Thursday Thoughts: Universal Creating Edits

Posted on October 20, 2016 by Silver James

universeOops. I forgot I hadn’t set up the blog for this morning. I was doing a couple of things–writing the next chapter on the proposal for Red Dirt Royalty #7 – Deacon, which is a rollicking Christmas story involving country superstar Deacon Tate and an Oklahonma Highway Patrol trooper who only wants to get away for the holidays and looking at the revision letter for the proposal I sent for RDR#6, which is Kade’s story. These books are so different but I’m having so much creating stories for these two heroes. That’s why this little nugget from the Universe is spot on!

Something that might add some sugar and spice to your daily comings and goings, Silver, would be to constantly remind yourself, “I created this, because I wanted to.”

Prepare to be empowered,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

As well as, Silver, “I can change the heck out of it, too, and fast.”

I love the postscript because yeah…short triggers on my deadlines but I always work better under pressure. *nods* Oh yeah, I need to keep telling myself that too! 😆 Now pardon me while I go create and change! What about y’all? What are you creating and changing today?

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Wednesday Words: Fog or Mist

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Silver James

wurkn-on-mai-plan-for-word-domination-caleb-pupToday’s #1lineWed theme is **FOG or MIST**. I may have posted this snippet from NIGHT FIRE before for a different theme but I had such fun writing this scene that I’m going to share it again because…FOG! So, this is in the 1st chapter. Leigh, an arson investigator, is in route to a fire scene, pre-dawn, and foggy. An animal darts across the road in front of her and she ends up in the bar ditch. This is what happens short after, in Leigh’s POV:

I reached into the front seat to snag my handheld radio. I should have been on the fire scene twenty minutes ago. The guys from Station 58 had been standing around in the rainy fog waiting for me. Before I could radio Dispatch, the roar of a big motorcycle echoed in the fog. Moving further from the roadbed, I watched the ghostly bike appear, roar past, and then disappear.

Except it didn’t. The motorcycle reappeared through the misty dark, driving the wrong way back toward me on the shoulder. As an arson investigator, I’m cleared to carry a sidearm but guns are not my thing. I always counted on my colleagues and the cops for backup if there was a situation where a weapon might be needed.

I was totally regretting that decision now.

The guy tossed his leg over his Harley and stalked toward me. He was six feet four inches and 240 pounds of do whatever the hell he wanted. His dark, shaggy hair had been combed by the wind. His eyes, color to be determined, were hooded. Fog drifted between us, almost as thick as smoke and then he was there, suddenly, feet braced, massive arms crossed over his chest, black leather jacket stretched to capacity.

“Having trouble?”

Great. The guy was a master of the understatement, not to mention that if his name was Trouble, I wouldn’t mind having some. Wait. What was I thinking? I flicked one hand toward the car. “You could say that.”

His gaze raked over me—down, up, down, then it zeroed in on my chest for an uncomfortable moment before coming to rest on my face. I’d pulled on a pair of very serviceable coveralls, black combat-style boots, and a department baseball cap.

“You a cop?”

“No. Fire department.”

“No station out this way.” He stepped closer.

I backed up. “I think I hit a dog.” I wanted to give myself a head slap. Talk about a non sequitur.
***
So, what about y’all? Any fog or mist in your words today?

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Tuesday Titles: HQN Sweepstakes and Red Dirt Royalty Sale

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Silver James

getaway-sweepstakes-billionaire-fbYes, you read that right. You can win a $10,000 Getaway. Just click on the pic to go enter. And while Harlequin is celebrating all things romance, they’ve put 18K+ series titles on sale in digital format. If you don’t have all of my Red Dirt Royalty back list in ebook format, you can grab them now for $1.99. Click and go!

Cowgirls Dont Cry 680
iTunes/iBooks | Amazon | | B&N/Nook | Harlequin | Kobo

Cowgirls Secret 680
iTunes/iBooks |Amazon Kindle | Amazon | B&N/Nook | Harlequin

The Boss and His Cowgirl
AMAZON | HARLEQUIN | iTUNES/iBooks | KOBO | B&N/Nook

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Nothing Special Monday

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Silver James

Monday again coffee girlSome days, there’s just not much going on. Especially if it’s a Monday. *shrug* So…updating stuffs.

Writing: I finished RESCUE MOON. It came in at just over 30K words. It’s sitting for a few days before I start editing. And since Monday is a good day to start the next project, I’m writing the first three chapters of RDR#7-Deacon. My working title is THE COWBOY’S CHRISTMAS COP. It’s a fun one and I’m looking forward to it. Once the proposal is done and off to NYC, I’ll do edits for RESCUE MOON and dive head-first back into RDR#6-Kade. I’m still musing over a working title. In it’s way, it will be as emotional as Cash’s story is. So fun…but not. 😆

Reading: OMG! I listened to MAGIC BINDS, the newish release from Ilona Andrews and lastest book in the Kate Daniels world. I made people in Walmart stare at me as I was listening to it on audio book. Seriously! I’m laughing hysterically and then I’m all, “Go get ‘im, Kate.” I’m still totally in love with Curran and Derek and Barabbas, Christopher, Teddy Jo, and feeling some feelz for Roman, the Black Volv. Seriously. I also want Kate and Andrea for my BFFs. If you are a fan of urban fantasy, fantasy, paranormal, or alternative histories and haven’t read this series, why the hell not?!? Okay. I admit, it took me awhile to get around to it, but I’m totally hooked now. I also finished up the next 2 books in A. Zavarelli’s Boston Mob books: Crow, Reaper, and Ghost. Irish and Russian mobsters in Boston. I did the audio versions. The narrator does really well with the Irish and Russian men and the Southie heroines. It’s in 1st POV present, which normally drives me nuts, but I’ve enjoyed these books. They are dark and dirty so not for everyone. I’ll be looking for something else to jump on this week.

TV: Still loving LUCIFER. Taking a second look at PITCH. And really liking the new team dynamics on NCIS.

Sports: OSU (Pokes version) had a by. OU won. And we’re down to the final four in the MLB post season. NL race is between Chicago Cubs and LA Dodgers. AL Indians and Montreal Blue Jays. I can root for all these teams since my Cards are out of it. Sentimental favorite is the Cubs. 🙂

Weather: I want fall to come back! Last week was nice but the heat came back. 😦 It’s mid-October and when the heck did that happen?!? I’m not ready for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. *flail*

So what’s up with y’all? I need another cup of coffee…

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Friday Sinema: The Time of My Life

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Silver James

There are two things I never (well hardly ever) discuss on social media–politics and religion. That said, this parody of last Sunday’s presidential debate left me snorting coffee out of my nose. While it was a waste of the elixir of life, it was well worth it! Have a great weekend!

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Release Day! Dallas Fire & Rescue: Blood & Fire

Posted on October 13, 2016 by Silver James

dfr-author-poster-ad1
It’s release day for DALLAS FIRE & RESCUE: BLOOD & FIRE! I’m so excited to be joining these wonderful authors as we share stories set in Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle World. You can CLICK HERE and go to Paige’s website to see all the covers and blurbs. There are some great stories! There are hot firefighters, suspense, romance, paranormal goings-on and of course, wolf shifters! Rhys Kendric jumped into my head and wouldn’t get out until we found his heroine and I told his story. Celina Monaghan started out life a little differently but when I needed to shift this story into Paige’s DF&R world, she grinned and happily informed me that she’d always wanted to be an EMT. She’s definitely a modern woman and being confronted with archaic pack practices is not on her list of fun things to do. Good thing Rhys is around. There’s nothing more fun than a moonstruck Wolf, right? Right!

So, once again, here’s the cover and the blurb for this Moonstruck companion novella. I hope you enjoy it!

blood-n-fire-with-kwA Wolf shifter gone rogue…
For Rhys Kendric, banished from his pack as a teen, life as a bounty hunter is good. Women chase him, he can drink any three men under the table, and he hasn’t lost a bar fight in years. Given the job of tracking bail-jumper Reece Chatham, son of the man who’d exiled him, Rhys uncovers an archaic pack practice: taking a blood bride. In a case of mistaken identity gone totally wrong, Rhys is stunned when the bride-to-be sets his blood on fire.

A modern pack princess…
Celina Monaghan will do anything for her father and pack—well, almost anything. The idea of an arranged marriage to a strange Wolf in this day and age has the feminist side of this Dallas Fire & Rescue EMT bent all the hell out of shape. She’s agreed to meet this Reece Chatham guy face-to-face, but submitting to him? Nope, not gonna happen. She’s holding out for a mythical true mating. Then the man she thinks is Reece walks in the door. He can’t be her true mate!

A Blood Moon mating…
Surviving pack politics threatening to set the town on fire and a Blood Moon challenge to get their happy ever after? What could possibly go wrong…besides BLOOD & FIRE!

Available exclusively at AMAZON. Go forth and click! 😀

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Wednesday Words: All the Thanks

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Silver James

blood-n-fire-with-kwIn honor of Monday’s Thanksgiving celebration in Canada, today’s #1lineWed theme is *Thank | Thanks | Thank you* To say thank you to all of you for hanging out here, I’m sharing a snippet from BLOOD & FIRE, which releases into the Amazon “jungle” tomorrow. Since it’s still a WIP–technically speaking as it hasn’t published yet. Because yeah, marketing. 😆 Anyway, last week we had a peek at Rhys. This week, we get to meet Celina “Celie” Monaghan. Enjoy!

***
“Dad, I have a job. Obligations. I can’t just take off because my dad snaps his fingers.”

“Quit and come home. For good. That’s an order.”

Laughter sputtered out before she could stop it. “I’m not sixteen, Dad. I’m a grown-up woman. I even have the right to vote and everything.”

“Celina.”

He never called her by her full name and did his voice just crack? Her stomach churned and not from the jalapenos she’d eaten on her pizza. She had a really bad feeling. “Dad, what have you done?”

“Come home, Celina, or I’ll send someone after you. That’s an order from your Alpha.” He disconnected the call before she found the words to retort.

“Send someone after me? He wouldn’t—” She squinted her eyes shut and bounced her forehead gently on her kitchen counter. Her dad didn’t make idle threats and he’d never pulled the Alpha card on her. Rock Creek might not have domination fights, but there was a reason Mickey Monaghan had been elected mayor.
She’d just finished her shift rotations and had four Kelly days coming up so against her better judgment, she threw some clothes and toiletries into a bag. She called her district chief and told him a family emergency had come up and she might need to take regular duty days off. Technically, her dad going off the deep end over something he wouldn’t discuss on the phone despite calling her in the middle of the freaking night qualified, right? Right. Luckily, the chief told her no problem—she had over a month of comp time racked up, thanks to her taking a few extra shifts at Station 58. It wasn’t like she had a life outside of DF&R.
***

So what about y’all? Any Wednesday Words to give thanks for? And be sure to check here tomorrow for the buy link to BLOOD & FIRE. I’ll post just as soon as I have it! ❤

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Tuesday Treats: Caramel Apple Nachos

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Silver James

caramel_apple_nachos
Here’s another yummy fall recipe–sweet, tart, cold, warm, and gooey. Slices of green apples covered in warm caramel sauce, white chocolate, chocolate chips and crushed candy bars! What’s not to love?!!?

CARAMEL APPLE NACHOS
Serves 6

INGREDIENTS
4 large green apples (Original recipe calls for Granny Smith, I like Golden Delicious myself)
1/2 package Kraft caramels (unwrapped) or caramel bits (A pain to unwrap but well worth it!)
1 Tablespoon water
1/2 package white chocolate chips
1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips
1 Heath candy bar, crushed (If you’re fancy and have a food processor, you can do it that way. I just used a rolling pin.)

INSTRUCTIONS
Clean apples with water, dry with paper towels. Slice each apple into 8 pieces. Arrange apple slices onto a large serving platter.

Meanwhile, place caramels in a microwave-safe bowl with 1 Tablespoon water. Microwave in 25 second intervals until just melted. Drizzle warm caramel over apples.

Place white chocolate chips in a separate microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 25 second intervals until just melted. Drizzle over apples.

Top apples with mini chocolate chips and crushed candy bar. Serve immediatley and enjoy!

To see the original recipe and others like it, CLICK HERE!

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Monday and the Boys of Summer

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Silver James

Monday coffeeI feel like I’m mainlining caffeine these days. Weekends won’t exist for awhile so Monday is no longer a day where I have to “get back to work.” I haven’t left work in order to get back to it. 😆 So…what’s going on in my world you ask. I’m happy to tell you! 😉

Writing update: I only have approximately 65K words to write between now and the end of November. Fun times! I’m 12K+ words into my next Kindle World book, set in Susan Stoker’s Special Forces: Operation Alpha world, so almost halfway with it. I hope to have it finished by mid-week. Then I need to jump into RDR#6-Kade’s story. Followed by a 3-chapter proposal for RDR#7-Deacon’s story. Very fun times! :/ I keep tellin’ myself that. Maybe I’ll believe it one of these days soon. 😆

Sports: Well, OSU and OU are going to give me a heart attack if they keep playin’ like they did Saturday! Blerg! They both won but it was messy. Y’all also know that I’m a huge baseball fan, hence today’s subject line. My Cardinals didn’t make the playoffs but the Cubs did. There’ve been some weather delays but the games are progressing. Cubbies are headed to San Francisco leading the best of five series 2-0. They could put it away tomorrow night. Then its a matter of waiting to see if the Nationals or Dodgers prevail. On the AL side of things, Blue Jays are leading the Rangers 2-0 and the Indians over the Red Sox 2-0. I’m kinda holding out for a Cubs-Indians pairing in the World Series.

TV: I’m behind again. I’ve been writing and/or watching baseball. Except for Lucifer. I think it’s my new favorite show. I keep hoping to catch up on NCIS and the other shows I’ve DVR’d but time keeps slipping away.

Reading: I did a slew of books on tape–Joanna Wylde’s Reapers MC series. I’m all caught up now. There were two I hadn’t read yet. I’m also reading/listening (yay for Kindles Whispersync) a romance about the Irish mob in Boston. The female narrator does a good Southie accent. It’s dark and gritty, and while I’m mostly enjoying it, I’m not “compelled” to put other stuff aside to finish it. I’m ahead on my Goodreads challenge so it’s all good.

So, that’s it for me. I know I’m totally anti-social on social media these days. Between politics and deadlines I’m not feeling all the happy feelz. *shrug* So, what’s up in your lives? Fill me in so I’m not in this big void of a bubble! What are you doing, watching, reading, writing? How are your sports teams doing? What fun things are you doing? I want to know because I’m sort of living vicariously through you guys! 😉

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Friday Free-for-all: Blood & Fire Cover Reveal

Posted on October 7, 2016 by Silver James

blood-n-fire-with-kwWhoohoo!!! Today is my day to reveal the cover for my next Kindle World release set in New York Times best-selling author Paige Tyler’s Dallas Fire & Rescue world. The launch date is next Thursday, October 13th, during Fire Prevention week. There are a lot of hot stories coming so that’s a good thing! 😉 If you are on Facebook, be sure to join the release party. CLICK HERE to join up, if you haven’t already. I’ll be taking over the party from 5-5:30 EST. There will be lots of fun and contests. 😀

So, what is BLOOD & FIRE about, you ask? Here’s the blurb:

A Wolf shifter gone rogue…
For Rhys Kendric, banished from his pack as a teen, life as a bounty hunter is good. Women chase him, he can drink any three men under the table, and he hasn’t lost a bar fight in years. Given the job of tracking bail-jumper Reece Chatham, son of the man who’d exiled him, Rhys uncovers an archaic pack practice: taking a blood bride. In a case of mistaken identity gone totally wrong, Rhys is stunned when the bride-to-be sets his blood on fire.

A modern pack princess…
Celina Monaghan will do anything for her father and pack—well, almost anything. The idea of an arranged marriage to a strange Wolf in this day and age has the feminist side of this Dallas Fire & Rescue EMT bent all the hell out of shape. She’s agreed to meet this Reece Chatham guy face-to-face, but submitting to him? Nope, not gonna happen. She’s holding out for a mythical true mating. Then the man she thinks is Reece walks in the door. He can’t be her true mate!

A Blood Moon mating…
Surviving pack politics threatening to set the town on fire and a Blood Moon challenge to get their happy ever after? What could possibly go wrong…besides BLOOD & FIRE!

I won’t have the link until next week but you can bet I’ll be spreading it around. Stay tuned here as I count down to the release. 😀 What’s on your agenda this weekend? Me? I’m working, watching post-season baseball, and college football!

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