Thursday Thoughts: Universal Baby Steps

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Silver James

👻🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! 🦇🐺

I managed to get a newsletter out this past Tuesday. For the first time since actually doing a newsletter for plublic consumption, I got personal. I don’t do that often. One, I figure most folks aren’t that interested and the ones who are have other ways of finding out what happening in my life. I mean, I don’t really discuss religion or politics either. In current times, doing so only pisses off half the people. Besides, I’m just a writer. While I might have the education (government/PoliSci/history major) and I’ve had a crazily diverse career, how I feel about things is just that. It’s how I feel. It’s MY opinion. That’s all. It’s not in my job description to try to sway people because I’m cool or a famous person (which I ain’t! 🙄) My job is to write books that entertain people. Which I haven’t done in a while. Written a book. Well, until recently. Anyway, As I’m making this short story way too long, I wrote a letter to my readers in the newsletter explaining what’s been happening over the past 9 months. And it felt weird. Because I don’t get too pesonal. I just write books. Though it’s taken me awhile to get back into writing shape. Which is why today’s missive from the Universe touches home.

People who do all they can, with what they’ve got, from where they are, Silver, no matter how puny their actions, how tiny their steps, or how futile it may seem, simply have more fun… and move more mountains.

Coffee, tea, or a brand-new Bentley?
The Universe
©www.tut.com 

P.S. You see, Silver, your unending baby steps will be matched by my own, and the next thing you know you’ll be hosting your own YouTube show.

Lots of you who hang closer than most kept saying much the same. “Don’t worry.” “We can wait.” “Do what you can when you can.” So that’s what I did. I did all I could with what I had from where I was. Lots and lots of baby steps and over time, the book evolved and now it’s out there in the wild for people to discover. And no. I have no desire to have my own YouTube show. Or TikTok. I’m just not tht entertaining in person. I do much better living vicariously though my characters. What baby steps are you taking these days?

Posted in Craft, Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wednesday Words: Briefly Speaking

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Silver James

So, I still have a bit of a book hangover from finishing MOONSTRUCK MAFIA: BOSTON, editing and revising, publishing, and marketing. As a result, I have not started a new project though I am leaning toward one that’s been on the back burner for a loooong time. In the meantime, I’m just doing some free writing for Thursday Threads flash fiction challenge just to keep the creative juices flowing. The Russian Wolves have been jammering–politely–at me previously but this past week it was the Italians. Or to be more precise, the potential mate of one of the Italians. Tyler (or Tyra, she can’t decide) has appeared here before as she was doing a zoom call with a potential client and her rather rambunctious niece and nephew had a Star Wars style fight behind her. Well, guess who she ran into in person last week… *waggles brows* Oh! Before I forget, the prompt is: *I’ll make it brief.*

****
“I’ll make it brief.”

Riiight, she thought. Just like you make a long story short and it lasts forever. To hide her thoughts, she gave him wide eyes and raised brows hoping she looked the tiniest bit interested.

“We’re done.”

Tyler reared back. “D-done?” Why was she stammering?

“Yes. We’re through.”

She blinked, mind racing. “Through.” She was confirming not questioning.

“You know how I feel about children.”

What the hell? They’d had three dates and none led to any deep discussions.

He stood but before he could leave, she ordered, “Wait.” He paused and she rose too. “Let me get this straight. You’re…what? Breaking up with me?”

Did he just roll his eyes? What was he, in high school?

“Yes.”

“Okay.” She shook her head. “No. Not okay.”

“Look, Tyler, you’re nice enough but you have children and—”

She cut him off with a slashing motion. “No, you look. I have temporary custody of my niece and nephew. As for you and me? Good grief. Three lousy dates and honestly, they were lousy. You and me never existed except in your imagination.” She grabbed her bag. “Capisce?”

Tyler whirled away from the jerk gaping at her. She didn’t take even one step before slamming into a solid body. Strong hands steadied her as her gaze crept up. And up. Until they met amused eyes. She squeaked. “Marco?”

“Good thing I capisce, bella. Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah,” she breathed as her libido Snoopy danced. Her night was definitely looking up.
****

There you have it, just a bit of fun. And no, the Italians probably aren’t next either. Writers, write if you want to. Writers and readers, what’s looking up in your neck of the woods?

What’s looking up here is today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my very own little almost Halloween witch. You are still the light of my life, Only! 🎃🧹🎂

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

Tuesday Treats & Titles: Frozen Irish Moonlight

Posted on October 29, 2024 by Silver James

Look! Something cold and refreshing! And an actual treat to go with the title. I realize that it’s almost Halloween and folks should be at least wearing sweaters and thinking hot chocolare or a real Irish coffee. Yeah, about that. We set a record high yesterday and looking at maybe setting one today. We’re talkin mid-to-high 80s today. So, I figured this recipe was perfect for the weather.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2 drinks

Ingredients
1 cup of vanilla ice cream
1 cup of cold brew coffee
2 cups of ice
1/2 cup of brandy*
1/2 cup of coffee liqueur
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon of vanilla

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend well. You can serve with some fresh coffee grounds on top should you choose.

*If you don’t have brandy stocked, you can use Irish whiskey (as you would with traditional hot Irish coffee) or you can get brandy extract and mix it with a little apple juice. Also, Kahlua is not the only coffee liqueur. 😁

For those of you who’ve read MOONSTRUCK MAFIA: BOSTON, you’ll understand why Fiona wants this drink added to the menu at Clancy’s Pub. Of course, Finn (the bartender) abhors “umbrella drinks.” He’ll begrudgingly make regular Irish coffee but anytime something frou-frou comes up, he’s like, “That’s a big negatory!” But Fiona has her ways, as her mate Bowie will attest. And being “straight off the boat” from Ireland, she’s all about discovering new drinks here in the USA. As she’s fond of declaring, “This is my new favorite drink!” Hopefully, y’all will click the pic, the cover, title or this Books2Read link and go forth to purchace the book so you, too, can partake in the excitement. 😉

What about y’all? Does the addition of ice cream tempt you? It does me. Also, I substitute cinnamon for the coffee grounds. I mean, I LOVE the flavor of coffee but the texture of grounds? Yeah…not so much.

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

Monday’s Tricks

Posted on October 28, 2024 by Silver James

It’s Monday. All day. What happened to the weekend? Oh, yeah. I remember. Sort of. MOONSTRUCK MAFIA: BOSTON went live. I was a busy little beaver. You know how it goes–no rest for the wicked or a writer with a new release. So, you ask, what kept me occupied and pretty certain that if I looked in the mirror I would resemble our furry friend in the meme. My brain certainly does!

I feel like I should write a report like “What I Did Over the Summer” because if feels like the weekend was that long. I marketed. I got on X. I did FB. Mostly, though, I did a major overhaul of my website. Look over there to the right. See all the pretty new graphics? I did those. Plus linked them to the (click to follow me on) Books2Read book list page for each series. If you clickThat means visitors can 1-click the pic go see the individual titles all nicely showing in order. Click on the cover and boom! You’ll finds a list of all the on-line book places where you can grab your very own copy of any book. Am I finished? Nope. But my brain quit.

I still have to get a newsletter put together and sent out today. Or maybe tomorrow. We’ll see if my techphobic brain has had enough time to recouperate. Speaking of, Stormy is here today. He was running a fever so he’s here instead of in school so Only and Baseball Boy (I really should start calling him Baseball Guy or Baseball Dude. He’s not exactly a boy anymore) can be in school.

The only writing I did last week was in the editing department and the creating of blurb and marketing lines. That hurts my brain too! I did manage a Thursday Threads challenge. It’ll pop up here on Wednesday.

Since today is tricks, tomorrow must be treats. That means more graphics plus finding a recipe. Ugh. Okay, okay. I’ll get right on that. That sounds like more fun than the newsletter!

We are in the middle of the World Serious and so far there has been some crazy baseball played! The Dodgers are up 2-0 over the Yankees. I suppose I should root for the Dodgers because their Triple A farm team, the OCK Comets, is located here. Frankly, I don’t really care. I just want some crazy good baseball and hoy howdy have they delivered so far! Yesterday was a travel day game tonight. Woohoo!

It’s late Sunday evening as I’m actually typing this and I truly am toast. Hope y’all had a great weekend. And I hope you are busy reading MOONSTRUC MAFIA: BOSTON and planning on leaving a review even if it’s just 5 STARS! LOVE IT!!! 😉

Posted in Books, Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

TGIFriday Surprise

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Silver James

*points to picture* Ta-da! There’s the cover for the new book! I have to admit that this one ranks right up there on my list of favorites and I’ve had some good covers, even if I do say so myself. What’cha think?

In other news, I think this is the final version of the blurb. It took my blurb guru to pick my original apart and help me put it back together again. What do you think? Would you buy a book based on this blurb?

Their enemies call them Boru’s Wolves…
And they are about to embark on a war against their rivals, the authorities, and the lowest of lowlifes Boston has to offer. After years of plotting, the time has come to put their plans into motion. Crime and corruption in Boston is about to take on a whole new meaning.

If they only knew the truth…
The Wolves aren’t just a faction of the Irish Mob. And they aren’t just human. Not exactly. Technically, they are wolf shifters. Inside every man is a wolf, waiting to come out and hunt. Hard to piss off and even harder to kill, the Wolves will stop at nothing to keep their territory safe from the scum that inhabits the streets of Beantown.

Wolves protect what’s theirs…
Especially since they mate for life. When love sweeps in like a Nor’easter, these moonstruck Wolves will fight harder than they’ve ever fought before. Protecting their mates will never be easy for men like these, but they’ll use every molecule of both man and wolf to keep their ladies safe.

For Boston’s Moonstruck Mafia, it’s a war for territory, for honor, and for love. And in a war like this, only the strong survive.

****

With luck, all the shuffling and fixing will be done today and I can finish the formatting and uploading to Draft2Digital to go wide and Amazon to be available there and I’ll be sending out alefts as the book goes live next week. Just in time to be a Halloween treat with no tricks! Let me know what you think, um’kay?

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

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Magic

Posted on October 24, 2024 by Silver James

It’s Thursday. I have thoughts!

Okay, not really. The Universe has thoughts and I just cheat and riff on them a bit. First though, this could have been Thursday Tease except Tuesday Tease has more alliteration. Instead, I will have announcements and a reveal tomorrow so be sure to check back then. Yay for Fridays! But it’s still Thursday so here’s what the Universe imparted to me this week.

Don’t just see the magic, Silver, engage it!

Challenge it!

Dare it!

Dream big, with every expectation that your dreams will manifest.

Be the wand,
The Universe
©www.tut.com 

P.S. Demand that your dreams come true, Silver! You’re not beholden to life. Life is beholden to you. You are its reason for being. You came first.

The Big U’s message is applicable to Life most definitely but it also makes sense for us writers. I truly believe that the imagination is pure magic. Which makes authors magical, be we witches, wizards, or sorcerers. We pluck ideas out of thin air, say things like “hocus pocus” or “abbracadabra” or even “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” We wave magic wands and *poof*! Characters! Then we stir up a caldron of spells (and spellcheckers!) and voila! Out pops a plot. Then we weave words into a magic cloak to tell the story. See? Magic! *sigh* If it were only that simple. Still, the whole process IS pretty magical. What’s magical in your life today?

Posted in Craft, Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Wednesday Words: Ending or Beginning?

Posted on October 23, 2024 by Silver James

I’m setting this post up yesterday. Presuming that you are reading this today. That would be Wednesday because words! I have some. They are totally random because being hip-boots deep in edits and revisions does not lend a helping hand to starting something new and with no clue what will be the next project, I get weird when it comes to the Thursday Threads flash fiction challenge. I did manage to snag an honorable mention last week using the prompt: *”So that was how he ended his life.* Yeah. That’s quite the prompt, right? So, here’s what “scribble writing” produces sometimes.

****
“So, that was how—”

“He ended his life.”

That statement fell into a well of silence as little ears had been straining to hear what the storyteller would say next. Now, they all stared round-eyed at the tall man with tattoos on his arms.

“Suicide?” The questioner remained out of sight beyond the doorway.

The stranger lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug. The storyteller cleared her throat with a loud ahem. He very slowly turned his head, his gaze colliding with hers. She gestured to the semicircle of children, every head swiveled to watch him. His eyes narrowed. She gave him big eyes and a look that spoke volumes—What were you thinking?

A face appeared as the second man peeked around the door. “Oh, shit.”

That set the kids to giggling and the man had the good graces to redden. “Sorry, ma’am.”

A little girl tugged the storytellers skirt. “Whath’th thewthide?” Her two front teeth were missing.

The woman looked very solemn as she glared at the two men. “Perhaps you’d care to explain?”

“Not particularly, ma’am,” the tattooed stranger said with a roguish grin. “But I apologize for interrupting your story time.”

He stepped into the room, walked to the group and then hunkered down beside the little girl, which put him precariously close to the storyteller. “Suicide is a mystery, little darlin’. And sometimes a mercy.” His eyes met the storyteller’s. “And to finish the tale, that was how the Jack O’Lantern came to be.”

“You were listening.”

“I always listen when a pretty woman speaks.”
****

Don’t ask me about the characters or the location, other than probably somewhere in Appalachia. The storyteller’s tale is one from the region. This might–or might NOT–end up in the far-down-the-list historical Moonstruck book. NO promises! Sometines, a writer just needs to scribble out some words that have no context. That’s part of the fun of flash fiction. You take the prompt, juggle the words and end up with a story within the prescribed word count. This one is restricted to 250 words. It’s tough but, like I said, it’s a way to clear the imaginations palate when the writer is between courses. And now I’m hungry. What’s for breakfast?

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

Tuesday Tidbits: Oops

Posted on October 22, 2024 by Silver James

Uhm….this is late. I’m late. But I have a good excuse! I was brain deep in edits. I got through 350 pages of what I call the “first sweep edits.” That one takes care of typos and minor fixes and/or changes of words or sentence structure. It’s done in a Word document using track changes and trust me, by the time I was through last evening, my eyes were crossed and blurry. And I’d totally forgotten that I didn’t have a blog ready for today. Oops.

Today, I’m going back through the comments made by a beta reader. I need to see what worked or didn’t work. Seeing a comment that says “Ooh! Love this line” or “Yes. Good twist” gives me the oomph I need to get through to the next level. What’s that entail you ask? That’s the hard part where something DIDN’T work for the reader and I have to decide how to fix it. Is it something that can be just deleted because it’s superfluous? Is the scene in the wrong place? Does that twist work or does it give stuff away? Technically, this pass is the nitty gritty. Emotionally, this is the pass that makes me wonder why the heckfire am I doing this. It’s okay. Don’t panic. This is a normal part of the process for almost every writer I know. We truly do have a love/hate relationship with our books.

The only thing I hate more than this part of the editing process is writing the blurb. I did get a first draft done. For something so short, it shouldn’t be so hard. But it is! *whine* Potential readers peruse the blurb and make a decision. The blurb has to be catchy with a hook to lure those folks to buy the book. It has to give enough information without spilling the beans. I mean, who wants a spoiler in a blurb? At the same time, the blurb shouldn’t make promises the book can’t keep. It’s a fine line.

Okay, I’m stalling. Time for more coffee, some eye drops, and then to open the MS and get back at it. On a happy note, I should soon have a cover reveal. Maybe tomorrow. 🤞🏼

How’s your morning/day going?

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

Just Another Monday

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Silver James

Why do Mondays keep happening? I mean, like every week. I don’t remember signing up for this. And who is Monday named after anyway? Okay. Yes. I DID go down that rabbit hole. It’s Middle English, from the Old English mōnandæg; akin to Old High German mānatag Monday; akin to Old English mōna moon and to Old English dæg day. Thank you Merriam Webster.

Since it is Monday and I’m trying to get life pretty much back to normalcy aka life BS (Before Surgery), Jake and I are off to Wallyworld this morning for a normal (mostly) grocery run. I get irritated every time I stick my debit card in the cash register, especially since I saw the COLA “raise” I’m getting from SSN for next year. It’s a whopping 2.5%. That puts a whole $28.55 more into my check. Our grocery bills have doubled in the four years. And that “big” raise we got last year? Mine was less that $100 which wouldn’t even cover the increase in groceries for one week. Just sayin’…

Climbing down off my rant box, I got one set of edits/proofs back. Sadly, one of the characters is undergoing a name change operation. He’s not a happy camper but when he faced off against Devlin, he threw up his hands and said I could pick another name. After the grocery run, I’ll be doing a search and find to “erase” Declan and rename him Quinn. Seems there was some minor confusion between Declan and Devlin and nobody (excepte maybe Ronan) wants to argue with Devlin. So, our intrepid legal eagle is now Quinn Donahue. It has a nice ring. Getting this set back means we are one step closer to a release date! I need to nudge my cover artist to see how much longer she needs.

Speaking of covers, well….not exactly. More like graphic “ads.” I did a few of those this weekend. I think I’m happy with how they turned out. I still have one or two in mind, if I can find the right photographs. Also, I have the rough draft of the back-of-the-book blurb done. I hates the blurbs! Luckily, I have a genius blurb guru to help me out. It takes a village to get a book out, I’m tellin’ ya!

In sports news…*sigh* My Cowboys almost pulled it off Friday night against BYU. They were soooo close. As for OU, I have no words. Also, no Stormy soccer this weekend. I was thinking there was a game or two then remembered this was Fall Break with the schools. With two kids teaching now, you’d think I’d know these things. 🙄

I listened to Karen Marie Moning’s newest release, THE HOUSE AT WATCH HILL. It’s the first book in a trilogy and I’ll be waiting for the next two books to release before I listen to it again. I’m not a fan of cliffhangers. Other than that, the book was most interesting with out outstanding prose and intense worldbuilding. I’m currently doing a marathon of Darynda Jones’s Charley Davidson series. I last read them back in 2014–and maybe a few years after due to new releases. I do know that I stopped about NINTH GRAVE. Or TENTH. I don’t remember. Anyway, I enjoy Darynda’s writing and after I did the relisten of her Sunshine Vicram series, I thought to myself, “Self, why not Charley? It’s been awhile.” Yeah, no clue it had been 10 years. Anyway, Reyes is still on my Top Ten Book Boyfriend list.

Not much else going on in my world. After a week mostly off, I’ll be back at it once I’m home from WW and get the groceries put up. What are you putting up with today? 😉

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

Friday Sinema: Name Game

Posted on October 18, 2024 by Silver James

Yes, it is still a Southern thing. Y’all have no idea how taxing the whole name game is when it comes to grandparents. My mother decided she was Granny Gooch. Don’t ask. I have no idea. Of course, my own grandmother was Gong Gong. I blame that on my brother as he was the one who named her. (He was 7 years older than me.) LG’s mom chose Mamsy. It fit. His grandmothers were Grandmother James and Meme. (Me-me NOT meem.) Me? I’m Jammie. Easy to say and it fits since I’m often in my PJs aka jammies at any given time on any give day. Still, I sorta wish there was a Grandparent Name Store. Have a great weekend, all!

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