Every time I see this video–and a few others I stumble across from time to time, I make a resolution to actually watch this series. I need to win the lottery so I can get a smart TV for either the bedroom or my office so I can stream it. I would totally binge watch! What about y’all? Do you like Vikings? (Either the show OR as romance heroes/heroines?) Have a great weekend!
Every writer has a process. Sometimes, I get an idea for a plot. Sometimes, a character walks into my office, pulls up a stool and starts talking. Sometimes, I get flashes of scenes and eventually, the plot and characters evolve. Yeah. Weird. I totally understand this, and it’s also why I complain that my Muse, Iffy, runs with scissors. Thing is, at some point, a writer–even me–has to figure out what I want out of a book, how the story ends. And then I have to do the whole BICHOK thing to type out the words to form sentences, turning them into paragraphs and chapters. Just like the Universe says…
It’s kind of strange, Silver, but first you have to know what you want, defined in terms of the end result.
And then you have to physically move toward it, without defining the hows.
At which point, the thing you want actually starts coming to you, on its own terms, from a direction completely unexpected.
Not unlike a cat,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®Just carry on, Silver, detached from the details and timing, and perhaps act like you just couldn’t care less.
And like cats, Muses–especially Iffy–and words can be damned arrogant, aloof, and ignore/irritate the snot out of you. I think I’ll find some tuna. See if the hows will figure out a direction and I can finish my projects on their own terms. I’d sure like a dog–all slobbery and ready to please–every once in awhile. 😉
How about you writers? Is your process a cat, a dog, or a unicorn? And readers, do you ever wonder about a writer’s process?
This week’s #1lineWed theme is **CRITTERS**. All kinds of critters. Wild or domesticated. Dogs, cats, horses, pigs, birds. Real or preternatural. This week’s Wolf is Riley “Speed” O’Brien, hero of SEAL Moon. That means today’s snippet is from the same book. This was a fun scene to write. As a set-up, they’ve escaped the explosion on the deep sea drilling rig, swimming through the Gulf of Mexico to a deserted island that has Mayan ruins, where Riley and his heroine (and boss), Taylor Dagny are taking refuge.
****
He scouted ahead, found nothing that concerned him. Returning, he led her into the clearing and she halted, staring, mouth slightly agape.
“Pretty amazing, huh?”
“This…” She stepped closer, pulled up short. “What is this?”
“Mayan ruins. There’s a hot spring along with the cold pool and waterfall. We can shelter here until I figure out a way to get us back to the mainland.”
“Ruins?”
Riley glanced at Taylor, who was acting oddly skittish.
“We don’t have to go inside, do we?”
He glanced toward the sky, though the rain forest’s canopy blocked a lot of it. Clouds were scudding across the sun. “Unless you want to sit out here in the rain. Me? I plan on staying dry.” He walked over to the nearest ruin with a door. He leaned down to look inside. Taylor appeared at his side and mimicked his actions.
She peered into the darkness, her heart rate racing in triple time. “It’s too dark to see in there.”
Keeping his face neutral, Riley agreed. “The better to hide from the bad guys.”
“You’re doing it again.” She scowled at him and it was all Riley could do to not kiss the furrows that formed above her nose.
“Doing what again?”
“Making me feel ridiculous. It’s not ridiculous to be concerned about entering ancient ruins lost in the rain forest.”
He stared at her, at her narrow skirt ripped up one side, her torn blouse dipping off one shoulder, her bare feet with their designer pedicured toes. He wisely kept his mouth shut. Old Wolves could learn new tricks. Especially since he could see in the dark. He didn’t mention the flashlight he had in his pack. He stepped through the small opening and looked back at her. “You coming?”
A delicate shudder skated through her, though she wasn’t sure if it was fear of the dark or the darkly sensuous tone of his voice and the implied double entendre. “Are there snakes?”
He bit his tongue and shifted his stance to cover his reaction to her question. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. There are no snakes.” He headed deeper into the room.
“Why don’t I believe you?” Taylor followed, hesitant, and gingerly walking on tiptoes. Something slithered against her ankle and she launched herself onto Riley’s back, screaming bloody murder.
He winced, her scream like a physical blow to his sensitive ears.
“No snakes. You told me no snakes,” she panted. “What was that?”
He flicked the Zippo lighter he pulled from his pocket, checked the floor. “A vine, duchess. Just a vine. I’m telling you, there aren’t any snakes.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
She slithered down off his back. It wasn’t snakes she needed to worry about. It was Wolves. Well, one Wolf, to be precise. He’d leashed his lust for as long as he could. Riley didn’t know how much time they’d have but he was going to seduce her. Or else.
****
And y’all got two critters for the price of one. 😉 Who has critters to share? Writers, offer up some words. Readers, what your favorite animal character in a book? (Pssst I have a soft spot for Harley, the Newfoundland in REDEEMED BY THE COWGIRL.) And don’t forget that BILLIONAIRE COUNTRY released yesterday. 😉 And now, just one more commercial announcement…If you haven’t read Riley and Taylor’s story, you can grab SEAL MOON for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription, or buy it and keep it for $2.99.
Today is Fat Tuesday, the last day of Mardi Gras. Tonight, the street sweepers will follow the officers of NOPD and surrounding jurisdictions as they march down Bourbon Street to end the festivities. Whenever I go to New Orleans, there’s a few things I have to eat: beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, breakfast/lunch/dinner at Deja Vu, and a muffaletta sandwich from Central Grocery and Deli. People line up around the block to get a muffaletta here. Here’s a new take on the old tradition: Muffuletta Dip!
Total time: 30 Mins
Prep: 10 Mins
Cook: 20 Mins
Made with ham, salami and olives, our cheesy baked Muffuletta Dip is a delicious take on the classic New Orleans sandwich.
What You Need
1/2 cup pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped
1/4 cup black olives, chopped
2 Tbsp. KRAFT Lite House Italian Dressing
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Smoked Ham, chopped 4 slices OSCAR MAYER Hard Salami, chopped
large thin wheat snack crackers
Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 350ºF.
2 – Combine olives and dressing.
3 – Mix next 4 ingredients; spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate.
4 – Bake 15 to 20 min. or until heated through. Top with olive mixture. Serve with crackers.
Kitchen Tips
Tip 1: Use Your Microwave
Spread cheese mixture onto bottom of 9-inch microwaveable pie plate. Microwave on HIGH 3 to 5 min. or until heated through. Carefully remove from microwave. (Plate will be hot.) Top with olive mixture.
Tip 2: Serving Suggestion
Serve with thin wheat snack crackers or RITZ Crackers. Or Pita chips–that’s what I like.
To get all the nutritional info, CLICK HERE and head over to Kraft Recipes. I’m also celebrating the paperback release of my newest Harlequin Desire title, BILLIONAIRE COUNTRY. Zoe Parker, the heroine, fell in love with muffuletas when she did a gig in New Orleans and craved the taste when she was pregnant. She found this recipe and chowed down. I can promise that Tucker is a big fan and whenever Deacon and the Sons of Nashville are around, they all beg her to make a quadruple batch for their nomming pleasure. You can click on the cover to go to the Harlequin site to buy the paperback, the ebook, or find the links to other retailers.
Rule Number One:
Never mix business and pleasure.Country music producer Tucker Tate is laser focused. But finding a pregnant runaway bride forces him to slow down. Zoe Parker has a voice like an angel—and nowhere to go. So when he moves her and her baby into his condo, it’s just business…until it’s not. Will broken rules lead to broken hearts? Or is Tucker writing his very own love song?
BILLIONAIRE COUNTRY is part of the Billionaires and Babies mini-series and is book #8 in my Red Dirt Royalty series. If you’ve read or will be reading the book, please give me a virtual hug by leaving a review on Goodreads or the retail site where you bought the book. I promise lots of virtual hugs back! ❤
You know that friend that you really like but have to explain to all your other friends why you are friends with that person? Yeah…that would be me. I never really fit in anywhere but seemed to have friends, and even a few best friends. This did not change as I matured. Mainly because I’m a bit of a Peter Pan and I still don’t want to grow up. So anyway, I’m weird. I admit it. I’m good with being weird. Mostly. Being the weird one has helped me create characters to write about. Like now.
See, I have this heroine in the next Nightrider book. Her name is Jennifer. She’s in human resources. She drives a VW Bug. She is part of a girl posse but is always the bridesmaid, thrower of showers, and wingman (wingwoman?). Anyway, you know what I mean. She’s the one the boss asks to stay late or come in on weekends. She’s the one her family relies on because their too busy to be arsed. Her story has languished. I knew about her. I just didn’t know what sort of external and internal conflict there was going to be. Then this little message from the Universe dropped into my inbox.
If you only knew, Silver, how normal you were when you thought you were weird.
How strong you were when you thought you were weak.
And how ready you were when you thought you weren’t.
You’d think again, oh Great One Revered by All in the Unseen –
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®Not normal normal, Silver, awesome normal. And ready ready.
I’d like to say it was a light bulb moment but Iffy hasn’t paid the electric bill in awhile. Still, I now have a real handle on Jen. She’s a people pleaser. And she’s the odd woman out. And she thinks she’s totally weird. Except she isn’t. And Wizard is going to convince her of that. Because those of us who are weird get our happy ever afters too.
And yeah, I know I’m not the only weird one out here. I have weird friends and I adore each of you! Psst. You know who you are.
Another week, another Wednesday. Since I was under the weather last week when picking the #1lineWed theme for Twitter, you can guess which direction I went. I was, by far, too clever. 😆 As I’ve been sharing snippets from various books in my Moonstruck world, based on the Wolf of the Week, I discovered that neither Hawk Greenwood nor Dana Peterson got sick in RESCUE MOON. The closest I could come is Hawk’s excuse for “personal leave” while he was working black ops.
****
But here he was in the middle of the Mexican desert running a solo op.
General Donovan, and then Duke Thornton, who’d been apprised of the mission but not of Hawk’s unique capabilities, promised the cavalry would be there if he needed them. Hawk had five minutes with Ghost Bryson before climbing into the unmarked Blackhawk chopper. Ghost didn’t say much but his eyes spoke volumes. Yeah, those guys would have his six even if they had to walk through hell to get there.
There wasn’t much he could do until sundown so he settled in to watch and wait. This was mostly high desert country with mountains and valleys. The official story was that his aging grandfather had taken ill and the family requested he take emergency family leave to head home to Oklahoma. If anyone in the Pentagon checked, Hawk would have to come up with a sick grandfather. His real grandfather was pushing 100, still ran a mile a day—in wolf form granted—and was the terror of the tribal senior citizens center.
Hawk was a full-blood Choctaw Indian. While he’d parachuted in wearing desert ACUs, he’d changed into worn jeans and a chambray shirt. He spoke enough Spanish he could pass for a local if he had to. He didn’t plan on having to. Throughout the day, he watched the changing guards and the over-all lax security around the hacienda. He’d expected adobe walls at the very least. Nope. This was a high-end luxury villa with swimming pool, tennis court, and a freaking nine-hole golf course. From the looks of things, the cartel was building another nine holes to create a regulation course.
There were girls in and around the pool but none of them matched the photo he’d studied during the flight. These women drank, snorted lines of coke, and sunbathed topless. Hawk started to worry. Had they already killed her? Or shipped her off for the sex trade?
His claws burst through his fingertips at that thought. Holy fuck! His wolf did not like that one iota. Hell, neither did he. Women were to be respected. And protected. He grinned at that. His grandmother would chase him all the way to the state line just for voicing that sentiment, and there’d be hell to pay if she caught him. He missed his family. Maybe he’d go by the home place outside of Tishomingo on his way back to Fort Bragg.
Shadows flicked across his vision and he looked up. A kettle of six vultures soared on air thermals. If they thought he’d be easy pickings, they were in for a rude awakening. Movement around the pool pulled his attention back to the hacienda. Two men, one carrying a covered tray, were headed to the pool cabana. The man with the automatic rifle slung over his back stopped and unlocked the door. Now that was interesting. Hawk grabbed his binoculars.
****
How are y’all feeling? I’m slowly getting better. Cough is most gone but my energy levels are still pretty sucky. Writers, are your characters healthy? If not, share some sick words with us! Also, if you haven’t read RESCUE MOON, which is me getting to take my Wolves into Susan Stoker’s Special Forces: Operation Alpha world for some fun and games, CLICK HERE for the buy link. It’s also free to read on Kindle Unlimited.
Baseball. Basketball. Soccer. Whatever your sport of choice, this dip is perfect to whip together from some yummy munching while cheering on your favorite team.
Total time: 30 Mins
Prep time: 10 Mins
Cook: 20 Mins
Combine cream cheese, blue cheese, ranch dressing and hot sauce give this hearty baked Buffalo chicken dip a familiar flair. Try it today!
What You Need
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup KRAFT Classic Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup KRAFT Natural Blue Cheese Crumbles
1 Tbsp. chopped green onions
Let’s Make It
1 – Heat oven to 350ºF.
2 – Combine all ingredients except onions in medium bowl. Spoon into shallow baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.
3 – Bake 20 min. or until heated through; stir.
4 – Sprinkle with onions.
Kitchen Tips
Tip 1: Substitute Buffalo wing sauce for the hot pepper sauce.
Tip 2: Variation – Prepare using your favorite combination of KRAFT Ranch or Blue Cheese Dressing, and KRAFT Shredded Cheese.
Tip 3: Serving Suggestion Serve with your favorite crackers and/or cut-up fresh vegetables.
CLICK HERE to get all the pertinent information on this Kraft recipe. Dana Peterson, rescued from a drug cartel in Mexico by her hunky SpecOps Wolf, Hawk Greenwood, brought her Northeastern tastes for Buffalo wings to Southeast Oklahoma. She makes this dip all the time for Hawk, his buddies, and his grandfather. If you’d like to read Hawk and Dana’s story, which is part of the Special Forces: Operation Alpha series (as well as tied to my Moonstruck worlds), you can read it for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Just click on the cover to go grab your copy. It’s also available in print. Are you like Dana? Do you enjoy your dips spicy?
How can this be the last week of February? I mean, I know this is a short month but duuuude! It just ain’t right that this month is gone. Dang it. Time is flying too freaking fast. I need to slow it down so I can catch up. Today’s update is a quicky because life is short and mine’s been totally boring.
First…BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I ❤ the St. Louis Cardinals. But I'll watch anyone play baseball. And Spring Training games are starting and they…are…TELEVISED! Can i get an amen? Okay, yes, extreme but BASEBALLLLL!!!!!
Okay. Writing. Still not talking about that. Just…no. Next week, maybe.
Reading. OMGWTFBBQ! Kristen Ashley's Honey Club series is some seriously hot shitstuff. I’m not sure what that says about this old lady who is now considering opening up a YouTube channel called Granny Panty’s Bedtime Stories wherein I read sexy passages for fun and titilation. Yeah…no. But this books? Wowser. And the characters? So damaged and so redeemed and so perfect. *happy sigh* I may have to take time off for a couple days once I finish just to recuperate.
TV. BASEBALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh. I said that already. This week “The Masked Singer” comes to an end. It’s been awesome covered in crazysauce. I’ve even guessed a couple of the unmasked singers before the masks came off. Down to three now and we’ll see. Also, “Live PD.” I need to keep a pen and pad handy so I can write down the best lines because I never remember them later and I’m too interested in watching to get up and find something to write on. It’s even the same when I’m catching them on DVR.
I still have the last vestiges of the crud. Not hacking a lung up but I wheeze when I lay down and the sound bugs me. I’m still coughing but not hard or often. Still getting a few hot flashes followed by chills. Aches are mostly gone. The big thing in energy level. I’m good for about 20 minutes and then…zip. I got nada. I’m ready for it to go away.
We enjoyed having Big Foot for a sleepover Saturday night. He came after dinner, played Hot Wheels with his Big Daddy, then he got his Wookie pjs on, crawled up in the bed in “his” toy room (the guest room but yeah, pretty much his toy room 😆 ) and was asleep in 15 minutes. His mother isn’t speaking to me. 😉 Part of it was a full day of activities including a birthday party. We got up this morning and met for breakfast at a favorite place for the hostage handover. I think the kids enjoyed their free night.
And that’s it for me. What’s good…or bad…going on in your worlds?
I never know what I’m going to tumble across when I tiptoe through the tulips that make up the internet. I tripped over this YouTube video containing vintage footage and soundtrack of one of my favorite Beach Boy songs from back in the day. On this last Friday before my next birthday, I’m getting all nostalgic. Take a walk through history with me and enjoy! (And yeah, it all looks familar–from the cars to the clothes.) Have a great weekend!
As most of you know, I’m really big on series–reading them and writing them. The best series, to me, include lots of connections. This is obvious in my Moonstruck world. I have three series set there, plus stand-alone books that might or might not be set in another author’s world with connections to that writer’s characters. I also include connections to characters in my other series. And as the Universe points out, when all those connecting lines and inciting incidents, all those interconnected plot points and relationships all come together, yeah. It’s pretty fantastic. And romantic. 😉
Have you stopped to consider that it’s life’s “disconnects,” “almosts,” and “not quites,” Silver, that make life’s “connections,” “gotchas,” and “eurekas” so fantastically romantic?
Good, because they were your idea.
Wild thing,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®
Silver, you make my heart sing.
The interesting thing is? All those connections work in real life too. All the ins and outs, the coincidental meetings, the friends of friends. They’re like the notes and words to a familiar song that we all know the words to. On that note, 10 points to the reader who gets the Universe’s connection to classic rock. 😉
NEW RELEASE
NEW RELEASE
NOW AVAILABLE
Silver James 