Monday Easing on Down

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Silver James

Face the dayYesterday was Father’s Day. I miss my dad. A lot. I miss my father-in-law, too. Hard to believe they’ve been gone so long. 😦 Ah, well. Met the family for dinner. Company was great, food was so-so. But Magic Bean Sprout was there! Lawyer Guy and Uncle Fix-It both got Liam time after dinner. I had Liam during dinner because it was bottle time. 🙂

Insomnia has been my bedmate lately. She hogs the covers. And keeps the light on. 😛 I’m hoping she’ll pack her bags and take a hike. That said, I’ve been doing massive amounts of reading under her influence.

Saturday, I came back from errands and had a scene running through my head. I sat down and about 45 minutes later, I had just over 1100 words done! The scene is a major plot point and takes place about 3/4 of the into the book. While writing it, one of the secondary characters admitted something in the dialogue and I about fell out of my chair! He’ll get his own book eventually and man, I am soooo gonna exploit what he said! 🙂

Hope y’all had a great weekend. This week is full of OKRWA prep–Lawyer Guy and I are doing the program Saturday, LOTS of writing now that I seem to back on track with the story–or at least know where it’s going, and finalizing plans for the NRCA reception in San Antonio. What’s up in your worlds?

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Friday Sinema – Play It Again

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Silver James

I’m weird. I mean, just in case y’all haven’t already figured that out. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that today is Friday the 13th AND a full moon.

See, I live a lot of my life listening to soundtracks in my head. I write that way, too, but that’s sorta normal. I’m talking about walking through the house to fold laundry. Or fixin’ dinner. Or opening my Kindle to pick out a book to read.

Yeah, about those books… I did a lot of back-to-back reading of real paper books. From the library. And I knew books I’d pre-ordered were silently downloading to my Kindle. Which has a name, but that’s a different blog post.

Anyway, I digress. I finished up the last library book for awhile and I opened the Fire to see all the yummy new titles to pick out my next read. And everyone of them was my favorite. Because this song was playing in my head.

Yes. I told you. Weird. Have a great Father’s Day weekend!

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Universal When and Where

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Silver James

universeI’ve been in a funk. For like two weeks now. There’s been no rhyme or reason for me having the blues. Nothing bad has happened. None of my usual depression triggers are present. I just feel…I don’t know…blah. Yeah. Blah. No ups. No downs. A bit lower than even-keel. And then this popped up in my inbox.

Silver, you know that feeling?

That sense of eagerness for the moment. Optimism for the future. And confidence that you are exactly “when” and where you should be. That feeling that makes dark days lighter and light days brighter. That precedes breakthroughs, conquests, and euphoria.

Yes, that feeling!

Well, it doesn’t just come.

You have to give it to yourself.

Go on.

The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Silver, if it helps, take it from me that you are exactly when and where you should be.

I like that feeling. It’s like starting a new book–writing or reading. There are so many possibilities. Everything is new and shiny. And you know what? Yeah, I think I am exactly when and where I should be. For the moment. That’ll change. And that’s okay, too. For now, I need to get back to work. I have a book to finish and lots of shinies waiting for me when I’m done.

So where are you?

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Wednesday Words – The Reveal

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Silver James

glasses-keyboardOkay, I don’t have any snippets/quotes/etc. to share today so taking yesterday’s lines/teases, I’ll reveal the context of each one listed. Sound like a plan?

Licking someone’s face is a quick and 100% foolproof way to end a conversation.

This line comes from Sean, my favorite seat-of-the-pants Wolf. It’s said around the “campfire” and in the hearing of DJ Collier, our intrepid Deputy US Marshal and heroine of BLUE MOON. I leave it to your imagination as to what DJ’s reaction will be. EyebrowWiggleIn

New Orleans doesn’t forget but she does forgive.

This is something Roman, the gargoyle, once said to Sade and she will be tossing it back at him as a reminder when his book comes around. It’s book 3 of the Penumbra Papers. I’ll get there eventually.

In my family, we didn’t have leftovers, we had evidence.

This is a line Lawyer Guy tossed my way and had to do with a mother who was a notoriously bad cook. In this case, it’s something a grown-up Liam might say to someone regarding his mom’s cooking. Hannah is NOT known as a good cook. However, I don’t want to wait so long to use it. That said, not sure where it’ll pop up but it will somewhere and in some context. shifty-eyes-ani2faster

He was wearing nothing but a tattoo and a smile.

Again, this could be either my biker book or in the Hard Target series. Not sure. But yeah, some heroine is going to get an eyeful! raised eyebrow gif

I’ve made note that y’all gave me your best guesses. As I get the next few projects finished, I’ll toss out the chance to beta read and each of you can let me know if you’re interested. Until then, what good words are you reading or writing?

[EDIT: Well…d’uh! I hate when I preset a post and screw up the time. Better late than never, right?]

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Tuesday Tease – Completely Random

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Silver James

notebook As most of you know, I tend to write down odd bits of information that catch my attention or lines that come to me–usually when I’m driving and I can’t write them down! Since I don’t have a handy recipe and I blew it by posting a handsome guy yesterday when I could have used him today for the tease, here’s a bunch of completely random shit stuff that I came across looking for the title to a song in the myriad notebooks I have laying around for jotting down all this random…stuff. And to make it fun, you get to guess what series I might use the line in. 😀

1. Licking someone’s face is a quick and 100% foolproof way to end a conversation.

2. New Orleans doesn’t forget but she does forgive.

3. In my family, we didn’t have leftovers, we had evidence.

4. He was wearing nothing but a tattoo and a smile. (Which I think is a repeat, but I still like it and will use it! 😉 )

Okay, take your best guesses! Have a great Tuesday.

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Monday is the Day After

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Silver James

cute-puppy-pictures-hello-im-here-to-make-your-monday-suck-less Who had fun this weekend? Raise your hands. Who needs extra coffee this morning? *raises hand* That said, I thinking today is going to be okay. Not sure why but I’m ever hopeful. 😆

I cleared off the DVR/cable box in the bedroom. It spontaneously decided that two of the channels I watch A LOT should be temporarily unavailable. For two weeks. Yeah, that bad puppy is going for a trade-in today. In doing so, I watched the last few episodes of SyFy’s LOST GIRL. I do like this series. A lot. And the finale had me in tears. That doesn’t happen often. The show also introduced me to a new character model. Kyle Schmid played a character named The Wanderer, who turned out to be a warrior named Rainer, who handfasted with Bo to break a curse but they ended up causing the beginning of the end and oh, man! The sacrifices that were made.

Anyway, I digress. Kyle has been in several shows, including playing vampire Henry Fitzroy in BLOOD TIES, but it was his stint as Rainer, along with the darker hair and beard, that captured my imagination. He’ll be my visual for a British SAS operative in my Hard Target series. 😉 Feel free to Google his pics, but I’ve added one of my favs below.

What else? Oh…I didn’t read much this weekend. I’ve been doing so much reading and computer work that my eyes were a bit wonky. My far vision is still not quite right, despite taking a couple of days off. Oh well.

And the last bit of news concerns COWGIRL’S SWEETHEART. There’ve been a couple of plot points that bugged the bejeesus out of me. I’ve got them figured out. I think Mr. HEd will be very happy with the solutions. And as a tease, you know that ol’ “A good friend will bail you out at 3 a.m. but a best friend will be sitting right next to you saying, ‘Damn that was fun?'” Yeah…While Cord won’t have anybody sitting next to him, he does end up in the slammer for a bit–at least until Chance can arrange bail. THAT’S going to be a fun scene to write!

So, today is post office, cable store, CP reading, and with luck, some new words on SWEETHEART. Then my plan for the rest of the week is BICHOK until I’m way closer to my 50K word goal on SWEETHEART. I’m thrilled to be starting the week of at just over 25K words. Halfway there!

What’s on your agendas this week? Oh…and here’s Kyle. You’re welcome. 😉

British SAS character

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Friday Sinema – Irish Ayes are Dancin’

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Silver James

I would invite these Irish lads for a pint. *nods*

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Universal Hindsight

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Silver James

One of my dad’s favorite sayings was: Hindsight is 20-20

Yeah, about that…pretty true in practice. We all have something we look back at and wish we’d done differently, and wonder what would have happened if we had. The “if I turned left instead of right” game can drive a person crazy. I should know. Getting sucked into it quite often stalls my writing–the career a bit more than in an actual WIP. That said, it can stall out my WIP if I start questioning things too early in the process. Here’s the Universe’s view on it:

Sometimes the thing that didn’t work out for your very best, Silver, really did.

Yeah, always –
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

And one day you’ll see this, Silver, and being very glad, you will “rebel yell.”

Think about this. I’ll be listening for your rebel yells. 😉

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Wednesday Words – Old West, etc.

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Silver James

I’ve been on another reading marathon. I do so appreciate my local library system, especially when I want to try out a new-to-me author and then nom any backlist of an author I glom onto.

The following are several snippets/quotes that caught my eye, made me laugh, or gave wonderful character insight during the past week. From the historical westerns of Jo Goodman:

Raine took all the information in. “I don’t know if you can appreciate that none of that really eases my mine as to your presence in my rooms. Tell me, how would your family describe you.”

“Black sheep.”

“Well,” she said after a moment. “That puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it?”

“Some have said so.” ~Lorraine and Kellen from THE LAST RENEGADE, Jo Goodman

The braid never moved except when Priscilla raised her hand to answer a question; then it slid ever so slightly to one side and the tip curled like an apostrophe. Or maybe a comma. Those punctuation marks were suspiciously similar, except one was high and one was low. It was no wonder he got them confused. ~Finn Collins, ruminating on the schoolmate sitting in front of him, (Finn’s nine, FYI) from TRUE TO THE LAW, Jo Goodman

And hopping to a paranormal present, this next quote is from a new series I discovered.

“Maybe I just enjoy dating.”

“No one enjoys, dating,” said Miach.
(Conversation between Helene Whitney, a human, and Miach MacCecht, a Fae sorcerer and Southie crime lord) SILVER SKIN, A Cold Iron novel, by D.L McDermott

And here’s a little teaser from my WIP, COWGIRL’S SWEETHEART, from the hero’s POV as he ruminates on the love of his life:

Jolene Davis. Juliet to his Romeo—the poison that killed their relationship spilling from their families rather than a bottle.

Anybody have words to share? Or a book you’re reading and enjoying? Like I NEED more books on my TBR list because I obviously don’t have enough now. 🙄

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Tuesday Treats – Pretzel Chicken

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Silver James

pretzel chickenThis is a quick, healthy baked chicken recipe for when you want something different.

4 skinless/boneless chicken breasts (halves)
6 Tablespoons egg whites (or whites from two eggs)
2 Tablespoons honey mustard
1 1/2 cup crushed pretzels (put pretzels in a ziplock bag and crush them with a rolling pin)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan/Italian cheese (I use fresh though you can probably use the canned version)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
Nonstick olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425. Using the flat side of meat mallet, gently pound chicken between two sheets of plastic wrap (or in a baggie) until even thickness.

Place egg whites and mustard in a shallow dish; beat with a fork to mix. In a larger shallow dish, combine crushed pretzels, cheese, and thyme.

Dip chicken in egg white mixture. Press into crumb mixture to coat. Place chicken in a single layer on an ungreased, foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle chicken with any remaining crumb mixture and press lightly. Coat with cooking spray.

Bake chicken uncovered for 14-18 minutes or until no longer pink (internal temperature of 170 degrees).

Now that I’ve dug this recipe out, I’m going to make it this week. 🙂

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