What’s My Line?

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Silver James

Writer's MindMany times, when I least expect it, a phrase or a snatch of conversation pops into my head. I figure Iffy is doing a drive by but I always dutifully make note of her suggestions. Quite often, I incorporate them into the WIP or another project.

The other day on Facebook, Jennifer Lyon asked about favorite lines. While I might make note of favorites in someone else’s book, I don’t often acknowledge my own. I do have them. No, I do. I just can never recall them off the top of my head.

Today, I’m going to share a few of these. While I won’t mention which book the lines will likely appear in, I hope you enjoy anyway. 🙂

Regret hung over her like a full harvest moon illuminating each thread of her guilt like a spider web stretched between two cypress stumps.

He had to do this right. After all, he had only this once to make love to her for the first time.

Hero: I wish you loved me.
Heroine: I wish I didn’t.

Yes, I know which two characters speak those last lines. No, I’m not saying because I’m not sure in which of their books I’ll use it.

What about y’all? Do you have a favorite line in one of your books? Or in someone else’s book? Share! And have a great weekend.:D

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Spring Went Sproing

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Silver James

Yesterday, it was 57 degrees. Today, we’re supposed to hit the mid-sixties with a 60% chance of rain tonight. Uhm…two days ago, they were saying a rain/snow mix. Don’t you love spring weather? Of course, they’re talking a second storm this weekend with another chance of rain/snow mix. Fun stuff. 😛

Thinking today would be a good day to stay inside, I grabbed a couple of spring photos in the yard while I was out yesterday. Yeah, I could have done them this morning but… Yesterday, I played around with the photos and did some “fancy” processing on them. Back in the day, almost all of my photos were technical and forensic in nature. The Only is an amazing photographer and I wish I had her eye. I want to make time to develop my own, plus play around with some photography programs.

First, though, deadlines. I’m behind again so I think I’m going work instead. I’m a huge advocate of BICHOK but when not even the challenge of #1k1hr put words on the page, then I needed to back away. The book isn’t working–not completely. I’m noodling around with things in my mind, pushing the pieces this way and that looking for where they belong in the puzzle. Parts of it are just…bang on. Other parts? Yeah…not so much. So…jigsaw time. Remind me one of these days to do a more complete post on “The Puzzler”.

In the meantime, have some Spring. Those are daffodils outside my office window and blossoms on a volunteer peach tree in the front garden.

Daffodils1 3-13Peachtree2a 3-13

The images were modified in Picasa 3. The daffodils were altered with Lomo-ish, and the peach blossoms were made into a Polaroid print. Cool huh?

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Universal Tears

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Silver James

Yesterday was a tough writing day. I had to create a scene between two secondary characters–a scene fraught with anger and hurt. One character wanted to throw up her hands and walk away, pulling her emotions around her like a cloak–or a suit of armor. The other character, who was just as upset, but even more stung by the first’s attitude was thinking about beating her to the door and exiting first.

Then I remembered this little poke from the Universe:

Do you know why happy tears taste the same as sad tears, Silver?

Because all tears come from the ocean of love.

Your nautical wheeler,
`The Universe

P.S. Ahoy, Silver, love ahead… and hey, nice dinghy.

Happy tears. Sad Tears. What happens when a character who never cries does? What happens when a character decides to stay and try one more time to get through to the other, to convince her that no matter what, as long as he has her beside him, they’ll manage whatever the world throws at them?

Yeah. He didn’t walk out the door. He lost his temper and decided to fight for what was important to him. And she was smart enough to know that love would keep them afloat, even in a sea of tears.

I love it when a plan comes together, even though it left me emotionally drained and a little sniffly.

Readers, what does it take to get you so involved in a story that you get sniffly? Writers, do get emotional about your own stories?

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Reading Redux – Robb

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Silver James

I’ve been on a real reading binge lately. That should be a good thing considering the number of books on my Kindle Fire and stacked on my reading shelves. Yes, shelves. As in multiples!

Courtney Milan hit my inbox with her Brothers Sinister novel. I read one, grabbed the others that were available and now have to wait until this summer for the next one. I should know better than to do this because I always want instant gratification. **Note to self: Keep this in mind when producing your own series, d’uh! After finishing off what was available from Courtney, I finally turned my attention to J.D. Robb’s lates Eve Dallas book, CALCULATED IN DEATH. I buy each new one in both hardback (the ONLY hardbacks I buy for myself) and in digital. I read digitally by preference.

So anyway, I finished up CALCULATED on Sunday afternoon. It’s a good read. Well…but for the fact that there isn’t really any Roarke until about 25% of the way through the book. Oh well. He’s there in the background and when he makes his appearance…*swoon*. I finished the book and started scrolling through my shelves for my next read. Nothing jumped out at me. I got up and perused my paperback shelves, hoping something would fall off the stack. Amazingly, they all stayed in place–like they’d been glued or something. *sigh*

My inner reader knew what she wanted. She wanted more Robb. More Dallas and Roarke. What to do?!? Yeah. I downloaded the digital version of NAKED IN DEATH. I have two hardback versions and the paperback of this book. I still bought and downloaded it.

I ♥ this book like damn and whoah. It is my chicken soup book. It is the book I turn to when the world feels like it is crashing down around my head and I’m going to suffocate under the weight of it all. It is the book I read when nothing else will do. It’s the book I reach for when I want all my reading buttons pushed. This is the book (and series) that convinced me to get off my butt and start writing again. I wanted to be LaNora/JD when I grew up as a writer.

At it’s heart, this series is a love story dressed up with a futuristic world, homicide, and a cast of wonderful secondary characters. At the series’ heart is NAKED IN DEATH, and a grey cloth button. *deep feminine sigh*

So what is your chicken soup book? And have you read this series?

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Monday Shrink-wrapped

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Silver James

Good thing I don’t have a deadline for blogging, huh? Did everyone survive the weekend? Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? I basically went off line and woke up this morning to almost 300 emails. *muppet flail* I’ve spend the entire morning catching up. *sigh*

Chapter day on Saturday was a lot of fun. I think my world-building class went over well, lunch is always tasty at the Museum Cafe, and our afternoon program was interesting. Learned a lot about Edgar Allen Poe and got a good quote to add to my collection:

The most poetical subject in the world is the death of a beautiful woman. ~Edgar Allen Poe.

Yes, it’s a rather dark quote but at the same time, it spoke to me so it goes in the quote book.

The weather Saturday was sunny and 75. The high temp Sunday? Only 40. Brrrr. Lawyer Guy and I cleaned house, which included getting the guest room cleaned and necessitated FIVE loads of bedding laundry. Don’t ask. I gave up and went back to bed. 😆 But I read. More about that tomorrow.

Did you read a good book? See a movie? Do something fun? Hibernate?

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Luck of the Irish Day 7

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Silver James

St. Patricks DayQuick post before I head off to my OKRWA meeting to teach all I know about world building in a hour. 😉

My fabulous critique partner is the author of today’s installment over at Wild Okie Writer’s LUCKY OF THE IRISH series. Go forth and read A MATTER OF LUCK.

Do it. Now!

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Wait?!? It’s Friday?

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Silver James

I know. I’m late today. Sorry. I wish I could say it was because I’ve been madly writing but that would be a lie. Yesterday was spent doing a LOT of stuff, all writing related but not…you know…actual writing. 🙄

This week disappeared on me. How does that happen? And am I the only one it happens to?

Tomorrow is OKRWA. I’m presenting the Romance 101 early class, which is part of what I was doing yesterday–preparing and printing handouts on World Building. Don’t forget the Wild Okie Writers’ St. Paddy’s Day series. Go back and catch yesterday’s edition, too, if you missed it!

Oh, and here’s one of the PR shots The Only took of me. Now, who’s celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this weekend?!?
Silver James

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Pi or Pie–It’s still 3.14

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Silver James

Are you a math geek? When someone mentions pi/pie, do you think this? π

Or do you think chocolate, pumpkin, coconut cream?

Today is π Day. Why? Because it’s 3.14, which is the numerical equivalent of pi. π is commonly defined as the ratio of a circle’s circumference C to its diameter d. I think this is why pie is named pie, FYI. Because you know…round.

However, I am not a math person. Not even! I was passed through college calculus for the good of the math department. Don’t laugh. I’m serious! I am, however, a pie person. Just ask my posterior! I like ALL kinds of pie. I thought I’d share a family recipe, from my mother-in-law’s recipe box.

Hershey Pie

12 large marshmallows
3-4 (1.05 oz size) Hershey with Almonds candy bars
1/4 cup milk
1 cup whipped whipping cream
1 9″ pre-made graham cracker crust

Combine first 3 ingredients in top of a double boiler. (Don’t have a double boiler? Improvise like I do with a 1 qt. sauce pan stuck into a 2 qt. or whatever sizes you have). Stir until melted. Cool. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into pie shell. Chill and serve. Yes, you can add more whipped cream to the top because…whipped cream!

You’re welcome. If you have a recipe to share, do so! Happy π day!

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Serendipitous Chaos

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Silver James

Serendipity: Those little moments when the Universe winks and if one pays attention something good can happen.

Chaos: Those times when the imagination runs amuck.

Yesterday afternoon, after working on a thread in ROGUE MOON, my brain stalled. This happens–far more frequently than I’d like. A break usually restores things. Nope. So I ran errands–a book to pick up the library, a run to the cleaners. Returning to the computer, I went back a couple of chapters and reread them looking for inspiration.

I should mention here that Iffy, my Muse, is too busy petting the two photographs I downloaded of Rudy and The Villain. Yes, TV has a name but that would be letting the cat out. I decided to exercise. And considered running a load of laundry. I even tried chocolate. Then I remembered I’d promised to photograph the wolves I received for my birthday. I hadn’t even unboxed them after the initial gift opening. So I did. This is “Among The Trees.”

Among the trees

My CP gave him to me. While looking into the trees, I saw the forest and a plot twist that had never occurred to me howled at the moon–figuratively speaking. I needed a little chaos. There’s serendipity in chaos if you know where to look…

For me, it was into the eyes of a wolf.

Don’t forget the LUCK OF THE IRISH series. Alicia Dean is up today. Just click the Wild Okies link over there on the sidebar. And this has nothing to do with anything but when looking for the “herd” name of a different animal, I came upon what a group of squirrels is called–dray. Who knew? And it can’t get much more chaotic or serendipitous than that. 😉

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If It’s Tuesday, I’m HERE

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Silver James

St. Patricks DayNot…here, precisely. I’m actually over…there. And where is there you ask? Why, at the Wild Okies, of course.

Yes, it’s that time again. Some of the Wild Okies are presenting a romantic celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. The prologue went up yesterday. Written by best-selling historical author Amanda McCabe, her “The Start of the Rainbow” kicks off our LUCK OF THE IRISH SERIES. My installment is up today. Go read LUCKY CHARMS. No, seriously. I have nothing else to say today. I’m working.

On what, you ask? Why ROGUE MOON, of course. Isabelle is running for her life. Rudy is in hot pursuit. The villain is gaining on them all and the Wolves are about to kick ass and forget about taking names. I’m almost half-way through the tale and it’s time to crank up the volume.

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