Wednesday Words: Celebrate!

Posted on August 8, 2018 by Silver James

Today’s #1lineWed is all about the celebration. While there are two mentions of something to celebrate and a party in UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON, I’m celebrating the fact it’s finished, I have an awesome blurb (with help from B.E.) an amazing cover due to my fantastic cover creator, Only, and I got sent into Wild Aces Press for formatting and uploading. It should be available for preorder soon. Trust me, I’ll be posting that link as soon as I get it. In the meantime, enjoy the cover and the full blurb!

A Wolf with a target on his back…
Brody Buchanan went AWOL from Delta Force to find the truth. When a message in a bottle eventually leads him into the depths of the Brazilian rain forest to a burned-out orphanage, the last thing he expects to find is his mate. Or his enemies. Good thing he has friends.

A woman on a deadly mission…
As one of the CIA’s most lethal assassins, Izeta Cordero’s job is to eliminate enemies of the USA. Her current assignment is to eradicate a former Delta Force Special Operator who’s gone off the reservation. When Zeta puts the man in her cross-hairs, she discovers he’s far more special an operator than she ever imagined, putting her mission, her heart, and maybe her life at risk.

Under the Assassin’s Moon…
Old enemies reappear and death comes hunting, but two lost souls might find the redemption—and the love—they didn’t know they were searching for. All they have to do is survive.

****
I’m celebrating hitting me deadline, a book I think readers will enjoy, and an sexy-gorgeous cover. If you have some celebratory words to share from your #WIP, do! If not, what are you celebrating today?

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Tuesday Treats: Chocolate-Covered Oreo Cookie Cake

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Silver James

What could be better than Oreo Cookies? Or chocolate? How about a chocolate covered Oreo Cookie cake. Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. Kraft thinks this cake would make a good birthday cake. I think it would just be good cake! Especially with a cup of coffee. 🙂

Prep Time: 20 min.
Total Time: 1 hr. 20 min.
Servings: 16 servings

Make our delectable Chocolate-Covered OREO Cookie Cake recipe to start a tasty new tradition. Everyone loves this cookie cake recipe as a birthday treat!

What You Need
1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil’s food cake mix
1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1/4 cup butter
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
12 OREO Cookies, coarsely crushed

Make It
Heat oven to 350ºF.

Prepare cake batter and bake in 2 (9-inch) round pans as directed on package. Cool cakes in pans 10 min. Invert onto wire racks; gently remove pans. Cool cakes completely.

Microwave chocolate and butter in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 min. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Gently stir in COOL WHIP and crushed cookies.

Place 1 cake layer on plate, spread with cream cheese mixture. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread top with chocolate glaze; let stand 10 min. or until firm. Keep refrigerated.

CLICK HERE for all the nutritional information. This is a dessert that isn’t hard to make and everyone would like because…Oreos and chocolate! Am I right? Of course I am. Cassidy Barron, the original Bee-Dubya, agrees. This cake is a staple at all Red Dirt Royalty celebrations. Cowgirls and billionaires alike love this cake. If you Desire to read about how Cass and Chance met, fell in love, and managed a modern-day cattle drive, just click on the book cover and go grab a copy of COWGIRLS DON’T CRY, the first book in my Red Dirt Royalty series.

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Monday One and Done

Posted on August 6, 2018 by Silver James

First draft done. Deadline tomorrow. Head-down edits on-going. Coffee is a necessity. S’all good.

News to follow at six. 😉

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Friday Sinema: Bottoms Up

Posted on August 3, 2018 by Silver James

The opening bars of this song is the alarm music on my phone. I don’t use the alarm often, but when I do, I always wake up with a smile, even if it’s the buttcrack of dawn. What makes you smile when you wake up?

Also, I really want to write a historical romance based on this video. Some day. In the meantime, have a great weekend! I hope you wake up with a smile. 😉

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Movement

Posted on August 2, 2018 by Silver James

Deadlines. They loom. They sometimes stall creativity. They get met or not. It’s the same with stories. With characters. Creating worlds in one’s imagination is something of a spiritual exercise. Or at least a mystical one. And the Universe has thoughts on the matter.

You might call it spiritual logistics, Silver, but sometimes you have to move away, to get closer.

Or you might just call it weird.

Either way, it helps to remember it from time to time.

Tallyho,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®
And while we’re at it, Silver, sometimes you have to let go, to stake your claim. Be still, to move forward. Give, to receive. Cry, to feel joy. Pretend, to make it real. Fake it, before you make it. And sometimes, oddly enough, you must first decide to feel their love, to find it was there all along.

It is just plain weird sometimes. Moving away from a delimma gives new perspective, a different view, and often, a solution. This true of life and writing or creating. And when I’m stuck in scene, sometimes I do have to let go, even though my claim has been staked. Being still, giving? Yeah, that helps me move forward and I so often receive inspiration. In my current WIP, the heroine has suppressed her emotions for so long that she no longer feels. She pretends. She fakes it. Pain and joy are the same side of the coin for her but learning to cry is a revelation for her. Like the Velveteen Rabbit, she’ll discover that she is real, and she’ll make it. And she will feel the hero’s love and learn that yes, it was there all along. Just like in real life. I’m off to explain that to her. Tallyho!

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Wednesday Words: Not So Sentimental Journey

Posted on August 1, 2018 by Silver James

Another Wednesday, another snippet from my current WIP, UNDER AN ASSASSIN’S MOON. A journey starts with one step. A book starts with one word. Journey had a farewell tour. A couple of times. There are long treks, short trips, and sentimental journeys. (Random fact: I can still play the opening bars of that song on a piano…) Today’s #1lineWed theme of JOURNEY takes all that into account. In today’s snippet, our intrepid CIA assassin (not spoiler, this will be point out in the blurb) is getting ready to journey out on assignment. This book should be coming out August 28th!
****
Had Zeta been anyone else she would probably walk away from this assignment. The information in the dossier Littleton provided was at least a week out of date. Tracking wasn’t part of her job description. She came in only after the target had been pinned down to a location and spent just enough time watching the mark to finalize her attack. Going over her handler’s head would upset him but she was past caring. He’d become careless. Wasting her time and her value as an asset like this was the final straw. The call she placed went up the chain of command by several levels.

Unruffled, as was her usual public demeanor, she waited for her contact to be located and the call transferred.

“Ms. Cordero.” The deep voice should have stirred something inside her. Nelson Conrad had the face, physique, and charisma to set hearts aflutter, no matter the gender. He always seemed disconcerted when his charm had no affect on her. “I wasn’t expecting a call from you.”

Why would he? She wasn’t one of the greasy wheels. She did her job, cleanly and professionally, kept a low profile at all times, and never made waves. Until now.

“Are you aware of my current assignment?”

There was a pause and she heard papers shuffling before the clacking of a computer keyboard. “I am. Is there a problem?”

“I am currently at least a week behind. My sales lead was not viable.” Double speak. In the current climate, the spies spied on each other, as did the the watchdogs. Wet work wasn’t discussed in polite company nor over phone lines, secure or not.

Another period of silence. “I see. This could prove problematic. Are you in a position to make future sales calls on this vendor?”

No. That wasn’t in her job description but there was something in the tenor of Conrad’s voice that put her on alert. She considered possibilities and contingencies. “If given a larger travel allowance and flexibility.”

“I’ll make a few calls and send you an updated itinerary.”

They ended the call simultaneously with no polite pleasantries.

Zeta dragged one of her duffel bags closer, unzipped it, and pulled out the small metal case. Using the print from the little finger of her left hand to unlock it, she set about cleaning the parts of the sniper rifle contained inside. At worst, she had a few hours to kill and she was never one to just sit around while on a sales call.
****
So Zeta is heading out. I’ll give you a hint, I hope she packed a bikini. 😉 What about y’all? What’s your favorite kind of journey? Do you have in journey words to share?

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Tuesday Treats: Cappuccino Cupcakes

Posted on July 31, 2018 by Silver James

As y’all know, I’m big on coffee. Coffee everything. When I first tumbled across this recipe, I knew I’d love the darn things, and that thought was quickly followed by just about every one of my heroines would be all over these cupcakes.

Prep Time: 10 min.
Total Time: 52 min.
Servings: 24 servings

These cupcakes are a yummy way to please both chocolate and cappuccino lovers alike. Watch the how-to video—and prepare to knock their socks off!

What You Need
1 pkg. (2-layer size) chocolate cake mix
brewed strong MAXWELL HOUSE Coffee, cooled
1/2 cup BREAKSTONE’S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Make It

Heat oven to 350°F.
Prepare cake batter as directed on package, substituting coffee for the water and blending sour cream and cinnamon into batter before spooning into paper-lined muffin cups.

Bake as directed on package for cupcakes; cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare Vanilla Creme Frosting or Sour Cream Ganache Frosting (see Tips). Spread onto cupcakes.

Tips:
Vanilla Creme Frosting
Beat 4 oz. softened PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, 1 jar (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme and 1 tsp. vanilla in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add 1 tub (8 oz.) thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping; beat just until blended.

Sour Cream Ganache Frosting
Melt 10 oz. BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate as directed on package. Stir in 1-1/2 cups BREAKSTONE’S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream (at room temperature). Stir in 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/8 tsp. salt until well blended.

Special Extra
Decorate frosted cupcakes with sprinkles, colored sugar or nonpareils.

CLICK HERE to go to the Kraft recipe site wehre you can watch the video and get all the nutritional info. I have several characters who would scarf these down with both hands but leave it to Roxie Rowland Barron to figure out how to make them easy peasy. She would have first discovered a similar cupcake at the fancy bakery down in Bricktown but being Roxie, she’d want to figure out how to make them for those middle-of-the-night munchy attacks. Roxie and Cash Barron’s story is told in REDEEMED BY THE COWGIRL. That dang book makes me cry every time I read it. FYI, I thought of this recipe and Roxie because a blog I follow talked about how difficult it is to redeem characters who have done despicable things. That’s pretty much Cash. Don’t tell the others, but I think RBTC might be my favorite Red Dirt book. Go check it out by clicking on the cover if you haven’t already–but be sure to start with COWGIRLS DON’T CRY and read them in order so you see how bad Cash was before Roxie stumbled into his life. And enjoy the cupcakes! 😉

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Dog Day Monday

Posted on July 30, 2018 by Silver James

This is what we call the Dog Days of Summer and we have a saying, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.” Dude, it’s both! Stepping outside is like walking into a steam bath. You want a sauna, go to the West Coast.

Speaking of the West, the fires are awful and my heart goes out to all the victims and the families of the firefighters who have made the supreme sacrifice. There have been far too many, and I hope they catch the arsonist. No comment on what I hope happens to the SOB.

Deadlines are eating my lunch. Too bad I’m stress eating to make up for it. Skipping lunch sometimes leads to weight loss. Junk food does not. I blame my current ice cream craving on B.E. She talked about the Choclopolitan ice cream she found. I found it too. It. Is. AWESOME! Dark chocolate, white chocolate, and milk chocolate. Blue Bunny brand. YUM! Now I want some. Bad me.

Speaking of deadlines and writing things, I have the print cover for MONTANA MOON. It is also all things awesauce. I have the best cover artist in the world! My books that were in Susan Stoker’s world will also be in print but her people are doing the print covers. That’s a yay. Hopefully, I’ll have the digital cover for UNDER AN ASSASSIN’S MOON soon. I got lots of words this weekend but not enough. Stupid Iffy flounced in–eating MY Choclopolitan ice cream, by the way–and tossed a plot twist into my lap. It’s a good one. Scary, but good. It got around some of the plot roadblocks I was facing. And no, Boomer did not blow those roadblocks up. Ghost and some of Susan’s other Delta Force guys are. Anyway…writing, writing, writing.

Last week, I finished off Kristen Ashley’s Rock Chick series. It’s been a couple of years since I listened to them all back-to-back. It was fun, especially since I was in Denver and I located–on the map anyway–some of her locations. And I had a Fat Tire beer, which I toasted to the Rock Chicks and Hot Bunch guys. Then I rolled over to Kristen’s MOTORCYCLE MAN (without a relisten to the whole Mystery Man series) so I could move into the Chaos series because the next book, WILD LIKE THE WIND, comes out tomorrow. After I listen to the books, I’ll have to read a novella because it isn’t available in audio yet. That one ended on a cliffhanger that is supposed to be addressed in WLTW. We’ll see.

Also speaking of writing, I’m considering doing my Moonstruck Mafia as a serial either here on the website or in my newsletter. But weekly or monthly and do I really have time? Gah! I want to write those books but I have Red Dirt books, a Penumbra book, a Hard Target book, and maybe another Nightrider book, with half the year already gone. Deadlines? What stinking deadlines?

TV. I’ve been reduced to Live PD. My brain is so busy with deadlines–I have mentioned I have some looming, right?–and I can think book stuffs while watching Live PD live and in reruns.

So, I need to get to work. I plan to stay indoors. And away from the ice cream. Maybe. Lots of questions today…Indoors or out? Favorite ice cream flavor? How crazy am I? 😉

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Friday Free For All Eclipse

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Silver James

There’s a blood moon tonight. And in addition to the total lunar eclipse that produces the blood moon, the planet Mars reaches its opposition, when it will shine brightest in the night sky. This month, Mars is at its closest proximity to Earth since 2003. Sadly, those of us here in North America will have to watch the eclipse on line or maybe one of the science cable channels will carry it live.

What does it mean readers everywhere? It means BLOOD MOON, book 1 in the Moonstruck series is free to download on Kindle for 24 hours. You don’t have to be a member of Kindle Unlimited to read it and KEEP it, for free. BLOOD MOON was the beginning of it all–with CSM Ian McIntire and MAJ Hannah Jackson hooking it up and hooking up while on a secret mission.

If you’ve never read about the Moonstruck Wolves, today is the perfect time to start. Especially if you’re in Europe, Asia, and Africa because this eclipse is the longest in like forever and you’ll need something to do while waiting for it to start, during, and after it’s over. 😉 Just CLICK HERE to get your copy!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Deadlines

Posted on July 26, 2018 by Silver James

I’m under deadline. Actually, I’m under multiple deadlines. I try hard to space those darn things out but sometimes stuff happens and they get jammed up like bumper cars. Add in Real Life responsibilities, and…well…writing becomes a grind. And when it does, this happens:

You’re right, Silver, too much self-discipline will discourage your playful, wandering imagination. It’ll snuff out the flames of inspiration and creativity. And it’ll weigh you down with routines and logic. It simply isn’t “spiritual.”

But, then, neither is too little.

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

Just think what you know to think, say what you know to say, and do what you know to do, Silver. Every day, lots and lots.

While craft is important to writing fiction, imagination takes a much bigger part of the pie. I’ve discussed Iffy, my Muse, before. She sulks in closets, wants to waste time looking at pictures, demands chocolate, and generally refuses to go to work when I most need her, but more than willing to nudge me at the worst possible times. Like in the middle of the night. Or when I’m driving. Or at a T-Ball game. I’m trying to get better about the care and feeding of Iffy, especially when I’m stressed because of those darn deadlines. The Universe may be on to something. I’m going to think, say, and do today. And tomorrow. And the day after. And I’ll hit my deadlines.

What about y’all? How do you stay encouraged and creative when the deadlines in life loom?

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