bar-restaurant combo became a second home. Open twenty-four/seven, she could eat no matter the time of day.

Jax Martine—or as she liked to think of him “a Jax of all trades”—sailed by her table and two glasses of ice water appeared in his wake. He was human, but Sade would bet dollars to donuts there was a witch in his family tree. She glanced at her watch and wondered if she could squeeze in a late breakfast. She was meeting her partner, who had no concept of time. Werewolves were like that.

Catching Jax’s attention, Sade wiggled her fingers through a complicated series of gestures. A plate with eggs, bacon, and French toast—real French toast made from thick-cut slices of crusty French bread—appeared a few minutes later, along with two more glasses of ice water to replace the ones she’d drained.

She was on her third cup of post-breakfast coffee when two girls sitting at the bar stirred. Their attention swiveled to the front door, eyes on the prime specimen of fae male swaggering into the shadowed space. Back-lit by a sunshine nimbus, Ariel made quite an entrance. Sade looked to heaven for a reprieve that didn’t come. Her day just kept getting better and better.
****
And thus starts the story of FBI Agent Sade Marquis, her Werewolf partner, a gargoyle, a fae, and an infernal dragon. Along the way, there’s a very sexy vampire  And I’ll admit to a bit of prejudice about Sade and Sinjen. They are a pair of my favorite heros and heroines. Writers, have either a favorite line or one that’s awful? And readers, are there any lines that make you stare and go “huh?”? Or one that makes you go, “Oh!”?

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

Tuesday Titles: Unequal

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Silver James

Unequal1cm - mdThe treat today is all for the mind. My good friend and sister-author has a book that you can grab for free until Friday. If alternative history future dystopian stories are your cat nip, this is totally the book for you. Heck, even if it isn’t, the book is FREE. FREE, y’all! It doesn’t cost to download or read. And you might just discover a new author to love because trust me, B.E. writes some awesome books in several different genres. So do it! UNEQUAL. Just click on the book cover or the title to grab your copy. Then grab your favorite treat and beverage of choice and settle in for a thrilling ride! 

Unequal free graphic-BESanderson

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

Easy Monday

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Silver James

cancel mondayWow. What a week and weekend. So much busy. So much brain power. So much coffee! Today, I’m sitting back and relaxing. I finished edits on GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES. It’s sitting for day before I go into formatting mode so that it’s ready once I get edits back and plug them in. The playlist is ready to go. Call me crazy but I always seem to do a playlist for each chapter in this series. The one for this book is crazy eclectic. No. Really. Also, it’ll be able to access through YouTube. I’ll post the link when I get a little closer to release day. Oh, I should mention that my editor and my beta reader have their copies so it’s not like I’m taking a day off from real work on the book.

My whole week and weenend was pretty much invested in getting the edits finished. That means my world was pretty narrow. That said, there were a few things that occurred that I’m cognizant of. 😉

Sports: NCAA D1 Softball Regionals! YAYAYAYAY despite me being a little (okay a LOT) PO’d at ESPN. LG finally figured out how to get the ESPN app “downloaded” on the smart TV so we could at least watch ESPEN3 on TV rather than computer monitor. My Cowgirls came throug their regional unscathed. This coming weekend, they’ll host somebody (Texas or Oregon–I was too lazy to come back and edit this after they played last night) this coming weekend. OU also won their regional and will play either Washington or Michigan. In baseball news, the Cardinals had a mixed bag but they went into last night’s game against the Cubs up 3 games. That works for me.

Editing was so intense, I didn’t do much book listening but I’m continuing a listen of Thea Harrison’s The Elders series. I’m on book 4, about a Djinn and the “Oracle of Louisville.” Her family moved from Delphi to Louisville at some point in history, and yes *that* oracle was an ancester. Anyway, it’s pretty interesting. I can’t believe it’s been several years since I read these books.

TV. What’s that? I’ve watched softball and baseball and I fall asleep almost as soon as I get under the covers. It happens. Mainly because I keep waking up at the buttcrack of dawn. Maybe now the edits are done, my brain will relax. According to LG, I was talking in my sleep the other night. I don’t talk in my sleep. Ever. He does sometimes but in all the years we’ve been married, I have never talked in my sleep. At least I said his name. 🙄

So that’s about it for me. Day off today. LG and I are going shopping for a new fan for the breakfast area in the kitchen. And printer paper. I’m going to catch up on some emails and messenger messages. And maybe take a nap. How are you going to deal with Monday?

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

Friday Sinema: Will It Irish!

Posted on May 21, 2021 by Silver James

I found this too late for St. Patrick’s Day but I’m a total Irish/Celtic music fan. Yes, this video is just over 10 minutes but totally worth it and the time passes in a flash! Enjoy and happy weekend.

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

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Magic

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Silver James

I’ve said this before. To be a writer, to tell stories, to write music or paint pictures or create anything, you have to have an imagination. And using your imagination is like working magic. I’m in the middle of edits and revisions and the story takes place in a world where Magicks interact with humans. Bad things happen to good people. Good people turn out bad. Stuff goes wrong. Just ask Sade, my main character. I should mention here that Sade is a little like me. Or I’m a little like Sade, depending on how you want to look at it. As a kid, I lived way too much in my imagination. It was a safe place. I was in control. Bad things might happen but I could ensure everything came out all right. As a kid, Sade lived in a world full of magic and she was one of the few humans who knew about it. Check out what the Universe has to say on the subject:

There’s a name for the magic, Silver, which transforms lives, connects dots, moves mountains, and orchestrates coincidences that shock and astound.

Imagination.

And there’s a name for all that stops you in your tracks, stirs fear, spins wheels, and leaves you wondering, “Hey, what’s up with that?”

Imagination.

Careful where you point that thing,
The Universe ©www.tut.com

And, of course, Silver, there’s a name for that candy that drives imaginations wild: Green M&Ms.

As an adult, I live way to much in my imagination. And it’s a good place to be even when it gets dark and dirty in there. I control the story. I can make good things happen after the bad. I control the magic. And it’s a good place to be. What magic have you seen today?

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

Wednesday Words: Ticket to Ride

Posted on May 19, 2021 by Silver James

This ol’ sun keeps right on orbiting around the earth and days keep flying by. Yes, FB, I do realize that’s not how it works. Please do not send this through your truth storm troopers for verification. Our #1lineWed THEME is **RIDE** and we’ve all been on one lately, right? What a roller coaster Life is. Anyway, in this snippet, Sade is hot on the case and she’s gotta ticket to ride, she’s gotta a ticket to ri-i-ide, she’s gotta ticket to ride but she don’t care. And yeah, this is totally on the playlist for GHOSTS & THE ANCIENT STONES. And yes, I’m totally sitting here singing the whole song. FYI, “Ticket to Ride” is NOT the song for the chapter I copied this snippet from. Anyway…Sade and Caleb are in Paris. Stuff is happening. Here ya go…
****
“Sade?” Caleb appeared beside her, his cell phone in his hand.

“Hmmm?” The cat had her mesmerized.

“We have a problem.”

“Yeah?”

“Dead body.”

“Okay.”

“Burned beyond recognition.”

“So?”

He snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Sade!”

She turned her head and snapped, “What!”

“Burned body.”

“I heard you the first time.”

“Interpol says it was dragon fire.”

“Well, shit.”

“That would be my sentiment,” Ari agreed.

She whirled and stabbed a finger at the fae. “You stay out of this.”

“Too late, fair lady. I’m here and involved.” He flashed her an impish smile. “Need I remind you of the witch’s rescue?”

“Need I remind you that the perps are dead and their boss escaped?”

The three magicks exchanged glances that almost admitted their guilt.

“It’s not as if they gave us any choice,” Ari grumbled.

“I was diverted by the simulacrum.” Roman continued to stare at the cat in the garden. “I am…disturbed that I could not track it.”

Sade released a frustrated breath. “Yeah, if a gargoyle Sentinel couldn’t track the gawddammed thing, I’m not sure what could.” She turned from the window and squared her shoulders. “All righty then. Caleb, let’s go check out this body. Roman, you stick with Verity and check out the human connection. There’s got to be some magical muckity-muck who’d know about the simulacrum.” She stabbed a finger at Ari. “You go back to whatever rock you crawled out from and stay out of this.”

The cheeky fae just grinned at her before turning to glitter and disappearing. Caleb sneezed violently. Verity grumbled something under her breath as she watched the dancing motes of faerie dust settle onto the antique carpet. Sade closed her eyes and gave a little shake of her head.

She walked out into the soft Paris sunshine, Caleb at her side. “Where is this body?”

“Tuileries Garden, about six blocks from the Arc de Triomphe.”

“Cab, then.” Sade gave an exaggerated shudder to indicate her dislike of Paris cab drivers.

They quickly paced through the grounds of the Notre Dame complex and hailed a cab on the Rue de la Cité. In French, Sade gave directions. In English, the driver said, “You want we go fast?” Then he pressed the gas pedal to the floor and zipped into traffic.

Dodging cars, buses, and pedestrians, the cabby kept up a stream of curses punctuated by descriptions of the historic sites they passed. As an added bonus, he drove them past the Arc de Triomphe before bullying his way back to their destination. He pulled to the curb on Quai François Mitterrand, ignoring the plethora of police cars blocking the street.

Caleb offered cash to the cabby, who grinned at him. “You fine Americans in Paris will need a ride back. I will wait. I am Francoise and I will be your driver, oui?”
****
I’m about 1/3 of the way through edits and revisions–so basically on track. Sade is taking quite a ride in this book–figuratively and literally. I can’t wait to get it into readers’ hands. In the meantime, y’all know I’m gonna ask writers to share a “ride” snippet and ask a question of readers in hopes of generating a conversation. Put your imaginations to work: What type of conveyance is Sade using in the chapter where “Ticke to Ride” is the theme song?  And I know you are totally singing the song too! Just say’n! 😉

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

Tuesday Treats & Titles: Easy Cream Puff Cake

Posted on May 18, 2021 by Silver James

When I was a kid growing up, my favorite treat to get at the bakery downtown was a cream puff. I’m still totally in love with the things–light and airy pastry/crust with creamy pudding goodness inside and a drizzle of chocolat on top. What’s not to love right? Except trying to make those suckers? Not as easy as they look. That said…here’s an easy variation on the theme.

Total Time: 1 Hr. 57 Min.
Prep Time: 20 Min.
Cook Time: 1 Hr. 37 Min.
16 Servings

Serve up something sweet and simple to prepare with our Easy Cream Puff Cake recipe. Our yummy Easy Cream Puff Cake takes only 20 minutes to prep.

What You Need
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup flour
4 eggs
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2-1/2 cups cold milk
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
2 oz. BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 400°F.
2 – Bring butter, water and sugar to boil in medium saucepan, stirring occasionally. Add flour; cook and stir 3 min. or until mixture forms ball. Spoon into large bowl.
3 – Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating with mixer after each addition until all ingredients are well blended. Spread onto bottom of 13×9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
4 – Bake 32 to 37 min. or until golden brown. (Dough will puff up along sides of baking dish). Cool completely.
5 – Meanwhile, mix cream cheese and milk in medium bowl until blended. Add pudding mixes; beat 2 min. Refrigerate until ready to use.
6 – Spread pudding mixture over cream puff crust just before serving; top with COOL WHIP.
7 – Melt chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over dessert.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Serving Suggestion: Sweets can add enjoyment to a balanced diet, but be sure to choose an appropriate portion.

Tip 2 – Make Ahead: Both the cream puff crust and pudding mixture can be prepared ahead of time. Store the cooled crust, tightly covered, at room temperature up to 24 hours before using as directed. Meanwhile, refrigerate the pudding mixture until ready to use.

As always, the wonderful MY FOOD AND FAMILY site has all the pertin3nt details. As for which of my heroines often makes this dessert, whatever you do, do NOT call her a cream puff. One, she’ll take offense and two, her mate Easy will fall over laughing. Those who’ve read NIGHT SHIFT know that when they first met, she was armed for bear–or Wolves, as it turned out. Their story is a dark one because the Nightriders live on the dark-and-dirty side of the Moonstruck world, but they get their HEA. If you haven’t already, grab the book from BOOKS2READ. Just click on that link, the title, or cover. That takes you to a universal landing page where you can pick out your favorite retailer to order from.

Pssst I’ll let you in on a little secret. One of the Wolves will totally eat the whole pan of this Cream Puff Cake all by himself. And he’s probably the last Wolf you’d expect. Any guesses? I’ll give you a hint, his roadname starts with an R and he has an accent. 😉

So what about y’all? Cream puff fans or not? What was your favorite treat from the bakery when you were a kid?

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

Mondayin the Middle is Okay

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Silver James

monday morning coffee reachSo here we are. Another Monday, this one halfway throught the merry month of May. It rained yesterday. A nice, steady rain. Which we needed badly. And for awhile, the storm dragons came out to play. It was fun to listen to their rumbles off in the distance without the worry of severe weather.

Writing was awesome last week. I figuratively typed THE END on Saturday on GHOSTS AND THE ANCIENT STONES. I let it sit yesterday while I worked on some semi-writerly related projects. No words, but floor and site plans for a multi-author project coming next year. It was sorta fun. GatAS finished out at 87,717 words. That will change as revisions and edits hit. That’s okay. It’s a complicated story. Which it didn’t start out to be but hey, stuff happens when your Muse runs with scissors. Anyway, I think I’m really going to like it when all is said and done. I only hope that the readres feel the same.

Reading/listening pretty much stalled out. That’s okay. It happens. I pulled out an oldie t I’ve always liked and so far, it’s holding my attention and I’m halway done. Not sure if I’ll continue the series but maybe.

Sports were up and down but that’s also okay. Cards are still leading the NL Central. My OSU Cowgirls played in the Big 12 finals against OU. OU won. Regions for National Championship were announced last night. I need to go check to see if OSU got a regional. Cards have a travel day today. They’re outing against the Padres wasn’t impressive but that’s okay.

TV has been mostly sports. A few of my standby “reality” shows. That’s also okay.

Lots of things are okay today. And that’s okay too. Nothing wrong with just that. As for the upcoming week? Lots of edits and revisions and finalizing the play list for GatAS. Also, maybe some teasers for the book when I need a break from reading my own words and tearing my hair out. Anyway, I hope to have it in my editor’s and beta reader’s hands by the weekend. What’s going okay in your world?

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

Friday Sinema: Turtle Soup

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Silver James

Happy Friday and yes, I’m back to critters because…well, I am. #ThisMadeMeLaugh because the female lion is all “Whatever…” and the male is “WTF?!?!?!” Have an awesome weekend. And be the turtle. 😉

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

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Implications

Posted on May 13, 2021 by Silver James

Every morning brings something new and oftimes crazy. Because that’s the world right now. In betwseen scratching my head and it exploding, I manage to get through the day by writing. This message from the Universe showed up not long ago and it struck a chord.

Silver, would there be any point in giving you the gift of imagination, the freedom to think as you choose, and dreams that set your soul on fire if even a single one of them couldn’t come true?

I think not.

I love you too, too much.

Tallyho,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Silver, think of the implications.

My imagination is my saving grace these days. I can dive into my made-up worlds with my made-up characters and dream their stories, writing them down and making them sound cool so others might want to read their stories too. In addition, despite a huge effort by some, I still have the right and ability to think for myself, to think what I want to think. And I can dream. Oh, baby, can I!?! Not sure if they can still come true under current conditions. But hey, they’ll be there. They won’t die and maybe someday…the possibility is there. In the meantime, the implications are amazing!

This is part of the attitude that makes a writer. We don’t give up on dreams and thoughts and imaginations. In fact, we rely on them. And you know what? I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. Even on the really-REALLY bad days. So thanks, Universe. I love you too.

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