A Monday in June

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Silver James

Well, there was a weekend. Friday started off with storm dragons and interrupted sleep. The dang dragons got stirred up again on Saturday early morning. This included torrential rains, wind, and tornado sirens. We came through fine, just sleep deprived.

Saturday, I woke up to a very cool email from someone I admire. It’s a long story but this particular author and I have exchanged numbers and texted and are developing a friendship. You can’t ever have too many friends and when you have a bit of a fangirl crush to boot, it’s beyond cool.

Due to the weather, First Saturday and lunch was canceled. There was supposed to be more bad stuff moving in Sunday afternoon but it mostly all stayed north and south of us. That does not upset me. As I’m setting this up Sunday evening, I won’t report the actual final weather outcome until I reboot the computer because…lightning and stuff. Don’t need to fry it.

I did write this weekend. More than 250 words at a pop, even. I expanded and finished one chapter and wrote another. There’s been a twist. Thanks Titania, for the curve ball. Could you at least explain why? No, no. That would be too easy. 🙄

There really isn’t much else to relate. No reading. Which is a bummer. I have two different books open and all I’ve done is switch between them because neither is holding my attention. Which is sad because both are good books. I’m just in that weird headspace again. Oh! I was productive. I did laundry. Go me! I even put it up instead of leaving it folded in the basket for days. Don’t ask me why I do that. I have no clue. I mean, I fold and hand the clothes as they come out of the dryer. The hanging stuff makes it to the closet but the folded stuff just sits there in stacks, patiently waiting. It’s like I fold the last item, grab the hanging stuff to put up and then never go back to get the folded. What’s up with that?

On that note, I need to check my messages. I mean, I’d hate to miss Monday’s call and all. What did y’all do this weeken?

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Friday Sinema: Let’s Dance

Posted on June 6, 2025 by Silver James

Okay. I admit to falling a little bit deeper in fangirl love of Patrick Swayze while watching “Dirty Dancing.” It remains a favorite movie and one of my all-time favorite finales because…DANCING! Amazing dancing. Fun dancing. And Patrick Swayze. Jennifer Grey wasn’t bad either. 😉 Tomorrow is First Saturday so siren test and family lunch, weather permitting. No storm siren tests if there’s a chance of storms. D’uh. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the dance and let me know what your favorite movie finale and/or dance routine is!

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Thursday Thoughts: I’m Up

Posted on June 5, 2025 by Silver James

I’m still occasionally hacking up a lung, along with strings of sneezes, and piles of tissues but I actually got out yesterday–bird seed and a quick vet visit with Jake for a pedicure. Today, I’m headed to Wallyworld because…well…food. Amazing how the need for sustenance can be so motivational. 😉

Also, I wrote yesterday. Not a lot but some. It’s a touchy scene between Ariel and Oberon. It’s never wise to upset the Fae king. *bwahaha*

I really have no deep thoughts for today. It’s not that the Universe failed me, it’s that I’m currently mostly brain fogged. Between the meds and stuffy head, philosophy and deep thoughts are beyond me. Happy Thursday anyway.

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Wednesday Words: Name Game

Posted on June 4, 2025 by Silver James

Another Wedneday. More words. I am feeling somewhat better. I get some stuff done in the morning and then I poop out by afternoon and end up back in bed, usually napping. I am slowly weaning off the meds, which is good. It’s also good that this week’s words were written last week before the crud attacked and I went all foggy brained. Our Thursday Threads prompt is: *”A name popped into her head.*” What’s in a name you ask? Well, in Ariel’s world, a name holds power.

****
“You should be more careful.”

Aisling could only stare at the man who’d appeared from the shadows moments ago. The man who’d jerked her back from the curb as she was about to step off it in front of that speeding car.

“That car came out of nowhere.” She inhaled deeply to settle her nerves. “Thank you.”

“You need to be aware. There are those who would do you harm.”

Her laughter trilled in the dank air. “I am nobody. Who would care?”

“You’d be surprised.”

A name popped into her head. “Are you speaking of Obermmm…”

Ariel clapped his hand over her mouth so the word was muffled. “Do not speak that name aloud. Better yet, do not even think of him.”

“But—”

“Trust me on this. If you speak of him, he will appear.”

He’d cut her off again and Aisling’s temper rose. She added a scoffing tone to her voice when she said, “That is an old wive’s tale.”

“There is a reason those tales are passed down.”

She tilted her head, squinting at the handsome man. Her eyes teared and his image wavered. She’d swear she saw pointed ears for a moment. “Who are you really?”

“No one special.”

She scoffed again. “Oh, right. I’m not an idiot. Someone like you doesn’t show up in someone like me’s life.”

It was Ariel’s turn to scoff. “Are you truly this clueless? Do you not know what you are?”

“I’m a librarian.”

“And so much more, Aisling Goodnight.”
****

Have any of you watched the TNT show, “The Librarians?” We really enjoyed the original version with Noah Wylie (from ER). Then they did a V2 with Christian Kane (also a fave), among others. If you aren’t familiar, The Library is an autonomous entity charged with safeguarding magical artifacts. The Librarians are just folks who have to go out and secure these artifacts with much adventure involved. There’s now a V3 that just started. I’ve yet to see an episode though we’ve DVRd them and it’s on the list for this week. I admit, I stole the “I’m a librarian” line from the show. And to Aisling, she’s just a librarian. Boy is she going to be surprised. 🤣

So that’s my entry for this week. Writers, go forth and write. Readers, are names important to you? If so, in what way? (And yes, my brain is on cold meds so I do not claim to make sense with this.)

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Monday Blah

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Silver James

Yes, I’m late. Yes, I still have the head cold that has settled in my chest. I slept most of yesterday and it helped a little. I’m ready to head back to bed after dealing with some stuff that needed to be dealt with. I’m taking a few days off from the blog and social media. Nothing bad, just low energy, coughing, intermittant fever…y’all know the drill. Anyway, I am alive and brething and I shall return.

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Friday Sinema: Rolling Thunder

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Silver James

I couldn’t help myself after yesterday’s post. I do love me some Garth Brooks, including his iconic “The Thunder Rolls.” I really like this metal cover of the song. And yes, it will probably appear at some point in Ariel’s soundtrack. Have a great weekend. I’ll be watching the Women’s College World Series. Softball FTW!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Big

Posted on May 29, 2025 by Silver James

When this dropped into my inbox, the first line struck a chord. Through the night comes the light that brings the day. See, I could pretty much use this as a 1-line description for my current WIP. There are shadows. There’s darkness. There’s light at the end of the tunnel. There’s also sound and fury and thunder.

Then comes the second line. Through your mind goes the thought that forms the clay. The thought is your imagination and the clay is the book that results. It’s that simple and that complex.

<blockquote>Through the night comes the light that brings the day.

Through your mind goes the thought that forms the clay.

And every single chance I get, Silver, in every single way I know, I’m pressing out all that I have to you in exactly the amounts you’ve imagined.

Rolling like thunder,
The Universe
©www.tut.com 

P.S. Think bigger, Silver, and never stop asking better questions.</blockquote>

And then we get to the sign off. Rolling like thunder. Writers, isn’t that how you want your book to be? Think about it. And then think bigger and better. And then ask the questions that get you from the opening sentence to typing The End. Y’all got this. I got this. Readers, how do you like your books to roll?

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Wednesday Words: Remember This

Posted on May 28, 2025 by Silver James

Happy Hump Day! Guess what!?!? I won Thursday Threads last week. Woot! Woot. The prompt was intriguing and offered lots of different ways to go. At least for me. Since I won, I think I picked the right path. Here’s the prompt: *“I don’t remember putting it there.”* I found the prompt also very apropos because I “lost” my coffee mug AND my phone at various times last week. By lost, I mean I set them down and couldn’t remember where. Playing “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego” is always treat. 🙄 It’s a good thing I don’t go out often. 😆

So, to the snippet. The only thing I can tell you is what you read here. More info on Aisling but as to who the mysterious man is? Not a freaking clue. Well, okay, I have a clue. You get two guesses but the third one doesn’t count. Anyway, here it is.

****
Aisling peeked around the corner. The hallway remained empty. Darting to her office, she slipped the key into the lock, opened the door, and ducked inside, shutting the door behind her. She turned the lock. Her office had no windows and she stood, breathing hard, in absolute darkness.

She hated the dark, was afraid of it, but she couldn’t force her hand to the light switch. What was happening to her? She’d sat down in one place and stood up in another. She’d lost time. She feared she was losing her mind.

Now breathing normally, she flipped the light switch—and stared at a massive volume resting on the corner of her desk. The red leather cover, torn and faded, sported gilded letters in a language she’d never seen, yet seemed familiar. Focusing, she searched her memory. A name popped into her head. Tolkien. The words resembled the Elvish language he’d created for his books. Granted, the president was an Elf but that didn’t mean they’d ever released any of their literature into the human world. Or had they?

Close to hyperventilating, she muttered, “I don’t remember putting it there.”

“That’s because you didn’t.”

Aisling screamed, whirled and threw the book. She didn’t recall picking it up. The man standing in the corner of her office caught the tome easily and handed it back.

“You need to read it.”

“I don’t understand the language.”

He walked to the door, stepped out. “You will,” he promised, shutting the door behind him.
****

Anybody want to guess who brought the book? Or what the book is? Or why Aisling needs to read it? I’ll take all the suggestions I can get. In the meantime, writers, steal at will if it stimulates your imagination. Readers, would you open a book that mysteriously appears on your desk?

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Tuesday Tidbits: Short Week

Posted on May 27, 2025 by Silver James

Thoughts. I have some…

I work to buy coffee. I drink coffee so I can work. It’s the circle of life.

Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Except bears. Bears will kill you.

There’s something you should know about wolves. Wolves do not carry more than ten dollars in cash at any given moment and the will also eat you. Just sayin’…

Speaking of, the reason vampires go to hell and werewolves don’t is that vampires just suck the juice out and waste the rest. If I saw somebody lick all the sauce off some pasta and leave the bare noodles intact, I’d condemn them to eternal damnation too.

And here I though it was because all dogs go to heaven. *be-dum-dump* (that’s the sound of a rim shot…)

Okay. I quit. I had no recipe to share this week so you get the above. I’ll be here all week…

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Final Monday

Posted on May 26, 2025 by Silver James

May is almost gone and June is coming. All things considered, May was pretty quiet–weather-wise. We had a few storms but mostly got rain. Some folks got the swirly-twirly things, there was hail–some of it the king that takes out windishields. I’m happy for my little nook here in the state. Like I said, mostly rain.

There was a weekend. There was rain, cloudy skies, more rain, and soccer. Stormy’s team won one and lost one. Soccer season is over for now. They have academy tryouts next week. I think. Nope. I wrong. Soccer camp first, then soccer tryouts the following week. Sadly, the coach they love so much is being moved to a different team. Hopefully, Stormy will be back on a team with most of his teammates and with a good coach.

In other exciting 🙄 news, the dishwasher threw up. I should explain. We haven’t used the dishwasher in…3 years? It mostly works but it doesn’t. Any dishes in the top rack didn’t get clean and the budget was too tight to replace the thing or get it fixed. With only LG and me, it’s not like we had a boatload of disshes anyway, so I just handwashed them and air dried them. Easy peasy. A few weeks ago, the kitchen sink backed up. Evidently, in the process of unstopping it, some of the back wash ended up in the dishwasher. Since we don’t use the dishwasher, had no clue. Long story short, the back wash sort of…fermented and then there was another minor problem with an air bubble that apparently caused the water in the dishwasher tub to overflow. Ick and ewwww. I should mention that part of this is caused by the garbage disposal giving up the ghost so is now unusable. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. I need to sell a whole lotta books.

Speaking of writing, I did some. Ariel is making me work for his story and I’m about to lock him and Iffy in the closet so I can get some work done without them sitting here arguing about the way the story is going. Jerks. I’m hoping for some real progress this week. We’ll see.

The last book in Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series finally dropped from Grapic Audio this week. I truly enjoy the dramatized version of the books and the good news is that GA is contracting with them (Ilona and Gordon, wife and husband, writing team) to produce dramatized versions of the follow-on series in the KD world, as well as their Hidden Legacy series. This gives me a happy.

Not much else going on. The Kids are all out of school, though Baseball Boy is doing a final summer program at his old school before moving to his new school. Only is looking forward to getting a lot of hours in on her second major and getting prepared for the start of the school year in the fall.

On that note, it’s time for more coffee and then I have a date with an ornery Fae and a meek librarian who’s afraid of the dark. *bwahaha* Hope y’all had a good weekend. Any plans for the week?

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