Thursday Thoughts: Universal Creativity

Posted on July 25, 2024 by Silver James

As y’all know, I had to take a forced hiatus from writing. Heck, I was forced to pretty much give up doing much of anything besides lying in bed and occasionally forcing down food and drink. Being extremely ill Doesn’t leave much time for anything but survival and then recovery. There’s no brain space for much of anything beyond that. Slowly, there’s time and energy for other things. Reading–or listening–to a book. To watching TV beyond news and weather. When you’re a creative person, this is a tough adjustment. And by creative, I don’t mean just writing. Art. Crafts. Cooking. Any activity that gets your juices flowing. Heck, playing solataire or tic tac toe. Anyway, It’s been about six months now. A friend–also a writer who had to take a hiatus because time and brain power had to go to the day job–and I decided to dedicate the month of July to getting back up on the writing horse. The whole point was to be creative every day–whether it consisted of a 100 words or 10 pages edited. She is mostly writing. I’ve spent the first 2/3s of the month on edits but yesterday, I hit the next chapter and while I had scenes, I didn’t have a completed chapter that made sense from opening line to the hook at the end. That’s why today’s message from the Universe, while actually delivered much earlier this year makes perfect sense to me now.

Life? I kind of see it like this, Silver:

Second after second, illusion after illusion, miracle after miracle… an unending parade of opportunities to catch yourself in the act of creating.

Gotcha!
The Universe
©www.tut.com

P.S. Here comes one now, Silver…

So, m’friends, cheers to life, illusion, miracles, and opportunities to create! Today, I’m on chapter 32 and have hopes of figuring out–from scratch–chapter 33. I’m creating new words and a new chapter. What are you creating today?

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Wednesday Words: Famous Last Words

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Silver James

Once again, we have hit Hump Day. The mid-point of the week. Wednesday. Which means words–250 of them in fact. Yes, it is time for a snippet from the ol’ WIP. I loved the Thursday Threads flash fictio prompt this past week. I didn’t win, place or show, but man did Iffy perk up and grab her scissors. I had to distract her by offering up frappucinos and pictures of hunky guys. Since Ronan and Maura are my main romantic couple (among several!). This scene is a quiet moment between the two of them. Sort of. *bwahaha* And what was the prompt? Ta-daa! 👉🏼 **“They can try to kill me.”**

****
The ruby red liquid swirled in the Irish crystal snifter. Maura wrapped both hands around the glass to keep them from shaking as she lifted it to her lips and sipped the brandy.

“Are ya afraid of me then?” Ronan’s voice, soft and lilting with his native Ireland, wrapped around her.

She was quick to answer. “No. Never of you.” She inhaled deeply to settle. “Afraid for you? That’s a different question.”

“And why would ya be afraid for me?”

She leveled a look on him filled with consternation. “Seriously? You’re trying to take over the entire Irish mob here in Boston.” At his chuckled her eyes widened. “Oh, crap. You and Brian are planning on going bigger, aren’t you. You want the whole damn state.”

Ronan was truly amused now. “And?”

“Don’t get flippant, Ronan.”

He settled back into his chair and sipped his whiskey. “Would that be a…roadblock?”

“A roadblock to what?”

“To us, Maura. You and me.”

She didn’t sip the brandy this time, she gulped it. “There’s no choice there.” His arched brow infuriated her. “I have a question but I want a serious answer.” Her penetrating gaze lasered into him. She didn’t continue, waiting, he guessed, for some sign from him. He offered the barest nod of his head. Once he made the gesture, she said, “What’s the worse they will do?”

“They can try to kill me.”

“Try?”

“I’m hard to kill.”

Later, she would remember that she’d muttered, “Famous last words.”
****

There you have it. Let your imaginations run wild on what might happen after this scene. And don’t ask me because I don’t actually know. 😲 Anything can happen! Psst. This is the fun part of writing. Anyway, hope you enjoyed today’s peek. Writers, does this prompt help you out? Readers, what famous last words do you remember?

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: What If Brisket

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Silver James

So. I still don’t have a recipe to share, per se. Nor a book. All my self-pubs remain on 50% off sale at Smashwords. Go forth and grab one and we’ll play “what if” today. CLICK HERE to head over there.

Now, before we play, I do have a bit of food talk though not really a recipe. LG saw a video of this dish (a friend texted the video to him) and told me about it. I’ll probably give it a try at some point because it sounds pretty easy. It involves tater tots, beef brisket, BBQ sauce, and cheese. Thaw the tater tots and smush them into a pie pan to make a “crust.” Bake them for 10-15 minutes until they’re browned. Toss some chopped brisket on top and cover with your favorite BBQ sauce. Bake it for another 10 minutes and sprinkle cheese on top and serve. I should probably try to find the video to double check times and stuff but what the heck. 🤷🏼‍♀️

So, the “what if” portion of today’s program. A bit of background…writers occasionally imbue their characters with certain personal traits. For instance, Hannah and Sade both are coffee fiends. And Hannah especially has a “mouth.” They both like the “f” word. Favorite words, drinks, and foods crop up in books. And, yeah, as mentioned above, I do that sometimes.

Some of you might be asking what is “what if.” This is one of the things writers use to trigger ideas. For instance, I heard the song “Cowgirls Don’t Cry” and I thought to myself, “Self, what if a former cowgirl has to come home to save the family ranch and ends up doing…something…crazy.” Like a modern day cattle drive. And what if she fell for the son of her families biggest enemy… That’s the “what if” game.

Here’s today’s version. What if each of y’all picked one of your favorite foods and matched it to one of my characters. What is the food, which character, and why would they eat it. I’ll start and I won’t default to Hannah or Sade. For those unfamiliar (and if you are, dang! People, people, people!* Go read MOONSTRUCK: SECRETS and/or THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC! They are both on sale! And yes, those are the Smashwords links.) Anyway, for this game, I’ll pick Maura Brannigan. Her faves are a vanila latte and blueberry scones. Why yes, she does have a recipe for blueberry scones which she will share when the time is right. *bwahaha*

See? That was easy. Now it’s your turn. Character and food or drink please…

JuLoWriMo update: I am soooo confused on word count and chapters. Yes, there has been major cutting and pasting. I am currently on chapter 30. There are currently 109,921–though I think that number is inflated because there has also been copying and pasting. Anyway, the whole point is to work every day and that I am doing so yay! 🥳

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Monday Again…

Posted on July 22, 2024 by Silver James

How can it be Monday already? It was just Monday like…two days ago! Gah! Time needs to slow down. I have way too much to do yet! We’re almost to the end of July. JuLoWriMo is going pretty well despite some set backs. This is the fun of being a puzzler. Sometimes pieces of the jigsaw look like they fit there but don’t. So then you need to figure out where they DO fit. That was my Wednesday and Thursday, and part of Friday. I thought I had things figured out so Saturday was a good day. Then there was yesterday. There was much gnashing of teeth and muppet flailing to be had. I found some scenes that had already been incorporated and the rough draft of them not deleted. Then I found scenes written for a particular plot bunny that did fit but they’re too good to just toss. Gah! Yes, this is me muppet flailing again this morning. I will get it figured out but my neat little counter at the end of my blog posts is now pretty much worthless. I have no clue what the current word count is. I am currently “remastering” chapters 30, 31, 32, and maybe 33…if I figure out what comes next. Anyway, the whole point of this months was to reread, edit, and write every day. I’ve done that every day but one so there’s that.

In other news, I worried for Pete. 😞 He still has no appetite but he is still drinking water, and still wanting out during the day though he disappears until late at night when he comes back in the garage and I have to urge him to come in the house. We have clue how old he is because he was a TNR who just appeared a couple of years ago. .

I’ve sold a whole 7 books on Amazon so far this month. 🙄 Hopefully, the Smashwords sale is going better though probably not because I’ve done very little marketing. That takes energy and brain power and I’m still short of both. Oh well. Write or die, they say. So I’m writing so I can get a new book out. Happily, I’m enjoying the reread of the story so I’m hoping it will do well. 🤞🏼 And yes, I can enjoy the story even while Iffy dashes around with scissors, screaming like a bansidhe at the top of her lungs when she pauses to cut up my scenes. Why yes, I am blaming the current writing roadblocks on my mythical Muse, why do you ask?

Last week and the weekend was a crazy news cycle. I have to admit I’m paying more attention to national news than I probably should. I’ve ignored politics for years. Now I’m remembering why I was a governement/PoliSci/history major in college. Should I mention that I had a psychology minor? Yup, I was Liberal Arts. LOL

I don’t have much else to unpack. Book listening is sporadic and I’m still on the same book I was last Monday. I remain pretty much a hermit though I do drive now. Well, as far as the nearest Starbucks which is about 2 miles away, and back home. I really need to start doing the grocery shopping thing but I hesitate because LG seems reluctant to give up that duty. He goes often to pick up just a few items where my MO is to go once a week and stock up. It’s his excuse to get out and about every day or two.

Anyway. I’ll stop boring you. I’m going to refill my coffee mug, open Scrivener (the writing program I use) and get back to figuring out which way is up. I’ll get there. There will be a new book by summer’s end. How was y’all’s weekend?

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Friday Sinema: Catzz

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Silver James

Yes, I love Pallas Cats. Yes, they are so cute you just want to cuddle and scritch. Yes, they will eat your hand off if you try. But they are sooooo KYOOOTE!!!! So here’s a short break that all parents will appreciate. 😉 Have a great weekend.

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Old Souls…and Writers

Posted on July 18, 2024 by Silver James

This popped into my inbox this week. I glanced at it and thought, “Hrm.” I didn’t delete it as I do sometimes, nor did I immediately cut and paste it into a draft for this blog. It stayed in my inbox and I’ve opened it a couple of times and reread it. At first, I chuckled. I mean, invisible friends? I’m a writer and, like old souls, we enjoy spending time alone doing our work, ie. writing stories. My *best* friends are invisible. The people I interact with on a daily basis are invisible. They all live in my head. Well, not really because I have a small brain and it would be awfully crowded in there.

As a kid, I had a special invisible friend. His name was Loyal (procounced Loy-al, like Roy Al but with an L). He was fae. Like Tolkien’s fae. Except his hair wasn’t as long. He hung out with me in my bedroom, at the libarary, walking to and from school, and out in the yard when I had no one else to play with. He was a cool dude and yeah, he probably was the mental model for Ariel of Penumbra Papers fame. Here’s what the Universe had to say:

The reason old souls enjoy spending time alone, Silver, is because they never really are.

Much love from your invisible friends,
The Universe
©www.tut.com 

P.S. I see you, Silver.

My dad always told me I was an old soul. I guess maybe I was because I was a weird kid. I loved to read books. I pretended to be a horse. I threw a tantrum when my brother tried to mow down the mushrooms in a fairy ring in the backyard. (My dad told my brother to mow around it, FTW!)

As a writer, I’m thankful for my invisible friends. Yes, they are very real to me. I’ve been known to sit at my desk and carry on conversations with them. Sometimes, those discussions end up in their book(s). Sometimes, it just gives me more insight into their characters–what makes them tick; what makes them happy, sad or mad; what’s in their backstory; and how they want their story told. I suspect that most fiction writers have some sort of invisible friend. And I bet non-writers might have tthem too. There’s a sense of calm and peace there, when I’m alone (except maybe for Jake, Pete and occasionally Loki) in my office staring out the window when I take a break from staring at the computer monitor. And I’m thankful for them.

So that’s my meandering thoughts this morning as I preparte for another day of catching up with the story and edits along the way. Ronan just brought me a cup of coffee (bless his invisible heart) and has informed me that, “We need t’talk.” Oh boy. It’s going to be an interesting conversation. What are you talking about today?

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo July 16
Starting word count: 107,476
Ending word count: 107,634
Chapter(s)/total words edited:  2/4,976
Net word count change: +102/+56

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Wednesday Words: The Eyes Have It

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Silver James

Where have the days gone?!?! It can’t be Wednesday again!!! *muppet flail* Sadly, it is. I double checked the calendar. So.Wednesday means words and I do have new words from last week’s ThursdayThreads flash fiction challenge. I did not win anything but I still like my snippet and I know where it slots in to the story! Yayayayay! *Kermit happy dance* Our prompt is: **I can see it in your eyes.** As this was a line from my snippet that won, I had the choice of adding to that snippet or moving on to other characters. That’s what I did. I moved on. The original end of this one is a bit of a spoiler, but isn’t because what is revealed in this snippet actually happens on page earlier in the book and is discussed. A lot. But I deleted the big “reveal,” which was only a few words but they were BIG words. 😉 Anyway, this is another brief peek at one of my favorite couples–Devlin and Kathleen.

****
Devlin rubbed the spot over his heart. He had to get this out, had to tell her before this went any further. He was fully prepared to leave her if she sent him away, though he’d never leave her. He would always be nearby on the off-side chance she might need him.

“What’s wrong?” Kathleen urged.

He didn’t say anything.

“I can see it in your eyes, Dev. You’re hurting. Please talk to me.”

Cupping her cheek in his calloused hand, his breath hitched at the sensation of her silking skin. “I’m a bad man, Kathleen. You need to know how bad.”

She placed her hand over his. “No, Devlin O’Reilly. You are a good man who’s done some bad things. That’s all.”

He stared at her. It wasn’t possible that she knew already. Was it? The name he needed to spit out choked him and he couldn’t speak. He needed to get up, to pace. No, he needed to walk away. He shouldn’t condemn this beautiful women to his sins.

As if she read his mind, Kathleen dropped her hand and leaned away. “What’s got so you tied up in knots?”

Dev shoved to his feet and strode away but he didn’t get far. The tie that bound them together kept him on a short leash. His inner wolf whined softly.

“You deserved better, Kathleen. Far better than me.”

She disagreed, hoarding her regrets as if they were a dragon’s treasure. “You’re the one, then?”

“Aye.”
****   

And there you have it. Should I admit that I’m really liking this book? From the characters to the overall plot to the myriad threads woven through it. I think I’ve already gone through the “This is junk” phase. At least I hope so. See, that happens to writers. You start out all in love with the characters and story and then you look at it, read it, and think “This is crappola!” That’s the point where many quit and start something new. Others go back and start over, looking for what made the story crappola. And if the writer is really lucky, they just push on through and come to the realization that “Hey! This isn’t half bad.” And then, in the end, the writer finds peace and come to the conclusion that “yeah, this is pretty good.” Yeah, this one is pretty good. What’s good in your life?

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo July 15
Starting word count: 107,380
Ending word count: 107,476
Chapter(s)/total words edited:  1/2,304
Net word count change: +96

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: Reuben’s Secret

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Silver James

Today’s post is not really about corned beef. Oh, there will be corned beef, but I’m actually here to talk about sauerkraut. Why? Because I had a beef brat lazing on a toasted bun, smothered in sauerkraut and smeared with mustard. I will be the first to admit that sauerkraut is an acquired taste. And I was in my 30s before I acquired that taste.

True story. LG was on active duty in Kentucky and we shared a duplex with a Marine Captain, his wife and their two young daughters. We spent many an evening sitting on their front stoop, drinking beer and watching our dogs (Kaiser our Newfoundland and Micco our Siberian Husky) herd their two girls. One day, Patti wanted to get out of town. The kids were at a day camp so she and I took off to a little town on the other side of the river. She knew of a great little hole-in-the-wall place to eat. At the time, I would not eat corned beef, sauerkraut, or Thousand Island dressing. Let’s not even consider rye bread! Swiss cheese was okay but… 🙄

I should pause here and mention that my dad was basically a cordon bleu chef. He LOVED cooking and had a wealth of cooking classes under his belt. Sadly, he was stuck with a daughter who was a picky eater and had food allergies. If it was meat, potatoes, and salad, I was all over it. Dad also ate pickled pigs feet, brains and eggs, and tongue and avacado sandwiches. That’s all a hard no! I did, however, really like fried liver and onions served with mashed potatoes and gravy. Don’t judge.

Back to the story. We were seated in a booth, ice tea was served and Patti insisted that I needed to order and eat the Reuban sandwich and fries. I looked around and like everyone in the place had Reubans on their plates. I cratered to her demands, ordered it, and after a very hesitant “no thank you” bite, I devoured the whole thing. OMG! SOOOO YUMMY!!!! And then I discovered bratwurst and sauerkraut at a baseball game. And mustard! I was a maynaise girl up until then. Real Mayo, not that weird Miracle Whip stuff that my husband insisted on eating. That lasted until another neighbor taught me to mix mustard and Miracle Whip together as a spread on a turkey sandwhich. We saved a bunch of money when I switched over the MW. LOL

Why am I talking about this? Well, I needed a topic for today’s blog and, as mention, I had a brat for lunch yesterday. And then it occurred to me that if I were to add anything to the story of Hannah’s pregnancy, as found in MOONSTRUCK: SECRETS. (FYI you can grab it for 50% off at Smashwords, along with all my self-pubbed titles!) she would hate Reubans until she got pregnant with Liam. And then that would be her craving. Poor Mac. Thank goodness Arby’s stays open late, right? 😉

Anyway, that’s my spiel for today. Go grab a copy of SECRETS (just click on the title or the cover pic to head over to Books2Read to find the on-line bookstore of your choice) and read it then let me know if you agree with me about Hannah. And as for our question of the day, how do you feel about sauerkraut? Is that a nay or a yay?

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo July 12, 13, 14
Starting word count: 107,177
Ending word count: 107,380
Chapter(s)/total words edited:  2/3,421
Net word count change: +125/+78

 
 
 
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Monday Madness

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Silver James

It’s Monday. We’re halfway through July. The days re getting shorter but you can’t prove it by the heat. Still…summer. It’s supposed to be hot. And being older than dirt, I remember life BAC. (Before Air Conditioning.) We managed to survive. Now? Nope. I depend on my AC because one, older than dirt and two, I’m no longer acclimated. Heck, I used to work cattle in extreme heat and once, even in a blizzard. I’ve “hauled” hay in August. I played sports and heck, just simply played. But now? Yeah, totally a weather wuss.

Cheese balls and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. Need I say more?

My Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo stats are all borked. I mentioned last week that I hit a snag in the timeline. It was a case of “This has to happen before that happens but that is happening first so I gotta fix that.: It took me four days of rearranging chapters (thank goodness for Scrivener because I just had to go to the bulletin board and simply move the chapters–based on their summaries–around to get close to the right order) and then some major cutting and pasting of individual scenes to create new chapters and then writing news scenes. Yes, there was copious amunts of coffee ingested along with much gnashing of teeth. Some of those chapters had previously been edied and included in the count, some came from later, unread chapters, and then additional words. As a result, I’m soooo confused. So, I’m basically starting over with a new “starting” word count. Ah, the joys of editing and revisions. The whole point of taking this month is to get back into the writing groove and so far, I’ve accomplished that. There was only one day that I didn’t write and there were reasons–like it was a Saturday and there was soccer and siren test. Plus a nap because…siren test and soccer! 😄

This past weekend, I only have the timeline SNAFU as an excuse though I did write a scene that was 624 words and then some additions to follow-on scenes to end up with a 3100+ word chapter. See? Progress! And now, that one chapter is all about that particular couple so it’s like a little short shory in the middle of the book. Yesterday, I did minor edits because I’m back to mostly reading chapters that haven’t been read in awhile. I’m also about to get into “new” territory with chapters that I haven’t fit into the timeline–other than they happen later in the book–and I think I have them pretty close to the plot line/timeline.

In listening news, I’m still plowing through Larissa Ione’s Demonica/Four Horsemen series. I’m on book 4. I’m not sure how much further I’ll go with it at the moment. She’s coming out with a sequel series that is basically the next generation and I’ll need to get through the majority of previous books before I get into the new books. In the meantime, I tumbled across another book/series that looks interesting–sort of a cozy English magical realismWITCHES OF LYTCHFORD by Paul Cornell, which is also the title of the first book. It might be a good change of pace and yes, I can get it through my library. Since I’ll be paying off medical bills for at least the next year, the budget for books leans heavily toward library check-outs.

And that’s about it for me on this Monday morning. Warning: Mini snarl below. Feel free to stop reading here.

Wow. I can’t imagine hating someone whom one has never met and who has never done anythng to that individual personally that some people are actually regretting the fact the shooter missed. And they call the other side evil? Really? Look in the mirror this morning and take a good, hard look at what evil really is… Just sayin’. And yes, I wanted to use *you* instead of *one* but I didn’t want anyone to think I was targeting them specifically. I’m not. That would have been the whole generic *you*. That said, If *you* hate that much and that easily, then why are you hanging around a blog/website dedicated to romance and happy ever afters? Asking for a friend… (And yes, today’s lol meme is dedicated to “those people.”)

Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo July 12, 13, 14
Starting word count: 105,911
Ending word count: 107,177
Chapter(s)/total words edited:  ?? (A bunch of rearranging! LOL)
Net word count change: +1266

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Friday Sinema: Still Feelin’ It

Posted on July 12, 2024 by Silver James

Okay. I almost did a double post last Friday (the day after Independence Day–and how many watched that movie last week? LOLOL). Anyway, earworms. So I went hunting hoping to get rid of the earworm and instead, I find this and I kept having to swipe at my eyes so I could see the monitor to write. I think this is my new favorite version of a favorite song. Have a great weekend! I’ll see y’all come Monday.

*Ju-Lo-Wri-Mo July 11 statistics:
Starting word count: 104,708
Ending word count: 105,911
Chapter(s)/total words edited:  2/2814
Net word count change: +149/+1054

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