Super Bowl Monday 2020

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Silver James

Welpers, it’s Monday. It’s also the Monday after the Super Bowl. Lawyer Guy and I settled in to watch not only the commercials but the game. At the time I’m typing this, I’m about half-way through the pre-game show. 😂 I’ll do a follow-up later in the week on my thoughts of the game and the commercials. I’ve done a commercial round-up for a lot of years–ever since Super Bowl commercials became a thing.

In other news, not much writing or revising. It happens. There was quite a bit of Jammie time with Stormageddon. That always takes precedent. I had him Monday after school, Thursday after school for an early dinner and play time at Chik Fil-A, and then LG and I headed to his school Friday afternoon for the talent show. Stormy sang a song that he wrote himself, titled “Little, Little Jack Pipe.” He made up the words and the tune. He also told his mom he needed a guitar to play soft music, not a loud one like a rock guitar. Eyes were rolled, but the little dickens stuck to the words and tune each time he sang the song so maybe there’s some talent there…

The new season of “The Masked Singer” arrived last night after the Super Bowl. As an author, I shouldn’t be switching verb tense in this “article” but tough. It’s my blog and I’ll switch if I want to. And there was a Super Bowl and commercials.

I did a brisket, home-made BBQ sauce, deviled eggs, and baked beans for the game. Pretty darn tasty.

Jake had a full day Saturday. We took him to the American Legion Post for pancake breakfast. He stayed under the table and 90% of the people had no clue he was there. Those who did see him all wanted to pet and fuss so I took him off service dog duty. He even got bacon. That was followed by siren test and lunch at Alvarados’s, our favorite Mexican restaurant. They have a table back in the corner and Jack gets tucked back in and sleeps. This was his second time there and NO ONE knew he was there but the owner, who seated us. Imagine the surprise when we walked out. He’s such a good boy! I managed to find a hole in the grass and went down. Two things happened: Jake was right there even though I dropped his leash and I managed to roll to my knees and stand up without help. Both of those are big deals for a variety of reasons.

Remember my “Thursday Thoughts” about stopping to check out the “Wow Moments?” Well, I had some this past week and I thought I’d share. Wow moments:

Yesterday was a rare, once-in-a-century “palindrome” day: 02-02-2020 Reverse the numbers and it’s the same date.

I saw an eagle land on the roof of a house. Crazy.

I actually watched the Super Bowl. Go figure. Hey, I liked both teams, didn’t really care who won, though I was rooting for the Chiefs.

And on that not, I’m shutting down in the “now” (Sunday afternoon) so I can finish food prep and pay closer attention to the SB pre-game. Hope y’all had a great weekend and have a productive week. Did you watch the Bowl? Did your time win? What was your favorite commercial? (I’ll reveal mine on Friday. 😀 )

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Friday Sinema: Moonline

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Silver James

I would never do this. Ever! But wow, to watch this video? Kinda makes me wish I was young and adventurous again. Also, what a cool scene this would make in a book. 🤔🤔🤔 ( <– My thinking face while I thinkthinkthink) What extreme thing would you like to try? Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Wow

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Silver James

I’m older than dirt. *shrug* Thing is, I don’t feel that old. Oh, physically I do, but mentally? Yeah…nope. Does that make me “young at heart?” Or am I suffering from “Peter Pan Syndrome?” No clue. I do know that I’m a writer and writers all look at things differently than normal people. “Writer’s Brain” is a real thing and part of that is the ability to understand what the Universe is going on about today. See, writers almost always have this ability:

The ability to stop, reflect, and go “wow,” Silver, is one of the wisest characteristics an old soul can possess.

I recommend it daily,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

I’m not “dating” you, Silver, “old soul” is not a chronological reference, but you do wow me.

I’m an old soul. I was born “old” that way, even though I am young at heart. I think most writers are. That’s not to say that other people aren’t, just that writers have a way of stopping, reflecting, and going “wow” when the light-bulb moment hits. It shows in the way we paint pictures with words, in the way we tell stories spun from thin air, in the way we create the worlds in which our characters live. So yeah, I stop and go WOW! a lot. It’s almost as good as stopping to smell the roses.

What’s made you stop, relfect, and go “wow” lately?

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Wednesday Words: Remember Me

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Silver James

Today, I want to welcome my guest “snippeteer,” the international best-selling author, TL Reeves. I’m lucky enough to share the Badege of Honor: Tarpley VFD miniseries and world with some awesome authors, including TL. These books are all standalone but share characters and one major event so you know you want to read them all, especially FIGHTING FOR BRITTNEY. Brittney Hart is a meteorologist who, with her team of experts, chases storms. She’s come to Tarpley, Texas to visit a friend and bumps into more than she bargained for at the TVFD fund-raiser and award ceremony. Five the of the firefighters are being recognized for saving the life of Texas Game Warden Conor Paxton and his girlfriend, Erin Gardner, who’d been kidnapped. If y’all know anything about small-town Texas, you know they are always up for a party and five of their own getting life-saving medals is a big deal. So is running into the woman who Dexter “Dirty-D” Walsh hasn’t stopped thinking about for sixteen years…
****
She turned quickly then stumbled backward. Shock and confusion marred her pretty features. As cliché as it sounded, she hadn’t aged a day. She still reminded him of the young rich girl who wanted to be a weather girl. “Dirty-D?” The way she murmured his name went straight to his groin.

“You remember me?”

“How could I forget you?” She started walking toward one of the other tables.

“I’m surprised to see you,” he said then kicked himself as he followed behind her.

“Yeah,” she replied. “Strange, right?”

Dexter stopped. “Brittney?”

“Yeah?”

She wouldn’t look at him. If he didn’t know any better, he’d swear she didn’t want to talk to him. “Uh, can we talk?”

“About what?” She glanced over her shoulder at him.

“I thought maybe we could catch up.”

She licked her bottom lip and it was then he saw the tremble in her hand and the way her gaze darted from spot to spot, as though she might have been waiting for something. Maybe the guy who’d walked away had been her husband.

“Oh, catch up? I mean, it’s not like we had any kind of relationship, right? We kind of had a quickie in the bathroom of that bar not far from here.”

He frowned. She was right. They didn’t have anything. They’d been a post-test/pre-ship out hook up. “Right. It’s… It’s been a long time. It’s really good to see you.”

She nodded. “It’s good to see you, too. Surprising.” She flashed him her easy smile, the one that made him want to go to his knees and do anything she asked.

“Yeah. It is.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “So, what brought you here?”

She quirked a brow. “Jemma, why? What brought you here?”

“Fire department. This is my station—well, it’s our station. I’m a Paramedic/Firefighter for Tarpley.

“Oh,” she said. “So, Big Bend, huh?”

“Yeah. Crazy.” He stopped her as she handed a dollar to the girl standing behind the counter of a squirt gun game. “I would like to just, talk. I… God, this is going to make me sound like a creep, but I thought about you over the years.”

Brittney pushed a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear. “Dexter, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I mean… I’m not sure if I can.”

“What’s a beer between old acquaintances?”

“I—”

“Mom! Check it out.”
****
And…what a hook! Y’all know you need to one-click like RIGHT NOW! This book has all the feels and second-chance stories are my cat nip. Just click on the title or the cover teaser below and grab it now so it drops into your inbox the moment FIGHTING FOR BRITTNEY goes live! Readers, who is the character you’d like a second chance with? Authors, do you have any “remember me” scenes to share?

If you’re insterested in the book that inspired the Tarpley VFD characters and their story, check out Susan Stoker’s JUSTICE FOR ERIN, Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes.

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Tuesday Treats: No Bake Cookies

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Silver James

A perennial favorite of kids of all ages and so easy even kids can make No Bake Cookies. Today’s recipe is shared by TL Reeves, author of the upcoming new release FIGHTING FOR BRITTNEY.

INGREDIENTS
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cocoa
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Bring butter, sugar, milk, and cocoa to a boil for one minute. To make sure cookies set up properly wait until mixture comes to a complete FULL boil and then start the timer for one minute. Remove from heat.
2. Add peanut butter, vanilla, and oats. Stir well and drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment paper. Let them set up and cool.

Just remember, for all their yummy goodness, these cookies are healthy too! They are! I mean…peanut butter AND oats. Making these cookies is a holiday tradition for Brittney Hart and her teen-age son. A single mom, Brittney spends most of her time traveling around the US chasing storms. A meteorologist, it’s her job but no matter what, she always spends Christmas with her son and they whip up a batch of these cookies and settle in to watch all the Christmas shows. After they chase a storm into Tarpley, Texas, there just might be someone else sharing those cookies next Christmas–Dexter “Dirt-D” Walsh, former naval officer and current Tarpley VFD firefighter. You can preorder their book now and read their exciting story come February 18! Just click on the title or the cover and head on over to one-click FIGHTING FOR BRITTNEY by international best-selling author, TL Reeve.

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Last Monday Meh

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Silver James

You know how you think you’ve done something and then you realize you didn’t do it? Yeah…that… I could have sworn I wrote a blog for this morning and set it up yesterday. Only…I didn’t. I have mentioned that it sucks to get old, right?

Moving on. There was a week and a weekend. The week got off to a discombobulated start because Monday wasn’t “Monday.” It was Stormageddon Comes to Jammie’s House for the day. Ha had a lot of coloring to do for homework so we sat at the dining room table to color–him working on his homework, me digging out an “adult” coloring book a friend sent me one year. It was a fun way to spend a few hours but totally messed up my head on which day of the week it was.

The breaking news all last week was that FIGHTING FOR ELENA and the the five other books in the BOH: Tarpley VFD series are up for preorder. There’s always last minute stuff to do–updating the website, advertising and social media. All that fun stuff. That put a dent in my writing brain so not many words fixed or written on BETRAYAL last week. It happens.

There was a weekend. I vegged out. Wonky headspace is not condusive to much of anything.

I caught up on some LIVE PD shows DVR’d. I watch most of them “live” but due to KP duty and critter feeding duties and often falling asleep, I don’t always get to see the whole thing. We DVR so I can zip through to the parts I missed. I did some of that. Yesterday, I caught EXPETIDION BIGFOOT on the travel channel. It wasn’t cheesy and actually took a very scientific slant. Amazing tech stuff was used and some trul creepy moments. The show ran a first-season marathon because the finale aired last night. I’ll keep an eye out for season 2. I also did the first two episodes of 9-1-1 Lone Star on On Demand and then set to DVR the upcoming episode. There’s a lot that made me scratch my head and wince (firefighting stuffs) but it stars Rob Lowe. He’s becoming a bit of a silver fox. 😉

I’m still listening my way through Jennifer Ashely’s Shifters Unbound series. This is only my second time through the series and it’s been since 2018 so there are parts I remember and parts I don’t so it’s all good. I’m waiting for GOLDEN IN DEATH, #50 in JD Robb’s series starring futuristic cop Eve Dallas. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read and listened to all those books. Totally my favorite of all time!

On a sad note, I’m not an NBA fan but my heart goes out to the Bryant family and the others who died in the helicopter crash yesterday. Heartbreaking. 😢

Wow. I had more “news” than I thought I did and now I’m in the mindset to get to work. Have to run some errands today so I’ll be in and out of that headspace but that’s okay. It’s a new “work” week and it’s filled with possibilities. What’s on your list for this week?

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Friday Sinema: Badge of Honor–Tarpley VFD

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Silver James

I’ve been waiting a long time to share this video series trailer. MJ Nightingale, one of the authors, put this together for us and I’m so dang impressed that I just keep hitting replay. 😆 Want a hint of what happens? Click play! Have a great weekend, everyone. And remember…25 days and counting!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Falling in Love

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Silver James

The Universe dropped into my inbox with a good question. Having a writer’s brain, I usually translate these messages into something to do with writing romance. And if you know me, you won’t be surprised to learn that I’m a firm believer that there’s romance in every genre, so there! Pbbbth 😛 As a writer, I’ll admit that I fall in love with my characters. Even the bad guys. This is what the Universe has to say on the matter:

Who will you re-fall in love with today, Silver?

Whe-e-e-e-e-e…
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com®

Or you could start from scratch, Silver, and pretend it’s for the first time.

I want to get to know my characters, to get into their heads, to understand them and why they do the things they do. Why? So they become real. Characters should be like the Velveteen Rabbit. They should be friends and lovers, family and neighbors, so that a reader wants to spend time with them. I want my characters to be real and the only way to do that is for me to love them and make them real from the very first time they pop into my head. They shouldn’t become less in translation as they travel from my imagination to the story I’m telling about them. So who am I going to fall in love with today? Amy and Harjo, Rudy and Izzy, Mac and Hannah, Liam, and all the Moonstruck Wolves.

Curious cat here. What fictional character do you wish was real and alive and sitting down with you for a visit? I’d love to have a beer and a steak with Eve Dallas–partly because I’d love to pick her brain and mainly because wherever Dallas, Roarke won’t be too far behind. 😉

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Wednesday Words: Going Dancing

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Silver James

I do love making memes! Mostly. It’s a great way to procrastinate and to share favorite lines. In this case, not only is it a line, but the scene. Pops is about to make his move on Elena and has invited us along for the ride. 😉
****
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.
****
This is one old dog that doesn’t have to learn new tricks–he just needs to remember how to do them. 😆 Y’all know the drill. CLICK HERE to preorder while you’re thinking about dance moves. Writers, do any of your characters dance? Readers, what’s your favorite dance?

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Tuesday Title: FIGHTING FOR ELENA

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Silver James

It’s finally here! The project six writers have been working on since last spring! Welcome to Tarpley, Texas, home of the guys and gals of the Tarpley VFD. The authors each have a story to tell about someone in, or dear to, the VFD. Six different voices sharing the lives and loves of six couples, all brought together by a dedication to serve and the “storm of the century.”

I’m happy to announce that my book, FIGHTING FOR ELENA, leads things off, followed by five more awesome books. They are all available for preorder now and they all release on February 18th. That means you can binge read them when they go live 28 days from today! Want to know what FIGHTING FOR ELENA is about?

Volunteer firefighter, fierce protector, foster dad…
Fire Chief David “Pops” West doesn’t mind being all those things, but when an attractive, young social worker blows into his life like the backdraft from a raging inferno, he’ll acquire another distinction he’s not totally comfortable with—silver fox. Duty, loyalty, responsibility? Check, check, and check. Attraction and dating? Oh, hell, no. It’s been ten years and he’s so out of practice they probably changed the rules on him. The Tarpley, Texas Volunteer Fire Department, his ranch, and the young folks in town are his life. And they’re all he needs. Except when he wants more…

Dedicated advocate, tenacious social worker, wrangler of runaways…
Elena Rodriguez knows certain people think she cares too much. But helping kids, especially the forgotten ones trying to survive on the streets of San Antonio, is her life. To the exclusion of all else. Sure, she has no social life, but that’s never been a problem. Until a sizzling hot fire chief comes to her rescue. Who cares if he’s older? She’s ready to socialize. Too bad fate has other plans…

Fighting for Elena…
When a young teen stumbles out of the path of outlaw bikers and into their lives, the silver fox and the woman who cares too much will team up to protect her—as their attraction for each other explodes. Whether battling wild fires, wicked weather, or outlaw bikers, Pops will do whatever it it takes to keep Elena.
****
While Pops might be human, that doesn’t mean my Wolves aren’t around. Mac, Nate, and Boomer, along with Hardy, Gravedigger, Smoke, and Rook (from the Dallas chapter) all make appearances. Also, there’s a new Wolf in town, who will be making his appearance in the next set of Tarpley VFD books. Yeah, yeah. I’m being a big ol’ tease, I know.

In case y’all want to know how this miniseries came about, Susan Stoker introduced five volunteer firefighters in the big climax to JUSTIC FOR ERIN. One of her readers asked about the guys and she threw out the idea. Several of us who write in her world jumped on it and voilà! Six books now and six more books about new couples in the Tarpley VFD coming in 2021.

While you’re waiting for the books to go live, be sure to watch for teasers, trailers, and fun times between now and release day. Also, HEAD HERE to check out the other books in the series! Psst. There’s a rumor going around that there might just be a release-day party with all the authors: me, Deanndra Hall, Haven Rose, MJ Nightingale, TL Reeves, and Nicole Flockton.

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