Universal Discouragement

universeThis nudge from the Universe has been hanging out in my draft folder for quite awhile. After releasing CAFE MIDNIGHT yesterday and having two whole sales (one of them mine), this is the one that popped out at me when I looked for a topic for today.

Do you know what it sometimes means, Silver, when you feel a bit bummed out and aren’t sure why? When you catch yourself looking back over your shoulder and wondering? When you feel doubt, sense uncertainty, and experience fear? When you sometimes wonder what’s taking so long?

It means you’re normal.

Yeeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The Universe

Well, Silver, as normal as anyone can be who possesses superpowers, commands legions, and rearranges physical circumstances simply with thought.

I’m not sure what it means, exactly, but I do catch myself feeling a bit bummed out, and I have caught myself looking over my shoulder all filled with doubt and stuff. And fear? Oh yeah! That’s a constant companion. I think this is a human thing. It’s definitely a writer thing. I’ve yet to talk to ANY writer who hasn’t expressed these exact sentiments at one time or another. And it’s normal. Aren’t you glad? *whew* I am.

P.S. As for that last part? Yeah, right. You make me laugh, Universe. 🙄

P.S.S. Stop by tomorrow for another cover reveal. The Only has been busy! 😀

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Coming Soon: Cafe Midnight

Update! CAFE MIDNIGHT is now live. 😀 Here’s the LINK

Cafe Midnight 680A burned-out homicide cop. A mysterious diner. A dead body. What could possibly go wrong?

When that cop is Joe McGwire? Everything. Back on duty after a deadly shootout, Joe and his new best friend, Insomnia, hit the streets. Drawn to a diner called Cafe Midnight, Joe walks straight into trouble.

Welcome to Cafe Midnight, where the coffee’s hot, you can still smoke, the payphone costs a nickel, and famous detectives hang out looking for a case.

This short story is a fond homage to film noir and the detective novels of yesteryear. It’s a tongue-in-cheek tale about a hard-driven homicide detective and the denizens of the dark he meets while investigating his latest murder.

As soon as it goes live on Amazon, I’ll let y’all know. Who’s your favorite literary or movie detective?

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Monday = Random

Making coffeeThere’s a reason I set up the coffee pot the night before. If I’m lucky, Lawyer Guy gets up first and makes the coffee when he puts the boys out. If I’m not, I have to figure out how to turn on the faucet, fill the pot, and get it emptied into the coffee maker without spilling it all over the cabinet.

So how was your weekend?

I worked Saturday. Got some decent words in, with no real surprises from the characters. Nikos is definitely an arrogant sonavawyrm.

Did you do anything fun?

I’m reading unpublished contest entries, published winners (for reviews), and in between, the second part of Julie Leto’s sexy Double Dare serial novel. *fans face* Julie’s long been a favorite read of mine and she’s an all round cool gal!

Read anything worth mentioning?

Preview…tomorrow, I’ll talk about my mystery short, CAFE MIDNIGHT, that will be out this week. It’s a fond homage to film noir and detective novels of a by-gone era.

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Bucket List 81-90

notebookGuess what!?! This is the next to the last Bucket List post. Are you happy dancing? Not many marked off this week’s list. Most of these will never happen but they sounded like a good idea at the time.

81. Have my portrait painted. [Why I put this on the list, I have NO idea! I hate having my picture taken so why would I want to sit for a portrait? And where the hell would I hang the darn thing? 🙄 ]

82. Have commissioned artwork of all of my Heroes.

83. Drive a flying car….or would that be fly a driving car…you know what I mean. Popular Mechanics lied. We should have flying cars by now! *pout*

84. Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef. [Uhm…that would mean getting into a swimsuit and wetsuit. NOT gonna happen!]

85. Visit Atlantis. (The mythical land NOT the hotel resort…)

86. Visit Athens. (I’ve been to London, Rome, and Paris already. Or not…depends on the political unrest at any given time.)

87. Laugh every day. (I do this but I need the reminder. As I’m going to live “forever”, this one won’t get marked off. 😉 )

88. Have a scotch with Sean Connery. (He’s an arse but man, is he easy on the eyes and ears–even at his age. ;9 )

89. Appear on a panel at a writer’s con.

90. Give a panel/class at RWA National.

Okay. I haven’t laughed today. Somebody tell me a joke. Or point me toward an lolcat/dog/something. 😉 Have a great weekend!

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The Darwin Awards

This landed in my inbox yesterday. I didn’t check to verify that these actually were the winners of the Darwin Awards**. It doesn’t really matter because…well, just read them. Liquids Alert. Do not drink or set liquids near your keyboard.

**Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Here is the glorious winner

1. When his 38 calibre revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California, would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.

And now, the honourable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat cutting machine and after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger… The chef’s claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies… The deception wasn’t discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer… $15. [If someone points a gun at you and gives you money, is a crime committed?]

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly.. He decided that he’d just throw a cinder block through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinder block and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinder block bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape…

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, “Yes, officer, that’s her. That’s the lady I stole the purse from.”

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti , Michigan at 5 A.M., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn’t open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren’t available for breakfast…. The man, frustrated, walked away. [*A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER]

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street by sucking on a hose, he got much more than he bargained for… Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline, but he plugged his siphon hose into the motor home’s sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges saying that it was the best laugh he’d ever had.

In the interest of bettering mankind, please share these with friends and family….unless of course one of these individuals by chance is a distant relative or long lost friend. In that case, be glad they are distant and hope they remain so…

HAPPY HUMP DAY! Don’t be stupid. 😉

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Universal Micky Ds and Magic

I’m always in need of magic. Magical words. Magical stories. Magical characters. Magical beings to clean my house and do my laundry. Yeah, I’m holding my breath on that last one. 🙄

When this popped up in my inbox, I’m not sure why it resonated. Well, other than I’m writing a series infused with magic. All kinds of magic. I’ve learned so much since I originally wrote SEASON OF THE WITCH. I now have a handle on world-building and series bibles and consistent storytelling.

It’s all self-service, Silver.

The magic works through you, not for you.

Now helping 7 billion help themselves,
~~The Universe

Just order and show up, Silver. If it’s not there when you show up, keep showing up until it is.

Words, to me, are magic. It’s up to me to serve them up. And like the Universe says, if they aren’t there when I show up, I need to just keep showing up until magic happens. So I’m putting in my order, Universe. I’m ready for a lot of magic! I’ll be here, waiting. 😉 Right after a run to Micky D’s for a cheeseburger.

What’s magical in your life today?

P.S. A very, VERY happy 30th anniversary to Lawyer Guy. Thank you for being the magic in my life all these years. ♥

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Inspiration is Where You Find It

Since my Muse has ADHD, I normally don’t lack for ideas and when I do, something tends to pop up that gives me a shove in the right direction.

I’m an Oklahoma girl, bred, born, and raised. I remember hanging out in my front yard hoping one of the big kids would come down the street riding their horse and I could beg a ride. I was thrown when I was four, crushing every bone in my right wrist. I still have trouble with it today.

When I was 13, a couple of weeks after my grandfather died, my dad took me to a horse ranch. The breeder owed the estate money and they’d worked out a deal whereby I could pick out my first horse. I did–a stripe-backed dun with a sorrel mane and tail and a white blaze. I named him Lucky-A-Go-Go. My dad sold him when I went off to college. My sophomore year, I bought a gray horse named Traveler and I learned English, jumping, dressage, and eventing. I sold him when I moved home. Both went to little girls who loved all things horse.

I bought ten acres of land just outside of my hometown. I built a house and a barn and my dad and I started breeding Quarter horses. I had a riding horse, too, named Saddle Tramp. He was also a dappled gray. We had Fancy, and Priss, and their colts. I showed them in horse shows. Did some rodeoing. I attempted to ride a reining horse. It’s sort of like dressage but…western. It’s hard with a saddle and bridle. But to do it like this young woman? And for the reasons she did? Yeah. That sniffle you heard was me and I’m blaming any typos on the tears. But she’s so gonna be a heroine in one of my For the Love of a Cowgirl books. That’s a promise!

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Bucket List 71-80

notebook71. Learn to play the bagpipes. (Hey…this is wishful thinking, right? I actually started lessons with a chanter but…I am SOOOOO non-musical that I gave up.) [Again, at the time, I was reaching. Who knows, maybe I’ll find my chanter buried in a pile and give it another go. Or just put on one of my bagpipe albums…]shifty-eyes-ani2faster

72. Get my tribal membership card. (Lawyer Guy’s working on tracking my birth family genealogy to prove it up)

73. Meet a member of my birth family.

74. Learn to “let go.” (See #60 – 64)

75. Figure out more creative ways to procrastinate.

76. Visit every Major League ballpark in the US (and Canada) and eat the “house specialty”. (See #29 😀 )

77. Walk barefoot on the beach with a grandchild(ren).

78. Lay in a high mountain meadow and see shapes in the clouds with a grandchild(ren). [Uhm…Only? No pressure! Y’all can wait. For as long as you want!!!!]

79. Meet more of my internet friends face-to-face. (I’ve met many, but have many more to meet!)

80. Attend the Olympics. (Once upon a time, I wanted to participate as an athlete but…waaaay too old for that now. 🙂 )

Who else likes the bagpipes? Remind me to tell my “Battle of the Car Radios” story one of these days. shifty-eyes-ani2faster

Who’s doing something fun this weekend?

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Git ‘er Done

keep-calm-and-git-er-done-6There’s a comedian who uses that line as his signature, spoken in his best redneck accent, “Git’er done!” There’s another who has a routine built around “your sign. “Here’s your sign!” he chortles when talking about stupid people. And yes, the sign says, “Stupid.”

Today is the first day of a new month. In looking for inspiration for today’s post, I thought about what I haven’t been doing lately–which is “git’er done.” I’m behind on some deadlines. I’m behind on some obligations. I’m definitely behind on sleep. So what did I do? I turned to Google, my search engine of choice. Here’s just a few of the things I found:

60 Empowering Quotes To Help You Get Things Done You can click to see the full list but here are a couple of my favorites.

‘Finished last’ will always be better than ‘Did not finish’, which always trumps ‘Did not start.’

Don’t think too much, or you’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place.

Thinking too long about doing something is often the reason it never gets done.

What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.

Did you know there’s an app for that? There is. HERE

There’s even a handbook from the Green Berets. Seriously! Who knew?

So, that’s my inspiration for today. I’m going to concentrate on all my projects and simply work until I “git ‘er done.” Easier said than done but I can do it! What about y’all? Did you really like one of those 60 nudges? Do you need/want the app? What do the Green Berets know the rest of us don’t?

All kidding aside, what are you going to get done today?

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Historical Perspective

mobile phone and booksI read a book before, during, and after RWA Nationals. I’ve met the author, shared a few meals with her. Enjoyed the book. Mostly. It’s the first in a series and represents a shift in genres for her. Really liked her characters, her voice, and overall, the plot.

Here’s the rub. It was a historical. I don’t often read historicals. I’m a historian by education and interest. I’m married to a historian. And we reproduced a historian, who then converted her fiance to the dark side and HE became a historian.

I have a background in British history, American Civil War history, and both Oklahoma and Native American history. I’m decently read in a lot of other areas, too. We have two 4×8 bookcases that’re nothing but historical reference books. There’s a reason I don’t write historicals. I’m a stickler for the history being correct and sometimes, that history plays havoc with a book’s plot. And sometimes, the author just gets it wrong.

Regency England. Not my period but I’ve been known to read romances set in that time. I’ve also been known to stop reading and go research if something in the story seems…off to me. Which brings me back to that book I read. It wasn’t a Regency. It is a western. Yeah. That’s something I know a leetle bit about. *makes itsy-bitsy sign with thumb and index finger* Guns. Horses. Outlaws. Settlers. Ranching. Peace officers. And Indians. Especially Indians in Oklahoma. Did I mention I know about Oklahoma, too?

See? We aren’t…Kansas. The majority of Kansas is flat. If you get up around Kansas City, the topography changes to granite hills. But head west? Flat all the way to the horizon and once you cross over in Colorado, it’s still flat until you can see the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in the distance.

Oklahoma has hills. And mountains. We have rivers and lakes. Buttes and canyons. Forests, grasslands, and red clay. And most of the Indians who settled here were civilized. Lawyer Guy’s ancestor was a lawyer who argued against Removal in front of the US Supreme Court. He made the Trail of Tears in chains. They didn’t wear breechclouts, go bare-chested (except maybe when working), and the ladies did not wear buckskin dresses. They lived in real houses, in real towns. Hello. Five CIVILIZED Tribes. Ring a bell? I’m part Chickasaw and part Cherokee. LG is Muskogee/Creek. We have three of the five covered.

So back to the book…yeah. Oklahoma, though eventually the author did properly refer to it as Indian Territory, given the dates (we didn’t make statehood and become Oklahoma until 1907), she painted the state as a flat, tornado-ravaged expanse with little water (okay, we have been in a drought and there was that whole Dust Bowl thing in the 30s, but…) and then she made the Cherokees into…something they weren’t. She made them into a common stereotype.

I’m not an advocate of Wikipedia as a serious research tool, but it can be a handy source for quick information. Case in point, the Cherokees. Here’s the WIKIPEDIA LINK just for the capitol. Read it. The book was set in the 1880s. Yeah.

Rant almost over, I promise. If you’re writing a historical, do your research! If I didn’t like the author, her voice, and her characters, the book would have been a DNF for me. Granted, it was only one chapter but that one chapter tossed me out of the story so fast I almost didn’t get back in it. From that point on, all the little niggling things I could have overlooked started to really bug me. And now I wonder if I’ll read her next book. This is not a good thing for an author looking for readers.

So. What about the rest of you? What nit-picky things irk you about a book?

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