Wacky Wednesday – Coffee and Balls

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Silver James

Contrary to what the neighbors reported yesterday, I did NOT tackle the UPS man, wrestle the box he was carrying from his hands, and dash into the house mumbling “My precioussssss.” shifty-eyes-ani2faster Nor did I give him a big sloppy kiss. He’s cute but not that cute. Even if he did bring my new coffee maker. Want to see?

Coffeemaker1Coffeemaker2
Here’s the mailing box it came in and here’s the manufacturer’s box. So much to unwrap!!!

And here’s my new precious all set up and holding the elixir of life. Yes, I did make a pot immediately, even if it was 3:00 p.m. Why do you ask?
Coffeemaker3

Some of you may have seen my comment yesterday on Facebook about the woman with balls. Yeah. You read that right. I really wish I’d taken the risk of grabbing my iPhone to snap a picture but I was driving at the time. See, I overheard the conversation while I was in the drive-through line at the cleaners. The woman in question was on her cellphone walking out of the cleaners and I overheard her say:

“I don’t really care what anyone thinks. They’re my ex’s. I got them in the divorce and I’ll be damned if he ever gets them back.”

I didn’t think much about it until she got in her car and pulled out in front of me. She was driving a late model Hyundai sporty sedan. (Don’t ask me the model, I have no clue!) And hanging from the license plate frame was a pair of metal balls. Like THESE. But wait. Even if you know what I’m talking about, you must click the link. And scroll down below the pics to see the sales pitch. Trust me. It’s worth it. The double entendres are just…perfect. Of course, my brain went there. Immediately. Go see for yourself.

I’ll be luxuriating in fresh, hot, TASTY coffee today. And trying to get focused to work again. Because with coffee and balls…what else am I going to do, right? 😉

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

If It’s Tuesday it Must Be…

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Silver James

lolpics-coffee owlBelgium? Bulgravia? Boston? I meant to take a couple of days off. I got lazy. And I didn’t have anything to say. So I hid. I also killed my Bunn coffee maker on Sunday. 😦 This makes me have a very large sad. The replacement will be here today. Yay for Amazon Prime and one day shipping, though I ordered it Sunday and one-day shipping only works on business days.

In the midst of my laziness, I watched softball–every game of the brackets. University of Oklahoma plays University of Tennessee in the Women’s College World Series in a best of three finals series with the second game tonight. OU came back to win it in the bottom of 12th last night. Go Big Red!

I read. I’ve long been a fan of Julie Leto and I finally got around to reading her Dirty series. OMG! I wanted to *headdesk* for not reading this series sooner! This is sexy suspense. There’s romance but not a HEA and the heroine, Marisela Morales, is a Latina from Tampa who is all kickass and smart, even though she just managed to get through high school. The books are on sale digitally. The first one DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS is the place to start. Wow. And Frankie Vega, Marisela’s ex might be a pain but he’s like dancing the salsa on a hot Miami night. Just sayin’…

I caught up on some business things, like dealing with contracts, etc. for the NRCA reception in Atlanta at RWA Nationals in July.

I wrote some. Not much, but a little. Still waiting to get edits back on ROGUE MOON. Tomorrow, I’ll get all the “back up” material ready to go–links, blurbs, upcoming release info, etc. necessary to go into the final document for formatting. I have hopes it will be live by the weekend. I also settled on a name for the Penumbra Papers prequel novel–BLACK MAGIC WOMAN. Here, have a taste of the opening:

This was only Day One of a what was shaping up to be a bloody weird week and the gods had been drinking again. Too bad Sade Marquis didn’t have that option. She was still on duty. Dammit. Not to mention it was only nine in the morning. If things got any stranger, she might just change her mind.

Am I happy to be back in Sade’s head? Damn straight I am! Also, look for some additions around there. I really need to get a Penumbra Papers page added and actually…you know…get some pictures put on my Heroes and Villains page. Ah ha! Procrastination. I must look at sexy men on the internet. shifty-eyes-ani2faster

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Lest We Forget

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Silver James


Anyone who spends much time around me knows that I’m pretty rabid when it comes the military. Lawyer Guy is a disabled US Army vet. My brother served in the Air Force during Viet Nam. While my dad wasn’t active duty, he was one of the original engineers on the B-17 bomber.

While looking at images for today, I came across many that touched my heart (and I’ve shared some of them in other “social” places), some made me mad, and some made me sad. There was one depicting a disabled vet in a wheelchair, dressed in BDUs, placing flags on military graves. The message? “Just a reminder. Today is NOT National BBQ Day.”

It’s not. Even though I’ll be fixing a BBQ brisket. Because today is about family. About friends. About remembering. About living in freedom because people of honor sacrificed their lives for this country and its ideals. Don’t let ANYONE besmirch their memory, their sacrifice, or their honor.

To those who are or have served, thank you. To those of you with graves to decorate with the American flag, may you find comfort in the knowledge your loved one’s sacrifice was not in vain. To the world, why is peace so hard to achieve?

If you would like to help our returning service members, here’s the link for WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT. Please consider giving.

I’m proud to be an American. I’m proud to be the wife of a veteran. And I won’t apologize for that pride to anyone.

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Memorial Day Weekend

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Silver James

Just a quick note to let y’all know that a short series of stories to celebrate our military started today at Wild Okie Writers Blog. My story, THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE, is the first up. Drop by for a read. 🙂 There will be a new story up tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday.

We had 8 inches of localized rain yesterday and about five o’clock, the ceiling collapsed in my library. Nothing like soggy insulation and wet dry wall which is a misnomer if I ever heard one. 😆

I’ll be watching baseball, super regional softball (leading up to the Women’s College World Series, and working this weekend. Critiques and revisions. Yay! I’ll probably fix a BBQ brisket for Monday.

Who has big plans?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Rainy-Day Thursday

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Silver James

Rain. Flooding rain. Oklahoma has always been Mother Nature’s red-headed stepchild. But seriously, Mom? To combat the gray day and the downpour, here’s a couple of fun links–and a way to proscrastinate!

Today, the last installment of WICKED FAMILIAR is up at A Little Bit Tart, A Little Bit Sweet. You don’t want to miss this episode because I think I hit every bad romantic cliche available!

For those who didn’t see this on my Facebook, this bit of literary awesomesauce is a lot of fun: POETRY FROM BOOK SPINES. Intrigued, I went to my TBR shelves and found the following. You can click on the image to enlarge it. 😉
book poetry 1

poetry 2

What’s on your shelves?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Time Out

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Silver James

I’m taking off the rest of the week from blogging here. The tornado that struck today left a great deal of devastation in it’s wake. So many injured and killed–human and animal alike.

Send good thoughts to Oklahoma and if you want to help, donate to the Oklahoma Red Cross and/or the Salvation Army. I’ve linked the sites. Please designate that the donations are for Oklahoma. Thank you.

The James Gang is fine. Friends have been affected but we’re safe with no damage. We’re lucky. Stay safe, everyone! I’ll be back soon.

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Start Your Engines

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Silver James

Must Have CoffeeIt’s Monday. Again. But that’s okay. I’m ready for the week! While I’m waiting on edits for ROGUE MOON, I’m restarting an old project today. Actually–I’m starting a new one, too. First up is the revamp of SEASON OF THE WITCH. That squealing and thumping of feet? Yeah, that’s me doing the happy dance. 😉 I have MISSED the world of Penumbra. The other project is also part of Sade’s story. I participated in a writing prompt several long weeks ago and a whole new idea for a novella popped into my head. My readers will get to visit Sade as she investigates the case that leads to the formation of the FBI’s MAGICAL unit. I definitely see a lot of coffee in my future!

Weekend wrap up: I started and finished Jeaniene Frost’s TWICE TEMPTED. Her take on Vlad Dracul is one I really like, and he fits nicely into her Cat & Bones world. I also came up on the list to download Lara Adrian’s ninth Midnight Breed novel DEEPER THAN MIDNIGHT at the library. I snatched it and read through the storms last night. I’ll likely be finished by the time y’all read this. Not sure what’s next on my list.

OKRWA was fascinating with a heart-breaking but informative program by a professor at OU. Dr. Avila spoke on human trafficking. Two of our members are using elements of trafficking in current WIPs. I have the feeling it will make an appearance in one of my future Penumbra Paper books. *nods* And speaking of writing, I submitted a MS to a publisher. That’s all I’m saying right now. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Despite all the bad news last week regarding how stupid and effed up the US government is, I leave you with this heartwarming and uplifting story on how a state office and a private organization teamed up to do something really good! Click to read the story. Marine reunion

I don’t know about you other writers, but Iffy was bouncing on her toes in excitement, so there may be a variation of this theme at some point. Here’s to surviving Monday! Now where did I lose my coffee mug? *wanders off looking distracted*

Posted in Books, Writing Life | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Friday Fun – Cat v. Dog

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Silver James

OMGWTFBBQ!!!! I am sooooo glad I did not have coffee on my desk when I watched this. LIQUIDS ALERT!!! Do not drink. Do not have liquids anywhere near.

Oh, unless you have dogs or cats, this won’t be that funny. But for those of us who are owned by one, the other, or both? SO. FREAKING. TRUE!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend. I have OKRWA and a program on human trafficking presented by a professor from OU. Should be enlightning!

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Wicked To-Do

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Silver James

LIMECELLOparanormal_wickedfamiliarToday’s post is short and sweet. It’s Thursday. That means the next chapter of WICKED FAMILIAR is up. This week? Chapter Three, In Which The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Consort. You’ll just have to go read it!

I did a lot on the ol’ to-do list yesterday:

Mowed yard
Sent ROGUE MOON to CP
Wrote Memorial Day story for Wild Okie Writer’s upcoming series
Sent it to CP
Critiqued CP’s MD story
Bought lottery tickets
Finished reading contest entries, judged, returned form

Today’s list?
Meet CP for coffee
Start rereading SEASON OF THE WITCH
Work on website updates

This is a list I can handle! So…is reading WICKED FAMILIAR on your to-do list? No? Well why NOT!?!?!? 😉 But inquiring minds want to know. What’s on your list?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Letting Go

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Silver James

universeHappy Hump Day. Yesterday, I finished the main draft of ROGUE MOON. It’s a mess. I’m not saying that because messy manuscripts are part of my process. They aren’t. Ask my Critique Partner. Under normal circumstances, my process is pretty clean…in a messy sort of way. 😆 What I mean by that, as a puzzler/pantser, the actual process is like cooking from scratch with no recipe. Every pan and bowl in the house is dirty by the time I’ve finished, but darn if the meal isn’t tasty.

ROGUE MOON wasn’t like that. I can analyze, go back and explain, find the faults/reasons/excuses for the trouble I had writing it, but bottom line? I was ready to move on. Ready for the next project. I can’t call it a “new” project, because it’s not. The Penumbra Papers have been hanging out there since I first started this site years ago. I still have plans for the Moonstruck series. I plan on creating two novels from the six novellas–the first three in one, and the next three in the second. There will be “bonus” chapters tying them all together and provided the reader with an even deeper look at the characters and the plot. There’s a whole other book out there, hinted at in BRIDE’S MOON–the members of the Atlantis Project. And a new Wolf appeared from Blue Moon Bayou in ROGUE MOON. I know who his heroine is, I don’t know their story, though I do know it won’t be part of the six-book arc.

But first, Penumbra. *happy dances* I’m ready to let Moonstruck go and move on. Which is why I laughed when this little reminder from the Universe popped up in my inbox.

Silver, letting go is always easier than holding on.

And it’s how the new stuff will find you.

You new stuff magnet,
~~The Universe

Plus, Silver, no messy rope burns.

What are you holding on to that you should let go of? Need first aid for those rope burns? No? Then has any new stuff found you?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments