Thursday Thoughts: Universal Advice

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Silver James

universeSomewhere in this message from the big U is a story. Intrepid explorer. Stuck in that cave in Pyrenees. With a man in jeopardy. But our heroine explorer is a Girl Scout. She’s prepared and will…but wait. She has feelings for the man, and vice versa. Rut ro…feelings, not logic. Love! Oh noes! *flail* Why yes, I am under deadline–again. 😆 Okay, all kidding aside, after watching the news this week, I figured we all might need a little advice like this:

Silver, here’s a snippet of advice that comes from an as yet undiscovered manuscript buried deep in some Pyrenees mountain cave…

“Choose feelings over logic, adventure over perfection, here over there, now over then, and always love, love, love.”

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

Silver, it also said “you rock,” but you never would have believed that.

Yeah, I don’t know about that last part but I’ll rock the first. Why? Because. If you know what I mean… 😉

Oh, and yeah, my books to have this not that and always love, love, love. 😀

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Wednesday Words: Birds of a Feather

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Silver James

wurkn-on-mai-plan-for-word-domination-caleb-pupAnother Wednesday to mark off the calendar. Today’s #1lineWed theme over on Twitter is **BIRDS / FEATHERS**. Would you believe that in two WIPs, I only mentioned a bird one time? Here’s a look at an early scene in my upcoming release DALLAS FIRE & RESCUE: CRASH & BURN. This is a scene in our heroine’s POV as she’s getting ready to start her new job. This book releases on January 19th and I’m doing a “party” on the DF&WKW Facebook page. Stop by. There will be fun, frolic, and maybe even some contests!

In the meantime, here’s Kit’s “bird” moment…
****
But it wasn’t her firefighting abilities that had earned her this promotion and transfer. It was the investigative and forensic photography skills she’d honed on her own time. A little bird had told her two years ago that the DFW and Love Field ARFF units would be moving into an updated incident command system and a photographer would be a big part of the new ICS. If and when an incident happened—and DFW had been in the bull’s eye before, she would also be in charge of Recovery Command.

“Since you aren’t technically on the clock, you need to skedaddle.”

Kit startled at the gravelly voice. Assistant Chief Richard “Sandy” Sanderson stood in her doorway. Chief Sanderson was her immediate supervisor and she fought the urge to sit a little straighter. The man was a legend in the fire service, his voice rough due to burn injuries received back when he was a new firefighter. He’d saved a family that day, and he considered his voice a badge of honor. “Come back tomorrow when you’re supposed to be here. And catch a ride. You’ll be issued a department vehicle for your round-the-clock use.”

“Yes, sir. Just a few last things to finish up so I can hit the ground running in the morning.”

He laughed, the sound more like rocks shaking in a cardboard box than a human chuckle. “You won’t be here in the morning. You’ll be at the training academy. You’ll get your gear, your ride, and then you have to pass an airport driving course. Now get out of here.” Kit opened her mouth and he growled. “Don’t sir me, just do it.”

She nodded and got to her feet, snagged the backpack which contained her camera gear and the now-empty gym bag. “Doing it, sir.” She snapped off a salute as she ducked past him.

“Smart ass,” he grumbled, but Kit caught the smile on his face before it disappeared.
****
So what about y’all? Do you have any birds of wisdom? Flocks of words? Share ’em if you do!

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Tuesday Treats: Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Silver James

Who loves cheesecake? *raises hand* Who hates to make it? *raises hand* Well, here’s a recipe that looks quick, easy, and yummy. Watch the video but don’t despair! I’ve listed the ingredients and written instructions below. Go forth, make it, and enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 21 oz. can apple pie filling
1 9 inch prepared graham cracker crust
2 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
12 pecan halves
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Make it:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Reserve 3/4 cup of apple filling; set aside. Spoon the remaining filling into the crust. Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add the eggs and mix well. Pour this over the apple filling. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the center of the cake is set. Cool to room temperature.

Mix the reserved LUCKY LEAF Apple Fruit Filling and caramel topping in a small saucepan and heat for about 1 minute, or until spreadable. Spoon the apple-caramel mixture over the top of the cheesecake and spread evenly. Decorate the edge of the cake with pecan halves and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.

Let me know if you tried the recipe and whether you liked it. 🙂

*Video used a recipe from Allrecipes.

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Monday. Again…

Posted on January 9, 2017 by Silver James

Monday again coffee girlYup. This is pretty much what I looked like this morning. Except I’m not young and cute like this kid. Still, I recognize the sentiment. I took yesterday off. I checked email and did a quick FB post first thing in the morning then took my sorry self back to bed. We had Stormageddon for the night while Only and Baseball Boy celebrated their anniversary. Right after my first cup of coffee, he was up and bouncing off the walls. We met his parents for a celebratory lunch to and return their child. 😆 I did a little snow/ice shoveling as the temps warmed up enough to at least start the melt down. Of course, stuff froze overnight. The weather here can be a real roller coaster! Anyway, I crawled into bed with a good book and HGTV and promptly fell asleep. I do love the occasional Sunday nap, though it often leaves me brain fogged. 😆

All of this is a long-winded explanation of why I’m just now posting my Monday blog. I blanked out that I hadn’t pre-loaded anything. And when I woke up at 5 a.m., realized I hadn’t, I stuck my nose out from under the covers. It was cold. I was warm. And it was dark. So I promptly rolled over and went back to sleep. When I did wake up, I went through my normal morning routine and finally have enough caffeine infusion to be coherent. So…the wrap-up:

Reading: I’ve got two books going. I’m listening to Angie Fox’s ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER on Audible. It’s a fun book. I’m reading Laura Kaye’s RIDE HARD: A Raven Riders Novel, and I’m about 1/4 way through. Good stuff so far, though the hero is substantially older than the heroine. I’m interested in how Laura handles that.

Writing: I have release later this month. I have one final thing to fix that I discovered in the ARC and then it’ll be ready for upload when it comes time. CRASH & BURN is set in Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World. I’m a couple thousand words ahead on RDR#7 – Deacon (tentatively titled THE COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS COP). I need to catch up for yesterday’s lack of word count so I hope to get about 5K words written today. I’m loving Deacon and Quin is quite a tough nut to crack. I’m pretty sure he’ll get through her defenses. 😉

Weather: Ugh. Just…ugh. The first day of snow was pretty. The sub-zero temps that followed were not. And we’re due for more this coming weekend. I’m ready for some temperate weather. The older I get, the more I appreciate that 68-72 temperature range. 😆

Sports: Dear NFL, I don’t really care. Dear MLB, can you start Pitcher/Catcher early so we can get to the spring training games? And can you televise all the games? Just askin’…

Okay. Time to wrap this up and get to work. Those 5K words aren’t going to write themselves! How was your weekend? Any good books or weather to report?

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Friday Sinema: Somebody Tell Me

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Silver James

Okay, I’ve spent way too much time watching Jake Owen music videos. Research. No, really. Jake has the look and voice of Deacon Tate, the hero in my current work in progress. And y’all know I love a good music video that tells a story so…on this cold winter’s Friday why don’t we snuggle up with our favorite book boyfriends/girlfriend, listen to some good country music, starting with this one. 🙂 Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts – Universal Start

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Silver James

universeToday is the first tidbit from the Universe for 2017. Since we are at the very start of the new year, I figure this is a good time to talk about starting anew and apparently, the Universe agrees with me. Here’s the Universe’s advice:

Silver, here’s a little trick to get the ball rolling.

Ask yourself, “What’s the most fun I could have with my life, as it is now, before those big dreams of mine come true?”

Then do it.

A lot.

The next thing you know, those big dreams will come true.

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

And, Silver, if you’re not even sure what’s fun anymore, then just do anything. A lot. And it will find you.

I’m really lucky in that my “job” is something I would do for fun. And my dreams are tied up with my job. Oh, I have other dreams–the new house on an acreage/compound with a pool and hot tub, stables and horses to ride, and people to fix what gets broken or needs painting, for one. I’m comfortable in the house I have and enjoy living here but yeah, I dream about bigger/better/new/different. I think we all do. But when push comes to shove, I’m fairly comfortable in my life. I like where I am–for the most part, and I like where I’m going. I have wonderful family, friends, and colleagues. I have furbabies. I have lots and lots of stories to tell–sadly far more than I’ll probably ever be able to write. Which isn’t a bad thing. Some ideas seem totally awesome at conception and, at second or even third glance, fall into the realm of “What was I thinking?!?”

Anyway, I plan to have a lot of fun in 2017. I’m going to have fun dreaming big and dreaming small. I’m going to tell more stories and read more stories written by other people. I’m going to make new friends and keep the old…wait. Isn’t that a song from the Girl Scouts? 😉 Whose going to have fun with me?

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Wednesday Words: New/Fresh

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Silver James

wurkn-on-mai-plan-for-word-domination-caleb-pupThe theme for this week’s Kiss of Death twitter prompt for #1lineWed is **NEW/FRESH**. Finding a snippet that is hopefully interesting was a bit of a challenge. Or not. 😆 I plugged “fresh” into my search bar of my upcoming release, CRASH & BURN (part of Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World), and the only thing that came up is the following. So yay.

As a set up, Kit and Derek are in her office at DFW Airport Station 1 the day after the plane crash. She’s been on duty going on 36 hours and is making download copies of her photos for the “alphabet” agencies involved. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. 😉

***
Kit looked like she was about to chew him out but the phone buzzed again. She pressed a button. “Lieutenant Carson.”

“Kit, the FBI is on the phone. They want their pictures, sweetie.” June called everyone sweetie in private, including Chief Landon. She was the department mom so no one complained.

“Tell them I’m on my way to their command post at the site.”

“Will do. And tell that nice Homeland Security agent I’ll have his cookies tomorrow morning, if he wants to stop in and pick them up.”

Kit leveled a telling glare on him, but Derek just smiled and lifted one shoulder in a sheepish shrug that translated as, “What can I say?” She snatched the next set of drives and set two more to downloading. They could run while she headed to the FBI’s trailer at the scene and she tracked down the FAA official on-site too. By the time she got back, she’d have the ATF’s and DHS’s drives copied. Then she could get rid of Derek. Because if he kissed her again, she couldn’t be held accountable for her actions.

Since the runway was still closed, Kit needed only to notify ground control at the tower that they’d be in route to the crash site. Neither of them spoke after that. Derek didn’t need to talk. His very presence filled her SUV to the point she could barely breathe. And why did he have to smell so good? She needed to find out what aftershave he used because she wanted a bottle of it. He smelled like her favorite blanket fresh from a cedar chest and she wanted nothing more than to wrap him around her and snuggle in…

Whoa. She jerked her thoughts back. Exhaustion. That was her excuse. She was simply exhausted. Lack of sleep. Physical demands of working the scene. No real food…

Dinner. He’d mentioned dinner. But it was only mid-afternoon. She didn’t live that far away. Just what had the maddening man planned for the intervening time? She remembered the kiss—that branding, searing, knock-her-boots-off kiss he’d given her standing right there in her office.

He chuckled, a low, rumbling sound from deep in his chest. Kit wanted to pet that laugh, pet him. She was in so much trouble.
***

What about y’all? Any fresh or new words to share? And if you’re on Twitter, be sure to check out all the #1lineWed entries. You never know when you might discover a new author to enjoy!

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Tuesday Treats: Turtle Cookie Balls

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Silver James

turtle-cookie-ballsI’m a huge fan of Turtle candies. When I saw this recipe in the Kraft Recipe Box, I figured it was worth tucking back in the ol’ recipe box for a time when I’m craving sweets. Haven’t made them but the recipe seems pretty straight forward and would make a great take-along treat for parties. Or Valentine’s Day. 😉

Turtle Cookie Balls

Prep Time 30min. Total Time 1hr. 40min. Servings 42 servings

Bite into scrumptious Turtle Cookie Balls. If you like turtle candies, you’ll love the caramel, chocolate and nutty flavors of these Turtle Cookie Balls.

What You Need

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

70 vanilla wafers, finely crushed (about 2-1/3 cups)

3 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping

4 pkg. (4 oz. each) BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, broken into pieces, melted

1/4 cup chopped PLANTERS Pecans

Make It

Mix first 3 ingredients until blended.

Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls. Freeze 10 min. Dip balls in melted chocolate; place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.

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First Monday

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Silver James

New YearSo, 2016 has ridden off into the sunset and 2017 is standing here all bright and shiny, waiting for us to do something. Something different. Something new. Something special. Something…anything. I’m ready. Are you?

I’m also looking ahead. Pitcher/catcher practice starts in 42 days, 2 hours, 54 minutes, 29 seconds at the time of my typing this. I’m really looking forward to baseball. Go Cards! FYI, I have a baseball themed novella coming in May, set in Roxanne St. Claire’s Barefoot Bay. Both heroine and hero are older so that will be fun.

The guys from Red Dirt Royalty will be around. Cash’s story, REDEEMED BY THE COWGIRL, comes out in digital on my birthday in March. The paper version appears a week later, on March 7th. Kade’s story arrives in July, followed by Deacon’s Christmas story in October/November time frame. 2018 will bring Tucker’s story, along with Cooper’s.

Susan Stoker asked me to continue participating in her Special Forces: Operation Alpha Kindle World. I’ll have two new stories coming out in March and July, maybe even a third in November. We’ll see how the deadlines shake out. I also have an upcoming release in Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue, CRASH & BURN, arriving for Amazon Kindle on January 17th.

I’m also working on Smoke’s story for the Nightriders, Roman’s story in Penumbra Papers, and there are two mafia Wolves who are starting to tell me their stories–one from the Irish mob in Boston, the other is leader of the Russian Mafiya, and brother to Sergei “The Russian” Rustokovich of Nightrider fame. Somewhere in there, I hope someone from the Hard Target team will open up and decide to tell his story too.

So that’s my new writing chapter for the year. The rest of my life, I’m going to play by ear and see what happens, cuz that’s how I roll. 😉 But first, another cup of coffee. What about y’all? What will you write in your book of life in 2017?

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Happy New Year 2017

Posted on January 1, 2017 by Silver James

new-year-2017

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