Monday March

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Silver James

When I was growing up (and grown), my dad always gave me a daffodil on my birthday. Didn’t matter where I was. Didn’t matter how old or married I got, every birthday like clockwork. See, I love daffodils. Always have. I’ve planted bulbs at every house where I’ve ever lived, even if I wasn’t going to be there long enough to see them bloom in the spring. I lost Dad in 1995, right before New Year’s. Two months later, on my birthday, a daffodil bloomed in my yard. And I’ve had a least one (and usually more) blooming on my birthday every year since. This year, I had only one. *points to photo* That one. If I get up from my desk and look out my office window, I can see it. It’s a reminder of spring, of my birth, and of the man who wasn’t my father by blood but was by heart.

Moving on. That’s what time does. I’m another year and one day older than dirt. Yippee. Beats the alternative. There was a week and a weekend. I did some stuff. Didn’t do other stuff. Here’s a brief rundown.

New words. I got some writing done. Not enough but some. I’m going to get this puppy done. Soon. Reading/listening is a bit of a broken record. Still doing the re-listen of the Kate Daniels series. Still a favorite. I should be getting the new Nalini Singh mystery/romantic suspense(?) from the library soon. I’m #2 on the hold list.

Spring training baseball was played. I get angry at MLB network because they’ve decided that us peons down here in Okie-land should be blacked out whenever they air a St. Louis Cardinals’ game. Because we’re in their market. Or some such BS like that. It’s freaking SPRING TRAINING?!?!?! Not like everyone IN MARKET (more on that in a moment) is snowbirding down to Florida to see the games. And see, what in the ever-loving heckin’ frack are we even IN the St. Louis market? Those idiots in the MLB should make that drive because hey, it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump (of EIGHT FRICKING HOURS!!!!!) so of course, all us fans down here at the other end of I-44 are going to spend all our time driving back and forth to regular season games. Why yes, this subject turns me into Ranty McPants every year. Hell, our AAA team is in the LA Dodgers farm system so that automatically makes us part of the St. Louis market. Grrrr. Thank goodness of Fox Sports. THEY get it!

Where was I? Oh, yes, updates. Dionne Warwick. I had her partially right. She was the one unmased on THE MASKED SINGER last week. I kept flip-flopping between her and Tina Turner. Her voice screamed Dionne, but the clue package fit Tina better. Amazing talent on that show and so much fun trying to figure out who they are. Y’all already know about my all-things-LivePD obsession so ’nuff said ’bout that.

What else? Oh! Stormy sang at church yesterday. The whole school had a part in the service. It was sweet. And he picked out a Crayola box of 50 colored pencils for me for my birthday! Only and Baseball Boy got me a new mousepad. It is made of awesome because it says, “Never mistake my silence for weakness. No one plans a MURDER out loud.” 🤣 Speaking of, (birthdays, not murder) LG put up the new fan in my office. The old fan worked. Sort of. The fan did. The light didn’t. It’s DARK in my office and crossing the room to get to my desk deserves hazardous duty pay. At some point in the last year, we found a really cool fan on sale for cheap at Home Depot. Yeah, I flip the switch and announce, “Let there be light!” and grin. I have light! It’s the little things, people.

I’m sure there’s other stuff but it’s probably boring because I can’t remember. How’s your life going?

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Friday Sinema: My Way

Posted on February 28, 2020 by Silver James

Y’all know I’m training Jake to be a service dog. He is NOT this dog. (Thank goodness!) That said, I’d take Ryker in a heartbeat. He might have flunked out of Service Dog School, but one of the handlers adopted him. If you have time, read the comments. 🤣 I hope all of you have a “Who’s a Good Dog” weekend! (And yes, Ryker just might appear in a future book because…well, just watch!)

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Gift

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Silver James

When I was one of those angsty teens with posters on the walls of my room, one of them was actually a present from my dad. It was a photo of of a sleeping kitten that looked to be smiling (even 50 years ago, LOL cats were a thing!) and the caption said, “Set aside some dreaming time.” Dad always encouraged me to do three things:

1) Read
2) Use my imagination
3) Believe I could be whoever I wanted to be

Then the Universe dropped this into my inbox…

Have you noticed, Silver, how all dreams come with built-in challenges, and all challenges come with built-in dreams?

Curious, huh?

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

That’s why we call both of them “gifts,” Silver; it also saves massive amounts of paper.

My dad, and his teachings, truly were gifts and I miss him every day, though he’s been gone 25 years now. Whenever I get discouraged, when the writing gets hard, and I forget to imagine and forget to dream, I need to remember this message. Dreams and challenges go hand-in-hand. So, tally-ho, readers! I’ve figured out the glitch, partially due to this revelation. So both the dream and the challenge are new words and finishing MOONSTRUCK: BETRAYAL. What dreams and challenges do you have?

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Wednesday Words: Grrrr

Posted on February 26, 2020 by Silver James

It’s Hump Day. That means it is time for words, based on a theme. Sometimes. I came across this prompt and since Iffy is sulking, I took the words and ran. “And the words are?” you ask. INCONVENIENCE or
AGGRAVATION, things that make you GRRRR! or GRUMBLE!! or DAMMIT!!! So here is a first (and rough!) draft from MOONSTRUCK: BETRAYAL, here’s a little peek at some of the new material going into the book. I leave up to you, dear readers, as to whether my words meet the challenge. 😉
****
Mac stood very still, all sensation bleeding out. Hannah raged, like she’d captured every bit of emotion in him, draining him dry. Liam was gone? No! This couldn’t be happening. Not after…

“Breathe, man.” Lightfoot. Reminding him to live.

“We’ll find him, Mac.” Sean. Vowing to make it right.

He searched the face of each man, his alpha stare in high gear. Neither of them flinched. Then Danny was there, hobbling but chin high and determination exuding from his every pore. Harjo. The same. His gaze surfed over the women. None of them approached his mate. Smart. Hannah was too volatile, too apt to say something that could never be taken back. He next looked to the other men, the one’s they’d rescued from Area 51. They stank of burnt toast, their anger a visceral presence in their scents.

Not them then. No scent of carrion, of road kill rotting in the heat that signaled betrayal. But someone had. Had betrayed him. Hannah. Betrayed them all.

He needed to do something. Say something. But he remained frozen. Liam. His son. His only child. And Hannah had given everything to Mac, over and over, until her heart broke this one last time. They would find Liam. They would get him back. And then everything would be okay again. He and Hannah would be a pair, connected in heart, soul, and body as they once had been.

Rubbing his chest with a fist, he attempted to focus his thoughts. Aggravated that he couldn’t think straight, he scanned the faces of the people gathered there to celebrate Harjo and Amy’s marriage. His brain, on autopilot, noticed. He whirled, searching.

“Where is she?” More demand than question, Mac noted the rising panic in his voice.
Lightfoot gripped his shoulder. “Hannah’s right—”

“No! Not Hannah. Sutherland! Where the fuck is that gawddamned bitch?” His voice devolved into a growl.

The men exchanged looks. And then the crowd erupted.
****
Writers, any aggravating words you want to share? Readers, what aggravates you about us authors? Inquiring minds want to know. 😁

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Tuesday Treats: Butterscotch Texas Sheet Cake

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Silver James

There’s a character in FIGHTING FOR ELENA who is very important but who doesn’t appear very often. In fact, her presence only occurs in the occasional “whispered” comment she makes to Pops. “Who’s that?” you ask. That would be the ghost of Rosie West, Pops first wife and his “One”–at least until he meets Elena. Pops and Rosie never had kids of their own but they raised a whole passel of other people’s kids. And Rosie was a “milk and cookies” kind of mom born and bred in Texas. Oh, she made them eat their vegetables, but they always got dessert. The following is a favorite of Pops AND the kids.

Total Time: 57 Min
Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 42 Min
16 servings

Make a Lone Star treat with Yummy Butterscotch Texas Sheet Cake. This Texas sheet cake is made with white chocolate flavor pudding and butterscotch chips.

What You Need
1 pkg. (2-layer size) white cake mix
1 pkg. (3.3 oz.) JELL-O White Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding
4 egg whites
1 cup BREAKSTONE’S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup water
1 pkg. (11 oz.) butterscotch chips, divided
1 cup COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
3/4 cup PLANTERS Sliced Almonds, toasted

Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 375ºF.
2 – Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix and next 4 ingredients with mixer until blended. Stir in 3/4 cup butterscotch chips. Pour into 15x10x1-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.
3 – Bake 20 to 22 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 min.
4 – Meanwhile, microwave COOL WHIP in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until melted. Add remaining butterscotch chips. Let stand 1 min., then stir until mixture is blended.
5 – Spread COOL WHIP mixture onto cake; sprinkle with nuts.

Kitchen Tips
Tip 1 – Size Wise: A serving of this sweet treat goes a long way on chocolate flavor.

Tip 2 – How to Store: Keep refrigerated.

You know the routine–CLICK HERE for all the nutritional details. Since I already introduced the character above, the only thing left is my sales pitch. If y’all haven’t grabbed this book, now is a good time to grab it! You can read it for free with Kindle Unlimited, or buy it for Kindle. PLUS, it’s now available in paperback! Just click on the cover or the title: FIGHTING FOR ELENA. So…are you a fan of butterscotch? And would listen if a ghost whispered in your ear? 😉

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Monday Mayhem

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Silver James

I’m running as fast as I can and Monday is still gaining on me! *flail*

So, stuff didn’t happen. Have a great week.

Okay. Y’all wish you could get off that easily. There was a past week and a weekend. Something happened. Not much but some things. Let’s talk about the easy stuff first.

Sports: OMG! My OSU Cowgirls are #10 in the NCAA Softball D1 rankings! ❤ ! ❤ ! And OU is #1. Amazing. And spring training has started. With games! My Cards beat the Mets Saturday and they tied Sunday, coming from behind. In the spring, a tie is as good as a win. Someday, I'm going to Jupiter to watch some spring training games.

Reading (or listening…): I did some. I'm currently 10 books ahead in my Goodreads 2020 challenge of 200 books. Doing something of a meandering relisten to Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels series. I say meandering because I have books on hold at the library and when they drop, I've read the Kate books so many times I can stop, drop and roll. So to speak. I can stop reading whatever Kate book and start reading the library book when drops and then roll right back into Kate once I'm done. Cuz I'm weird like that. I've read a couple of books that hit my radar but aren't my normal catnip: Louise Penny's STILL LIFE, a mystery, and Eoin Colfer's HIGHFIRE. It's…an odd book. About the last dragon who is hiding/living in the bayous. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did but other's mileage may vary. Of course, my own FIGHTING FOR ELENA dropped last Tuesday. Sales have been good, I'm getting a few reviews–all pretty good, and sales/KENP pages on my list books is perking up. I needed the boost!

Writing: Yeah…I did a little. I keep getting wrapped around the axle instead of just writing and sorting shitstuff out later. I AM going to finish this middle section of MOONSTRUCK: BETRAYAL. I’m learning new stuff about the SEALs. I learned something about Amy. Hannah made me cry. What I’ve written is good just…discombobulated. I’ll get there, because I’m releaning old lessons–new books spur sales. And I NEED the sales.

TV: The unmasked Masked Singer last week was skateboard legend Tony Hawk. He seemed relieved, which made me laugh. He really didn’t do a bad job. I’m slowly wending through all my DVR’d LIVE PD shows. Yes, even though I watch “live,” I DVR because in the midst of the show, I have to feed critters and do kitchen KP from dinner and I quite often fall asleep before the end of the show. Some episodes, I missed altogether because…life. Anyway, I’m slowly clearing out the stash.

And…that’s about it for my world. Anyone do anything cool over the weekend? Who just vegged out? *raises hand*

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Friday Sinema: Oceanview

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Silver James

So, I’m working on new material for MOONSTRUCK: BETRAYAL–sort of a bridge but not really between BRIDE’S MOON and ROGUE MOON. It’s tough because of what happens at the end of Bride. My action side wants to jump in with both feet and actionactionaction! But there’s other stuff happening in the Moonstruck world that needs to be…discussed. Or revealed. 😉 Anyway, part of that bridge will be a visit with the Hard Target boys. Sort of. I’m going back to the original SEALs who Hannah…fixed. Because Amy, our Bride’s heroine has an encounter of the ocean kind. And this song? Well…it sort of fits that scene and the psyche of the guys and…I needed a video because it’s Friday. Have a great weekend. And enjoy the view…

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Sanity

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Silver James

As everyone likely knows (since none of you live under a rock 😉), I had a book release this week. It’s doing well. This makes me have a happy. And any author will tell you that book releases makes us crazy. Worry about sales. Worry about whether the readers will like the book. Worry about…what to fix for dinner. Okay, maybe not that last one. Usually. That happens during deadlines. But I digress. Releasing a book is a crazy time. Writing a book is crazy. But when you write romance, you get to add all that is crazy about love–about relationships, about what makes us idiots when we fall in love. But then the Universe dropped this into my inbox…

Sometimes the best way to remain sane, Silver, is to love like crazy.

Works for me,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®
Everything, everywhere and everyone, Silver.

You know what? I think this works for me too. So…I’m going to love like crazy–everything, everywhere, and everyone. And my heroes and heroines are going to do the same. What about you?

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Wednesday Words: Filling Up the Spaces

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Silver James

Yesterday afternoon, FIGHTING FOR ELENA broke Amazon’s Top 100 in Paid Romantic Suspense and Kindle Romantic Suspense. That wouldn’t have happened without y’all! Thank you, thank you!!!! And here it is Wednesday so it is time for words and the theme/word of the day is **SPACE.** This is the beginning of one of my favorite scenes so I hope you enjoy it too. Also, as a fave, it might have been previously posted. Too bad. Enjoy it again! 😉
****
He flipped on his blinker and let go of her hand to turn into the parking lot at Randy’s. A few cars were parked near the entrance. The place was always packed on the weekends, but this was a weeknight. People in these parts worked for a living and that usually meant rising early so late nights were rare. He parked, swung out of the truck and hustled around to open Elena’s door. She’d learned to wait on him after their first foray to the grocery store in Bandera. Pops grinned. That had been quite the disagreement. His pretty Elena was a feminist.

“Why are you grinning?” she asked.

He wisely shook his head and held out his hand to help her step down. She’d changed into a dress with a flirty skirt and heels. She had some great legs and he let his admiration show. She snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Men,” she muttered.

Holding her hand, he led her inside. Randy, the owner, occupied the space behind the bar and Pops gave him a head nod in greeting. Several of the regulars turned to check out the new arrivals. He escorted Elena to a table and held her chair. “You trust me?”

Elena gave him a side-eyed look. “About what?” That got her another grin. She liked it when she got that grin. “Fine. I trust you.”

“Good.”

He swaggered off to the bar and Randy met him. “Two chili cheeseburgers, fries, and Coronas.”

Randy eyed Elena before returning his attention to Pops. “You know what you’re doing?”

Laughing, he shook his head. “Not a clue, man. Not a clue.”

While Randy ducked into the back kitchen to place the order with his cook, Pops went to the jukebox and studied the song selections. He found a Marc Anthony song and hoped it would have the right beat. Then he plugged in Dierks Bentley and finally, a Jason Aldean. By the time those three songs were over, their burgers would be ready. As the notes of the first song drifted from the speakers, he moved to the middle of the cleared space that doubled as a dance floor. Then he looked at Elena and extended his right hand. When she simply stared, he curled his fingers in invitation.

With a nervous smile, she pushed back the chair, stood, and walked toward him, her steps hesitant. When she reached him, she placed her hand in his and he drew her close—right as the salsa beat hit. And just as Rosie had said, dancing was just like riding a horse. Once you learned, you never forgot how. The moment Elena figured out he could dance, she was all in—hips melded to his, body swaying, feet moving. When he swung her out, that flirty skirt lifted in the breeze and the glimpses he got of her thighs were enough to make him consider getting their food to go.
****
I do like a man who knows his way around the dance floor. What about y’all? And have you read the book? If so, what’s your favorite scene? And writers, any space-y words to share?

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Tuesday Treats and Titles: Easy Chilaquiles

Posted on February 18, 2020 by Silver James

Today, y’all get a double whammy of goodness. It’s RELEASE DAY for FIGHTING FOR ELENA and there’s a pivotal scene in the book that revolves around food. Our heroine Elena Rodriguez is a true Latina when it comes to food. And she does everything from scratch. There are some tips to today’s dish for those of us who are lazy. So, today, you get Elena’s Family Chilaquiles and a new book to read!

Prep Time: Not long
Cook Time: About that long
Serves 4-6 depending on how hungry people are

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into quarters (works better with stale tortillas)
3 cans (10 ounces each) diced tomatoes and chiles, such as mild Ro-Tel
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
4-6 large eggs
1/4 cup crumbled queso fresco, plus more for serving
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Make it:
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, and fry the tortillas until lightly browned and crisp. Drain on paper towels.

In a food processor, puree 1 can tomatoes and chiles. Heat oil in a 9-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until just golden, about 45 seconds. Add puree and remaining 2 cans tomatoes and chiles. Bring to a boil; cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is slightly reduced, 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in tortilla chips to coat, breaking some up.

Scramble eggs and place on top of tortilla/sauce mix in skillet. Sprinkle top with cheese. Place under the broiler until the cheese melts.

Tip #1: You can use “bought” tortilla chips, but make sure they are the thick and hearty ones. Otherwise, they won’t stand up to the sauce.

Tip #2: You can fry eggs either sunnyside up or over easy and put them on top of the chips and sauce. It’s just a matter of taste.

Elena says this recipe is an old family favorite and one her mother fixes any time there’s a reason to celebrate, starting with breakfast! Of course, this dish is also hearty enough to serve for a quick dinner when you crave something spicy. When she arrives at Pops’s ranch to look after Joy, she brings the fixings for this breakfast treat. It’s walking in to find her in his kitchen that Pops…well. You’ll just have to read the book. The silver fox might have snow on top but there’s plenty of fire below, and the dedicated social worker might just discover that there’s more to life than her job! Grab FIGHTING FOR ELENA now for just $3.99 or read it for free if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Y’all know the drill–click the title or cover. And please! If you like the book, recommend it to your friends and leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Word of mouth is a priceless gift to an author! ❤ ❤ ❤

When you finish FIGHTING FOR ELENA, check out the other five books in the POLICE AND FIRE: OPERATON ALPHA TARPLEY VFD series!

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