Wednesday Words: Scent/Smell

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Silver James

wurkn-on-mai-plan-for-word-domination-caleb-pupWorking on MOONSTRUCK: LIES and two sooper sekrit projects has me firmly playing in the Moonstruck world with my Wolves. Part of the fun is figuring out their sense of smell. Obviously, each of their heroines has her own “signature” scent, but in their world, emotions also have odors. Anger smells like burnt toast, rage like burning tires. Regret is a combination of wet ashes, dead roses, and almonds. This is akin to synesthesia. Today’s #1lineWed is all about scents and smells. I thought I’d share a few snippets from here and there, though I can’t “identify” one of the projects. It’s a done deal but not open for public announcement yet.

This is from the project I can share. Working title is BLOOD BRIDE and it’s set in the Moonstruck world, with no real crossover with the other novels or characters at this time. It’s been submitted to St. Martin’s Press Swerve, their digital only imprint.

Rhys’s attention focused on the woman sitting alone at a table in the middle of the place. Mine. The possessive word bounced around his brain. He ignored the rest of the people in the room except to snarl at the men standing or sitting nearest her. An older man stepped up behind her chair, his hand clamping on her shoulder. Rhys’s wolf was ready to rip out the male’s throat before he found a resemblance. Related. Okay. The man wouldn’t die tonight.

He continued across the room, stalking her . Her scent wafted toward him. She reeked of whiskey and chili powder. She’d had a drink and her resentment was sharp and spicy. His nostrils flared, seeking her personal scent. A memory teased him and his dick went so hard he almost stumbled. Lemon and a hint of cinnamon. Strong enough to kill the other aromas.
****

And now a little something from the Shhhh project:

He slammed the dickwad up against the wall. “Oh yeah, asshole. Awake now aren’t you.”

“Wha—?” The guy blinked, his expression tinged with stupid.

Bleu cheese edging toward scorched hair. Smoke crinkled his nose to keep from sneezing. The dickless wonder was cognizant now, nervous as shit and starting to panic. Smoke grinned, his canines slightly elongated and he was pretty damn sure red lights flickered in his eyes.

“Why the girl?” He couldn’t keep the snarl out of his voice as his fingers squeezed the guy’s throat.

“Orders.” Loser shithead choked out the word.
****

And yes, in case you’re wondering, I have a whole list of emotions and what they smell like to the Wolves. 😉 What about y’all? Writers, want to give us your two scents worth? Readers, have you “swmelled” anything in the book you’re currently reading? Let us know so we can read it too!

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Tuesday Treat: Hummingbird Cake

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Silver James

hummingbird-cake-Southern LivingWhen I came across this recipe from a link to Southern Living magazine’s site, I knew I wanted to share it. Growing up, this cake was our next-door neighbor’s “special” dessert and it arrived at every pot luck. Leola let me make with her one time and I remember licking the icing bowl. This rich cake is surprisingly “light” for such dense ingredients and the pineapple and bananas with pecans are just yummy. And it’s a wonderful childhood food memory. You know…I should include more food in my books. Just a thought.

Hummingbird Cake
Hummingbird Cake Icing

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Monday Quarterback – Superbowl Style

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Silver James

Writing daysHappy Post-Superbowl Monday. First, a quick rundown on me and then on to the commercials–or the sad lack of them. 😦

Writing: I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday elbow deep in a new project. It’s for a submission. I hope to finish up chapter 3 today, then a tight edit, and submission. If it’s rejected, it’ll still see the light of day so don’t despair. Two new characters in a new corner of the Moonstruck world. Y’all will enjoy Rhys and Celie. Trust me. 😀

Life: I finally got out of my chair and got back on the gazelle yesterday. Thirty minutes worth. Yay for audio books. That’s what I’ll do since I seem to have an audio book going while I have a Kindle or paperback going too–and not always the same book. LOLOL

Okay, Superbowl: I’m #TeamPeyton all the way and I’m thrilled he got this win. I suspect he’ll retire which will make me sad but be a good thing. Congrats to the Denver Broncos!

Commercials: People spent over 4 million dollars on most of those? Seriously?!?! First off,

Dear Budweiser, it sucks donkey balls that there was no Clydesdale commercial this year. That’s like…a HUGE tradition and I feel totally let down and cheated. That said, the Helen Mirren PSA was funny and the whole #NotBackingDown commercial was powerful but…if you blinked, you missed the horses. 😛

Now to the best of the rest, which is hard because the vast majority of the commercials were just…dull. *snooze* The big winners, in my book, were the car commercials. “Borrowing her dad’s car” to the not vegan bear to the Ryan Reynolds (my fave of the series), all made me laugh. Watch for them. Audi’s “The Commander” commercial was a sniffle moment, as was the first Jeep “History” commercial. The Buick wedding made me laugh as did the Kia commercial with Christopher Walken wearing a sock puppet on his hand. The best of the car commercials though was the Toyota Prius bankrobbers. It was one of those multi-part commercials that had me laughing. I also thought the Heinz wiener dogs spot was cute, as were the Doritos dogs.

Here’s a special tip of the hat to Death Wish Coffee’s Vikings commercial. They were chosen as the small company to feature in a Superbowl ad by Intuit. They do the best coffee memes on Facebook and I wish I could buy it locally. Ah well. Maybe they won’t be a small company forever.

Award for the creepiest commercial of the night goes to the “puppy-monkey-baby” commercial that was selling some soft drink. Mountain Dew maybe? I was too creeped out to pay attention.

Back to work for me. For those of you who watched, how was the Puppy Bowl?

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Friday Sinema: Rising Sun

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Silver James

Okay. I’ve never watched this show (The Affair), have no clue what the storyline is or who these people are and what their relationships are. But man I want to WRITE the emotion conveyed by this scene so well that my readers could SEE them just like this. Have a great weekend!

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Wednesday Words: Comfort

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Silver James

wurkn-on-mai-plan-for-word-domination-caleb-pupToday’s #1lineWed theme has so many different directions it could go. Today’s snippet comes from the new words added to MOONSTRUCK: LIES. It’s a turning point for Nate and Jacey.
****
She lay beneath him. Tense. Still a little angry. Not at Hannah or Mac. At him. He understood. He was a huge asshole. First he all but forced himself on her then ignored her. Refused to share her bed, even though every part of him ached to hold her. He had issues. What he’d done, what had been done to him? The scars were so fucking deep he’d never be able to heal.

“Stop thinking.”

He opened his eyes, stared down at her face.

“You aren’t a monster, Nate. You won’t hurt me. Not physically, anyway.”

Choking back a snarl, he studied her. Her blue eyes were narrowed in consternation, a deep vee forming between her furrowed brows. Her lips pursed as if she was holding back a torrent of words.

“What’s that mean?”

“Do you love me?”

He tried to form words, to work his mouth so they would come out. Nothing happened.

She lowered her gaze and her face crumpled with the disappointment rolling through her. Her voice toneless, she said, “I see.”

No. She didn’t see. She couldn’t.

Jacey pushed at his chest. “Get off me, Nate.” He didn’t move so she pushed harder. “You don’t want to be here. Touching me. You don’t love me. You might not be able to hit me, or hurt me some other way physically, but just looking at you? Watching you ignore me? Ignoring what we have? That shreds my heart. And I can’t do this any more.”

Tears gathered behind her eyelids. He could smell the saltiness and…there was another scent lingering. Like damp, moldy earth or an old empty house. Resignation. She was giving up on him. On them. Did he blame her?

His wolf threatened to rip out of his skin and he growled, curling his fingers in the bed comforter to keep his claws from touching her. She couldn’t leave him. She was his mate. Didn’t she know that?

Cool skin cupped his cheeks. Warm lips touched his mouth and words feathered across his soul like moth wings.

“Breathe, Nate. Shhh. I’m here. Just breathe.”

His arms shook with the effort to keep his body off hers.

“Baby, look at me.”

He opened his eyes. Jacey. Calm. Collected. Love shining in her eyes.

“Come home to me, Nate.”

“Home.” He remembered now. Remembered that she was the best part of him. Remembered that he’d survive only in her arms. He relaxed. Lowered himself until his body covered hers. He inhaled deeply. Her scent, filled with sunshine and green grass, swept through him, forcing back the shadows haunting him. This is what comfort meant.
****

Have you any comforting words to add?

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Tuesday Treats: Valentine Whoopie

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Silver James

How many of you have ever sunk their teeth into that succinctly southern treat the whoopie pie? Well, here’s a fun twist, courtesy of Hallmark, on the original just in time for Valentine’s Day. I’m posting it early just in case you want to…you know…practice! 😉

VD Whoopie Pies

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5th Monday

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Silver James

Monday again babyHow is it fair that a month have FIVE Mondays?!?!?! Poor January. Besides, I get to give y’all another weekly update, rundown, recap, and follow up. 😀

So…first up, I’m working on a Valentine’s Day story for the fans of Penumbra. Sade and Sinjen. It’ll be “short.” And it will be exclusive. You have to be subscribed to my newsletter to get the secret code to go read it. Trust me, you’ll want to. So if you haven’t already, go click over there on the sidebar and sign up. I don’t send newsletters out all the time so it’s not like I spam folks.

TV. Oh My Freaking GOD!!!!! I ❤ LUCIFER so much. For many reasons. I'm excited it's back on tonight. The show is on regular Fox. Lucifer, yes THAT Lucifer, is bored in Hell so he takes a vacation. Here's the blurb from Fox's site:

Based on characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg, this series follows Lucifer, the original fallen angel, who has become dissatisfied with his life in hell. After abandoning his throne and retiring to Los Angeles, Lucifer indulges in his favorite things (women, wine and song) — until a murder takes place outside of his upscale nightclub. For the first time in billions of years, the murder awakens something unfamiliar in Lucifier’s soul that is eerily similar to compassion and sympathy. Lucifer is faced with another surprise when he meets an intriguing homicide detective named Chloe, who appears to possess an inherent goodness — unlike the worst of humanity, to which he is accustomed. Suddenly, Lucifer starts to wonder if there is hope for his soul.

Not only is Chloe good, she has an inherent immunity to Lucifer’s powers. This is a series and character I wish I’d imagined first. Neil Gaiman and others beat me to it. Lots of critics didn’t like it. Tough. I loved it like damn and whoah and really hoping Episode 2 is just as good.

I also started clearing the DVR. OUTLANDER. Watched the first episode of Season 2. Wow. That’s all I’ll say.

READING: Contest reads are done for now. I listened to the first two books in Kit Rocha’s dark-and-dirty Beyond series. Now I want to reread/listen to them all. Maybe I’ll use exercise as an excuse. We’ll see. In the meantime, the new IN DEATH book, BROTHERHOOD IN DEATH drops tonight. There’s a couple of other books waiting on the Kindle but I can’t think of them off the top of my head. I also did a reread/lisen of the first 3 Demonica books by Larissa Ione after I bought the ebooks on sale and got a discount on the audio books, too. Fun times.

WRITING: Moving forward with MOONSTRUCK: LIES. I got to resurrect one of my favorite scenes EVER, one that had to be cut from WOLF MOON. It’s a scene in Nate’s POV and it still makes me tear up and get pissed at the world all at the same time. Hoping to have it ready for release by early March, mid-March at the latest. Also working on Hollywood’s story, which I’ve decided is the next Nightrider book. It’s shorter, so will be out soon after LIES. Then it’s on to the next Hard Target and Penumbra, with Red Dirt books slotted in once I have a new contract.

LIFE: The weather is driving my sinuses crazy. I’m still not 100% well from all the winter crud. *sigh* Stormageddon visits two evenings a week while his dad is at baseball practice and his mom is working late. I wish I had the little dickens’s energy.

Aaaannndddd…I think that just about sums it up for me. What about y’all? What have you been up to?

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Friday Sinema: Wine and Music Hacks

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Silver James

Okay. Life Hacks can be really cool, or totally dumb. Ellen offered some that, except for the fork cork screw, look pretty darn useful–and surprising. Do you have a favorite Life Hack to share? Would you use any of these? Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Awareness

Posted on January 28, 2016 by Silver James

universeHow many of you, as a kid–or an adult–stretched out in the grass, hands tucked behind your head and stared up at the summer sky picking shapes out of the clouds? How many of you have seen the Subaru commercial where the grandmother and her granddaughter hug the oak tree because that’s where the grandparents met–at Woodstock? Who’s walked in the rain? And remember that patch of grass on a summer day? Who did it on a summer night, watching for falling stars? And who’s peered at their reflection and wondered what magical worlds were behind it? Know what I mean? 😉

I do wonder, Silver, how some people, who upon seeing gorgeous, billowing cumulus clouds floating effortlessly overhead, don’t just want to explode with joy.

Or who, upon seeing a mighty old oak tree, don’t run right up to it wildly screaming, “I love you!”

Or who, upon being caught in the rain, don’t blush as each drop gently kisses their skin.

Or who, upon gazing at a star-filled night, aren’t paralyzed with awe.

Or who, upon seeing their reflection in a pond, don’t cry the happiest of tears.

Do you know what I mean?
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

I’m always having to pinch myself, Silver.

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Wednesday Words: Sun

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Silver James

wurkn-on-mai-plan-for-word-domination-caleb-pupI’m late. I normally set up a post the day/night before. Sadly, I’m fighting a sinus infection. I hate being sick! My brain didn’t engage yesterday and I was in bed right after dinner. Oh, who am I kidding. I had dinner–clam chowder and toast–in bed. But I’m up today. Sort of. Today’s theme for #1lineWed is SUN. While these snippets are from previously published works, they’re also a WIP because I’m setting up MOONSTRUCK: LIES. Revisions, additions, and fun stuffs! Anyway, LIES encompasses HUNTER’S MOON (Jacey and Nate) and WOLF MOON (Sean and Annie). Here ya go…

This line pretty much sums up Jacey’s life after meeting Nate and I didn’t realize that until now. 😆 Meme time!

The sun peaked over the horizon and the murky landscape materialized into a fantasyscape of light and shadows painted with a watercolor brush. Jacey gripped the back of the seat in front of her and peered forward. There could be no looking back now.

There’s nothing like an Oklahoma sunset. Or dawn for that matter. 😉

Jacey slipped out the front door. She handed one of the mugs she carried to Nate and then settled next to him on the porch swing. A salmon-colored disk hanging on the horizon, the sun painted the clouds with amethyst, vermilion, cobalt, and shades of peach. She didn’t say anything for long minutes, until the sun slipped behind the tree line and the atmosphere took on a purple haze. The air cooled appreciatively with the promise of an early autumn.

Sean is everyone’s favorite charming “bad boy.” Anyone who’s ridden down a country road will know how this snippet feels.

Sean laughed and revved up the engine again. He now knew how to play the Wolf Pack biker gang. He had an “in.” Easing the clutch, he accelerated and the powerful motorcycle leaped into action. This was what he loved about being on a bike. Wind teased his scalp and skin with wispy fingers. The sun speckled the road through the overhead branches and the black ribbon of highway stretched in front of him, beguiling him with a siren’s call to freedom.

How about y’all? Any sun in your lives or writing at the moment?

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