Thursday Thoughts: Universal Worldbuilding

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Silver James
One of my favorite parts of writing is the worldbuilding. As a kid, I was drawn to the fantastical worlds created by Andre Norton, the European locales featured in Mary Stewart’s mysteries, the rugged western landscapes of Louis L’Amour. Yes. I read across the board. Those books fired my imagination and set me on the path to creating my own worlds, and peopling them with characters I wanted to know…or be. Back then, it was pretty simple to create a world and the people who populated it. Then I grew up and started actually writing down all the stuff in my head. The stories I made up about those people in those worlds grew more complicated and I realized, that while my imagination was fertile, the worlds still needed to be logical. Like Real Life. So I studied books and courses and other authors. And I learned. A teen, intersted in writing his own fiction, asked me once about worldbuilding. My answer was close to this, but the Universe says it in a much more fun way.

Whoops… I did it again. Took a little nap, had a few dreams, and worlds were born. Planets spun and cooled. Continents rose and fell. And civilizations clashed and united.

Actually, it’s quite good fun. But I also dreamed I was you, Silver. And in that dream, for a spell, I didn’t remember I was also the Universe.

It was frightful, actually. Just about scared me to death until, as you, I slowly remembered who I was. And in those waking moments, it was as if the earth shook, the seas danced, and the skies rejoiced almost as much as myself. As if they were waking up, too. It was the most beautiful, sublime, intoxicating rush of pure joy I think I’ve ever known.

How I wish I could tell you more. But like a farmer eager for the new crop, any rush to harvest would spoil the yield. Besides, words would utterly fail me.

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

Silver, oh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h, Silver…

See what I mean? I do this a lot, even for books that I may never write simply because it is fun to dream, to create, to feel the earth shake, watch the seas dance, and all you have to do is look at a sunset to know the sky is rejoicing. Even if my books don’t have any of those things in them, I still want a solid world where my readers can picture themselves there, understand the logic in that place and time, and–with any luck and a bit of talent–they’ll want to hang out there while they’re reading my books. I hope y’all will come visit and stay awhile.
Posted in Craft, Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wednesday Words: Show, Don’t Tell

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Silver James

It’s the last Wednesday in August. AuGoWriMo–the unofficial writing challenge B.E. Sanderson and I have been doing–ends next Monday. I’d hoped to have NIGHT WISH finished. I don’t think it will be. Still, I’ve made progress. I’m closing on 50K words and decided to up my final goal to 60K because I have a whole bunch of snippets in search of full scenes. That’s both the good AND bad news. Still, I finished Chapter 13 yesterday. I’m telling you this because I can’t “show” you the fruits of my toil until the book is completed. I can, however, share this snippet. The #1lineWed theme is Show (not Tell). I hope this snippet shows you a bit of what is going on. To set it up, Wiz brought Gen to the compound and sort of dumped her in his room for…reasons. Now there’s a party and she’s not too inclined to join the merry-making outside in the courtyard.
****
Gen
I made it all the way to the front doors. The glass almost vibrated from the noise. Flames now danced in a fire pit in the center of the space and people gyrated around them. I scanned the crowd, looking for Wizard but couldn’t find him. My hand rested on the door’s push bar but for the life of me, I couldn’t put enough pressure on the thing to open the door.

“You just gonna stand there all night?”

I jerked and whirled to face the woman who’d snuck up on me. She eyed me up and down, taking in my appearance. I returned the insult. She wore heavy motorcycle boots, faded jeans that fit her like a glove, a red long-sleeved T-shirt with a Harley emblem on the front and that ubiquitous leather vest I was becoming far too familiar with. Long dark hair framed her pretty face and her brown eyes crinkled at the corners.

“You must be Wizard’s civilian.”

Civilian? What did that even mean. Evidently, my confusion showed because the woman continued. “Civilian is just that. Regular people who aren’t in the life.”

“Ah. Then, yes. I am most definitely a civilian.”

“And a bit overwhelmed, yeah?” She grinned and winked. “C’mon. I’ll help you find Wiz.”

Before I could protest, she hooked an arm through mine, pushed both of us through the door and all but dragged me over to the grassy area and the chaotic scene. She found a picnic table with space to sit, parked me on the bench and disappeared. So much for helping me find Wizard. Within moments, she was back with two plastic cups filled with beer. She handed me one and pointed her finger at me.

“Stay. Don’t talk to strangers. I’ll be back as soon as I find Wiz.” Then she was gone.

Don’t talk to strangers? Everyone here was a stranger and I had no reason to speak to any of them. I glanced around trying hard not to make eye contact with anyone. I didn’t see Wizard anywhere. A good-looking man sauntered my way and I quickly stared down at my beer hoping he’d take the hint. He didn’t. He straddled the bench. I could feel his eyes on me.

“Nobody’s ever gonna mistake you for a sweet butt.”

I jerked my head to stare at him. “A what?”

“A sweet butt.”

Shaking my head, I leaned away from him. “I don’t even want to know what that is.”

He grinned at me. “That’s because you’re Wiz’s civilian.”

Why did that term now sound so offensive. I was too aware that I didn’t belong here but they didn’t need to keep pointing it out to me. I’d gotten the hint and I planned on bolting back to my nice, normal, civilian life at the first opportunity.
****
I hope you enjoyed it. Show vs. Tell is a big thing in writing. Writers, is there anything your characters are doing you want to show us? Readers, is there anything you want to tell us about what you look for in a book? Do you want description? Action? Dialogue?

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

Tuesday Treats: Boston Cream Poke Cake

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Silver James

I love Bavarian cream donuts. I love Boston cream pie. I love cream puffs. I love pretty much anything that has a creamy, vanilla pudding filling. This poke cake hits all my buttons and is super easy to boot!

Total Time: 3 Hr. 10 Min.
Prep Time: 20 Min.
Cook Time: 2 Hr. 50 Min.
16 servings

Be the star of your next get-together with our Boston Cream Poke Cake. Boston Cream Poke Cake is an exciting way to enjoy the flavors of your favorite pie.

What You Need
1 pkg. (2-layer size) yellow cake mix
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 qt. (4 cups) cold milk
2 pkg. (4 oz. each) BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 350°F.
2 – Prepare cake batter and bake as directed on package for 13×9-inch cake. Immediately poke deep holes in cake at 1-inch intervals, using round handle of wooden spoon.
3 – Beat pudding mixes and milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Immediately pour over warm cake. Refrigerate 1 hour.
4 – Microwave chocolate and COOL WHIP in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Let stand 15 min. Pour over cake.
5 – Refrigerate 1 hour.

CLICK HERE for all the nutritional details from My Food and Family. I haven’t visited with the characters from the Penumbra Papers lately and Adele McCoy, the heroine of THE DEVIL’S CUT poked me in the back and insisted I share her favorite dessert. Since I like it too, I agreed. If y’all aren’t familiar (or have forgotten), she’s paired up with werewolf FBI agent Caleb Jones. Calab is Sade Marquis’s partner and best friend. Oh, Adele is also a CSI with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. They’re after a real demon so if urban fantasy is your catnip, check out THE DEVIL’S CUT and all the Penumbra Papers books. Just click on the cover or the title for the Universal Book Link that takes you to a list of on-line bookstores.

What about y’all? What’s your favorite flavor of filling?

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

Too Many August Mondays

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Silver James

No month should have FIVE Mondays. FIVE! Count them! This is the 4th and there’s one more to come! Except August in the Time of Covid Mondays aren’t really the evil return to work day they used to be. Staying and working at home? You lose track. I know this because I’ve worked from home for years. But I’m not the only one now. That said, a small bit of normalcy is coming back. Schools are slowly opening. As are businesses. People are trickling back to work and kids are excited for school because let’s face it, most parents are NOT cut out to be teachers.

So, nothing much exciting has happened. Being a brain-dead putz, I managed to gain a steam burn on the middle finger of my left hand, from the first knuckle to the base of the nail. It blistered. Now it’s that weird, scabby burnt skin. Yuck. I made peanut clusters. Yum. And no, the two events are not related.

My word count widget stopped working. This happens sometimes. I’m hoping it comes back on line so I don’t have to go figure out the coding for a new one. I’ve made progress. I’m up around 45K words on NIGHT WISH but there’s still a whol lot of story to be told before I type the end and to meet my AuGoWriMo goal, I’m going to have to really push this week. And while I was shooting for about 50K, like I said, there’s a whole lot more story going on. Who knew?

My Cards are hit and miss. Some games, they are amazing. Some, not so much. But hey, considering how much time they were off, unable to practice or play? And considering not everyone is back yet and they are playing every day for like 20+ days, including some double-headers? Yeah, no matter where they end up on the season, I’m proud of them.

Tomorrow is new release day and I’ve been waiting on the next Hidden Legacy series book from Ilona Andrews. I’ll finish up my relisten to the previous books tonight, just in time to start it tomorrow. Of course, I need to ignore other peole’s words and write my on. I’ll be setting words goals for myself: Write so many words, get to listen to a chapter of the new book. Sometimes, the carrot and the stick works on me. Sometimes not. I enjoy the series and the marathon relisten has been fun.

Today is Lawyer Guy’s birthday. Happy Birhtday! ❤

Still not much on TV. I am sleeping better though. Jeez but my life is like…beyond boring. Oddly enough, though, Mondays are big readership days here on the old WordPress blog. Crazy. Glad for it, but crazy.

On that note, I have words to write. Yesterday, Wiz "caught" Gen and they got all…"cozy." Now, I need to send him back to Kansas City and she needs to come up the next weekend to visit so I can throw more obstacles at them so they seperate again. Or not. *bwahaha* Soooo much story left to tell. What are y’all planning this week? My schedule consists of new words and a new book to listen to. Like I said, I lead an exciting life. 🤣🤣🤣

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

Friday Sinema: Steppin’ Out

Posted on August 21, 2020 by Silver James

I’m a huge fan of Irish Step Dancing. It’s still popular in a lot of places but since the Michael Flatley/Riverdance craze died down, performances don’t pop up as often. Found this new one and enjoyed the heck out of it. Hope you do too. Are you steppin’ out this weekend?

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

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Journey

Posted on August 20, 2020 by Silver James

I’m not a famous author. At best, I’m mid-list but hey. I sell some books. I get the occasional bit of fan mail. and I’ve made friends of some of my readers. S’all good. But you know what? The Universe has a point. None of us are born famous. Okay. MOST of us aren’t born famous or world-class or celebrated. Sometimes it does matter who you are rather than what you are but that’s a discussion for another day. Today is about journeys.

The one thing all famous authors, world-class athletes, business tycoons, singers, actors, and celebrated achievers in any field have in common, Silver, is that they all began their journeys when they were none of these things.

Yet still, they began their journeys.

You are so poised for greatness,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

One day, they’re going to name something big after you, Silver! Like a statue, a college… or a hurricane.

With my luck, it’ll be the hurricane! 🤣🤣🤣 But even hurricanes travel. They have to start somewhere as a small tropical dpression and then they build to a tropical storm and then all the things come together and a hurrican forms. Athletes start by learning to walk. And when they start to run or hit balls or make baskets or throw footballs or ride horses or pick up an epee or a rifle or hockey stick or whatever sport they pursue, they practive. They might have talent but if they don’t work at it, practice, get better, they won’t achieve that world-class status. Singers. Actors. Dancers. They start with a grain of talent and they work their tails off to climb the ladder of success. Sometimes, luck plays a part. Sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes, no matter what we do, we never hit those lofty goals. But you know what? We try. We take our grain of talent and we work to improve on it. We don’t give up. And isn’t that the bottom line? Never give up? Never give in? So i’ll keep writing and maybe, if the Universe is right, I’ll achieve my goal of being on a best-sellers list. If not, no biggie. I’ll have told some amazing stories, shared them with people who enjoyed them and I’ll have left my small mark on the world. That’s nothing to sneeze at my friends. Nothing at all. What journey are you going to start today?

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

Wednesday Words: Thunder and Lightning

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Silver James

It’s Wednesday again. I don’t know why that surprises me. But it’s Wednesday. And that means words to fit the theme of #1lineWed from Twitter. Which I don’t do because…Twitter. But I like the nudge of the prompt, so there ya go. Anyway, these are new, first-draft words from NIGHT WISH. I don’t think it will be much of a spoiler that Gen and Wiz are on-again/off-again. A lot. Because…reasons. Anyway, she’s gone home and he finally follows her and shows up at her house. You can figure it out from there.
****
Wizard
No lights showed. I took a minute to check the place out in wolf form. Gen would live in a house like this—a cottage with shutters and flower boxes but the wreath on the door was something shiny and modern. Maybe she’d stopped doing predictable. Off to the west, lightning flickered, illuminating a low bank of clouds. Almost a minute later, the rumble of thunder followed. Indian summer had turned hot and humid and an old-fashioned storm brewed on the horizon. Perfect. It matched the storm roiling inside me.

Shifting back to human, I dressed. I’d parked my bike behind a boarded up building a couple of blocks away. Revving the motor, my engine rivaled the thunder rolling closer. Having no desire to get wet, I drove to Gen’s house and parked under the portico, my bike up tight to that ridiculous red car of hers. I climbed the steps to the porch and rang the bell, but I punched it three times before the overhead light flipped on. I heard two locks click before the door opened a crack.

Startled gray eyes skimmed over me and the sweet fragrance of peaches ripened, heated, and I scented cinnamon. Oh, yeah. She’d missed me. Gen opened the wide, stepping back without a word. This was probably the only invitation I’d get tonight. I followed her inside. She didn’t shut the door behind me. Not a good sign.

“You look good, babe.” She did, because she hadn’t changed a bit. I’d worried about that. She’d always looked perfect to me, had from the moment I laid eyes on her in that fucking pink frou-frou bridesmaid dress.

I got an eyeroll and headshake like she didn’t believe the compliment. “I’m not the one you expected, am I?”

“You can say that again,” she muttered. “I expected to never see you again.”

“That’s not the way this game is played.”

“This was never a game, Wizard.”

Hiding my satisfaction, I shrugged. “I told you once, Gen. You’re mine and I’ll never let you go.”

She flushed and her eyes flashed with anger. Good.

“I belong to no one.” She brushed past me.

My wolf perked up. He liked to play chase. “Game on, baby.”
****
So there it is. Wiz is ready to play but trust me, Gen is giving him a run for his money. I’m making progress with the story but time is getting tight. Still, new words are new words and each one gets me closer to THE END. What about y’all? Writers, got any stormy words to share with us today? And readers, do you find storms romantic? Becasue…some do, don’cha know. 😉

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

Tuesday Treats: 30-Minute Chicken Skillet Manicotti

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Silver James

I’m a big fan of Italian food. I’m also a big fan of easy and quick Italian food. Or Mexican food. Or any kind of tasty food for that matter. Because, let’s face it. I. Like. Food. I just don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen putting it all together these days because I’m all lazy and stuff. This is quick, and pretty darn tasty.

Total Time: 30 Min.
Prep Time: 30 Min.
8 servings

Stuff manicotti shells with chicken, tomatoes and cheese for a 30-Minute Chicken Manicotti Skillet. This chicken manicotti skillet is great for weeknights.

What You Need
1-1/2 cups CLASSICO Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup water
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/4 cup KRAFT Tuscan House Italian Dressing
1/4 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Italian* Five Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, divided
8 manicotti shells, uncooked
* Made with quality cheeses crafted in the USA.

Let’s Make It
1 – Mix pasta sauce, tomatoes and water until blended.
2 – Combine 3/4 cup of the sauce with chicken, dressing, basil and 1/2 cup cheese; spoon into manicotti shells. Place in nonstick skillet; top with remaining sauce. Turn to evenly coat manicotti with sauce. Bring to boil; cover. Simmer on medium heat 15 min. or until manicotti is tender, turning after 8 min.
3 – Remove from heat. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; let stand 5 min. or until melted.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Substitute: Substitute 1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained, for the chopped cooked chicken.

Tip 2 – Plan Ahead for Leftovers: Preparing dinner can be easier if you plan ahead to have leftovers. Roast an extra-large chicken one night, then enjoy this easy skillet dish made with the leftover cooked chicken the next night.

Personal note: I don’t do tomatoes. Allergy. So I leave them out but your mileage may vary so dump ’em in if that’s your preference. 😉

Head to My Food and Family by CLICKING HERE for the full details. And as usual, my heroines aren’t the only ones who can cook. Some of my guys cook too. Like David “Pops” West, chief of the Tarpley Volunteer Fire Department, silver fox, foster dad, and all-round good guy. Just ask Elena Rodriguez, his heroine in FIGHTING FOR ELENA, part of Susan Stoker’s Operation Alpha: Police and Fire series, and book 1 of the Tarpley VFD mini-series. If you haven’t read this book yet, you can read free on Kindle Unlimited or add it to your keeper shelf in digital and/or paperback. Just click on the book cover or title for the link.

What about y’all? What’s your favorite ethnic food?
Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Half-Way Monday

Posted on August 17, 2020 by Silver James

So, this whole waking up waaaaay before the butt-crack of dawn is getting old. REALLY old! And it makes me feel older than I am and I’m older than dirt. Thing is, once I wake up, I’m awake. Pretty much. Sometimes, if it’s like 2 or 3 a.m., I can doze off. But from 4 a.m. on? I’m awake. I might not be up, but I’m awake. I wish I could blame it on the critters but I can’t. Ah well. It’s also the middle of the month. August is half over. Yay! Sunrise and sunset are later and earlier, respectively. I’m ready for fall! I don’t like hot weather. Not too fond of cold, but I can get warm a whole lot easier than I can cool off.

Yes, I’m rambling. There’s not a whole lot to discuss. Stormy spend a lot of time over here last week while Baseball Boy got ready for the start of school. Stormy heads back to school Wednesday. I think the only one in their family who is sad about that is Dozer, their dog. He’s enjoyed having his people home for all these months.

Starbucks keeps sucking me in with bonus stars. And there’s a game going on so I don’t spend my stars when I buy stuff because…plays. Except this isn’t one of those games where you do/buy this/that/another to finish the game. Nope. this one is an electronic ball drop game like plinko. I suck so no wins or free stars for me. Ah well. Jake likes to ride and get his puppucino.

I got new words written last week. Several days were over 2K, a couple were around 1K and there was one or two where it was more like 100. But new words. Only and I are in discussions about the cover. I’m still pushing to be done by the end of the month because I have to write a 50K in September and October for a Susan Stoker/Tarpley VFD release in February. But hey, new words and pretty steady stream of them on a daily basis! Yay for AuGoWriMo!

The Cards are back and look serious about their baseball. They took Saturday’s double header. Sunday’s game was tight. And then it wasn’t. Still, they went 2-1 against the White Sox. I’m glad to have them back! They have 17 days to make up so lots of double headers. I hope they have the stamina. 🤞

Finished off two library audio books. Luke Arnold (the actor who played John Silver in “Black Sails”) narrated his own book. He has an awesome voice and the fantasy, THE LAST SMILE IN SUNDER CITY was sad and exciting and hopeful and I’ll be looking for a sequal, just in case. If straight fantasy is your thing, you might give it a look. The other book is a very sexy paranormal romance by Susanne Wright. I’m also sprinkling in re-listens to the In Death series. No more holds at the library but a new book by fave authors Ilona Andrews set in their Hidden Legacy world drops in about 9 days. I love the series so there will be a marathon. 😆

Still not watching much TV but for the freaky stuff like What on Earh? and Strange Evidence. And movies? Pffft. Just not interested. I know. Boring.

And…that’s about the summation of my week and weekend. Saturday and Sunday I was lump except for some words written, trips to Starbucks, baseball and listening to books. Not a bad life but totally not noteworthy. Hope y’all are doing more fun stuff than me. Anything exciting occur? Any news you want to share? Got plans for this week? I’m foreseeing naps if I don’t get my stupid cicadian rhythms ironed out. Have a great week!

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

Friday Sinema: Walk on the Wild Side

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Silver James

It’s Friday. How did that happen so fast? Like this week, this video is short. And it sort of made me laugh because the male wolf in it? Yeah, he sort of reminded me–at least personality-wise–of several of the Wolves I know (and love!). Who does he remind you of? Have a great weekend!

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