Thursday Thoughts: Universal Cryptology

Posted on August 10, 2017 by Silver James

Umm…oops? I got so wrapped up in my current WIP yesterday that I forgot that I hadn’t pre-posted today’s post. My bad. But not. Because the two chapters I wrote yesterday? Plus the cover for this book? I’m Snoopy dancing all around my office. I think y’all are gonna like Griffith Caine and Lennox Morgan. I do. A lot. They’re both turning out to be far more complex than I anticipated. Which is totally awesome for the reader.

Needless to say, when I was scrolling through my messages from the Universe for something short, pithy, and on-point for today, this one caught my eye. “The work” I do involves creating characters and giving them their Happily-ever-afters. Time and time again. The Universe might think it’s being cryptic, but I have the code. 😉

So, according to the Universe,

It’s time to do “the work,” Silver.

Happily-ever-after awaits,

The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

I love cryptic, Silver.

I’m going to work now. I have a lot of action and adventure to put Griff and Len through before I give them that HEA. (And yes, I totally shouted “Hi-ho, Silver…Awaaaaay!” in my head…)

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Wednesday Words: The Silence of Quiet

Posted on August 9, 2017 by Silver James

Time for another #1lineWed theme. Today’s theme is dedicated to librarians around the world and apropo since school is starting up and I’m sure some teachers are also longing for the sounds of silence. The theme? **SILENCE/QUIET**. If you have some hushed words to share, please do so in the comments. Here’s my snippet for the day, from my current WIP, ASSASSIN’S MOON, coming the end of the month as part of Susan Stoker’s Special Forces: Operation Alpha Kindle World. This scene should be fairly self-explanatory… 😉
****
Lennox’s scream echoed in his head and the wolf snarled. DON’T RUN! Griff shouted. Too bad it came out as a blood-chilling howl because his muzzle had already formed. She fled, leaving him to finish the change and chase her. The wolf liked the idea of hunting down their mate and claiming her. The man was terrified she’d get hurt. They were in the fucking Amazon jungle. The things that could hurt or kill her were as numerous as the stars in the sky they couldn’t see overhead due to the rainforest’s canopy.

Head down, breath coming in gasps, Lennox ran full tilt. She kept her arms up to protect her face as she stumbled through the dense jungle. In full-blown panic, she didn’t think about snakes, poisonous plants, or anything else. The nightmare hard on her heels was far more terrifying. This was insane. Men didn’t turn into animals. Griffith. A monster. She abruptly dodged off the path and hurtled head-long into the jungle. She heard water. She’d jump in so he couldn’t track her. Isn’t that what fugitives did when bloodhounds were tracking them?

She pushed through a heavy veil of giant fronds and pitched forward. Lennox slid down a slope and landed in swampy water. Something plopped nearby and a startled screech escaped before she clamped both hands over her mouth. Lunging to her feet, she splashed through the water and clamored up the bank on the opposite side. She plunged into jungle once more and found herself on some sort of narrow trail. Distance. She needed to put distance between her and that creature. Her chest heaved and her side was splitting but she forced her legs to keep pumping. Something rustled in the vegetation beside her. She reached for a last bit of speed and burst into a clearing. Silence enveloped her. The jungle, teeming with noise just moments before, was now totally quiet. She’d skidded to a stop, unaware of doing so, her instincts kicking in even as her eyes filled in the blanks. Across the open space, eyes glowed in the darkness—eyes that were fixed on her.
Lennox’s lungs burned with the need to suck in air but her whole body is paralyzed. Huge, golden eyes blinked slowly and a low rumble teased the outer edges of her hearing. Cat. Big cat. No, huge cat. Her brain scrambled to identify the predator. Jaguar. She sucked in a breath and the animal emitted a sort of rolling growl.

“Nice kitty,” she whispered as the big cat prowled toward her. “Please don’t eat me.” Tears sprang into her eyes but she couldn’t chance wiping them away. The jaguar crouched, tensing, its tail twitching. Lennox knew enough about cats to understand that was a bad thing.

Something moved behind her and she recognized that it was…whatever Griffith had become. She slowly turned her head just enough to glimpse what stalked through the clearing toward her. He was…magnificent. Silver-white fur tipped in black. A gray mask over a white muzzle. The wolf padded to her, passed close enough to brush his side against her thigh. Unable to resist the urge, she skimmed her fingers through the fur on her back. The wolf was bigger than the jaguar but were his claws as sharp, his bite as lethal?
****
Yeah, this book is full of action and danger! I hope you enjoyed the snippet. Watch for it to go live on August 29th and I’ll be sharing the cover soon. 😀

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Tuesday Treats: Caesar Salad Dip

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Silver James

Looking for a summertime dip that might be sort of healthy, but is certainly yummy? I’m a huge fan of Caesar salads so this dip was a must for my recipe files. Plus…easy peasy to fix! From Kraft Recipes:

Prep Time: 10min.
Total Time: 10min.
Servings: 16 servings, 2 Tbsp. each
At first glance, it looks like a Caesar salad. But beneath the croutons and romaine is a luscious dip made with cream cheese and Parmesan.

What You Need

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup KRAFT Classic Caesar Dressing
1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 cup croutons

Make It
Beat cream cheese, Parmesan cheese and dressing with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
Spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate; top with lettuce and croutons.
Serve with assorted crackers.

I dare you to eat just one! 😉 And trust me, even the guys like it. Just ask Kade Waite. I’m pretty sure this is a go-to recipe for Pippa Duncan. She might even have craved it (off page anyway) while she was carrying Kade’s baby. 😀

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Monday After the After

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Silver James

I see y’all scratching your heads over the subject line. That’s okay. Me, too. LOL Coming up with titles for these posts is a game all its own. This is something I should have posted LAST Monday–the Monday after getting home from RWA Nationals. Except I dragged home a nasty case of “con crud.” I’m just now getting back to some semblance of health. So, a week late, here’s an update of Nationals and the past week.

First, I’m running for RWA National Board of Directors as a Director at Large. I really want to serve in this capacity. I believe every voice in RWA deserves to be heard–EVERY voice. So those of you in RWA, please consider voting for me come October elections.

Second, I had a blast seeing old friends and making new ones. That would be the lovely Carolyn Brown (and her lifetime hero) smooching Blue. Anna DePalo and I participated in a Facebook Live event direct from the Harlequin session. You can CLICK HERE to watch, if you haven’t seen it yet. We played a lively game of “Never Have I Ever” with Desire’s Senior Editor, Stacy Boyd. The Kiss of Death Chapter conference on Tuesday was amazing! We had a former Air Force Pararescue Jumper as a speaker, followed by a CSI and a computer hacker. Everything writers of romantic thrillers and suspense could want, and gave me some inspiration to use when I get back to the Hard Target series.

Wednesday, I worked the registration desk and moderated a panel on audio books. I got to ask the questions and learned a lot from two authors, a narrator, the head of ACX and a representative from Findaway Voices, another audio company. Good stuffs! Someday, I want my self-pubs in audio. All it takes is money. 🙄 And Wednesday night was Kiss of Death’s Death by Chocolate party and Daphne awards.

Thursday was various panels, Harlequin stuffs, lunch with Stacy and other Desire authors, and the RITAs! Ahhh, the glamour! Someday, I’ll be up there on that stage. I want one of those golden ladies! I’ll just have to write harder. Friday was more Harlequin stuffs, panels, the awards luncheon and the Harlequin cocktail party at the Waldorf. I got to see CLAIMING THE COWGIRL’S BABY up on the big screen at the party!

Saturday brought more panels (seeing a trend here? :lol:) and the Literacy signing. Saturday night was packing and I left for home before daylight on Sunday. And woke up sick as a dog on Monday. Okay, truthfully, I was coming down with it on Saturday, ignored it on Sunday, and finally gave in on Monday.

Even being sick, I managed to get some new words in. I have many more new words to go this week and for the weeks to come. Yay for deadlines. I am feeling better so hopefully I’ll get fully on track this week.

Now, to catch up on other things…

Reading: I haven’t done a lot. I finished listening to SPELLBINDER (Moonshadow) by Thea Harrison and WILDFIRE (Hidden Legacy) by Ilona Andrews. Both were awesome! Not sure what’s next on my list.

TV: “Midnight, Texas” – NBC. It’s odd. Quirky. There’s an angel, a witch, a weretiger reverend, a vampire, and a psychic. Oh, and a gate into hell. What’s not to love? LOLOL We’ll see if it holds up. I loved the first few seasons of “True Blood,” too, then it sort of went off the rails for me. This series is also based on a Charlaine Harris series. And “Live PD.” I’m addicted and I keep threatening to create a BINGO card for the show. 😆

That’s my world at the moment. What’s going on in yours?

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Friday Sinema–The Cowboy Way

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Silver James

And this is why I LOVE cowboys…

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Monday of #RWA17-ness

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Silver James

So…I was up before dawn and my plane took off into the rising sun. Yes, I am writing this the night before. 😆

So, I’ll be landing in Orlando about noon today, then I’m headed to the Walt Disney World Resort Dolphin hotel. Hopefully, I can grab an early check in. Keep your fingers crossed for me. If not, I have friends already there who will let me stash luggage and smooze with them. The Romance Writers of America National Conference is a week of amazing reconnecting with friends, learning new things, networking with publishing professionals and parties. Fun–if exhausting times! This year, the “finale” is the Literacy for Life signing.

If any of you are in the Orlando/Florida area, please come! There will be 400+ amazing romance authors and the proceeds of every book sold goes to literacy programs. RWA has already donated a MILLION DOLLARS and we want to big start on our next million on Saturday!

I’ll be checking in on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram but probably not here. I’ll miss y’all and I’ll be back next Monday–hopefull with some amazing tales to tell. Have a great week and come see me if you are in Florida!

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Friday Free For All – Linky-dinkies

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Silver James

After the week I’ve had, I think it’s time to spread a little joy, some smiles, maybe a giggle or two, and some WOW! Have a great weekend. I’ll be at #RWA17 in Orlando next week, though I’m going to try to set up some posts before I go. All depends on time and inspiration. 😆 I’ll be checking in on Twitter and Facebook from the conference so y’all won’t miss me–not that you would.

Okay, on to the fun stuffs! Just click on the highlighted links and go spend some time surfing the ‘net. Trust me, you’ll enjoy yourself. And don’t worry–the links will open in a new window.

This Russian photographer takes FAIRYTALE PHOTOS with real, live animals!

And speaking of photographers, this one is bloody brilliant, imaginative as he uses paper cutouts to set up these QUIRKY SCENES!

These BOOK TITLE MASHUPS from the editors at Audible made me gigglesnort. More than once!

Last but not least, I’m a sucker for these celebrity/character look-alike animals and with GoT starting a new season, these LOOK-ALIKE CATS are perfect!

Stay cool this weekend! And read a good book.

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Thursday Thoughts: Piracy

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Silver James

I’ve been awake since 5:00 a.m. I’m still so angry after yesterday’s events that not even watching the sun come up with a cup of coffee in my hands has alleviated the ache in my gut. Instead of calming down and putting my mind in gear to write, I’m sitting here getting angry all over again.

I write for a living. It is not my hobby. I pay bills, put food on our table, and I pay contractors (editors and cover designers) who work with me. I’m not a best-selling author. I’m barely mid-list so it’s not like I’m rolling in money. I don’t get six figures a month, much less in a year. Some months I’m lucky to get three figures. When self-publishing was just hitting it’s stride, I made a decent living. Then the scammers and pirates hit the scene.

Scammers figured out the algorithms and ways to game the system to rake in the big bucks with mostly drivel. In some cases, there is outright plagiarism and sadly, the burden of proof is on the plagiarized author to prove their original work. Then came the piracy sites who entice the unwary with “free and cheap” reads but are mainly cesspools of computer viruses and phishing for credit card info.

And now? Now the bastards have gone to a whole new level of perfidy. They’s STOLEN my whole book–the cover, I assume the interior because I’m not going to buy my own book to check, and my author name. They uploaded my newest indie book, NIGHT FIRE, to iBooks on iTunes, lock, stock and barrel listing DIVERSITY PRESS as the publisher. I’m sure they put their bank account information into their account so any royalty earned goes to them, not me. I just freaking published this book the first part of June. I published it exclusively to Amazon in their KDP SELECT program. Part of the terms of service is I CAN’T PUBLISH THAT BOOK AT ANY OTHER VENDOR!!!!! These asshats are jeopardizing my contract with Amazon. The bulk of my sales come from Amazon. THEY ARE TAKING FOOD OUT OF MY FAMILY’S MOUTH!!!

Yes, I’m taking steps but the on-line retailers don’t feel any pressure to “get right on this issue.” Yes, I have an attorney involved. Yes, I’m small potatoes compared to some of the authors I know who are caught in this, too. Some have lost THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.

THIS IS NOT A VICTIMLESS CRIME.

So, what can you as a reader do? PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE check the information before you buy. If there are TWO (or more) listings for the same book, with a difference in price, LOOK at the publisher name. Make sure you are buying the legitimate copy! If only one books is listed, check for author, publisher, and seller. As for me, I work with two publishers–my early books are still published by Wild Rose Press. My contemporary romances are all published by Harlequin. My indie books will have ME listed as publisher and in some cases, a seller (either Smashwords or Draft2Digital) will be listed. These are legitimate. Any other publisher? NO!

Conscientious authors want to create the best product we can. Yes, a book is a product and you readers are consumers. While we love what we do, we can’t afford to do this for free. Some of us have to put a “loss-leader” book out there for free or at a reduced price in order to attract new readers. I won’t give you a lesson in writing economics except to say this: Yes, funds are tight. I want my readers to be able to afford my books but in order to offer my books at a lower price, I have to sell a certain number of books to make up the loss. That’s been really tough the past year and pirates stealing royalty by stealing my book exacerbates the problem. You can help by reporting any suspicious listings to the author so we can check to see if we’re getting ripped off. Again.

I started out really angry. I still am but by laying this out in a semi-logical way, I’ve calmed enough to maybe fix the book I’m currently writing. I’d just figured out where I went wrong with the time/plot line yesterday when this whole mess blew up. I don’t have a staff. I don’t have a PA. When this shitstuff happens, I have to stop and deal with it. Most of my day was lost yesterday. If I don’t write, I don’t publish. If I don’t publish, I don’t get paid. Funny how it works that way.

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Wednesday Words: Surrender

Posted on July 19, 2017 by Silver James

I give up! Especially since it is time for a snippet based on the #1lineWed theme of **SURRENDER**. Sadly, I didn’t have that word or words pertaining to it that I could find doing a search of my current WIP. So, being all creative because…gosh, I’m a writer, doncha know!?!…I wrote a snippet that very nicely finished out the scene I was working on yesterday, and also played very nicely with the next scene to come in the storyline. 😉 You’ll have to wait until Tucker’s book comes out next year to find out who surrendered first. *bwahaha*

In this scene, Tucker has taken Zoe out to dinner at The Rutledge, a fancy restaurant located in a historic home. I hope you enjoy…
***
They sat in a little nook with windows overlooking the back gardens and Zoe imagined what it might have been like when this was a house—with a family, and her as the…what? Matriarch? That word put her too much in mind of Etta Smithee and she shivered. Leave it to Tucker to notice.

“Are you cold?” Before she could respond, he had his sport coat off and draped over her shoulders. The material carried both his body heat and his scent—a cologne that reminded her sea spray and sand and blue skies.

Dinner…happened. All of it a blur. The jacket fell away at some point but she was still surrounded by all things Tucker and she simply surrendered to the magnetic pull he exuded. Emotions she’d stuffed deep inside roiled to the surface and Zoe had to press her lips together to keep from blurting out her feelings. She wanted him. She wanted to be with him. Skin to skin. Heart to heart. If she were a poet, she’d write about their souls soaring into the heavens, joined by a love so eternal that one would not exist without the other.
Then she burst out laughing. She was such a romantic fool. Tucker wasn’t her soul mate. He was just a guy who was mostly nice to a girl down on her luck. He didn’t feel her feelings, didn’t look at her like she was his only hope of breathing. Except sometimes he did, when no one was looking, when shadows danced over his face. She’d glance up, usually with Nash in her arms, and she’d catch him watching them both, his expression a mix of hunger, longing, tenderness, and sorrow—like she and the baby were something he wanted but was convinced he’d never have.

Without thinking, she reached out and touched his cheek. “What are we doin’, Tucker?”

“I don’t have a flipping clue, angel, but I’m willing to find out. Are you?”

The truth was there on his face. He wanted her in his bed. He didn’t have to say it out loud. She’d told herself over and over that hooking up with another man was a bad idea but she couldn’t help herself. Didn’t want to, in fact, when it came to this man.

Zoe surrendered to her own yearning. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I do believe I am.”
***
Are you ready to surrender your words? Share them with us or just share what you’re currently reading/writing. Inquiring minds want to know!

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Tuesday Treats: Graham Cracker Eclair Cake

Posted on July 18, 2017 by Silver James

I’m running a little behind this morning. Okay, I’m a lot behind. Because…reasons. Anyway, it’s hot outside and sometimes you need something cool, light and chocolaty. Today, I picked this Graham Cracker Eclair Cake from Kraft Recipes!

Prep Time: 15min.
Total Time: 3hr. 15min.
Servings: 9 servings
Delight the whole crowd with our delectably airy Graham Cracker Eclair Cake. Graham cracker layers become cake-like and soft alongside the pudding.

What You Need
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1-1/2 cups cold milk
15 graham crackers, broken crosswise in half (30 squares), divided
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed
1 cup BAKER’S ONE BOWL Chocolate Frosting

Make It
Beat pudding mix and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Let stand 5 min.

Meanwhile, cover bottom of 8-inch square pan with graham squares, overlapping as needed to form even layer.

Stir COOL WHIP into pudding; spread half over graham squares in pan. Cover with 10 of the remaining graham squares. Repeat layers of pudding mixture and graham squares.

Refrigerate 3 hours. Spread with BAKER’S ONE BOWL Chocolate Frosting.

Click for more info and a VIDEO FROM KRAFT to see how it’s done.

I’m pretty sure Jo Mayweather the Djinn heroine of B.E. Sanderson’s Once Upon a Djinn series would enjoy this dessert. She might even make it…or not. 😉 There’s a giveaway for the 3rd book in series on Goodreads. CLICK HERE to sign up for a chance to win, and be sure to check out the other books in the series.

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