Wednesday Words: I Get It

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Silver James

Another Wednesday, another prompt to inspire new words. I have some today. I’m also happy to announce that I won the Thursday Threads flash fiction challenge last week. The prompt is: *“Now you’re getting it.”* The prompt could have led anywhere but I ended up with this scene. And this scene might lead to some interesting places once I figure out exactly where it belongs. I’m not sure if comes before or after Titania’s appearance. While I’m figuring it out, enjoy the snippet.

****
In a voice Jack Frost would have been proud of, Ariel said, “Now you’re getting it.”

Sade breathed slowly through her nose and forced her fingers to loosen their hold on the coffee mug in her hand as she very carefully and precisely set it on the table. As much as she wanted to throw her hands in the air and rant, she would not waste an innocent cup of coffee. “I’ve always gotten it, Ariel.” She held up one stiff index finger and very deliberately pointed it at the vampire approaching from her blind side. “Stuff it, Sinjen. This is between the…” She sputtered, wanting to sling a long string of curses. Never taking her eyes off him, she improvised. “Arrogant, mouth-breathing, insufferable fae.”

Someone cleared his throat—either Caleb or Nikos. Sade ignored the sound. Her focus centered on Ari. “I know what your kind are capable of.” She didn’t care that Ari flinched at the venom in her tone. “Titania and Oberon might be the light court yet things they’ve done are criminal in all fifty states and just about every country in the world. I don’t need much imagination to guess what Mab, as Queen of the Unseelie Court, is capable of. I get it, Ariel. Rock. Hard place. Tough shit. You either help me or you don’t. But hear me and believe this. Do not get in my way.”

“You don’t understand.”

“So tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“Then get the hell out of my way.”
****

There it is. Writers have fun with it if you can use the prompt. Readers, what’s something you’d like to “get” for yourself? Me? I’d like some new Sketchers. I plan to get a pair soon! 😉

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: Britt’s Hurricane Cake

Posted on January 20, 2026 by Silver James

Sometimes, you want something chocolatey, nutty, and yummy. Add the fact that it’s pretty darn easy to throw together, and what’s not to enjoy? In fact, the hardest part is waiting for it to cool enough to eat. It’s really hard not to nibble while it’s still warm.

Britt’s Hurricane Cake

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Additional Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins
Servings: 12


Ingredients

  • 1 cup margarine divided
  • 1 cup flaked coconut
  • 1 cup pecans chopped
  • 1 (15.25-ounce) package German chocolate cake mix plus the ingredients called for on the package
  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
  • 3 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
 

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Melt and spread 1/2 cup of the margarine in the bottom of a 9×13-inch pan.
  • Evenly sprinkle the coconut and the pecans into the bottom of the prepared pan and set it aside.
  • Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions.
  • Evenly pour 1/2 of the cake batter over the coconut-pecan layer.
  • In a saucepan over low heat, melt the cream cheese and the remaining margarine.
  • Stir the confectioners’ sugar into the cream cheese-margarine mixture until it is smooth.
  • Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter layer. Pour the remaining cake batter over the cream cheese mixture layer.
  • Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes.
  • Let the cake cool.
  • Slice and serve.

Going “Old Skool” romance with today’s title. TWICE THE TEMPTATION is still one of my favorite books in the Red Dirt Royalty Harlequin Desire series I wrote. Brittany Owens is a storm chaser and down in Texas during hurrican season. Cooper Tate is down there buttoning down his family’s drilling operations before the storm hits. In the eye of the storm, passion overrides common sense. When Britt came across this recipe, she couldn’t help but make it and serive to Coop. If you’re interested in their story, you can click on either pic that has the cover or on the title to head over to Harlequin to claim your copy. And trust me when I say, this cake is totally twice the temptation! 😉

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Monday Musing

Posted on January 19, 2026 by Silver James

Baby it is cold outside! 🥶🥶🥶 Brrrr. I just want to crawl back under the covers.

Mother Nature can’t make up her mind. Last week, it was late summer/early fall. This week? Winter is back in the driver’s seat. Sadly, it’s a dry cold. I mean cold rain or snow is not awesome, it is moisture and we are in drought mode around here. I’d take precipitation in any form. Besides, I have 4WD, good tires, and I’ve driven on the stuff since I first learned to drive. High today is supposed to be 2 degrees above freezing. *shiver*

Last week was a week. Real Life decided to give me a Gibbs Slap™️. Between all the peopling, goodbyes and then the truck fire (we’re still waiting on the adjuster’s report about whether insurance will fix LG’s truck or total it so that we have go shopping), I feel like not a whole lot got done. In other words, things might be boring. Except they weren’t because…well, all the above.

Saturday meant indoor soccer. Thank goodness for that. I’m not a cold weather fan when it comes to sitting outside swathed in heavy coats, boots, gloves, hats, and blankets to watch kids run up and down a field kicking a ball. Inside just means sitting on uncomfortable bleachers for an hour or so. Stormy had a good game. Match. Whatever its called. The rest the team? Well, let’s just say their goalie got a massive work out. Ah well. There’s always next week.

I did a minimal amount of writing due to all the RL intrusions. ‘Nuff said.

I’m on the last book of my marathon relisten of Suzanne Wright’s Olympus Pride series. It’s full of sly humor, suspense, and down and dirty sexy bits. FYI, the majority of the Pride is made up of Pallas cat shifters, among other kinds. Next up is a marathon of the Graphic Audio full-cast adaptation of Ilona Andrews’s Hidden Legacy series. The third book drops tomorrow. Magic and mayhem in Houston. Fun times! And yes, I truly love the dramatic adaptations from GA.

With winter rearing it’s head this week, I plan on mostly staying indoors and hopefully, I can get my brain into writing mode so that I spend some serious time BICHOK (Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard). I’m fed up with the crap in my head and really need to suck down some serious caffeine and get my ass in gear. So that’s my plan. Barring any unforseen events. Like last week. *sigh* On that note, there’s fresh coffee waiting, rough draft words to be read and expanded upon. Anybody doing anything exciting?

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Friday Sinema: Sea Chants

Posted on January 16, 2026 by Silver James

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of Celtic music and since sea chanty tunes are often derived from Celtic tunes, it’s a no brainer than I clap, tap, and bob along. Add in the action here, and what’s not to enjoy? FYI, I’ve been sailing on the ocean twice–once from NYC to Southampton, England and the other a 10-day cruise in the Caribbean. I hit rough weather both times and I can absolutely attest that what you are watching is NOT faked in some. I literally HAVE been there, done that, and managed not to toss my cookies all over the T-shirt. TGIF and have a great weekend.

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Hunch

Posted on January 15, 2026 by Silver James

So. Real Life is being contrary. I had every intention of being productive this week and then RL stepped up to the plate and kept laying down sacrifice bunts, flies, and yesterday, a home run. For the other side. I had a hunch on Monday that the best laid plans were not going to come to fruition. Today is Thursday. I have a hunch that things aren’t going to change. The Universe sort of agrees.

Hunches, instincts, and intuition are priceless, Silver, because they throw you into action.

Right?
The Universe
©www.tut.com 

P.S. They do throw you into action, Silver? Right??

Yeah, right, Big U. Action. I’ll get right on that once I figure out what action to take. For those not aware, LG’s truck caught fire yesterday morning. As he was driving at highway speeds on one of the interstate loops around the city. Luckily, an alert trucker signalled him and he managed to pull off onto the right of way. He and his passenger grabbed some stuff and got out after calling 911. Luckily, the nearest fire station was close by. They got the fire out before there was much damage to the exterior. Sadly, under the truck and the engine compartment? Not so much. I went to pick them up, we did some truck-related stuff, then LG dropped me off at home so he could get his buddy home. That’s a different story. Anyway. We’re waiting on the insurance company to decide if they’re going to repair the truck or total it. Yippee. And I have to people again today. So, my answer to the Universe is, “Yo, Universe! When are things gonna smooth out so I can do some positive action-type stuff? Huh? I’m waiting…”

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Wednesday Words: We Call That A Clue

Posted on January 14, 2026 by Silver James

Guess what?! New words for today. Sadly, they are the only new words written since last Thursday. Y’all know why. Anyway. Along with the new words is the announcement that they won an honorable mention in last week’s Thursday Threads. The prompt is: *“There was no blood or body.”* I think from previous snippets that y’all know there are murders in the WIP. All I know about where this snippet is in the timeline is that it’s after Sade arrives to investigate them, finding Ariel and Nikos already there, hence her calling Caleb to assist, who then calls in Sinjen. Fun times, right? Here it is, for what it’s worth.

****
There was no blood or body but the scent of death sullied the air. Caleb glanced at Sade. “I can shift but not sure it’ll do any good. There was a body here but that’s the only scent.”

“What does that mean?”

“Like I should know?” The werewolf toed the flattened grass. “The body was here. Evidently, it just…poofed.”

“Bodies don’t just poof, Caleb.” Sade turned her attention to the Fae standing silently at her side, and stilled. Ariel’s face looked like it had been carved from white granite. “Ari?”

“It’s not her,” Caleb blurted. “Hell, Ari. Sorry. It’s not Aisling’s scent.”

The stark fear did not drain from Ari’s expression. In a voice as somber as the tomb they stood in front of, he said, “Are you sure this one was dead?”

“Yeah, buddy. I’m sure.”

Sade touched Ariel’s arm. “Will you tell us what’s going on?”

His gaze locked on the spot at their feet, Ari shook his head. “I can’t. King’s orders.”

“I call bullshit on that.” Sade whipped out her cell phone but snake-fast, Ari’s hand intercepted hers.

“No. You can’t call him.”

“Watch me.”

“No, Sade. I forbid you.”

“You are so not the boss of me, Ariel Daione. How ’bout I call Titania instead. She owes me.”

“That depends on what you call me, Sade Marquis.” The Queen of the Seelie Court stepped up beside them.

“Well, hell,” Sade muttered. “We are so fu—” Caleb surreptitiously kicked her shin. “Screwed,” she finished lamely.
****

There you have it. I have hopes of more and better words this week. I’m still sad and still missing Pete. I still look for him whenever I open the door to the garage. I still reach for him when I wake up in the night. I probably will for quite some time. Years of habit are hard to break. He was a good cat. And he was totally a cat. And yes, I will figure out a way for him to appear in a book. Writers, write. Readers,what do you think Sade would like to call Titania? 😉

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Tuesday Tidbits: *sigh*

Posted on January 13, 2026 by Silver James

So. I’m late. That’s because I’m actually composing this post on Tuesday morning. Even though I slept in (6:40 a.m. instead of before 6), it’s still dark outside. My headache says that’s good. Anyway, I normally set up my blog post the day before or if I’m really energized, I’ll do several. But, usually, just the day before. Except I had to unexpectely people yesterday. It wasn’t bad peopling. I got to spend a bit of time with one of my favorite people in the world (Stormy) but it was a “glitch in the routine.” The older I get, the more *off* I get when my routine is inerrupted. Anyway.

I have some decisions to make. About some of my older books and some of the new ones. The newer two are “out of production” at the moment. For reasons, the rights were returned to me. I can republish them after some fairly serious revisions. Which is why they are currently out of the market. The older books? Well, I probably should have asked for my rights back a few years but I was content to just sail along and let them be. The only thing they would nees is new covers. But, I have to write the official letter, wait for the rights to be reverted, then for them to be taken off all the sales outlets and then I have to go through the process of republishing them. I’m not sure I’d recoup enough in royalty to pay for all that. I know exactly how much tine and energy would need to be invested. And that’s the crux right there. Not the time so much but the energy. I don’t have a whole lot of that at the moment.

Then there’s the dang WIP. My Scrivener icon sits there on my monitor tool bar taunting me. Ariel’s story needs to be told. I want to tell it. But. Ariel is strangely sullen. Aisling can’t decide if she’s a deer in headlights or the Morrigan. Iffy is off playing mah jong or pickleball or something. And I sit here in the dark (well, semi-dark since I have the desklamp on and my computer screen glows like the Las Vegas Strip), wondering what the hello kittyam I doing.

And now y’all knolw why I set these posts up beforehand. That said, I guess it’s time to go have some fun. After I sift though the 100 junk emails to find the 4 important ones, at least look at social media and the blogs I follow, and pray that the coffee I’m drinking will make this blasted headache go away. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

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Monday All Over Again

Posted on January 12, 2026 by Silver James

Well. Okay. So there was a week and a weekend. There’s good news and bad news. Well, sad news anyway. Let’s start with the positive.

Medical update: As I’ve mentioned before, I made a deal with my PC doc to undergo three tests in order to avoid one test that involves all such of things that are yucky. The alternative was less invasive and done at home. I did it over the holidays. The results came back negative/normal and I shouldn’t have to do another for 3 years. Yay. Good to know the insides are good. The other two tests involve “squishing the girls” and doing a bone scan. Those tests were scheduled for last Friday afternoon, back to back. The radiology department called Friday morning to reschedule the mammogram because their machine was on the fritz. So. That one has been rescheduled for later in the month. The bone scan was easy peasy and didn’t take long at all. Results are in. I have a less than 0.01% chance of suffereing a hip or bone break in a fall. I have good bones, but I pretty much knew that going in. So yay. In other good news, my opthomologist (eye surgeon) is pleased. Pressure in both eyes is normal (this is a good thing for glaucoma

The sad news is that Pete crossed the rainbow bridge Friday afternoon. I found him when we got home. I knew he was gone but when I stroked him one last time, he let out one final breath. I think that was for me, him telling me that it was okay I wasn’t there, and that he’s off to new adventures across the rainbow bridge. I miss him. Bed time is hard. Waking up in the night is hard. I didn’t realize how much comfort he offered when I’d wake up. I’d reach over, pet him a few times, then my hand would settle on his back and we’d both go back to sleep. We buried him out in the island in the spot where he’d sun himself, a spot I can see from my office window. Needless to say, the weekend was pretty me being sad and a little weepy.

I had plans to write. Yeah…that didn’t happen. I did finish off the book I was listening to, Jayne Ann Krentz’s THE SHOP ON HIDDEN LANE. If you’re a fan of her Arcane books, this is a new series set in that world. It was fun and there’s a really cool dog. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. Maybe today new words will come.

There was supposed to be a Stormy soccer game on Saturday but due to a scheduling SNAFU, no match. Kind of a bummer.

Last week was full of peopling with doctor appointments. I finally decided to do something I swore I wouldn’t do–order groceries to be delivered. It was easy peasy and my groceries came sacked exactly like I’d do them in the self-checkout lane. Yippee. LG teased me that I was getting agorophobic. I’m not. It’s not the outside, it’s the people! I wonder if there is a name for wanting to avoid people? Anyway, this coming week is quiet. I will grocery shop at some point. I’m relistening to a Suzanne Wright book because the next “new” book I want drops on the 20th.

How was everyone else’s weekend? I hope there was good stuff in your lives.

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Friday Sinema: Going to the Dogs

Posted on January 9, 2026 by Silver James

One of my favorite accounts on X is We Rate Dogs. They have a foundation to helps pay medical bills for strays, promote adoptions, have cool swag (Tell Your Dog I Said Hi), and post videos of cute dogs doing cute stuff and then they post a count down. Here’s the first one of the year… Happy Friday. I’m writing this weekend. Or else! We’ll see on Monday. In the meantime, “Who’s a gooood dawg?”

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Miracle

Posted on January 8, 2026 by Silver James

If New Year’s Day hadn’t fallen on a Thursday, this is the post I would have posted to greet the new year. Maybe. I mean, it didn’t pop up in my inbox until January 1 and since I tend to set up my post the day before because…reasons.* Anyway, it comes a week later but I’ve been working on this since January 1.

*The reason being that I haven’t had enough coffee to do more than just scroll through email first thing in the morning.

Performing miracles, Silver, isn’t a matter of doing the impossible, it’s a matter of re-imagining the possible.

Tallyho,
The Universe
©www.tut.com 

P.S. Consider, Silver, people once thought double chocolate was impossible.

I’m a writer. Therefore, logic says that I’m creative and have an imagination. And, therefore, I need to use it. Reading the Big U’s message last week made me stop and think. In doing so, I realized that not only had I sunken into a slump, I continued to trudge along that wallow. to say I disappointed myself in 2025 is an understatement. In self-preservation, I decided to adopt a rather laissez-faire attitude about things–a que sera sera philosophy. And yes, I am hearing Doris Day singing in my ear. That translates to “What will be, will be.” And there I was early on January first thinking this. Until I opened my email from the Universe. I read it. I started to delete it and then I read it again. Performing miracles, Silver, isn’t a matter of doing the impossible, it’s a matter of re-imagining the possible. I’m the first to admit that I need a miracle where my writing is concerned. And yeah, things appear pretty impossible. But I’m a writer. I DO have an imagination. All I have to do is use to re-imagine the possible. I can do this. I don’t need a big miracle, I just need a series of small ones. It’s like writing a book. One word at a time. I got this.

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