Universal Gifts

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Silver James

universeSome forty years ago (I keep tellin’ you people I’m older than dirt!), I took a vacation with my parents. I was in college, which made things a little awkward, but they were going to Colorado so why would I decline? Seriously, people. Colorado! Anyway, Dad parked the Airstream on Turquoise Lake outside of Leadville. I rode one of our trail bikes into town to the local “emporium”–combo drugstore, general store, lunch counter, etc. The place had a huge wall of magazines, newspapers, and PAPERBACKS!!!! I discovered a couple of books that intrigued me.

Now realize, the first adult book I ever read was THE SPY WHO LOVED ME by Ian Fleming. I was ten. Oh, yeah, that book set me on my path for sure! So, when I caught a glimpse of the Mack Bolan/Executioner books, we’re talking reading crack for me. I snarfed up the 3 or 4 books on the shelf, rode back to camp, and devoured those books. I read the series up through somewhere around #100. I ended up donating all of them to the local library when I had to make a massive move. Today, I’m kicking myself! But I digress…

I recently acquired the first book (in original condition) of this series. THE EXECUTIONER #1: WAR AGAINST THE MAFIA. Originally written in 1969, I stumbled on the series in a later reprint, around 1972. It’s politically incorrect. People smoke. Whores are whores. The Mafia thugs are thugs. Bolan is a Viet Nam-era soldier who defines his duty in black and white.

Which leads me to today’s message from the Universe:

Silver, would there be any point in giving you the gift of imagination, the freedom to think as you choose, and dreams that set your soul on fire if even a single one of them couldn’t come true?

I think not.

I love you too, too much.

Tallyho,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Silver, think of the implications.

The Executioner books lodged in my imagination–that glorious gift from the Universe. I see shades of Bolan in my Alpha Heroes™, especially my Wolves. I have the freedom to think politically incorrect thoughts and even write them down–imbuing heroes and villains with attributes that are just as black and white as Bolan’s world. I can fall into a world I’ve created–my soul on fire–and make my dreams come true there. And if I’m really-REALLY lucky, I can entice a reader to fall in with me.

So thank Ian Fleming and Don Pendleton (The Executioner’s creator). I wouldn’t be here without their influence.

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Wednesday Words – Weather

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Silver James

In between really good words I find as I read, I thought I’d bring #1lineWed here. If y’all are on Twitter this is the hashtag that the members and friends of the Kiss of Death RWA Chapter uses on Wednesdays to share lines from our books. For those of you who don’t tweet, you can share here in the comments. Or just comment on my lines, because y’all know what an attention pimp I am. 😉

So today’s theme is: WEATHER

Here are my lines:

From COWGIRL’S DON’T CRY, which is available for PREORDER and for WANT TO READ on Goodreads (you know, in case you want to mark it or anything… 😉 ):

Fat cotton balls of snow drifted across her view—it was like being a tiny person trapped inside the Swiss chalet in a snow globe.

In the near distance, a sheet of rain filled the space between cloud and ground, marching across dusty fields. The first fat drops splattered in the dirt at his feet.

From THE COWGIRL’S LITTLE SECRET:

The wind kicked up a wicked dust devil made of red dirt and spun it across the bare expanse of the well site. Rather than cooling the air, the wind seared everything in its path like a blast from a furnace.

The weak winter sun poked at the clouds riding low on the eastern horizon and touched the light dusting of snow with a handful of sparkles.

Chance’s breath fogged the air until the brutal north wind shredded it. The temperature kept dropping, the sun a pallid circle behind thick clouds.

What about y’all? Any weather references, descriptions, etc. in your current WIP? Share!

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Tuesday Treats – Pesto Pie

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Silver James

I want coffeeThought I’d get back to sharing the occasional recipe. This is a a fast and easy one for cool fall nights. Prep time is about 15 minutes, and then 30 minutes to cook.

8 oz. spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 egg lightly beaten
1 lb. skinless chicken breasts diced and cooked thoroughly
1 jar Prego Basil Pesto
1 package grated Romano cheese

TOSS cooked spaghetti, Parmesan, and egg. Place in a 9-inch pie pan. Press along bottom and sides to form crust. (I lightly spray my pan with a non-stick spray for easy removal.)

MIX cooked chicken and pesto sauce. Spread mixture over spaghetti crust. Sprinkle with Romano cheese.

BAKE in preheated oven at 350°F for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into wedges. Makes 8 servings.

Serve with hot bread sticks and salad.

And no, I haven’t made this in awhile so I don’t have a picture, hence the cute panda. Trust me, though. This is good stuff. 😀

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Monday All Over Again, New Release, Free Book

Posted on October 20, 2014 by Silver James

Monday again baby What is it about Monday? It keeps showing up every 7th day whether we want it to or not! Gah! So…if it’s Monday, that means there was a weekend. I actually relaxed this weekend. I know. Shocking, right?!? 😀 So…my weekend roundup:

Sports. The entire state is in mourning. EVERYONE lost! It was crazy! Cards are out of the series. (Go Royals now!). OSU lost to TCU (Texas Christian). OU lost to Kansas State. Even Tulsa lost! Yeah…not a good weekend here, sports-wise.

Reading. I did some. Lara Adrian’s 1001 Nights novella, Tempted by Midnight. This is part of her on-going series, Not my favorite but good. I also indulged in some nostalgic reading with THE EXECUTIONER: WAR ON THE MAFIA. This is the first book in the Mack Bolan series. Mack was my first alpha hero book boyfriend. Okay. Second. James Bond was my first. Anyway, I crushed on the man and spun all sorts of fan fiction (before I knew that’s what it was called!) in my imagination. I’ll be blogging later this week on it. I also got sucked into a re-read of THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC. Now I want to get back into the magic world of Penumbra! First, though…

Writing:As y’all know, BLUE MOON went live late on Friday! Here’s the rankings as of last night! Can I get a WOOT-WOOT!?!

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,949 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#54 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Romance
#76 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > War & Military
#100 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Action & Adventure > Fantasy

At the same time, I put BLOOD MOON up for free until tonight. It hit #1 in the Kindele eBooks > Romance > Fantasy category! Woot-woot! And hit #2 in the two other categories, plus broke the top 100 in Kindle Free. 🙂 Hopefully that will jump start sales for the series.

I plan on writing MOON SHOT, the next in the series for NaNoWriMo. That’s almost two weeks away. I can’t sit and twiddle my thumbs so I’m going to work on MOONSTRUCK: SECRETS, and maybe THE DEVIL’S CUT (Caleb’s Penumbra story). I shelved both with the massive writing year for my publishers. Now I want to get stuff written for ME! Before I have more massive writing. 😆 Yeah, yeah. It’s a terrible problem to have. I’m not bitching, trust me!

What about the rest of you? How was your weekend? And yes, I will get back in the saddle here with blogging. And being around on FB and Twitter a little more. Promise!

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Monday — True Story

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Silver James

T-Rex Monday This is exactly how I feel today. Late Friday night, the viral crude that had Sprout so sick hit me. I was down for the count all day Saturday. The good news? When one doesn’t eat for over 24 hours, one tends to lose weight. The bad news? I’m behind on getting BLUE MOON ready to release into the wild. 😦 This makes me have a big sad. I thought I’d have today and tomorrow to catch up. Nope. Not gonna happen. Sprout is all enrolled for day care but he’s still having symptoms so he can’t go. 😦 😦 😦 😦 So…sorry. BLUE MOON will get out there sometime this week. With luck. And a sleeping Sprout. And no second rounds of the ick for me.

On the other hand, it was a 75-25 weekend for my sports teams. OSU and OU both won, even though their games were really ugly. The Cardinals lost the first game of the NLCS (National League Championship Series) to the Giants. As of this writing, I don’t know about Game 2. I was afraid to watch for fear of jinxing. Last I tuned in, Cards were up 2-0, but Giants were threatening. EDIT: And what a nailbiter! The Cards came back in the bottom of the 9th with the score tied at 4 all. Kolton Wong hit a walk-off homerun. So, the Cards head to San Francisco with a split. We’ll take it!

TV–I’m really missing OUTLANDER. 😆 But I have shows on the DVR to catch up on. Really enjoying Gotham, but I’ve pretty much given up on Sleepy Hollow. Castle is still hanging in there. Enjoying FOREVER and of the new shows. NCIS New Orleans is cool and a nice follow-on to NCIS. I’ve also pretty much given up on Bones, and that also makes me have a sad.

Books–Caught up on the new series from Larissa Ione, The MoonBound Clan Vampires. Interesting take on the vampire mythos. I read them out of order, and that was an oops, but okay. I got the worldbuilding when I went back to read book 1. Definitely read them in order: Bound By Night (1) then Chained by Night (2). Looking forward to the 3rd one, whenever it comes out. Also read Joanne Wylde’s latest Reapers MC book, Reaper’s Stand. These books are the best MC series going, as far as I’m concerned, and Stand is the best of the lot. They were all 4/5 stars for me. Warning. Sex is graphic and raw and so is the language. I’m way ahead of schedule on my Goodreads Reading Challenge. In fact, with my rereads that they don’t count, I’ve exceeded my 150 books goal, and that doesn’t include the last set of 10 contest books I read. Guess I’ll have to bump the number, especially since there are several books releasing over the next three months that I’ve been anxiously awaiting!

And on that note, I need to get work done while I can. I’ll check in on you chickadees through the day, when the Writing Gods (and Master Sprout) allow. Fill me in on your weekends. Fun times had? Good books read? Good TV show or movies watched? Y’all know I live vicariously through you, right? 😉

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Friday Sinema – Gerard is Boss

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Silver James

I know there are some Gerard Butler fans here. You’re welcome. And have a great weekend!

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Universal Spin

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Silver James

universeI went back and looked at my post for Monday. And freaked just a little. Okay. I freaked a lot! I’ve set a strenuous journey for myself in upcoming months. November in National Novel Writing Month and that always gives me a kickstart. I hope to be well on my way with the words for MOON SHOT so I can use NaNo to round out 50K words in MOONSTRUCK: SECRETS. Scrolling through BLOOD MAGIC for Wednesday’s #1lineWed on Twitter made me salivate to get started on the compilation. And then this popped up in the ol’ inbox. 🙂

For times when the world seems to spin too fast, Silver, or when your dreams seem to turn slightly pale… switch tracks, give yourself a rest, and dwell upon the fact that you are still part of a greater dream. My own. And I couldn’t be happier with the progress we’re making.

You’re pure “Rock Star” in the unseen,
The Universe

© http://www.tut.com ®

Happy Thursday, Silver!

So…if this is happening to you, switch tracks and now that the progress you’re making is awesome! And I agree with the Universe: Happy Thursday!

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Wednesday Words – Blue Moon and Blood Moon

Posted on October 8, 2014 by Silver James

Blue Moon Final 680There was a Blood Moon this morning. Yes, I was awake. Yes, it was awesome. Somewhere, the Wolves are off with their mates, staying away from each other so no fights break out. You see, in the Moonstruck world, alphas can only challenge for leadership under a Blood Moon.

But right now, it’s time for a Blue Moon. As promised, here are snippets. 😀

The road narrowed and the potholes were closer together and deeper the farther DJ drove into the Louisiana bayous. ‘Go get the man.’ So much easier said than done in this alien landscape. DJ was a city girl. Bright lights. Traffic. Throngs of people. That was her comfort zone. Out here in the boonies? Yeah…no. The bayous creeped her out. Big time.

And so it begins…*bwahahaha*

DJ is really in for a rude awakening. shifty-eyes-ani2faster

DJ had no desire to be the heroine in some blockbuster thriller. As she stared down the dark road though, it was preferable to being cast as the stupid girl in a teen horror flick. Unfortunately, she felt far more like the latter, especially since there’d been no traffic since she’d passed a rattle-trap pickup about an hour previous.

“Lost satellite transmission.”

The cultured voice startled her and DJ slammed on the brakes.

“Lost satellite transmission,” the voice droned again.

“Stupid GPS.” She punched the OK button, cutting off the voice before it could tell her again that she was in the middle of nowhere.

And finally, just a hint of what she’s up against after Antoine saves her life–whether she wanted to be saved or not. 😉

Lost in her self-argument, she barreled into that broad expanse of tan skin when he stopped abruptly. He let go of her hand as he turned to face her.

“Stop fighting me, cher. There are dangers in d’bayous.”

“Yeah. You.”

Something flashed in his eyes and he leaned toward her. “I am d’most dangerous animal in the swamp, cher. You be wise not t’be forgettin’ dat, yeah?”

Coming to a Kindle near you on October 15th!

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Tuesday Titles: BLUE MOON Cover Reveal

Posted on October 7, 2014 by Silver James

Blue Moon Final 680It’s almost time! BLUE MOON, book 8 of the Moonstruck series will be arriving at Amazon in the next couple of weeks. Here’s the fabulous cover The Only did for me. That would be Antoine Fontaine, uncle to Izzy (from ROGUE MOON) and all-but-feral Wolf. I’m still working on the blurb and such but here’s my early working draft of it. Suggestions always appreciated because I. Hate. Writing. Blurbs! No. Really HATE writing them!

DJ Collier is a manhunter. As a Deputy US Marshal, she’ll go after any fugitive, but the names in the secret file dumped on her desk must be ghosts considering the lack of information she can gather. Where better to hunt them than in the last place she encountered the elusive group of military Special Operators? She never expected to find death, destruction, and a sexy Wolf determined to make her his in the Louisiana bayous.

Antoine Fontaine has lived in the bayous all his life. Always standing on the outside of his close-knit Cajun family, he thinks he’s one of a kind. He never expected to discover another like himself, much less a whole group of SpecOps Wolves who welcome him into their pack. He has no idea what it means to be moonstruck until he rescues a feisty Deputy US Marshal. Now, he’ll fight to the death to keep her.

Once in a Blue Moon, a Wolf finds his mate and even if he’s up to his ass in alligators, he’ll keep her safe. Warning: Hot sex, explosions, and mayhem of the blood and guts kind dead ahead.

Tomorrow there will be snippets. And with any luck at all, editing and formatting will be a go for an October 15th release!

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Easy Like Monday

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Silver James

funny-pictures-i-know-those-feels-monday-catHello, world! I feel like I’ve been living under a rock. 😆 And contrary to popular belief, there is nothing easy about Monday, or my upcoming schedule. Here’s the rundown.

Writing: Turned in the rewrite/revisions of THE COWGIRL’S LITTLE SECRET a day early to Mr. HEd in NY. Turned in final draft of BLUE MOON to my CP, beta reader, and continuity editor. Keep your fingers crossed that I get everything done and it goes up on Amazon by October 15th. Be sure to stop in tomorrow for the cover reveal and Wednesday for some snippets.

Appearances: Got swag and books ordered for the book signing I’m doing at the library in my hometown. I’ll be there on November 1st as a featured author. 🙂

Productivity: I got a little laundry done but most of my weekend was spent making a Snoopy costume for Sprout. The Only wore a Snoopy costume for her first Halloween–also homemade by me. Only wanted to keep the tradition going. 😀 Mainly, I watched college football–the REAL OSU won! But OU lost. 😦 And play-off baseball. My Cards split 1-1 with the Dodgers in LA and they play the next two games at home in St. Louis tonight and tomorrow night. Here’s hoping the Cards can take two at home to move on to the next round against either the Giants or the Nationals.

Reading: I finished off an anthology–HOTTER THAN HELL–edited by Kim Harrison. That one’s been sitting on my TBR shelf for a long time. Like most anthologies, I like some of the stories better than others. I also finished up the boxed set, DARK NIGHTS, DANGEROUS MEN with books by Elisabeth Naughton, Cynthia Eden, Katie Reus, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, and Joan Swan. Once again, the group was “uneven” but it was one of those 99 cent deals so I figured why not? I also read STONE COLD LOVER (Gargoyles #2) by Christine Warren, which I got from the library. I’m really trying to cut back on the ol’ book budget. Unless it’s a book from an auto-buy for me, I’m doing my best to read books from the library until I decide I want to keep a copy. I’m also trying to read one paperback from my TBR shelf, one digital from my Kindle, and if something new is out, one from the library once I come up on a waiting list. I want to clear out some of the books. The physical books I’ll either do giveaways with or take them to the VA hospital for patients and visitors.

Future writing plans–none of which are carved in stone, because…Life.

1. MOON SHOT: crossover novel with the Wolves of Moonstruck, the SEALS of the Atlantis Project (mentioned in the Moonstruck series) and some new characters, including new Wolves, who form an international rapid response terrorist unit, the Hard Target series, winter 2014/2015. With luck, it’ll be out before Christmas.

2. MOONSTRUCK: SECRETS (a compilation of BLOOD MOON and BAD MOON with added material spanning the years between the books) hopefully to release in digital AND print early 2015.

3. MOONSTRUCK: LIES (HUNTER’S MOON and WOLF MOON with added material cut from both books before publication), digital and print, spring 2015

4. MOONSTRUCK: BETRAYAL (BRIDE’S MOON and ROGUE MOON, also with added material), digital and print, summer 2015

5. MOONSTRUCK: RETRIBUTION (BLUE MOON and MOON SHORT, with the full story, and probably CHRISTMAS MOON as a bonus), digital and print, fall 2015

6. THE DEVIL’S CUT (Penumbra #2): Caleb’s story, but with cameos from your favorites from the other books–Sade, Sinjen, Roman, Nikos and others, digital and print, early winter, 2015

7. THE NIGHTRIDERS: not quite sure how I’m going to do this series, but they are rogue Wolves and members of a motorcycle club. 2015.

Plus I’ll have at least two Harlequin books releasing–January and April, and hopefully one or two more. Still waiting to hear on the proposals I submitted. Those contracts will determine the exact timing of my self-pubs.

So, that catches y’all up on my life. Now I want to know what y’all have been up to since I’ve been hibernating!

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