Thursday Thoughts: Universal Unicorn

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Silver James

Back in the day, I was into unicorns. In a big way. I collected them. Had shelves of figurines. Windchimes. Notebooks with unicorns on the covers. Books about them. “Labyrinth” was a favorite movie, as was the animated “The Last Unicorn.” I had Pia’s secret figured out by the end of the first chapter when I first read Thea Harrison’s DRAGON BOUND. I still get a bit of thrill when Dragos’s creation story is revealed. And while unicorns are most often associated with young women, there always seems to be a hero in their story. I’ve even written a unicorn story, with a hero. Someday, I might pull that book out, revise, edit, and perhaps publish it, as it a science fiction fantasy and never found a home with a traditional publisher.

But I digress a bit from the Universe’s message. Unicorns are rare and shy and secretive. They are also strong and brave and the embodiment of all things magical. They are the elusive dream, the goal just out of reach, the castle in the air where hope lives. This is why I write romance, why the worlds in my head are rich and varied and sweet. The Universe is onto something, I do believe…

See the hero in everyone, Silver.

… and the unicorn.

Unicorn!
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

And when you find either, Silver, give a little wink.

My world consists of heroes and unicorns–the unattainable wish to find a love true and everlasting, the happily ever after that romance novels promise. I find the heroes and see the unicorns and I always smile. Now I’ll give a little wink, too.

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Wednesday Words: Let’s Play

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Silver James

Once again, Wednesday has arrived and with it a new #1lineWed theme. There’s no time to PLAY around, unless you’re Shiane “Shy” Roarke. As a setup, she “ran into” Gravedigger while “partying” inside the Nightrider compound and then she escaped, only to be followed by Digger in wolf form. She’s at her place, and he almost got caught.

Shy
I watched the dog run away. He was big, at least part German Shepherd, maybe a Belgian Malinois. About a year into my first enlistment, my LT asked if I wanted to be a K-9 handler. I considered it, but finally said no. I didn’t do attachments, not even to an animal. Or maybe, especially an animal because a dog? Unconditional love. I didn’t want to deal with that. Maybe I couldn’t.

There was no way I’d sleep tonight. I slipped back into my apartment and grabbed a sweatshirt, dragging it on over my head. Settling onto one of the chairs on my deck, I tucked my feet under me and wondered what the hell I was doing. I didn’t have time to mess around and going to that compound? Big mistake. I thought I could play them but I ended up getting played. Big time. My body still hummed from the orgasm that guy gave me. I wasn’t a virgin. I’d had guys in my bed. Sex wasn’t that high on my list of priorities but sometimes, a girl needed a little sumthin-sumthin.

What that biker did to me tonight? That was some serious business. I couldn’t believe all the live sex going on. No one cared. I’d been standing there wondering where that woman had left her dignity and then, with a complete stranger’s hands down my pants I’d had the biggest orgasm of my life. And before I could do a gawddamned thing, he’d disappeared. Story of my life.

I pulled my knees up and stretched the sweatshirt over them. Chin braced, I watched the eastern horizon lighten. Dawn was coming. I’d been home just over a week and all I had to show for my time was the location of their hideout. Except it wasn’t much of a hideout. It was a freaking edifice. I needed to figure out how they worked. And I needed to get back in there. The only way to bring the Nightriders down would be from the inside.

Yeah, that was my story and I’d stick to it if anyone asked. It absolutely had nothing to do with coming so damn hard I couldn’t breathe. From a man’s fingers. What would his cock feel like? I shivered, pretending it was from the pre-dawn chill and not from the memory of leather, strong fingers, and a scent that reminded me of a hot, rich, creamy Irish coffee.
****
So that’s my playdate for the day. What about y’all? Want to play?

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Tuesday Treats: White Chocolate Cream Pie

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Silver James

I ❤ white chocolate. I have since I was a kid and first tasted it fresh from the candy counter of a big department store in Wichita Falls, Texas. I have to admit, this pie could easily become a favorite. It's easy to fix then you toss it in the fridge for later. Plus…coconut! Another favorite.

Prep Time: 25 min.
Total Time: 4 hr.
Servings: 10 servings

Treat your family to this White Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe. This White Chocolate Cream Pie Recipe includes cool coconut pudding and fluffy whipped cream

What You Need
1 cup BAKER’S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, divided
1/4 cup margarine, melted
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 pkg. (4 oz.) BAKER’S White Chocolate, divided
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Coconut Cream Flavor Instant Pudding
1-3/4 cups cold milk
1-1/4 cups whipping cream, divided

Make It

Heat oven to 350°F.
Mix 3/4 cup coconut, margarine and crumbs in 9-inch pie plate; press onto bottom and up side of pie plate. Bake 10 min.

Microwave 2 oz. chocolate in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 to 1-1/2 min., stirring every 30 sec. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Spread onto bottom of crust. Refrigerate 15 min. or until chocolate is firm.

Meanwhile, beat pudding mix and milk with whisk 2 min. Stir in remaining coconut; pour into crust. Refrigerate until ready to add next layer.

Microwave remaining chocolate and 1/4 cup whipping cream in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min., stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Cool completely, stirring occasionally.

Beat remaining whipping cream in chilled large bowl with mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Add half the whipped cream to chocolate mixture; whisk until blended. Stir in remaining whipped cream. Spoon over filling in crust.

Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.

Full nutritional details can be found by CLICKING HERE. One of my favorite heroines is a big fan of this pie too. Jacey Randolph Connor knows how to cook, despite spending a lot of years in vet school and then running her wildlife sanctuary in Oklahoma before Nate Connor literally lands on her doorstep in wolf form. You can read her entire story, along with fan favorite Sean “Boomer” Donaldson’s story in MOONSTRUCK: LIES, which contains HUNTER’S MOON and WOLF MOON plus some extra special chapters and scenes that aren’t available in the orinal books. And it’s on sale for $1.99 for another week. Then it goes up to $3.99 so grab it now while it’s cheap! And try some pie. 😉 Oh, just click on the book’s cover to get the links. What’s your favorite cream pie?

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Springing Into Monday

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Silver James

Spring finally arrived. Sort of. Still a bit on the chill side but sure beats the late freezes. I wouldn’t mind an extended spring before leaping into the heat and humidity of summer. Bills and stuff, ya know? And we have windows and I like fresh air.

So…procrastination. I’ve had it. More than a heaping helping of it, in fact. Then, yesterday morning as I lay in bed catching up on the DVR, ie. LIVE PD episodes from Friday and Saturday because Friday was a Cardinals game and Saturday I kept falling asleep. Anyway, I’m watching the episodes and a scene pops into my head. I’m drinking my coffee, watching the cops on LIVE PD, running this scene through my mind, trying to work it into any of my current WIPs. I have one about an Oklahoma oilman and a storm chaser, one about a CIA contract assassin and a Delta Force wolf shifter in the jungles of Brazil, a fae seducer and a shy human librarian, and about an outlaw MC enforcer and the tough former MP bent-on-revenge woman he plans to claim as his mate. No room in any of those for the scene in my head. Then I remembered a couple of scenes I’d written for a bit of flash fiction fun about one of the Nightriders and the sweet woman who is his mate. And it was perfect. So that’s the writing I did this weekend. It’s a good scene. And it will appear at some point in the future. Ah, my Muse. She is a bit on the ADHD side.

I mentioned LIVE PD. LUCIFER is also getting intense as we get close to the season finale. If they go the direction it looks like they’re going I’m going to be all muppet flail and PO’s and worried until the new season starts. Drives me nuts but dang, it’s a smart thing to do. This is why we writers start with a hook at the beginning of a book and end each chapter with another hook so readers don’t want to but the book down. It’s also the reason serials sort of drive me crazy. I HATE cliffhangers, even though I know they’re a smart move. Anyway…

My Cardinals have gone from the cellar to first place in the NL Central division. Crazysauce. And my heart goes out to Danny Farquhar, his family, and the whole White Sox nation. He pitched 2/3s of an inning, walked into the dugout, and passed out. Brain aneurysm. He’s in ICU in critical but stable position. Prayers and healing thoughts.

My reading/listening marathon of Kristen Ashley’s Colorado Mountain series has come to a conclusion. I really hope she gets on the California portion of the Rock Chick series. So many threads. Plus, Wood’s book in the CM series, even though he’s gotten his HEA as a secondary character in the other books. I finished BOUNTY last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. Not sure what I’m going to read next. I’m open to suggestions.

And that’s pretty much the sum total of my life. The good news is, I opened my eyes this morning and it was a brand new day full of possibilities. I plan to spring into Monday and see what comes. What about y’all?

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Friday Sinema: Eighties Style

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Silver James

Instead of Throwback Thursday, it’s Retroactive Eightites Sinema! Because it’s Friday and for reasons, I watched this video of Gloria Estavan and the Miami Sound Machine’s original MTV-style video from 1985. All I can say is: LOOKIT! All the big hair! And shoulder pads! Yes, I wore both. And I can hold my head high! Now go dance a conga line. 😉

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Thursday Thoughts: Finding the Way

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Silver James

I’m well aware of what happened on this day 23 years ago. I was there. Twenty-three years. Wow. That’s a lifetime for some people. For me, it’s 1/3 of my life ago. Yet it seems like yesterday. This is always a hard day. PTSD is a royal witch and add it to a dose of depression and yeah… So.

I got to thinking about my dad the other day. He taught me how to read–and to read whatever caught my fancy. I grew up on Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, on Tom Swift and the Black Stallion books. Zane Grey, Louis L’Amour, Andre Norton, Isaac Asimov, Mary Stewart, and Ian Fleming. I was weirdly shy for an extrovert and back then we called it “being down” or “feeling blue.” Now we know it as depression and yes, kids get it too. Still, I managed to struggle through on my own, for the most part. I had my dad. He understood my crazy imagination and the lives I led in my head when no one else did. I still miss him every single day.

I found my way, just as the Universe intimates in today’s message. By hook or by crook. By sheer stubborness. By cringing under the covers living in the world of books until I could face my world.

Silver, haven’t you always found your way?

Hasn’t there always been a light in the darkness? Haven’t you always gotten back up? Haven’t there always been serendipitous surprises, unexpected twists, and triumphant comebacks? And haven’t you always had someone to love?

Coincidences? Or maybe, do you think, you, too, have always been loved?

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

And Silver, what of all your dreams that have already come true?

This is why I write romance. This is why I want my characters–no matter how tortured their lives are, how many conflicts, how many bad things happen, and how the black moment leaves them so empty they don’t even have tears left. I want them to find love–to be loved and to give love and to live their Happily Ever After. Because that’s what sees us through, ya know? Love. And that’s how dreams come true. And how we find our way.

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Wednesday Words: Hard Work

Posted on April 18, 2018 by Silver James

So…the HARD-working servers at the IRS blew a sprocket or something so the government gave all those who file late an extension until today. And since we are all about work hard, play hard around here, today’s #1lineWed theme is a fitting one: **WORK**. This snippet is from the current RDR#9 WIP, which is Cooper’s story. As a setup, there’s a gala fund raiser for the OU Meteorology Department, where our intrepid heroine, Britt Owens, is a storm chaser. She met our hero, Cooper Tate, down in south Texas after a hurricane and they…connected. 😉 So, now its a couple of months later and they’re about to bump into each other. *bwahahaha*
****
Mrs. Tate’s lips twitched but her rather stern expression didn’t change. “So you chase tornadoes for a living. Must be thrilling.”

“It can be. Thrilling. Yes. Mostly just boring though.” Britt reeled off the statistical probabilities of a tornado forming in any given thunderstorm. Mrs. Tate nodded and looked moderately interested until Britt stopped babbling. “I mostly do it for research. I’m working on my Ph.D, you see.”

“Fascinating,” Mrs. Tate said as she looked Britt over from the top of her head to the freshly pedicured and red-painted toes peeking out from beneath her royal blue gown.

Britt swallowed hard, again, unsure just what it was the woman found fascinating—Britt’s work or her as a person. Most people thought storm chasing was glamorous and exciting so surely that’s what Mrs. Tate was referring to. Why did this woman terrify her far more than all the massive tornadoes she’d encountered?
Pushing to her feet, Britt locked her wobbly knees. “So nice to see you again, Mrs. Tate. I should be getting back to my party.”

“Of course, dear. I hope to see you again soon.”

What did Mrs. Tate mean by that? There was something funny in her tone when she said that. Britt pulled open the door and glanced back over her shoulder, trying to figure out what Mrs. Tate was implying. She continued walking, all the while leaning to watch through the slowly closing door. Britt turned around just in time to plow into a hard body. Her forehead bounced off the muscled chest as her nose was buried in a tux shirt. Her instinctive inhale filled her lungs with the aromas of cardamon, bergomot and… She sniffed again. Was that lavender? What an intriguing mix of scents.

Strong hands gripped her biceps to keep her upright and she remembered she’d just plowed into someone. Someone of the male persuasion. She raised her head, tilting it to look up. Straight into the amused face of the last man on earth she ever wanted to see.

“Cooper Tate!”

Coop turned his head to face the man who’d yelled his name and didn’t have time to duck the fist swinging at his face.

“You got my baby sister pregnant.”
****
Writers, what’s working in your WIP? Readers, where do you think this story is going? 😉

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Tuesday Treats: Chocolate Mint Cookie Cheesecake

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Silver James

I am a sucker for mint and chocolate ANYTHING! A chocolate mint cheesecake? Get out of my way! I am soooo there. I totally jumped on this recipe the minute I saw it.

Prep Time: 30 min.
Total Time: 6 hr. 30 min.
Servings: 16 servings

Combine stellar flavors in a Chocolate Mint Cookie Cheesecake. The cookie crust of our Chocolate Mint Cookie Cheesecake gives this recipe a great crunch.

What You Need
32 chocolate-covered mint cookies, divided
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
7 oz. Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. peppermint extract
4 eggs

Make It
Heat oven to 325°F.

Reserve 1 cookie for garnish. Finely crush remaining cookies; mix with butter until blended. Press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Melt 6 oz. chocolate as directed on package. Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and peppermint extract with mixer until blended. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake 55 min. to 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hours.

Melt remaining chocolate; drizzle over cake. Garnish with reserved cookie.

Want the full nutritional details? CLICK HERE to check it out at Kraft Recipes. I’ll share a secret with you. When I’m picking out a character who would make the Tuesday Treat I’m sharing, it’s not always easy. The moment I saw this recipe, Sade was jumping up and down demanding a taste. No way would she make it, but she’d find someone to make it for her! Sade Marquis might be a hotshot FBI agent and have no trouble dealing with the supernatural things that go bump in the night but put her in a kitchen? She’s been known to burn water. Seriously! Still, this treat is right up her alley. Caleb, her werewolf partner, has mentioned that she’s been known to buy out the entire supply of Thin Mints Girl Scout cookies. If you’d like to read more of the Urban Fantasy adventures of Sade and her gang, you can start with THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC, the first book in the Penumbra Papers, which happens to be on sale at ALL on-line retailers for 99 cents! Just click on the cover for more information.

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A Late Monday

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Silver James

So I vegged yesterday. Sometimes you just need a day of…nothing. And that included forming enough thoughts to create a coherent blog. 😉

Quick rundown and then on my day because it’s going to be a busy one.

Stuff: The first hummingbird of the season–at least the first one I’ve seen–arrived Saturday at the feeder. Of course the weather crashed shortly thereafter. Hard freezes in mid-April? Seriously?!?!?! As a result, no tulips and the very few wisteria sprays I had are pffft. I’m hoping the honeysuckle still bloom. That said, I seem to have a bumper crop of squirrels. Go figure.

Sports: My Cards are coming back. This is good and makes me have a happy. On the college level, I watched OU baseball beat Texas and OSU softball beat Baylor. OSU baseball and OU softball also won, they just weren’t televised. Lawyer Guy and I watched NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey last night. It’s been awhile.

Reading: I’ve fallen into the Kristen Ashley Zone. The local library has quite a few of her books on audio so I’m doing a listen of her Colorado Mountain books that I first read in 2015. These things have a way of sucking you in. She does have a way of foreshadowing and laying in elements in the over-all plot arc that I’m studying. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Writing: And the reason for that is that I’m figuring out an over-all arc for the rest of Red Dirt books. LG and I did some brainstorming last night during an every-man-for-himself dinner (meaning we each fixed our own) after late naps and general laziness. I think I’ve fond someone to replace Cyrus Barron as the bad guy and a way to tie this person into each of the books to come, that arc culminating in the last book of the series. We’ll see if I can sell the idea to my editor. That said, I did not finish the synopsis and send off Cooper’s book because I needed to work out the full arc. There’s a little groundwork in Tucker’s book, but I need to bring it out more in Cooper’s. So…today, I’ll get that done.

And that’s it for me. It’s Monday. I slept hard, for a change. The problem with that is I’ll need another couple cups of coffee to jumpstart the brain. And since I hid from the computer yesterda, I don’t even want to think about the stack of emails in my inbox. Ugh. Okay. More coffee then work. How was your weekend?

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Friday Free-For-All: Wacky, Weird, and Wordy Edition

Posted on April 13, 2018 by Silver James

Sometimes, I just can’t let it go. And it’s Friday the 13th so…why the heck not?

First, the really cool stuff. How fun are these memes about the love/hate relationships between dogs and mailmen. Click through to see them: DOG AND MAILMAN MEMES

This art project adds the very best of urban fantasy to the cityscape. SURREAL PAINTINGS OF KIDS AND WILD ANIMALS
Surreal paintings of urban fantasy

One more link of truly spectacular animal street art. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.

In the Can’t Make This $h!+ Up Section:

Pennsylvania school superintendent puts buckets of river rocks in classrooms as a defense against school shooters. I protest! Beyond the stupidity, I protest on the grounds that he is introducing a religion into the classroom. Islam and Judeo-Christian traditions both include stoning as punishment–usually against women, and how many witches were stoned to death down through history?!? Where are the feminists? Where are the atheists? Where’s a safe space for Wiccans? From a USA Today article, “David Helsel, superintendent of Blue Mountain School District in Orwigsburg, said social media posts misrepresenting the district’s overall plans for dealing with school shootings put his schools at risk.” Ya think? #sarcasm

Two days after attending a local protest against guns, the alleged brother of Al Sharpton (one of the biggest hypocrites on the left) was charged with accessory to murder after he drove his buddy around hunting the young woman who supposedly stole the friend’s car. They drove up next to her, the guy fired, striking her in the head and killing her. Hrmmm The whole story is HERE.

So, two black women are censored on Facebook because they are “unsafe for the community.” And the reason they are unsafe? Because they are two CONSERVATIVE black women who happen to support the president. Then the CEO of Twitter flaunts some article about how all the Democrats should declare a civil war. Uhm. Okay. Kinda hard to do that with no guns, no food, and no energy because guess what? All of deplorables out here in middle America? We have all the goodies, including DIAMOND AND SILK make me smile every time I watch them.

And the mayor of London now wants to ban knives because while they have some the strictest gun laws around, London has the highest murder rate. And they’ve had 50 murders committed with knives. Plus, they prosecuted a 78 year-old-man who defended himself IN HIS OWN HOME from the man who broke in with the intent to rob the old guy. I just…this —>

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