Wednesday Words of Random Fun

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Silver James

mobile phone and booksAfter a dearth of fun quotes in my reading of late, four popped up right in a row!

From the book I’m currently reading, Julie Leto’s PHANTOM PROMISE:

Men are easy to understand. We want what we want when we want it.” ~Paxton Forsythe, the Phantom hero

Some great, to-the-point and FUN! descriptions from Laura Kaye’s HARD TO HOLD ON TO:

Shane McCallan, one of Easy’s Army Special Forces teammates, who now sat at the other end of the big backseat wrapped so far around Jenna’s older sister, Sara, that they might need the Jaws of Life to pull them apart.

and

Besides, he couldn’t sleep worth a motherfuck, so the bed was about as useful to him as a screen door on a submarine.

And finally, from A CURSE AWAKENED: A WEIRD GIRLS NOVELLA by Cecy Robson:

Steps led up to a ramshackle house competing for the title of most likely to hide dead bodies and serial killers.

Tell me, readers…any good words you’ve come across?

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Tuesday Treats – BJ’s Southern Peach Cobbler

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Silver James

Well….hell. It’s Tuesday. I normally set up the blog the day before, setting it to go live about 4:00 a.m. my time. Yeah. About that…

I started yesterday. Really I did. I was researching cornmeal “crusts.” Because Lawyer Guy and I had the most fabulous dessert at BJ’s Brewhouse for his birthday. It was peach cobbler. With a cornmeal crust. Served warm. With three scoops of vanilla bean ice cream and sugared pecans.

Now, I’m born, bred, and raised in the South, y’all. I can tell you all about fried okra, with cornmeal breading. I can make cornbread from scratch and serve it with red beans. White beans. Beef stew. Hush puppies? (Little cornmeal slider thingies.) I’m all over those with fried (in cornmeal breading) catfish. But I’d never in my life heard of cornmeal pie crust or batter. How the hell had I not!??!??! Google it. It’s a real thing.

Y’all…I’m tellin’ you, it was like eating custard only with substance. With peaches. And ice cream.

NEW Peach and Candied Pecan Cobbler
A southern‑style cobbler with flavors of lemon zest and vanilla, baked in a golden brown cornmeal batter. Served warm and topped with vanilla bean ice cream and candied pecans. Click on the picture to go to BJ’s dessert page.

If you have a BJ’s nearby. Give it a try. In the meantime, I plan to experiment to see if I can come anywhere close to approximating the batter/crust at home! If not, BJ’s isn’t that far away. 😀

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It’s Monday! Darn it…

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Silver James

funny-dog-pictures-not-ready-for-monday Why is it that this day rolls around every week? I don’t know why Monday is such a big deal. Yeah, when I had the day job, Monday meant the end of a brief respite, unless I was on call. Then days, nights, and dates all sort of rolled into a mishmash of time. Now, I work weekends as often as not. Sometimes I take a break but not lately. Magic Bean Sprout is still here Monday through Friday and though I love the little snickers dearly, he seriously cuts into my writing time. I have to make up for it on the weekends. I did a LOT of writing Saturday (around 5K) and spent most of Sunday plotting and moving scenes around. I want to get BLUE MOON finished ASAP.

Still in love with OUTLANDER. Still probably won’t read the book but damn if the series hasn’t hooked me. I DVR the shows even though I watch each episode “live.” I’m keeping all the episodes and I’ll watch them back-to-back at the end of the season. I’m also giving LEGENDS a try on TNT. Love Sean Bean. Not sure about this new series. I did’t appreciate the opening of the first episode–an aerial view of the Murrah Federal Building bombing. PTSD is such a lovely thing to suffer. 😛 Needless to say, I’m totally behind what Laura Kaye is doing in her Hard Ink series.

I’m done reading contest entries for the time being. That’s like 10 more books to add to my yearly reading challenge. I also managed to squeeze in Karin Tabke’s BREAKING BAD. It’s sexy-hot and as much as I wanted to slap Jack with a clue-by-four, I still have the hots for him. 😆 I’ve started Laura Kaye’s HARD TO HOLD ON TO, the latest in her Hard Ink series. Laura is donating all proceeds from this book bought until September 1 to the Wounded Warrior Project, a group I support wholeheartedly and with my Amazon.Smiles account. The hero is suffering PTSD and depression, to point that suicide seems like a viable solution. I applaud her for taking this subject on, as it’s an on-going theme in the series. Grab all the books! I highly recommend them. The next full-length novel comes out in November.

030luAnd one last thing to leave you with–a link of total awesomesauce! Have you ever looked at those Old Skool Fabio covers and wondered what the hell he was thinking? Go HERE. Now you know. 😆

What did y’all do this weekend? I hope you had fun!

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Friday Sinema – Words Not Needed

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Silver James

Watch the video:

Even if it’s a silent commercial with commentary in Russian…it speaks volumes.

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Perspective

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Silver James

universe In looking for words of wisdom from the Universe today, I came across two that seemed destined to be together, to me at least. Perspective plays such a large part in life. I look at the news and want to grab people and shake them, all the while shouting, “Don’t rush to judgement. Wait until all the facts are discovered.” I’m trained to read autopsy reports, to examine evidence, to shift through eye-witness reports. Far as I’m concerned, people need to keep their opinions to themselves until all the evidence is in. And that’s about as “political” as I’ll get. But because of my feelings, this Universal tidbit touched a nerve.

Whenever your perspective on something creates emotional pain, Silver, it’s always because your perspective is still so narrow that you’ve yet to see all the good it will make possible.

Because it will.

Always,
~The Universe

Feelin’ better, Silver? You will.
©www.tut.com®

I’m not going to limit the above to the world at large. It also tucks in close to home, to me as a writer. As some of you know from Facebook, I’ve been struggling with the opening chapters of BLUE MOON, the next Moonstruck book. I’m now on my third rewrite/start-over. I’m frustrated, and yes, my perspective is too narrow. And that leads me to the next little message from the big U.

It’s not what one says, Silver, that determines whether it’s true or false, but what they tried to convey. Listen with your heart.

All ears,
~The Universe

And speak, dear Silver, with your heart, for mere words can be chameleons.
©www.tut.com®

How true is this for a writer? Well, as a person, too, given what I said at the beginning. But I’m withdrawing into my writer’s world so that’s how I’ll approach it. Where this book is concerned, I’ll widen my perspective and I’ll listen with my heart. Okay, characters, start talkin’!

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Wednesday Words: Naked Chickensoup

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Silver James

mobile phone and booksOh yeah. Figured that title would get your attention. 😆 Monday evening, I was looking for something to read. I had books arriving on my Kindle on Tuesday–books I couldn’t wait to dive into, but I had a few hours to kill, and hopefully fall asleep. I have some short contest entries to read but I wasn’t in the mood. I wanted something I could sink my teeth into but that I could put down to read new stuff and then come back to. Want to guess what I downloaded from my Kindle library? You get three guesses and the first two don’t count. Of course it was JD Robb’s NAKED IN DEATH. I ❤ that book like damn and whoah! And yes, I share snippits from it. A lot. But tough. Here’s more. FYI, these are just random lines that caught my eye during various rereads of the book.

Broadway was noisy and crowded, a party where rowdy guests never left.

She scanned the building first, fifty floors of gleaming metal that knife into the sky from a hilt of concrete.

The sun was bright as a sword but the air had the snapping bite of a petulant child.

His voice was smooth, with a whisper of the charm of Ireland over it, like rich cream over warmed whiskey.

“I make money, you make justice. Neither is a simple matter.” ~Roarke to Eve

Okay. I’ll stop. I have pages of these marked on my Fire. Someday, I’ll quote the scene where Roarke reveals the button. Even thinking about it chokes me up until I’m all full of AWWwwwwWWWWwwwwWWWWW. *sniffle* Awwww! And yes, I still want to be LaNora/JD when I grow up!

So, readers. Tell me. If you had four hours to read, what book would you pick up? What book would be your automatic go to, no matter how many times you’ve read it?

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New Release: Karin Tabke’s BREAKING BAD

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Silver James

How ’bout an awesome Tuesday Tease? And it’s a Treat, too, but most of all it’s a Temptation. Why? Because the newest book from my good friend, Karin Tabke, goes live today. FYI, I was a huge Karin fangirl before I ever met her and became friends. I loved her Blood Sword series of historical romances and everything else leading up to her Chronicles of Katrina, the sexy trilogy with Dr. Katrina Winslow and the tres sexy undercover cop, Simon. Women everywhere want to play “Simon Says” after reading the trilogy. Oh, yeah. HOT stuff but in true Karin style, there’s a thriller of a story too. One of the secondary characters in the Chronicles is sexy FBI agent, Jack Thornton. I’m not the only one who wanted more of him! And Karin aims to please. She’s debuting a new series, Bad Boys of the Bay, and the first book, BREAKING BAD, is out today! Guess who the hero is! Yup! JACK! *happy dances* Curious? Here…

Karin-BreakingBad BREAKING BAD, book one in the sexy hot cop series, Bad Boys of the Bay is here! Now, hold on, girls, because it’s going to be a wild, sexy ride that will leave you breathless for more!

Detective Stevie Cavanaugh is one tough cookie…with a sexy but vulnerable secret…

Law enforcement royalty, Stevie Cavanaugh’s fate was determined before she was born: follow her father’s lead, retiring only after becoming Sheriff. But as capable and strong as she is, one man dared to awaken her dark sensuality, only to leave her aching for more. Now he’s back, the baddest cop in the whole damn town, distracting her from the most important case of her career—capturing the Cain killer.

For Special Agent Jack Thornton, like Stevie, police work is in his blood. So is Stevie, the woman he left behind after just one perfect night. Now he’s forced to work with her to catch a killer. Only he wants more of Stevie, too.

According to Stevie, she’s not interested. But Jack knows her deepest darkest sexual secret—that while she’s a woman used to giving command, she also takes great pleasure in submitting—to him. Despite how things ended seven years prior, Jack is determined to take Stevie to the next level.

When the fire between them becomes an inferno, they’ll both savor the burn…

AMAZON | IBOOKS | BARNES AND NOBLE | KOBO

I purposely scheduled maintenance on my Highlander for this morning so I have every excuse to read BREAKING BAD! (And play with Magic Bean Sprout – 😆 )

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Monday Muppet Flail

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Silver James

funny-pictures-i-know-those-feels-monday-cat It’s Monday again. All day. I spent last week working on an attitude adjustment. Magic Bean Sprout is back for an encore performance this week. I love the little dickens to death but dang…It’s been a LOOOONG time since I had to do anything with a baby in tow. From laundry to cooking to errands to writing… This week, I hope MBS is better acclimatized and me too! When he naps, I need to write like the wind! #1k1hr springs on Twitter, here I come!

Saturday was OKRWA monthly meeting. I got to meet Eileen Wilks, a new member, and I managed not to have a fangirl moment. Much. I love her books. If you enjoy shifters and magic and aren’t familiar with her World of the Lupi books, give them a try! Here’s a link to the series page on GOODREADS. Definitely read them in order!

I’m reading Kate Carlisle’s latest Brooklyn Wainwright Bibliophile Mystery book, THE BOOK STOPS HERE. I’m also perusing Lisa Cron’s WIRED FOR STORY: The Writer’s Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence. Interesting theories.

BLUE MOON is moving along. Slowly. I really need to get back in “spitting out the words mode.” The Wolves aren’t playing nice and I’m about to open a can of Iffy Special Whoop-Ass(tm). Antoine is been difficult and I’m going to turn DJ over to the villain. Lets see what he does about that!

TV: I taped all the episodes of TRUE BLOOD’s last season to watch when I had time. Uhm…I quit yesterday. They killed Alcide. In a stupid way, IMO. The Only says I need to watch the finale just for all the WTFery. Maybe I will. I am officially a captain on #TeamJamie! 😆 Totally in love with OUTLANDER. My only complaint is there is no soundtrack available. I would almost kill for the soundtrack! And more Jamie. Shirtless. Or sans kilt. Just sayin’…. Why yes, I am shallow, why are you even asking?!? 😉 I also need to give TNT’s LEGEND a try. Sean Bean as a burned-out undercover FBI agent. It’s taped. Just need to watch it.

What about y’all? Books? Shows/movies? Fun? No fun? What’s going on in your worlds?

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Friday For the Win

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Silver James

TGIF! First, the announcement of the winner of the Totebag of Awesomesauce. Through the magic of my counting comments and using random.org to pick a random number, the winner is…MISSY TAYLOR!

I’ll be contacting you by email to get your mailing address. Congrats and enjoy!

FYI, I have LOTS of books that came back from San Antonio. There will be more contests. 🙂 If you didn’t win this week, stick around for more chances to win.

Second, this video is also awesomesauce. You’re welcome. 🙂

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Thursday Thoughts – Universal Small Kindnesses

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Silver James

universe Ya know, I don’t really have much to add to this. There’ve been a lot of times when I’ve been on the receiving end of this. I do my best to give it forward.

You just never know, Silver, who in the crowd, standing beside you in line or passing you in the street, might be raised in spirit, or even lifted from despair, by the kindness in your glance or the comfort of your smile.

But they may never forget.

Supersize me,
The Universe
©www.tut.com®

Silver, it takes so little.

Have a great day!

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