Monday of the Oh Noes!

Posted on July 17, 2017 by Silver James

So…this time next week I’ll be in the air winging my way toward Orlando and the Romance Writers of American National Conference. Yes, my plane leaves at the butt crack of dawn. For some reason, Southwest like to start and end their flights here. I guess the flight crews like the hotels in OKC. Or something. Anyway.

Here’s a quick update on the status of my life as I’m living it. The picture? Yeah…too close to reality for my tastes. I have a book due. I have fewer words to write than I did this time last week. That’s the good news. The bad news is that not only do I need to finish and polish this puppy but I need to prepare for the trip. I’m looking at early mornings and late nights. Joy. Why yes, that was a bit of sarcasm you detected. 😆

So…TV. GAME OF THRONES began its next to last season last night. I DVR’d it. I haven’t caught up on LAST season yet. I’m so totally behind! I figure if I take a one hour break each day to watch it, I’ll be mostly caught up by the time Episode 2 airs next Sunday night. Any leftovers can be watched while I’m packing on Sunday. Other than that, the only TV show I’m watching with any regularity is LIVE PD on A&E. Lawyer Guy and I are considering a drinking game, while the two in-studio hosts tease about the LIVE PD bingo game. Either one works.

Special Public Service Announcement! Our own B.E. Sanderson is running a Goodreads giveaway for UP WISH CREEK, which is one of my favorite books. If you’re on Goodreads and don’t have the paperback, go over there and enter! Here’s the link to the book’s GOODREAD’S PAGE. Scroll down to the giveaway info and click on the ENTER button. Do it. Right now. You know you want to! Then come back and finish reading this… 😉

Reading…or listening in my case. I re-listened to the first two books in the Chronicles of Elantra fantasy series. I don’t have the others in audio so I stopped there. Then I settled on A PROMISE OF FIRE, the first in a fantasy trilogy that released last year. It’s been on my Kindle/Audible app for like six months. I caught a $1.99 sale on Amazon and since there was so much buzz about it at the time, I snagged it and promptly moved it down the list. Just call me an idiot! Fantastic story, even if it is written in 1st present POV (a “voice” I dislike greatly!) though the narrator is talented enough to keep me tuned in. The last book releases in January so I’m hoping the 2nd book goes on sale during pre-release. I’ll snag it then. In the meantime, there’s always the library. I gave it 5 stars, FYI. Currently, I’m listening to Thea Harrison’s MOONSHADOW, the first book in her new Elder Races spin-off series. The second book releases tomorrow and I’ve got it on pre-order so it will just magically appear. I’m hoping to snag the audio version before heading to Orlando. I should be writing but given the flights, I’ll likely read or listen.

Sports? Yeah…just say no. *sniff*

And that’s my update. I have at least 2500 words to write before my author day is done and I’d prefer to double that word count. Who had fun this weekend? And what’s on tap for your week?

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Friday Sinema: Night Cats

Posted on July 14, 2017 by Silver James

I only have one cat. I have two dogs–very LARGE dogs. I could see Boone and Cooper conspiring with Adidas to do this sh-stuff through the night, except all of them want me to wake up to watch them. 🙄 For those of you who have critters, do you relate?

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Imagination

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Silver James

So…I’m a writer. I write fiction. That means I make stuff up. In my head. Sometimes I even tell myself stories. Out loud. I certainly hold conversations with my characters. Psst: To all those people in the cars next to me at the stoplights? I’m not singing to the radio.

I was the odd kid growing up–the one lost in books, perfectly happy sitting alone and staring out the windows as my own stories unfurled in my imagination. Well…maybe not perfectly happy–because that can be a lonely existence and all kids want to be accepted. Anyway, after reading today’s message from the Universe, I remember WHY I became a storyteller. I couldn’t be anything else. I’m a dreamer, not a logical thinker. I believe in magic not reality. I believe in miracles not fate. I want to be the person the Universe describes. Because I CAN imagine it! And write it down for others to read and hopefully enjoy.

If you can imagine it, you can have it, Silver. This is the name of the game. This is the lesson to learn. It couldn’t be any easier. Reality is not what your eyes show your mind, but what your mind creates for your eyes to see. You are not limited by logic, the past, or the world around you. You are not of the world around you. You are supernatural, pure spirit.

You came first. Magic, miracles, and luck are the consequences of understanding this, the inevitable result of dreaming and acting in spite of appearances.

You are ever so close. Simply stay the course. It won’t be very much longer.

Soul-Power,
The Universe

© http://www.tut.com ®

If you can imagine it, you can have it, Silver.

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Wednesday Words: Stubborn

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Silver James

So…today’s #1lineWed prompt is pretty straightforward. Stubborn is as stubborn does. And beyond the stubborn juts of chins, there is stubborn tenacity. Or, in the case of the Tate brothers, plain ol’ muleheadedness! In this scene, Deacon (whose story is told in THE COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS PROPOSAL which releases October 1!) sits his little brother Tucker down for a heart to heart. Because big brothers are like that, yeah they are. Here’s a little insight into the Tate boys, and where they get it from. 😉
****
It took awhile but when Deacon stopped laughing, he offered a knowing smile. “Did Dad ever give you the birds and bees talk?”

“The…” Tucker made air quotes with this fingers. “Tate men are cursed speech? I was hiding behind the couch when he lectured you.” He sat up straight, lifted his chin, and cleared his throat. Then he pulled his eyebrows down until a vee formed over the bridge of his nose and mimicked his father’s voice.

“Deacon, m’boy. There are certain facts of life a young man needs to know before he starts…struttin’ ’round the fairer sex.”

Inhaling, and continuing to look stern, he pulled out his billfold and removed a foil packet. He held it out to Deacon, who took, laughing at Tucker’s antics.

“That’s a condom, boy. I figure you’re smart enough t’figure out how it works. Thing is, it only works if you use it. Every. Single. Time. Do I make myself clear?”

Snorting with laughter now, Deacon managed to nod and choke out a “Yessir.”

“Good. Now, there’s one other thing you, as a Tate man needs t’understand. Tate men are cursed. Cursed by our genes. Woman think we’re mighty fine t’look at. We are a handsome bunch. Just ask your momma.” Tucker puffed out his chest and hooked his thumbs in invisible lapels. “Thing is, as much as we admire the fair sex, and they admire us back, there’s only one woman who’ll do. We get one shot, boy, and you’d best remember that. When the right woman walks into your life, you’ll know it. You’ll think a dang steer has kicked you in the gut. Or it might feel like your momma hit you over the head with her cast-iron skillet.”

Tucker dropped his hand to Deacon’s shoulder, which was shaking from laughter. “Now you pay attention, son. This ain’t no laughin’ matter. I’m as serious as a rattlesnake bite. The mornin’ after you meet the woman meant to be yours? You’re gonna wake up with the worst hangover ever. And you won’t have had a thing t’drink. You won’t know what’s hit you but I’m tellin’ ya, y’need to man up, hitch up your jeans and go after that woman like your life depends on it. You get me?”

Deacon was bent over again, wheezing. “Dang, ol’ son. You were what, eleven? Twelve?”

“Yeah. About that. You were fourteen. Too bad that lecture was a year or so late for you. Plus, I heard it again when I turned fourteen.”

Inhaling several deep breaths to calm down, Deke shook his head in fond remembrance, a wry grin twitching the corner of his mouth. “I hate to admit this, Tuck, but I think Dad may have been right.”

“Yeah, right. You do realize that you’re the only Tate brother who’s said the I do’s, right?”

“That’s just because the rest of you are too stubborn to open yourselves to the possibility.”

Tucker snorted. “Yeah, right.”
***
So what about the rest of you? Have any stubborn characters or stubborn words to share?

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Tuesday Treats: Spaghetti Carbonara

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Silver James

I like pasta and in the summer, a lighter cream sauce tastes better to me than a thick red sauce. This recipe is quick, tasty, and if you want to make it a little healthier, stir in some fresh spinach leaves right before you serve it. Oh! And I also use angel hair pasta.

Prep Time: 20min.
Total Time: 20min.
Servings: 8 servings, 1 cup each
Take just 20 minutes for simply delicious Spaghetti Carbonara. Cream cheese, bacon, onion, Parmesan and zesty dressing add Italian restaurant-worthy flavor.

What You Need
1 pkg. (1 lb.) spaghetti, uncooked
8 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, finely chopped
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cubed, softened
1/2 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
3 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

Make It
Cook spaghetti as directed on package, omitting salt.

Meanwhile, cook and stir bacon and onions in large skillet on medium-high heat 8 min. or until bacon is crisp and onions are tender. Remove from skillet; drain. Wipe skillet with paper towel.

Drain spaghetti. Immediately add to skillet with bacon mixture and all remaining ingredients; toss until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended.

Pippa Duncan, the heroine in my just-released Harlequin Desire CLAIMING THE COWGIRL’S BABY, has this recipe in her recipe box. She tweaked it so that she made only one serving but now that Kade is in her life, she’s back to fixing the full recipe. Click HERE to watch Kraft’s video of making this yummy dish.

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Monday Flying By

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Silver James

What’s happened to the space/time compendium? Or continuum? Or whatever the heckfire the stream of passing days is called scientifically? My unscientific poll is that it’s passing too damn fast! How can it possibly be Monday again? It was just Monday…like…yesterday! *flail*

Okay. Time might be flying but blogging vacation is over and if anyone is interested, here’s what’s been going on in my corner of the world. There was a weekend. This is not a news flash for most of you. 😉 Stormageddon came for dinner and playtime Saturday night. He was on an energy high. Lawyer Guy and I napped before he arrived and he STILL wore us out! Little dude is too smart for his own good. Good thing he’s cute, too. 😆

I’m writing again. This is a good thing. Pulling new words out of the ether last week was like slogging through wet concrete. I added almost 6000 words to Tucker’s story and I have a firm idea of where the story and emotions are going now. I added some words to my August release in Susan Stoker’s Kindle World too. That story is also shaping up. Yes, I am writing them simultaneously. When I get stuck on one, I work on the other. Now that I’m back on track, s’all good.

I’m doing more listening to books than reading. At the moment, that’s two audio books from the library: Katee Robert’s FORBIDDEN PROMISES and “The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: A Novel of War and Survival” by Louise Murphy. I enjoy Robert’s “mob” books of ill-fated enemies and lovers. There’s at least two more coming and I’m looking forward to them. As for H&G, I saw it in a sale email and read a snippet. It’s set in WWII Germany and the brother and sister are Jewish. I was curious enough to check it out from the library. We’ll see. It’s an interesting premise.

In three weeks, I’ll be headed to Orlando for the 2017 Romance Writer’s of America annual conference. There’s a rumor that the Harlequin Desire authors might be doing something live on FB. I’ll try to keep y’all posted. And, if you checked out my FB pages yesterday, you know I’m doing the Read For Life Literacy signing on Saturday afternoon. Anyone in the Orlando area needs to come see me! In the meantime, I need to get the first draft of Tucker’s story done so I can edit and get it back to my editor.

That’s pretty much it for me. The weather is hot. I’m behind on word count. Life is good. 😆 What’s up in your world?

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Friday Sinema: Ain’t Nothin’ Soft About It

Posted on June 30, 2017 by Silver James

Paige Parker, an Independence, MO native and softball pitching phenom from the University of Oklahoma was asked to throw out the first pitch at a recent KC Royals game. Check out the “easy” strike she threw by
CLICKING HERE first.

Now, go behind the scenes and see the practice pitches. Paige gives whole new meaning to the phrase, “You throw like a girl.” As she proves, there’s nothing soft in softball, especially since she’s not even throwing at full speed! I know The Only will appreciate the videos because she spent a lot of years behind the plate catching those rise, drop, curve, screw, and fast pitches!

Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Love Story

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Silver James

I write romance. Why? Because I’ve always want to find the Happy Ever After in every story. I read literary books. Not often because I read for the same reason I watch TV or movies. I want to be entertained. I want to leave Real Life behind for a period of time and pretend to be someone else. That’s another reason I write.

Yes, I admit it. I put myself into the roles of my characters–the heroine, the hero, all the secondary characters. I’ve always lived just a little bit in my head. Okay…I’ve lived there a lot. And continue to do so. Now it’s my career. And sometimes, when it’s a job, I forget to look for the love story–for the relationship between story and reader. I’m supposed to entertain the reader with my tales, but I also want to touch their lives–make them laugh and cry, to get mad, to feel pity, to go awwww. I want them to fall a little bit in love with my characters. If I manage that, then I’ve done my job well, even while I’m looking for my own love story. Good thing the Universe is on my side. 🙂

There’s at least one in every crowd, Silver…

Someone who’s there, first and foremost, to love you.

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

Good thing we network, huh, Silver?

Here’s to love–to having someone(s) who love(s) you…and to loving someone(s) back.

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Wednesday Words: Guilty as Charged

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Silver James

Last week’s #1lineWed theme was innocent. This week is sort of a no-brainer (especially since I’m the one picking out the themes! 😆 ) Guilt makes people do weird things. And the guilty have to live with what they’ve done. Despite the fact that I mostly write on the dark side, and my characters often have a lot to feel guilty about, I only found one excerpt that used the word guilt. Go figure! Anyway, this is the opening to Gravedigger’s story. And no. Don’t ask me when it will be done. Digger is one of those characters who is very secretive about his story.
****
The Russian faced the room, flanked by Hardass, Easy, and me. Representatives from every local chapter of the motorcycle club stared back at us, waiting. The alpha Wolf energy in the room electrified the atmosphere and the air stank of burning tires. Rage. The Nightriders were entitled.

Russki glanced my way. “Show them.”

I grabbed the corner of the plastic tarp covering the conference table and jerked it off. Nobody made a sound but the fury ramped up so high the temperature in church turned frigid.

“This is Spider, sent from the Hell Dogs as a warning.” Russki’s deadly voice dropped into the well of seething anger.

A man rose to his feet. “I’m Ripper, president of the Mizzippee chapter,” he drawled. “Spider was mine. Went missin’ from Biloxi ’bout two weeks ago. Dropped right the fuck off the radar. Now I know why.”

Ripper’s face was devoid of emotion as he struggled to keep from shifting. Growls and snarls edged in around the silence. I covered the body. Spider was a brother. We would treat him with respect in death.

“The Hell Dogs are without honor. They attack our women. Our children.” Every eye remained glued on the Russian’s face as he spoke. “We will hunt down the Hell Dogs and every club that thinks to align with them. We will not stop until we wipe them from the face of the earth. Until Fallen Angel is strung up for my personal attention.”

A low murmur ran through the Wolves. The Russian—before he challenged and killed Bricks McIntire, the former national president of the Nightriders—worked for the Russian mob. He’d been an enforcer, assassin, a Wolf well-versed in the intricate art of torture. No one wanted to be the focus of Russki’s talents.

My nose flared as more scents wafted in the closed air—frustration, its acrid sulfur reminiscent of matches struck and blown out, and the hot pepper sauce of determination. Every man in this room was an Alpha Wolf. Not one of them would hesitate to fight to the death.

Another fragrance tickled my consciousness, a teasing memory not even ten years could repress. Violets and brown sugar. I shoved thoughts of her away. I had no time for what-might-have-beens. My brothers and I were in a life-and-death fight. Too many innocents had already been hurt. Even if I knew where to find her…I severed that train of thought, grimacing as the stench of rotten eggs—my own guilt—washed over me.

Easy’s gaze cut to me, his brows pulled together. I gave him a headshake to divert his focus. Carolina. She might as well be dead to me. It had been my fault. All of it.

The Russian caught my attention. Time to do my job as club enforcer. I raised my fist. “We ride. We hunt. We kill. Nightriders forever. Forever Nightriders.” A hundred voices echoed my challenge.

My name is Gravedigger and I came by it honestly.
****
What about y’all? Are you feeling guilty because you haven’t shared any words? 😉

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Tuesday Treats: Shredded Chicken Empanadas

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Silver James

I made these last week. they were pretty darn tasty. The mixing of ingredients was fast. Dealing with the pie crusts and “fixing” them took a little time but it was worth it. They were surprisingly filling, though I would say that two empanadas would make one serving. I only used one pie crust, cut the ingredients in half, and only made 8. We each ate 3 (they aren’t huge) each with two left over. Just enough spice for taste would would be good served with a side salad.

Prep Time: 25min.
Total Time: 40min.
Servings: 16 servings
Experience a delicious burst of flavor when you try Shredded Chicken Empanadas with Cheese. Simply combine shredded cooked chicken, Mexican-style cheese, chipotle aioli and fresh cilantro for the delicious empanada filling.

What You Need

2 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese
1/3 cup KRAFT Chipotle Aioli (I used Chipotle Mayo which is basically the same thing as aioli)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 egg
1 Tbsp. water
1 pkg. (14.1 oz.) ready-to-use refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts)
1 tsp. chili powder

Make It

Heat oven to 375ºF.
Combine first 4 ingredients. Whisk egg and water until blended.

Unroll 1 pie crust on lightly floured surface; roll out to 12-inch diameter with rolling pin. Cut into 8 (4-inch) rounds with biscuit cutter, rerolling scraps as necessary; place in single layer on parchment-covered baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pie crust.

Spoon 2 Tbsp. chicken mixture onto center of each dough round; brush edge with egg. Fold in half. Gently press tops to remove excess air; seal edges with fork. Brush with remaining egg. Sprinkle with chili powder.
Bake 15 min. or until golden brown.

For more information, go to the Kraft recipe card by CLICKING HERE. Savannah Wolfe Barron (Chase Barron’s rather inconvenient CONVENIENT COWGIRL BRIDE) makes these because they are quick, tasty, and she can heap some salsa on top.

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