Wednesday Words – Courtesy of Tessa Dare and a Duke

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Silver James

mobile phone and books Today’s words come from Tessa Dare and her new release, ROMANCING THE DUKE. This book is utterly delicious, each word, sentence, paragraph, and page to be savored like a seven-course formal dinner. Only Ransom, the Duke isn’t formal at all. And his nemesis, the resourceful Izzy Goodnight is full of imagination and romance, just what the injured hero needs.

The heroine’s observation on the weather:

It started to rain. Fat, heavy drops of summer rain–the kind that always struck her as vaguely lewd and debauched. Little potbellied drunkards, those summer raindrops, chortling on their way to earth and crashing open with glee.

And on sunsets:

“The sun is setting just beyond the tower. But ‘setting’ is the wrong word for this. Too peaceful. This sun is struggling. Going down like a bloodied fighter in the jaws of a great, stony beast.”

The heroine was describing the sight to the Duke, who is blind. And here’s Ransom’s take on that whole romance thing…

Bloody hell. Where did women come up with these rules? Did they keep them in a book somewhere? Sometimes he wondered if women were all lawyers, with an extensive code of Romantic Law that they kept stubbornly hidden from men.

Izzy had just demanded a do-over on her first kiss, delivered by the Duke. I’m not saying any more. Go read the book!

Who else has words to share today?

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Tuesday Tease and Treats – Red Dirt

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Silver James

glasses-keyboardOkay…I’m not sure how much of a treat it’ll be…and there really isn’t a tease, but hey…alliteration, ya know? 😉

So…go look around. See if you can figure out what’s new and different around the site. And let me know what you think. There’s a new welcome. A new page. New banners and…stuff.

And just for you, here’s a little snippet from Red Dirt Royalty’s first book, COWGIRLS DON’T CRY–this is the first meeting between Cassidy Morgan and Chance Barron:

She reconsidered getting another drink. Or ordering a bottle from room service. She knew that wasn’t the answer, not to mention the other drawbacks. Fighting the crowd at the airport and dealing with things at home while nursing a hangover just didn’t appeal. Cass turned and buried her nose in a starched white shirt.

“Easy, darlin’.”

The man’s large hands gripped her biceps and kept her upright despite the fact her knees had turned to jelly. She tilted her head to look up. Quite a ways up. Chiseled jaw shadowed by dark stubble, eyes the color of amber, and dark hair—thick, silky, and worn just a little long so that it caressed his wide forehead and kissed the collar of his crisp shirt. She swallowed. Hard.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you were standing there.” She didn’t stammer. Two points for her. She cringed inside at how breathless her voice sounded. Surprise. That’s all. She didn’t want or need the complication presented by this sexy man right now.

“S’okay, hon. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She backed away from him and shook his hands free. “Scare me?” Her brow quirked as she lifted her chin. “I don’t scare, mister.” Now that she had a good look at him, her brows narrowed in speculation. “You look sort of familiar. Have we met before?”

Cass managed not to blush as those wolf-like eyes traveled over her body from head to toe and back again. A smile she could only describe as appreciative spread across his full lips.

“Honey, as beautiful as you are, I’m sure I’d remember.” He held out his hand as if to introduce himself when the electronic theme from the old television show “Rawhide” emanating from his pocket startled them both.
A look of anger flashed across his face and he muttered something that sounded like, “Dammit, I’m busy.”

I hope everyone had a safe weekend. Who had fun? What’s on the agenda for this week? Me? I have another eye appointment and then the rest of the week is slotted for writing. Chance’s brother Cord is getting antsy about whether or not he and Jolie are going to have some really hot make-up sex. 😉

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Friday Sinema – Maks and Meryl Part Deux

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Silver James

Some of you may not have figured it out, but I’m a huge Maks fangirl. I even “cast” him as one of my characters in a WIP (a Victorian gaslight paranormal) and he might just make a reappearance as a bad-boy motorcycle club prez in a WIP series mostly on the drawing board. When he’s on Dancing With the Stars, I’m right there, watching-rewinding-watching each of his dances. This year, season 18, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Meryl Davis have been magical. This is a compilation someone did of their journey.

And this is the dance that put them over the top in the finals.

If that isn’t romance, nothing is. ❤

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Thursday Thoughts – Universal Dream

Posted on May 22, 2014 by Silver James

universeHow can it be Thursday? I’m not ready! If I got more sleep this week, maybe I would be. Yo, Universe? I need some words on insomnia and why it’s visiting me. A lot!

In the meantime, I’ll go with this because when I do sleep? The dreams have been doozies. I’d rather talk about “The” dream…or “A” dream because being human, we have more than one. Once upon a time, a lot of people told me my dream to be a “working” writer–one where I got paid to do what I love–was silly. “Get your head out of the clouds!” “Who are you talking to–there’s no one there…” “Quit your day job?!?”

Yeah, about that… Here I am. I never let go of the dream. It took me longer than I anticipated, and I really shouldn’t have quite my day job but I did. And here I am…

Silver, there are a million reasons why any dream might be considered irrational, unreasonable, and a silly waste of time.

On the other hand, I can think of one that blows ’em all out of the water… we’re in this together.

Hup 1, Hup 2 –
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Silver, there’s no breath you take, or step you make, that we don’t share.

Yes, Universe…I’m breathing and stepping and I’m glad you’re with me. Don’t give up your dreams. Keep dreaming them! And now I’m going back to bed. Because I can do that. Just like I can write in my jammies, after stopping in the kitchen for coffee as I stumble from my bedroom to get to my office. It’s a dream that I work on every day to fulfill!

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Wednesday Words – Men

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Silver James

cowboy-abs4I’ve been in the heads of my male characters of late and men surely don’t think like women do. So, because I wanted to use this pic–because this is the pic that’s always been what I see in my mind’s eye when I think of Chance Barron, I thought I’d offer some quotes about the male of the species. 😉

Freaking men. It didn’t matter what the problem was, they saw only three solutions to it: food, sex, war.” ~Charley Davidson, Fifth Grave Past the Light

I have been in the revenge business for so long, now that it’s over I do not know what to do with the rest of my life. ~Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

Men. Can’t live with ’em and can’t kill ’em. ~Sade Marquis, The Devil’s Cut

Show me a man with a weapon and something to blow up, and I’ll show you a happy camper. ~Major Hannah McIntire, Moonstruck: Secrets and Lies

Hell, yeah! ~The Wolves, in response to Hannah’s comment

Cold beer, a fast Harley, a hot woman. And maybe a pizza. Definitely the Harley and the beer. ~Elijah “Easy” Cross, sergeant of arms of the Nightriders Motorcycle Club

Yes, some of those are teases from upcoming books and characters. 😉 What are y’all doing this Happy Hump Day?

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Tuesday Treats – Beignets

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Silver James

Since so many authors were in New Orleans and raving about the beignets, I thought I’d share the recipe I use. It takes awhile. Like 2 1/2 hours. But soooo worth it!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup evaporated milk
7 cups bread flour
1/4 cup shortening
Nonstick spray
Oil, for deep-frying
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
Directions
Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture. In a separate bowl, measure out the bread flour. Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.

Add the confectioners’ sugar to a paper or plastic bag and set aside.

Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares. Deep-fry, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color. After beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels, and then toss them into the bag of confectioners’ sugar. Hold bag closed and shake to coat evenly.

Or just do it like I usually do–the easy way. 😀 BUY THE MIX!

New Orleans Beignets @ Cafe Du Monde

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Monday? *muppet flail*

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Silver James

funny-dog-pictures-not-ready-for-mondayWait? It’s MONDAY!?!?!?!? NOOOOO! It’s still Sunday, right? *sigh*

Yeah…I totally blanked out. I have a good excuse. No, really! SIXTH GRAVE ON THE EDGE releases tomorrow. This is the next installment in the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones. I’ve been waiting a LOOOOOOOOONG time for it to come out. And since I have a major book boyfriend crush on Reyes, I figured I’d get all reacquainted and stuff so I’ve been on a re-reading marathon. I plan to read FIFTH GRAVE PAST THE LIGHT today and tomorrow while I’m waiting on the mail to run. Yes. This is one of those series that is worth the cost of the hardback.

Okay, publishing news! I now have a series title from Harlequin for the Cowgirl books! RED DIRT ROYALTY. I really like it! And since two books are really much of a series, I’ve got my fingers crossed that there will be more! Yayayay. There are a few Barron brothers who have great stories and then there are their cousins, the Tate boys. And who knows, there might even be a female cousin or two…

OKRWA was fun and I think I have more people turned on to Scrivener. The rest of the weekend was spent reading. I didn’t even look at the computer yesterday. Which means I have like 300 emails to sort through before I can get to work. But work I will today! FAERIE FAITH is calling me back to revisions. And my editor is lurking out there tapping her foot impatiently. 😉

What was on your agenda this weekend? And how’s your week shaping up?

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Friday Sinema – Do-overs!

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Silver James

Yesterday was a bust. Yay for insomnia. NOT! I finally got to sleep about 11:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. Sadly, I did not get out of bed so nothing accomplished beyond much frustration and gnashing of teeth. So…Here’s to mulligans, do-overs, and REWINDS!

Tomorrow is OKRWA. My CP and I are giving an all-day class on using Scrivener. I did write 1100 words on the MC Hero. And I’ll have publishing news on Monday. 🙂

Who has plans for the weekend? Have a great one no matter what you do!!!

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Thursday Thoughts – Universal BICHOK

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Silver James

universeHow can it be Thursday already? This little tidbit popped up in my inbox a bit ago and I tucked it away because with my deadlines, I knew I’d need the reminder to “Stay calm and keep writing.” (I need to do one of those crown meme thingys for that 😆 )

Anyway, during dinner last night, a commercial for a fast-food chain came on and I mentioned the two guys featured in the series seriously creeped me out. Lawyer Guy popped off a line and my immediate thought? I have to write that down because I have any number of characters who’d say that! So after dinner, while I was cleaning up the kitchen and feeding the dogs, I had an idea for a book that’s been “circling the drain” in the back of my mind for awhile now. I have no time to write it, but I want to. And I will one of these days. Of course, by the time I get to it, books about tough bikers and motorcycle clubs will be de rigeur. Still, I like the hero and he’s talking to me so I’m even thinking about doing a first person POV–his. Yeah, I know. TOTALLY weird for me.

So, anyway! When I sat down to write the stuff in my head, I remembered I hadn’t set up today’s blog. And I saw this one in my draft folder. So…yeah. Perfect. As the Universe often is. 😉

Write it down.

Write it down, Silver.

Write it down.

See you there,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

If you want to make it real, Silver – faster, cooler, better, redder (as in the color) – write it down.

You heard the U. Go write it down!

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Wednesday Words – Cowgirls

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Silver James

I’ve been reading like crazy but nothing I marked to make note of so…you’re stuck with me talking about COWGIRLS DON’T CRY. As I’ve mentioned, COWGIRLS will be a January 2015 Harlequin Desire release. That means work has started on blurbs, art fact sheet for the cover, etc. Holey moley! The fact sheet I filled out was incredibly detailed and took me three days. Mainly because I had to stop and thing about about the really important points of the story. I also got to “research” cover clinches. 😆 Do you know how many pictures of men hugging/kissing women there are on the various photo sites?!? I finally narrowed it down to four. No, I’m not going to share them because I don’t have rights to the photos. But trust me… 😉

Anyway, here’s the tagline I came up with: Cowgirls don’t cry, they get even.

And the blurb:

A family feud, a man in way over his head, and an old-fashioned cattle drive in modern-day Oklahoma teach a reluctant cowgirl that real cowgirls don’t cry, they get even.

Attorney Chance Barron is supposed to foreclose on the ranch Cassidy Morgan inherited not fall in love with her. His powerful father wants to grind what’s left of the Morgan family beneath his boot heel. Making friends under false pretenses, Chance walks a fine line between outlaw and hero. Too bad he can’t separate business and pleasure.

In love with the handsome cowboy who’s ridden to her rescue more than once, Cassie trusts Chance with her fragile heart and everything else she holds dear—until his betrayal. He’s not the man she thought he was—he’s a Barron and the Barrons are her enemies. Determined to get even, she’ll get her herd to market—and save the family ranch—come hell or Cyrus Barron’s interference.

Chance has one opportunity to prove himself to Cassie but even standing up to his family may not win back the cowgirl he loves.

I have no idea how long it will take them to get the cover done, nor if they’ll actually do like a photo shoot–how AWESOME would that be! Wouldn’t I love to be there!!!–but I’ll be sharing here.

In the meantime, I’m working on updating the website. Not too sure I’ll do a “big reveal” but y’all will notice little changes and tweaks from time to time.

Oh, and I signed the contract for FAERIE FAITH. More about it another time. 😉

So here’s today’s question. Readers, what element of a blurb makes you take a longer look at a book? Writers, taglines or blurbs–what’s the hardest for you to write?

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