Thursday Thoughts: Universal Immortality

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Silver James

My brain gets a little weird when I start thinking about immortal characters and those who aren’t. This is part of the joy of writing Urban Fantasy. I mean…I have a vampire who fought in the Crusades who is in love with a human. While they look to be the same age–mid-thirties–there is a huge gulf between their life experience. Sade Marquis, human FBI agent, is the seminal character of the series and Sinjen is the vampire who claims her. Exploring that “age” difference is part of the fun of writing these characters. In THE SOUND OF SILENCE, I take this concept even further. While Sade and Sinjen have cameos–along with the rest of Sade’s Scoobie Gang™, this is Roman’s story. A millennium-old gargoyle, Roman fall in love with a twenty-something human. Well, mostly human. Verity has a touch of witch blood and…nope. That would be a spoiler. Anyway, this note from the Universe hit the ol’ inbox at just the right time for my writing, making me really think about agency, life expectations and difference, and how two such disparate characters could actually fall in love.

Ever wonder what would make life’s fleeting pain and sorrow totally and unquestionably “worth it,” Silver?

How about living forever, wildly in love and loved wildly?

Yeah, baby –
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Yeah, Silver, say that three times fast.

See, that’s my job as an author. Even if the characters aren’t immortal, they still deserve to have their Happily Ever After. In romance, no one wants the boy to meet girl, girl and boy fall in love, boy and girl get married and live happily ever after. I mean…we do but that makes for a really sort and mostly boring story. That’s why writers like to “torture” our characters and make them go through the “black moment.” See…if it looks hopeless, when the boy and girl finally get to that HEA, it’s all worth it. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

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Wednesday Words: Nothing to Fear

Posted on October 25, 2017 by Silver James

I’ll admit to following a bit of a theme this month. It’s October, capped by Halloween. This last #1lineWed theme of **FEAR** plays straight into the season. In this snippet from my upcoming Halloween release (are you seeing a theme here? 😆 ), Roman is in the Legate’s office, which overlooks Jackson Square. Fear comes in many guises.

****
As it was always wont to do, Roman’s attention turned to Fortune Tellers Row. Like the artists and performers, the psychics and readers were fewer during the week. He’d long ago learned that most were charlatans but the occasional human psychic or magick appeared, which meant he had to keep his eye on their activities. His eyes sought out hair the color of sunshine capping a gamin face. She was there, tucked beneath her patched umbrella, a paperback book open in her lap and he wondered what she was reading. Her presence concerned him—far more than it should. She’d not come one day and he’d fretted all morning about it before his duties called him away. Even then, thoughts of her remained in the back of his mind, and he’d been far too relieved when she’d arrived at her usual time the next day.

He needed to return to Paris but he was still reluctant to leave New Orleans. Something kept his instincts centered here—something besides the little gypsy. There was oily darkness simmering beneath the gaudy surface of the city and the awareness of it scraped against his senses like sandpaper over sunburned skin. Evil was stalking his city and he was still guardian enough to desire battle.

An image of Le Vieil, leader of the gargoyle realm, shimmered before his eyes and his gut roiled. Roman had a duty to his kind, as well. Crevan, the oldest of them all, had chosen him all those many years ago to fulfill the gruesome task of finding and eliminating the vessel meant to receive the Heart of Stone. The Crucible had been born—though none knew where or to whom. Finding her was a monumental task and all the Sentinels were looking for her. Maybe that’s what was creating the sense of urgency. They’d recovered the Heart of Stone years ago and though it was hidden well, there would be no peace or safety for the Heart or the Gargoyle kindred until the Crucible was destroyed. Things were coming to a head. There’d been reports of more dead gargoyles, of others turning rogue, and the guard doubled upon the Heart.

Movement in the sun-soaked plaza yanked him from his grim thoughts. The little gypsy had put her book away and was rearranging things on her table, filled as it was with the accoutrements of her trade—crystal ball, Tarot cards, crystals.

Four grubby men swaggered along the promenade, their voices loud and obnoxious. They approached the little gypsy’s table and Roman could almost see the calculation in their eyes, and the moment gang mentality took over. Roman tore open the window and leaned out. He could taste her fear on the wind like it was something tangible as they surrounded the table, hemming her in their midst. He couldn’t flash to her as he wished—too many prying eyes. Roman had to respond as a human would—by dashing down stairs and out the door.
****
This is an unedited version so ignore the typos, etc. I can’t wait for y’all to read this one. Iffy, my Muse, threw me a curve ball that made my brain go all explodey! While this is a story about Roman and Verity, fans will get to see Sade, Sinjen, Caleb, and Ari, too.

Today, instead of asking you to share scary words, how about sharing what you fear? *bwahahaha*

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Tuesday Treats: Cheddar-Bacon-Garlic Monkey Bread

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Silver James

Cool temperatures are in the forecast. The World Series starts tonight. College football this weekend. And the NBA. Like every night. 😆 This recipe seems like it’s sort of time-consuming but prep actually goes pretty fast and it’s great to munch on in front of the big screen.

Prep Time: 15 min.
Total Time: 50 min.
Servings: 12 servings
Pull apart a piece of Cheddar-Bacon-Garlic Monkey Bread at your next special occasion. You and your friends will all love this tasty garlic monkey bread!

What You Need
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
4 slices cooked OSCAR MAYER Bacon, each cut into 8 pieces
1 can (16.3 oz.) refrigerated big buttermilk biscuits (8 biscuits), quartered

Make It

Heat oven to 350ºF.
Cut half the cheese into 32 small cubes; shred remaining cheese.
Mix butter, garlic and parsley until blended. Drizzle 1 Tbsp. butter mixture onto bottom of 9-inch round pan sprayed with cooking spray. Place 1 each cheese cube and bacon piece on center of each dough piece; press dough around cheese and bacon until completely enclosed. Place in prepared pan.
Sprinkle with shredded cheese; drizzle with remaining butter mixture.
Bake 35 min. or until golden brown. Cool 10 min. before removing from pan to serve.

CLICK HERE to get the full details and nutritional information. FYI, believe it or not, Sade Marquis from the Penumbra Papers actually makes monkey bread like this. Due to the garlic, it’s a huge inside joke between her and Sinjen. Caleb, on the other hand, insists she at least double the recipe so he can have his own pan. 🙄 Werewolves. Watch for all of them, plus Ariel, to appear in Roman’s book, THE SOUND OF SILENCE, coming on Halloween!

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Falling for Monday

Posted on October 23, 2017 by Silver James

Autumn temperatures have finally arrived to stay, so it seems looking at the long-range forecast. Of course, the weather had to give one last bump-and-grind to usher in the new season. We had four tornadoes over the weekend. Fun times! I watched the one closest to me (still clear across the entire metro area) form, hit, then collapse. The weather nerd in me totally geeked out as I watched radar. In other news…

Sports: Holy cannoli! OSU and OU are gonna give me a freaking heart attack! OSU (the REAL OSU not Ohio State fake OSU) went into overtime against Texas. They managed to kick a field goal and then one of the defensive ends caught an interception in the end zone to stop Texas from scoring and winning the game. OU trailed Kansas State and every time the Sooners got ahead, K-State came back. OU FINALLY put it away with a game-winning run with 7 seconds left. ARGH! Looks like the World Serious is going to be the Houston Astros vs. LA Dodgers. I should–supposedly–root for the Dodgers. I’m a National League gal and the Dodgers are the National League team. Plus, their triple A team is located here. But…my dad never forgave the Dodgers for sneaking out of Brooklyn all those many-MANY years ago. So… And I sort of like the ‘Stros. The way I see it, with no dog in that hunt, I can just sit back and enjoy what should be some amazing baseball. Time to stock up on beer and brats!

TV: Nothing new this season has truly caught my attention. LUCIFER continues to rock but that’s the only show I’m really keeping up with. Sad, I know. That leads me to…

READING: Or in my case, listening. I just finished the last book in Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krentz’s Harmony/Rainshadow/Arcane series. I’m halfway tempted to go back and read the WHOLE Arcane series, which also includes books by her Amanda Quick nom de plume, but I think I’ll wait. I doubt I can get all the books in audio from the library. 😦 I did pick up three books that were Kindle deals with an amazing audio deal for buying the Kindle book. I’d read the first one in the series and enjoyed it. The first book, TEMPTED BY FIRE by Erin Kellison, is on sale for 99 cents and the audio book is only $1.99. The second book is $2.99 and the 3rd is $3.99 but the audio books were all $1.99. That’s a bargain. The nice thing is, if I start them and don’t like them, I can return them for a credit. I’ve never actually done that and I would never do that for a book that I read or listened to the whole way through. That happens to me. People will buy one of my books, read it, and return it. I snarl a bit when I see returns on my Kindle dashboard. You can download a sample, people! Anyway, that’s what I’ll probably read next because…

WRITING: I fully intend to finish off the first draft of THE SOUND OF SILENCE by Wednesday at the latest. Then I can delve back into contemporary paranormal. SciFi paranormal doesn’t break my rule of not reading what I’m currently writing. Don’t ask me how it’s different, it just is. 😛 Anyway. This freaking book is finally behaving itself. I’m over 50K on it and on the downhill slide to the end. I have one more sweet love scene, the black moment, the big battle scene, and then I’m done because I’ve already written the ending. 😆 Don’t ask. I write in puzzle pieces and a scene I wrote some time back is the piece that fits the end. Go figure.

Anyway, that’s what’s up with me for the past week and the coming one. What’s up with y’all?

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Friday Sinema: Remembering Faerie

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Silver James

A picture I posted on my Facebook author page last week sparked a discussion and a bit of interest in the first series of books I wrote that was published. The first book to hit was FAERIE FATE, a time travel/reincarnation story. There were members of the Tuatha de Danann who figured in the story–and the succeeding stories, including Abhean, the fae harper. When I saws this video, I realized I had Abhean’s model AND I had his story to finish out the series. So, enjoy violinist David Garrett and grab a little insight into how my brain/imagination/Muse translated this video into the Christmas story, FAERIE FAITH.

And if anyone missed this series, they’re all still available. CLICK HERE to get to the series page for all the info. 🙂

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Care

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Silver James

I forgot I hadn’t preset a #ThursdayThoughts post. Oops. In light of all the negativity going on in social media and the broader world, I think this message from the Universe is some advice none of us should take in the wrong way.

Can I give you some advice that you won’t take the wrong way?

How did I know you’d say yes?

Buy something special for yourself, Silver. Be proud. Flaunt your style. Love yourself. Daydream, wonder, and make a few mistakes. Stay up too late every so often and sleep in too long. Sometimes wake up crazy early to doodle or journal or go for a walk. Play loud music. Celebrate everything. And when no one is looking, as often as you can remember, kiss the back of each of your hands in quick succession.

Happy love affair, gorgeous…
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Come on, Silver… Mwah! Mwah!

What will you do today to celebrate yourself? Me? I’m going to celebrate that I’m an author, that I get to live in my imagination and because I write romance, I get to give my characters–and hopefully my readers–a happily ever after!

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Wednesday Words: The Shadows Know

Posted on October 18, 2017 by Silver James

I was hoping to be finished with THE SOUND OF SILENCE before now. I’m still plugging along, but that’s good for y’all because you get another snippet. The #1lineWed theme over on Twitter is **SHADOWS**. This is the moment that Roman decides to step out of the shadows… 😉

****
Roman stood at the window, a dark silhouette if anyone below chanced to look up. Early-morning fog swirled through Jackson Square, leaving the granite blocks and wooden benches with a silvery sheen as the first fingers of dawn poked through the gray miasma. Roman refused to count the number of times he’d stood here, waiting, watching for…something. He hadn’t known what until—

A bright swirl of color coalesced through the murk and the constricting pressure in his chest eased, a feeling he chose to ignore. She was early this morning, lugging her wagon with the folding chairs, market umbrella, rickety wooden table, and her satchel filled with the exotic paraphernalia of her trade. Her tousled curls were tamed today, severe in a long braid snaking over one shoulder. Fog swirled around her, lightened, leaving her poised like an island tinted by riotous hues.

He couldn’t remember when he’d first noticed the girl. Young woman, he corrected himself. Of course, she could be a crone of ninety and she’d still be little more than a child to him. He thought back, trying to pinpoint the moment the little gypsy had wormed her way into his psyche. Had she always been there, crouched down hiding behind all the memories of the before times? Perhaps she had.

Roman had found no peace since the first time he’d truly noticed her in front of the cathedral. Her smile tugged at his heart even as his senses warred with the knowledge of what—of who—she might be. Was she rogue? Or perhaps unaligned, though the witches guarded their bloodlines as closely as they did their Book of Shadows. The girl was an unknown. The Witches’ Council knew nothing of her that Roman could gleam from them. All magicks living or visiting in the city had to register with the Legates office and he had no record of a gypsy girl who told fortunes on Jackson Square. That was disturbing.

He didn’t know her name but this young woman with haunted shadows in her eyes and the fragile sheen of magic clinging to her skin like glitter drew him as inexorably as that proverbial moth. Would she singe his wings if he got too close? He was half tempted to find out.

The windows were open and the dank scent of the Mississippi—an odor of water and mud, of age and wisdom—swirled around him as the fog danced with her. She called to someone, her voice as musical as the birds who sang dawn awake. Something deep inside him stirred, something that had slumbered for hundreds of years. Desire.
****
Feel free to share any shadowy words you might have. In the meantime, I back at work because I am soooo ready to type THE END on this puppy!

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Tuesday Treats: Creamy Jalapeno-Stuffed Chicken

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Silver James

Now that temperatures are cooling off, I like recipes that have a little more heat. These stuffed chicken breasts fit the bill perfectly.

Prep Time: 25 min.
Total Time: 1 hr.
Servings: 8 servings

These cream cheese and jalapeño-stuffed chicken breasts are simple enough to make on the spot—but you can easily prepare them ahead of time.

What You Need
8 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (2 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened (I use Philadelphia Cream Cheese Fat Free)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided
2 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped (I cheat and use the canned/sliced ones because…easy!)
1 egg
3 cups tortilla chips, finely crushed (about 1 cup)
1 cup green salsa
Make It
Place chicken on work surface. Mix cream cheese, 1-1/2 cups shredded cheese and peppers until blended; spread onto chicken. Roll up tightly, starting at one short end of each breast. You can refrigerate up to 8 hours. When ready to bake…

Heat oven to 375ºF. Beat egg in shallow dish. Place crushed chips in separate shallow dish. Dip chicken in egg, then roll in crushed chips. Place, seam sides down, in single layer in shallow pan sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake 35 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF). Meanwhile, warm salsa.

Top chicken with remaining shredded cheese. Serve with salsa.

Yeah, I don’t do salsa but some folks do, like Savannah Wolfe Barron, from “Convenient Cowgirl Bride.” Savvie doesn’t cook much but she agrees that this dish is quick and easy enough for her to make for Chase when she’s feeling all domestic.

To get all the nutritional details, CLICK HERE to go to the Kraft Foods site.

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Mid-Month Monday

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Silver James

So…October has five (count them…FIVE!) Mondays. Ugh. Ah, well. We are mid-way through the month. Halloween is looming. I did clean the front porch and I rearranged some things out there. The Halloween wreath is on the door, I even put out a lighted pumpkin (of the fake variety), and I replaced the blue lights lining the porch and door with the green ones I had to take off Nessie because they screwed up my across-the-street neighbor’s night vision camera. The green looks festive for Halloween.

And there was football this weekend. *FLAIL* Actually my Cowboys (from the REAL OSU) played awesome. They beat Baylor 59-16. OU, on the other hand, barely squeaked by Texas. Nerve wracking! There was also baseball! The National League and American League are fighting out their respective pennant races. Cubs vs. Dodgers, Dodgers lead by one game, and Astros vs. Yankees, ‘stros lead 2-0. I don’t really have a horse in this race so I can just watch good baseball and not truly care. That said, I wouldn’t be unhappy if it comes down to a Cubs vs. Astros world series. 😉

Reading is still kind of slumpy. I’m powering down on my “listen” to Jayne Castle’s Harmony/Rainshadow series. It’s been fun to revisit, even if I’m reminded of a few things that irritated me. Jayne still creates great characters and fun plots and her world building is highly imaginative. After I finish it off, not sure where I’ll go. I wish my eyes would let me actually read more. I have several books I’d really like to read but I can only read about ten pages or so. :/ We’ll see.

That leaves…writing. It’s going. In fits and starts but I’m making progress. The cover art is underway and the judging is going on over on my Facebook author page. I really need to work on the blurb. Ugh. I hate writing those suckers. The story is beginning to truly gel, which is a HUGE relief!!! I’m still–sort of–on track for that promised Halloween release.

How was your weekend and how’s your Monday going? Mine is going fast so time to grab another cup of coffee and get to work.

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Friday Sinema: Wild Love is Better

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Silver James

Okay. I admit it. I LIKED the movie THE LEGEND OF TARZAN. I did. Despite some of the kinda cheesy CGI/blue screen stuffs. Or because of them. Whatever. I’ll mention Alexander Skarsgard. Because…the dude is sexy! And you know, that whole story of the star-crossed lovers, the fish out of water X 2 (her in Africa, him in England), and then him going after her when she’s kidnapped? Because…dude! One of my favorite romance tropes EVER! Anyway, I fell in love with the love song from the movie, Hozier’s “Better Love” and it’s been an inspiration in Roman’s story, my current WIP. So sit back and enjoy it. That’s what I’m doing. With a cup of coffee. And a smile. Happy Friday the 13th. 😉

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