Thursday Thoughts: Universal Self-Love

Posted on May 21, 2020 by Silver James

We’re now on day…what(?) of the lock-down… This whole isolation thing is getting harder and harder. I’m tempted to answer the spam telephone calls just to talk to someone. I actually saw a meme on that–about telling the spammers, “I’d love to get that extended warranty, let me get my credit card. By the way, let me tell you about what my cat did today.” And then launch into some tall tale about the cat or dog or heck, some mythical Aunt Mabel! The point was to make the spammers hang up, take you of the no-call list that doesn’t work anyway, and never call you again. Anyway, a lot of people who haven’t been able to get out and about are almost to this point. On that note, we need to remember to look after ourselves. Working parents are stuck with the kids and doing home work and homework as they cover all the bases as both working adults and now homeschooling teachers. Take a moment to take this advice from the Universe.

You’re beautiful enough, Silver.

You’re special enough.

You’re sexy, playful, and fun enough.

You’ve worked enough.

You’ve cried enough.

You’ve been grateful, generous, and kind enough.

Okay, then?
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

I’m not the one who needs convincing, Silver, nor have I been the one holding it back. Love yourself as we love you.

No thoughts on the craft of writing, as I have a tendancy to translate some of the messages. Today, we all need to remember that we ARE beautiful. And Special. And all the things that make us wonderful human beings. We will get through this, hopefully with our senses of humor intact. So do me a favor. Give yoursevles a pep talk and a hug and pretend that hug is me. Because, as the heroine (and sometimes the hero) in a romance novel often learns, you have to love yourself before you can love someone else. Love and hugs, people. Love and hugs! 🥰🤗

 

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Wednesday Words: Fly Away

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Silver James

Another Hump Day, another word prompt from Twitter’s #1LineWed. Today, it’s all about **FLIGHT**. Today’s snippet comes courtesy of a flash fiction challenge from ages ago. The prompt was “car trouble” and this is what ensued. Yes, it will eventually appear in one of the Nightrider books. Not sure who’s, but I like this heroine, and who doesn’t appreciate a big, bad biker coming to the rescue? I hope you enjoy and I’m always open to suggestions on who these two might become…
****
There is no us so just forget me and whatever weird shit is in your head. Here, I’ll make this easy. Get lost, bitch.”

He’d turned on his heel and walked away. From me. Sliding into his damn Porshe, roaring away into the night. Forget him? Hard to do when he’d ripped out my heart, stomped on it, and left me empty. How could I forget? It had been real to me.

That was then. Ten years I’d fought to regain my equilibrium. To regain any sort of power I’d once had. Ten years to feel human again. Ten years to get up the nerve to leave it all behind and start over. Ten years of looking for…me.

And then my car died. On the side of a deserted road in the middle of the night and a big, scary biker was walking toward me. No, not walking. Stalking. I felt like…prey. I wanted to run, had no place to go, and he’d catch me if I ran. I knew that with complete certainty. Yes, running would be the worst thing I could do. With flight no longer an option, that left fight. Only…

Good grief. He was huge. Well over six feet tall, probably close to 300 pounds—all muscle. Shaggy hair. My flashers alternately washed his sculpted face with yellow followed by night.

“Problem?” His voice sounded like tires skidding on gravel.

“No. I always park on the side of the road at midnight with my flashers on.”

A grin tugged on his full lips and I suddenly wanted to throw myself into his arms and kiss him. Bad me.

“Babe.” While still rough, his voice smoothed to hot coffee.

I threw up my hands. “My car died. I have gas. Oil. The check engine light flashed on, the motor stopped, and let me tell you, fighting no power steering and going from seventy to zero is scary.”

“Pop the hood.”

He might as well have said, “Pop the buttons on your blouse.” Actions jerky, I did what he said, waiting for his verdict.

Dropping the hood, he leaned in my window. “Serpentine belt shredded. C’mon.”

“Excuse me?”

“Babe.” He said that word like I should understand ever nuance, was probably dense that I didn’t. “Can’t leave you on the side of the road. Get on my bike. We’ll deal with your car tomorrow.”

Not stopping to think, I grabbed my purse. He took my keys, locked the car. I’d decided to move across country and now my best friend’s words echoed in my mind. Don’t waste another ten years. Get out there, find what completes you then love to your limit.

Okay. I could do that. Starting now. Except this wouldn’t be love. Just sex. With a scary biker. Who’d stopped to help. Wait. Did he even want sex with me?

“Babe. Thinkin’ too hard. Just get on the bike. I don’t bite.” Again with the grin. “Much.”

New me. Powerful me. Looking for real. Looking to stretch my limits to love. On the back of a stranger’s bike. If he murdered me, I wanted it to be worth the ride.

“I will be, babe.”
****
There it is, the beginning os someone’s adventure. Writers, got any flying words to share? Readers, which instinct would you follow–fight or flight?

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Tuesday Treats: Cheesy Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Bread

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Silver James

Looking for easy appetizers? Or TV munchies for when sports are back? How about just to eat because this recipe totally easy and totally quick and totally good. You need look no further than this recipe of yummyness. And that is too a word. Totally! 😉

Total Time: 50 Min.
Prep Time: 15 Min.
Cook Time: 35 Min.
12 servings

Make this Cheesy Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Bread for your next party. This Cheesy Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Bread incorporates three delicious cheeses.

What You Need
3/4 cup KRAFT Real Mayo Mayonnaise (I substitute Miracle Whip)
1/4 cup KRAFT Classic Ranch Dressing
1/3 cup Buffalo wing sauce, divided
2 green onions, sliced, divided
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Colby & Monterey Jack Cheeses
1/3 cup ATHENOS Crumbled Blue Cheese
1 French bread baguette (14 oz.)

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 375°F.
2 – Mix mayo, dressing and 3 Tbsp. wing sauce in large bowl until blended.
3 – Reserve 1 Tbsp. onions for later use. Add remaining onions to mayo mixture along with the chicken and cheeses; mix lightly.
4 – Cut baguette lengthwise in half. Remove bread from insides of both bread halves, leaving 1-inch-thick shells. Fill with chicken mixture; place on parchment-covered baking sheet.
5 – Bake 30 to 35 min. or until heated through.
6 – Drizzle with remaining wing sauce; sprinkle with reserved onions.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Make Ahead: This delicious appetizer can be prepped ahead of time. Fill bread shells with chicken mixture, then wrap tightly and refrigerate up to 2 days before baking (unwrapped) as directed, increasing the baking time if necessary until chicken mixture is heated through.

Tip 2 – How to Use the Removed Bread: Use pulsing action of food processor to process the removed bread into desired-size crumbs. Store in resealable plastic bag until ready to use as desired.

Tip 3 – Size Wise: Manage portions by using a smaller plate for your meals and snacks to help you stick to the recommended serving sizes of your favorite recipes.

As always, CLICK to check out all the nutritional info from My Food and Family. This is a particular favorite when the Wolves get together. While she might be a close second to Hannah when it comes to not cooking, this is a treat that former US Marshal DJ Collier introduced to the guys. Her mate, Antoine Fontaine, is Cajun. He likes his food spicy, even if buffalo chicken is a damnyankee dish. DJ’s first encounters the Wolves of the 69th in WOLF MOON but it’s not until BLUE MOON that she almost loses her life, is kidnapped to be an experiment, and learns her fate. Interested and haven’t read it yet? Just click on the cover or title to head on over to grab it for your reading pleasure. I’ll warn you–it’s book 8 so you might want to start at the beginning. 😉

Okay, folks, inquiring minds want to know… What’s your favorite regional dish?

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Monday May I?

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Silver James

I hope your weekend wasn’t filled with chaos. Mine was pretty quiet. So was last week. As boring as that is, I’ll take it. Basically, I did some stuff, read some stuff–okay I actually listened, watched some stuff, ate some stuff. Oh, and I wrote some stuff. I’ll break it down.

Let’s start with the good stuff–writing. I’m nearing the end of MOONSTRUCK: BETRAYAL. I’ve finished the brand new novella, MOON CROSSED, that falls between the two previously-written but now expanded with new stuffs novels. I need to reread ROGUE MOON and catch any typos that have slipped through and add in a bit here and there and then do a complete proofread. Then it’s cover, formatting, and uploading. With luck, by the end of the month if not before. You may 🤞 but don’t hold your breath.

Moving on to sports, and the lack thereof… You know I’m desperate when I watch a skins golf game for charity. I mean, what IS a skin? Yes, I can probably google it but why? 🙄 But it was Ricky Fowler and Matthew Wolff, both former OSU Cowboys. I also switched channels a few times to check out the NASCAR race. First crash happened in the first lap. Both are weird with no spectators, and even I could recognize that the pros were a bit rusty, no matter which sport. I’m waiting with “baited” for the Pro-Bass tour. Yeah. Right. However, there is a rumor that we may have baseball for the 4th of July. That would be fireworks-worthy news!

My book listening hasn’t been a lot this past week. I’m being doing some of the lighthearted stuff because my brain is starting to rebel over all the stupid stuff going around social media. As a result, I have no tolerance for the stupid and a short fuse on my temper. I give the TV and/or computer monitor a piece of my mind, upsetting the fuzzy critters. Then I calm down, turn off everything, and stare at the ol’ WIP. Which is why Rudy’s new additions turned out a bit darker. But books. They are normally my refuge. I’m digging for books because most of what I’m waiting for isn’t out in audio yet, or hasn’t been released at all. Anyway, I did finish up Jennifer Estep’s Crown of Shards trilogy with CRUSH THE KING. Her worldbuilding and chacracters are wonderful. I’ll miss the world though she has mentioned she might come back to the world with other characters. There were some intentional loose threads so I hope she makes it so! The rest of the books were so-so.

So…writing, sports, books…what’s left? Oh, TV! LIVE PD is back to 3 hours! Yayayay. And there was an awesome dog rescue in Richland County. Turned out the puppers was 17 years old. Maxine is home with her dog mom, being spoiled and coddled and the vet says she should be fine. She’d been down in the drainage pipe for quite some time–lost, dehydrated, hurt, and hungry. Yay for Richland County deputies and good Samaritans! “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch” is heating up. Weird stuff, people. WERID stuff! And finally, “The Masked Singer.” I forgot to mention the unmasking from the week before last in last week’s update. The Kitty, aka Jackie Evancho (a finalist on America’s Got talent), was unmasked. This past week, it was Rhino, a personal favorite of mine and not only did I know who the celebrity was, but I’d correctly guessed him–Barry Zito, former major league pitcher. The dude can sing, people! We’re down to three this week, Night Angel, Frog, and Turtle. No clue who they are behind the masks.

So, that’s it for me. Today starts a new week filled with possibilities, even if we’re still under seige. That’s what it is beginning to feel like. Here’s hoping all of you and yours are still healthy and still safe. The James Gang is both. How was your weekend? Need to rant? Any tips for getting through this mess? We’re listening…Okay, reading. You know what I mean. 😆

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Friday Sinema: Roses and Seals

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Silver James

When I saw this video mentioned in my blog feed, I clicked. Because…SEALS! And I ❤ the song. I gigglesnorted so hard Lawyer Guy came running in to check on me. He didn’t find it quite as funny so your mileage may vary…

So now, from the ridiculasly cute to the sublime, because I do love the song and the way Seal sings. Plus, some bonus Batman footage. Hope you enjoy the official video. Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Casting

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Silver James

Why do we meet certain people at certain times in our lives? Why do we lose people–for whatever reasons–at others? Karma? God winks? Fate? Just because? I have no clue and I’m open to suggestions. That said, as a writer, I control all those things. The Universe explains it pretty well.

Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Silver, have I mentioned that everyone knows exactly what you’re thinking?

How else could you draw new friends from the unseen? How else would your heroes, heroines, and scoundrels know when to appear, or move on? How else would your “stars” get their cues?

True, they think their own thoughts, too. How else would you know who to cast in each scene?

Just thinking of you, and your power to choose.

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

Yikes… even those thoughts, Silver!

Just like the process of building a world, writers build characters–the good, the bad, and the ugly. And, okaky…also the beautiful. As a character’s creator, it’s up to us to infuse them with personality, with dreams and aspirations, with flaws, and backstory. We need to stuff emotions into them so that they seem real on the page. We move them through the story like a movie director–or a chess master. We give them motivation, words, actions and reactions.

What happens if we don’t do our job? We get two-dimensional characters. Paper dolls that we dress up in cut-out close that are too limp to stand up. Yuck, right? I mean, I played with paper dolls as a kid. Not my favorite activity but I did. I want characters that I want to play with. I want them to be friends–or lovers. I want to dislike the bad guys and boo them, cheering when they get theirs because we all know Karma’s a bitch, right? As a writer, all that is on me. I have to give the characters mouth-to-mouth, breathing life into them so that my readers feel the same way about them.

Writers, do you have an tips on creating characters? Readers, what character do you love to hate?

 

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Wednesday Words: You’re So Punny

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Silver James

So, progress. Slow. Not too steady, but progress. Today’s snippet comes from the new novella, MOON CROSSED, which is the middle part of MOONSTRUCK: BETRAYAL. While it might be in middle, it also time travels a little, back to when Hannah was only a captain and before…well, just read it and you’ll see. Warning: This scene contains strong language because…Hannah is involved. Also, today’s Twitter #1lineWed theme is well…beware of shameless puns…

****
“Can we talk?”

Duke studied her. The captain was not afraid to take on Dr. Jacobson. More important, she’d taken the doc’s guard dog down a couple of pegs. He could appreciate her authority but he wasn’t about to give anything away until he decided to trust her. He pushed out of the tank and slithered down the glass side, rather than swimming over to the dock and using the stairs. She gave him a rolling-eyed look of disgust in response to his showboating. He fought the urge to flex for her. Once he stood in front of her, he was surprised at her height. She wasn’t as tall as he originally thought. Command presence. The captain had it in spades. Good to know. Maybe the SEALs had found an ally.

“Maybe.” He wasn’t ready to commit.

“Seriously?”

He shrugged, wondering how far he could push her. She was attractive and he’d been without female company far longer than he cared to consider. He felt the rest of his team gather behind him, water rolling off them to leave puddles on the concrete floor.

“Fine. Questions I have. Answers you will give.”

His turn to roll eyes but Dalton beat him to the punch. “First, you must come to the dark side. We have cookies.”

“What happened to your predecessors?”

The question caught him flat-footed. Predecessors? His team were the first. Weren’t they? There was Gardner, though.

“There were five Air Force jet pilots assigned to this facility eighteen months ago for some weird project that was supposed to enhance them so they could fly for extended periods at halo altitude with no pressure suits or external oxygen sources. I met them before they reported. Shit.” She brushed fingers through her short hair. “One of them was on the list for astronaut training. They’re still here.”

The men exchanged uneasy looks before Duke spoke. “We’re the only ones here.”

“How do you know?”

They traded knowing looks this time. “Just accept that we know.”

“Fuck!” Hannah stomped around in a circle wishing she had something to hit. Or kick. Preferably those two asshole scientists. She deep breathed—in through her nose, out through her mouth—several times, calming. “How long have you been here?”

“Six months.” Duke glanced at Dalton. “Except the kid. He’s only been here two.”

“Late addition?”

“Replacement.” Duke’s voice sounded flat in his own ears. Flat and final.

“Motherfuckingdammitalltohell.” Her temper flared again. She had a really bad feeling about the sailor who’d been replaced. More breathing before she calmed down.

Duke understood her outburst. His anger simmered on a low boil.

“Okay. Fill me in.” Hannah jumped in before the big SEAL could argue. “My security clearance is way higher than yours. And while I report to the Joint Chiefs, I can bypass them and talk directly to the Secretary of Defense.”

“In that case…”

***

Two hours later, Hannah climbed into the back seat of the SUV idling near the front exit of the underground lab. Her head swam—no pun intended—with facts and suppositions, most of which she could barely wrap that head around. There was so much wrong about what happened in that lab on so many levels. She vowed to stop the project, no matter what she had to do. The thumb drive tucked into her bra was full to the gills—okay, so she couldn’t help herself—with information about the failed Angel Wings project and the shift to the Atlantis experiments. One of Duke Reagan’s frogmen turned out to be a computer wiz. He’d downloaded all the files for her—along with a bit of trivia.

Werewolves. Fucking werewolves in the US Army. A whole special gawddamned unit of them hiding in plain sight and doing secret missions. Not even the CIA knew about them. But Hannah did. Now. And wished she didn’t. Her head truly was going to explode and she wondered how the hell she’d ever sleep again because…werefuckingwolves! And frogmen. With the ability to breathe underwater. Like gawddamned fish. And there was one more bit of information that kept cropping up. The name Black Root. She had a really bad feeling about all this shit. And for the first time, she wondered who she could trust? How was she supposed to distinguish the white hats from the black hats when they all wore green?
****
There it is. I hope you enjoyed. Writers, any puns in your WIPs? Readers, got any shameless puns to share?

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Tuesday Treats: Easy Homemade Donuts

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Silver James

Dude! I’d buy a pastry bag just to make these! I ❤ Bavarian creme donuts and how easy is this?!?!

Total Time – Prep and Cook approximately 20 Minutes
10 servings

What’s better than donuts? A recipe for Easy Homemade Donuts! Try your hand at this homemade donuts recipe to enjoy your favorite breakfast treat at home.

What You Need
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 cup cold milk
2 oz. BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, broken into small pieces
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
3 cups oil
1 can (12 oz.) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Let’s Make It
1 – Beat pudding mix and milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. (Pudding will be thick.) Spoon into pastry bag fitted with plain tip. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2 – Microwave chocolate and COOL WHIP in medium bowl 1 to 1-1/2 min. or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 1 min.
3 – Heat oil in large saucepan to 375ºF. Add biscuits, in batches; cook 2-1/2 to 3 min. or until golden brown, turning after 1-1/2 min. Drain on paper towels. Transfer to wire rack; cool 5 min.
4 – Insert tip of filled pastry bag into side of each fried biscuit to fill with pudding. Dip tops of biscuits into chocolate mixture. Return, dipped sides up, to wire rack; let stand until firm.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Substitute: Prepare using your favorite flavor of JELL-O Instant Pudding.

Get all the details HERE at My Food and Family. Since this past Sunday was Mother’s Day, all the kids in Blaidd’s Gap got together and made big batches of these donuts for their moms. Liam, Micah, Cody, Joy, Gracie, and little Sally each appear in a book with their parents, but since they’re all living in Blaidd’s Gap, I thought we’d visit with them through MOON SHOT, the book where they all come together, Sally makes her entrance, and the Wolves finally find a home. Maybe. Anyway, this is a good time to reread MOON SHOT, if you already have it on your shelf. If you don’t, you might want to start at the beginning, but you can probably figure enough stuff out if you just jump into this on with both boots on. Trust me, it gets deep, so keep those boots handy! You can click on the title or the book cover and head on over to grab your copy! So…donuts. The big question of th day is: Creme-filled or plain?

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Monday 7 Come 11

Posted on May 11, 2020 by Silver James

What does that even mean? Yes, I know it has something to do with shooting craps. Why would anyone want to shoot crap? And how did craps get that name anyway? My brain very closely resembles a hamster on a wheel at the moment. But then, it IS Monday. What can I say? Other than this is the stuff that keeps me awake at night…

We’ve moved on to partial lockdown around here. All the smart people stayed home. All the stupid people got out–and they’ve all forgotten how to drive. I’m hoping that just maybe this is Karma’s way of playing Darwin and cleaning up the gene pool. I still wear a mask when I get out, which isn’t that often. I have mentioned that life pre-Covid wasn’t all that different, right? Speaking of partial openings, STARBUCKS DRIVE-THRU IS OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!! Starbucks is my reward for getting stuff marked off my writing to-do list. It’s also my nudge-the-Muse trip out into the world. Maybe, since I have incentives now, I’ll stay on track.

Speaking of writing, I finished a short story (can’t be longer than 5,000 words) and submitted it to an open call. Basically, if I’m picked, the story goes into an anthology of 20 stories that will be featured in the publisher’s newsletter as a free read, and on a 3-month limited free run. Then the anthology comes down and the rights revert to the author. I’m doing this for a couple of reasons: 1) I’d love to get my foot in the door and be invited to submit a full novella/short novel for publication (it’s my understanding that it IS by invitation only), and 2) if nothing else, it opens up my work to a HUGE number of new readers. I can’t lose. I plan to take INTO THE NIGHT and turn it into a Nightrider novella, much like I did with REMEMBER THE NIGHT, which was originally a 10K story written for an RWA anthology. I made it all the way through to the very final cut and then realized I was glad I’d been cut because Lucky and Gemma deserved a full story. Anyway, I find out August 14 so fingers crossed. 🤞

In reading news, I have a big ol’ sad because I finished Jennifer Estep’s CRUSH THE KING, which is the final book in her Crown of Shards trilogy. LOVED IT! I’m singing that. LovelovelovedITTTTT. Loved all the three books. Loved the characters. Loved the plot. Loved the world. It’s fantasy. With a kickass heroine. A sexy love interest. Magic. Gladiators. Intrigue. Plots and secrets and…and…it’s amazing. Go forth and check it out if that’s your catnip. Listened to a couple of books from the library. Eh. Glad I got them from the library.

TV is still mostly blah. Except LIVE PD is back to 3 hours! Yayay! I know. I’m rolling my eyes at myself. You don’t have to do it for me.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. It was quiet around here. We did “break” quarantine to meet the Kids (Only, Baseball Boy, and Stormy) at our favorite Mexican restaurant on Saturday night. They’ve opened for limited dining room service and we went early to make sure we got in. I ❤ that place so much! It's our "First Saturday" routine back when life was normal. The first Saturday of the month, after siren test, we'd all meet for lunch. Yum! Anyway, we'd all missed it and we all ate waaay too much. 🌮🐖 Totally worth it!

Sadly, there's not a whole lot else going on in my world. I'm hoping to get back in a serious writing groove starting this week. I'm hoping me and mine remain healthy. Only is back in her office part time but Baseball Boy is mostly out of school and the state's school athletic organization hasn't made a determination about summer baseball. Stormy does start soccer in a week or so. Spectators will have to socially distance and it's advised to wear masks but hey! Sunshine and "kids swarm" soccer. Yay! At this point, I'll take whatever sports I can get!

What about y'all? Any good, bad, or ugly going on in your world? This inquiring mind wants to know. In the meantime, stay safe and stay healthy. Do what you can, can the rest, and get on with life. Have a great week!

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Friday Sinema: LOTR on Facebook

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Silver James

I gigglesnorted. A lot. I couldn’t help myself. Y’all know, if you follow me on Facebook, that I have a love/hate relationship with the platform, but I would friend these people. Immediately. I hope it brings a giggle to you. Also, have a good weekend!

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