Thursday Thoughts: Universal Lead

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Silver James

When I first read today’s message from the Universe, my first thought was that I’m easily distracted. This is a thing in my family. Only comes by it honestly as she was diagnosed with ADD. LG and I probably have some form of it because as we were–individually–filling out the diagnostic profile for her, we were both thinking, “Yes. Uh huh. Yup. That’s me. I do that. And I do that. A lot.” On and on. Neither of us pursued it because…adults. And we’d both learned how to compensate–mostly–for the distractions. This happens to me a lot when I’m writing. Scrivener (a software program for writers) is a godsend. I mean, I’m a puzzler anyway but when “outside” WIPs and characters start popping up with detour signs, I can at least keep track. And now, thanks to the Big U, I have something to blame besides me. LOL

Silver, wherever you are drawn, go!

It’s usually just me talking to you.

And the way you can be certain it’s me is that both your head and your heart will agree.

Oh how I love you –
The Universe
©www.tut.com

P.S. If it’s not me, Silver, it’s probably just pride or fear or indigestion.

I have a term for when this happens. “Writing detours.” And I’ve been doing a lot of that laterly. You’ll be aware of this if you’ve kept up with my Wednesday Words posts the last few weeks. I’ve jumped from CROSSFIRE to some unknown characters/story to Moonstruck Mafia and back to CROSSFIRE. Yes, it’s a distraction. And a quick detour can sometimes derail me–not that it’s difficult to do so. But I am determined to type THE END on CROSSFIRE. And yeah, yeah, promises promises but I AM close. I got through the dang sexy bit yesterday. Today is finishing up the outcome and “disposition” of all the threads and then I need to get the team home, in Mother Goose’s bar, and get a set-up idea/tease for the next book. Easy peasy right? It will be if the Universe will stay quiet, I can avoid distractions, and just keep chugging along. What’s distracting you today?

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Wednesday Words: I’ll Drink to That

Posted on July 19, 2023 by Silver James

Another Wednesday. More new words. S’all good, right? Sadly, no “love” on last week’s Thursday Threads flash fiction challenge but that’s okay. I’m happy with the scene (expanded from 250 words to 396) that evolved from the exercise. The prompt–taken from my winning submission the week before–is: **”Have you been drinking?”** As it turns out, why yes, yes she has! After doodling a bit, these words came out. I’m not sure where in the time line of MOONSTRUCK MAFIA: BOSTON this scene appears. It’s after they meet and before he officially claims her. Anyway, I hope you enjoy ths bit of complicating factors between Ronan and Maura.
****
Ronan walked into the living room and paused mid-step. The woman draped on his couch looked comfortable and right at home. His wolf rumbled, pleased with this scenario.

“Hail the conquering hero,” she said. “’Bout time you showed up.”

He eyed what he hoped was an empty wine bottle laying on its side atop the mahogany coffee table. “Have you been drinking?”

Maura attempted to look haughty by lifting her chin and raising an eyebrow as she tipped the empty wine glass in her hand in his direction. “Maybe.”

Stifling laughter, Ronan offered her a knowing smile. “Good.”

Her expressive face morphed into confused concern—narrowed and shifty eyes under scrunched brows, her lips pressed together. She considered her reply for a long moment before her lips relaxed. She spoke one word. “Why?”

“Because I’ve been curious.”

If anything, her face scrunched up more. “About what?”

“About what it would be like to have drunken sex with ya, Maura.”

Air rushed from her lungs as she breathed out, “Oh.” Then her eyes widened and she perked up. “Oh! You want to have sex with me?”

“Always,” Ronan muttered then said louder, “Aye, Maura. I do. Specifically, drunken sex.”

Her expression shifted again, this time into the face she wore when in court. “And what, Mr. O’Connor, makes you think drunk sex with me would be good.”

“Because when yer drunk, y’pull that stick from yer arse and I get the real woman, not Maura Brannigan, Assistant District Attorney.”

She tilted her head, confused again. “I’m always me.”

“No, darlin’, yer not.”

The gist of his words finally penetrated her drunken haze. Indignant, she jumped to her feet and stood swaying. “I do not have a stick up my ass.”

He arched a patrician brow but said nothing. She glowered. He waited. She swayed again and then her knees buckled. She sank onto the couch, her eyes now glazed. She curled up against the cushions in the corner of the couch. She slow blinked a few times before her eyes drifted shut and in moments, she was snoring softly.

At the sound of footsteps, he turned to face the entrance to the room. His brother stopped just outside.

Mick glanced at Ronan then stared at the couch before returning his gaze to his older brother.

“Ah, Ronan?”

He shrugged and laughed. “Just m’luck,” Ronan groused. “Another wasted chance.”
****
The prompt is one that will hopefully work as some inspiration for all my writer friends who hang around here. As for my readers, that’s today’s question: Have you been drinking? And if so, what? 😉

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: Big Easy Cinnamon Biscuit Monkey Bread

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Silver James

Need a quick and easy snack when friends are coming for coffee? Or a treat for breakfast? Dessert when you don’t have much time but want something that’ll just hit the spot? Yeah, me too! Sometimes, I have really good luck making monkey bread. Sometimes, it’s turned out to be an unmitigated disaster as I channel my inner Hannah. **Hey, bee…cause I’m standing right here. I heard that! I can too make something like this. Just ask Sade!** Yeah, no. Not going there. Anyway, if you’ve got the supplies on hand–and if not, you might want to dash out and grab them–this is pretty darn tasty.

Prep Time: 15 Min.
Cook Time: 30 Min.
Total Time: 45 Min
6-8 servings

Ingredients
3 tubes buttermilk biscuits (8 ounces each) – these are regular size biscuits though I’m tempted to try the Grands with this recipe!
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter (melted)
1/2 cup browns sugar (packed)

Let’s Make It
1 – Preheat oven to 350℉ and grease bundt pan with butter or cooking spray.

2 – Open biscuits and separate. Cut each one into four bite-sized pieces.

3 – Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Mix.

4 – Carefullly drop a few dough pieces into bowl and coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture then layer each “batch” evenly in the greased bundt pan.

5 – Put butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve sugars and bring to a gentle boil. Remove from heat and drizzle sauce over the dough in the pan.

6 – Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.

7  – Cool bread for approximately 5 minutes. Invert pan onto a large plate. Serve warm.

A bit of a history lesson: “Monkey bread” is derived from a Hungarian dessert called arany galuska, aka Hungarian Coffee Cake. Hungarian and Hungarian-Jewish bakeries introduced the dessert to the US in the 1950s. Actual “monkey bread” is a bread dish in which balls of dough are dipped in butter, layered in the cake pan and baked. Arany galuska is made with cinnamon and sugar. There you have it. Now, since I mentioned Hannah and Sade above, you’d think they’d have some input. Nope. This recipe was suggested by Izzy Fontaine, who did so with a bit of a red face. She admitted to me that she was looking for something “ethnic” to bake for her mate, Rudek Tornjak. He’s of Bosnian and Romanian descent but the closest she could get was Hungary. And if you are hungry for something sweet and easy, why not this Hungary dessert? Anyway, theirs is an interesting story. She’s from a large Cajun family living in the bayous of Louisiana and Rudy was living in New Orleans. Their individual story is told in ROGUE MOON but why not spend a little extra and get MOONSTRUCK: BETRAYAL which contains BRIDE’S MOON, along with an only-published-in-this-edition novella that has some interesting background, considering HARD TARGET: CROSSFIRE is coming sooner than later. Anyway, just click on a pic or a title and jump over to Books2Read to get a copy. Or if you already have, it’s a good time to make some Easy Hungarian Arany Galuskam, grab a beverage to go with you treat and dive into the title for a bit of reading. 😉

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Monday in the Middle

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Silver James

Poor Monday. Even us semi-retired, work-from-home types tend to stigmatize the day. It’s not Monday’s fault. And those that don’t work M-F/9-5 jobs have way different time tables. I used to work shifts–24 on, 48 off. And then I worked 7-4/M-F but 24-hour on-call every 3rd week. And yup, Monday was always Monday. And still is.

So, a new week stretching ahead. What happened last week? Not much. Sadly. After a week of heat advisories and extreme heat warnings, and lots of overnight rains–which contributed to the high humidity which contributes to the heat index–the weekend turned out pretty nice.

Saturday was a noon soccer game. We woke up expecting it to be steambath time but surprisingly, clouds moved in, the breeze stayed out of the north (from the little front that moved through overnight with some rain) and it was actuall drizzling as we arrived at the fields. Stormy scored 2 goals and his team won 3-1. Which eased the sting of Thursday’s game, which they lost like 6-1. I quit counting. I think there’s one more game this coming Saturday, which the league is calling a “bowl game.” Then he’s done until fall.

I finished off the Kate Daniels series. It was fun to revisit that world, with the addition of two new entries–a sort of “interim” series. Still, so many questions and new threads and stuff and no real timeline for the next release in any of the three spin-off series. That’s fine. I totally get it. Trust me. And I also feel my readers’ frustrations on my lack of production. I’m currently listening to HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE. I haven’t read the book since it first came out. Jim Dale is the narrator and it’s fun.

Speaking of, I’ve made progress. I know I keep saying that and then RL creates distractions but I AM closer to The End. I am sooo ready, trust me!

I had an “odd” bird show up at the bird feeder. It’s a parakeet–pale yellow shading to green. I thought I’d seen it last week out on the driveway where I scatter seeds and grain for the doves. Yesterday, it was meerity scarfing up the seed in the hanging “Loki/Pete-vision” feeder right outside my office window. It was close enough I could verify species. I haven’t seen any social media posts about someone who lost their parakeet but they aren’t exactly indigenous in the wild around here.

That’s about it for me. No Wallyword trip today–I had to go last Thursday due to the power outage lack of supplies when I went last Monday. I think I stocked up on enough stuff that I can skip this week. That’d be cool, especially since the weather’s supposed to be ugly hot again. That means I have no excuse. Laundry’s done. No Stormy visit. Nada on TV. That means BICHOK. Words. New and revised. that’s the mantra for today and this week. What’s your mantra?

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Friday Free-For-All: What Caught My Eye

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Silver James

Just a collection of links, videos and stuffs that caught my eye as I scrolled around the internet.

AI was asked to “draw” dogs as people. Holy St. Bernard!

For my artistic friends, THIS popped up in a Hometalk newletter I get and I was intrigued by using cheap make-up (blush, eye shadow, etc.) to “paint” black and white prints in color. If any of you try this, I want to see the results! And I’m looking at you, Only!

If you want to fall down a rabbit hole, catch the three YouTube videos from the Crufts Dog Show in England that cover the Heelwork to Music–Freestyle International Competition. Prepare to spend about an hour and a half. Just sayin’. Also, I did NOT agree with the judges. LOL FYI, this is a dog and handler doing a choreographed routine to music (with costumes and props) with as few commands from the handler as possible.

Shower Thoughts*:

*Stuff that occurs to me in the shower…

How do you repay borrowed time? And is there interest to be paid?

Love at first sight is like judging a book by its cover.

Coffee is like daytime alcohol. I’m all about the day drinking.

Technically, a nap is just a long blink.

The Founding Fathers (and Mothers) had British accents. (Yes, this did occur to me on the 4th of July, why do you ask?)

Whatever happened to tether balls?

Stuff That Irks Me. A LOT!

People, the word is skiTTish! SkiDDish is NOT a word. Horses are skittish. Shy dogs and cats are skittish.  Cars and other vehicles can skid on rainy, icy, or snowy roads. People can perform in a short play called a “skit.” But animals who shy awsay from something or some is SKITTISH! Sheesh! Everytime I see a social media post using “skiddish” instead of “skittish” I want to turn troll! Just sayhin’…

Speaking of words that drive me crazy. Ridiculous. The word, not that it drives me crazy. For YEARS, I had to look up the spelling. The one that’s bugging me now? Dilemma. I also have to look it up every time too. Grrr. What word(s) is your bugaboo?

Speaking of bugaboos, is that not a cool word? Evidently it’s Celtic in original, maybe from France, Wales, or Scotland. Anyway, just wrap your lips around it and say it out loud. Bugaboo! There now. Don’t you feel better? 😉

Have a great weekend, all! Not sure if soccer is on tap. Depends on the weather. I foresee naps, though. Whose with me? 🙋🏼‍♀️

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Thursday Thoughts Universal Paradox

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Silver James

Somedtimes we writers get too set in our ways. We get comfortable. We write the same stories, in varying variations of plot and character. This is true of all of us except those who write only one book.

It’s quite the paradox, Silver, but the more one pushes themselves into areas of discomfort—gently, just a bit, from time to time—the more comfortable they become.

And vice versa.

Thunk it, who’d of?
The Universe
©www.tut.com

P.S. Yeah, Silver, that’s a heck of a vice versa, if you know what I mean.

I don’t want to fall into this rhythm. I mean I DO write romance. There IS a bit of a formula. Couple meets, stuff happens–good and bad, sexy times (or the hint thereof) ensue, more stuff happes, and then you get either the HFN or HEA. (Happy For Now or Happy Ever After) When you write subgenres–romantic suspense, paranormal romance, even Urban Fantasy, etc.) there is more to the formula. Yes, somebody is in jeopardy and the other half saves them. There are bad nasties that must be dealt with. There’s internal AND external conflict. There are backstories to resolve and futures to map out. It’s…complicated. Which is why it is easy to fall into a tried and true formula. Hey, this has worked before. It’ll keep working. Until it doesn’t. That’s one reason Moonstruck had a finite end. Oh, yeah, those characters show up from time to time in my other books but the guys all found The One, settled down, took their lives back, and got on with living them. And yes, I’m babbling a bit now because I’m not sure where I want to go next. Do I complain about those apparently best-selling authors who write the same book over and over, changing on the names? (There’s one NYT author who recycles her own sex scenes.) Or should I mention the series that go on and on and have to retreaded because there’s no place for the characters to go but readers keep demanding more? There are examples on both sides of that coin. I mean, good grief! JD Robb is coming out with #57 in about 2 months. And yes, I STILL buy and read every blasted one of them because Robb always adds a surpirse. The book I get bored with will be a very sad day in deed.

Anyway, my head is in ths weird space and it’s complicating my writing. I keep thinking the WIP isn’t very good, that it’s the same ol’ story (one day) or there’s not much story there (the next day) and then I’ll go back to double-check something and read a portion and think, “Damn. That’s pretty damn good!” Lord, my head is a scary place to be. LOLOL So, readers, your thoughts of a writer taking the easy way and/or stretching out a series that’s long since jumped the shark? And writers, do you find yourself in this same dilemma?

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Wednesday Words: Just Breathe

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Silver James

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Yes, today’s Wednesday Words took top honors in last week’s #ThursdayThreads competition. I’ll admit that at first, due to the phrasing of the prompt, I had to think about what to write. This actually is fun. After some lengthy pondering, I came to the conclusion that the scene would be totally unrelated to either of the current WIPs. Which is okay. Iffy and I do this more often than we should. Still, with the aid of Scrivener (my writing software), this is way easier. Plus, as I teased on FB Saturday, new character for one of the other Moonstruck Mafia books. The prompt: **“I wasn’t sure if he breathed.”**
****
Brakes screamed like a victim in a teen slasher movie. Even with my reflexes, I couldn’t avoid the damn car hurtling toward the crosswalk. The bumper on the passenger side hit me. I took flight. F*ck me. This would hurt when I landed. It did, and I blacked out.

Sirens. I think. It could have been just my ears ringing. Maybe. Darkness swallowed me again even as I knew I had to get up and walk away. No cops. No ambulance. Couldn’t risk the exposure.

“I wasn’t sure if he breathed.”

The voice tugged me back to reality. Melodic. Accented. Very close. I opened one eye. Barely.

“I…I was afraid so I have not touched him. He has not moved. I watched carefully. I…” Her voice trailed off and she wouldn’t meet the cop’s eyes. That made me curious.

“Have you been drinking?”

I cracked both eyelids. The woman’s face registered shock then indignation. I studied her, eyes wide open now. The EMT squatting by me tried to take my blood pressure. I waved him away. He remained insistent on checking me out. I’m a Wolf shifter. I’d be fine. Except for the woman. My wolf wanted out to play with her. That would not be happening. I was on a job. I didn’t have time for a woman. Especially this woman.

She was slender, short, with dark hair that hung straight, dropping below her shoulders. Every few seconds she nervously pushed heavy black-framed glasses up her nose. Nerd bait. My wolf didn’t care. I sat up, then stood. The EMT looked from the crushed Mini Cooper to all six feet five inches of me.

He blew out a breath. “Dude, you broke her car.”
****
And there you have it with a few additional words because 250 words gets just the bare bones on the page. As mentioned when I posted the #ShirtsOffSaturday candidate to my Facebook page, I couldn’t decide if he belonged to the Italian mob in Chicago (which makes the auto/ped a bit more believeable) or if he’s part of the Russian mob in New York because I have it in my head that she’s maybe Ukranian and there’s this whole enemies-to-lovers thing goin’ on. He sounds more Chicago Italian but I’m leaning toward changing his voice and moving to NYC. That’s way down the road. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this “meet cute” (at least according to last week’s judge–lol). Writers and readers, what would you (or your character) do if some dude broke your(their) car?

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: Dew Da Bundt Cake

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Silver James

I’m all for homemade “from scratch” baking. Since I’m older than dirt, I remember when cake mixes were so not a thing. And since I’m older than dirt, I’ve come to appreciate the ease and convenience of mixes. I’m also not a Mountain Dew drinker but for this treat, I will do the Dew!

Mountain Dew Bundt Cake
Prep time: 15 min.
Cook time: 45 min.
Total time: 1 hr

12 servings

Show Nutrition Info
INGREDIENTS
Cake Batter
1 box Lemon Cake Mix (Duncan Hines 15.25 ounceor Betty Crocker 15.25 oz. size)
1 Jell-O Instant Lemon Pudding Mix (3.4 oz. size)
4 large eggs or 3 jumbo eggs(?) try it and see
3/4 cup oil (use “generic” vegetable, corn or canola. Do NOT use olive oil because…taste!)
1 1/4 cups Mountain Dew. Use at room temperature (cuz…pudding mix! It reacts to cold liquids)

Icing
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup Mountain Dew

LET’S MAKE IT
1 – Heat the oven to 350° F. Oil the bundt pan thoroughly including the center cone.

2 – In a large bowl, add the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, and oil. Use a mixer to beat ingredients on medium-low to slightly blend in the eggs.

3 – Add half of the Mountain Dew to the bowl and mix on low speed for 30 seconds just to get it mixed in then add the rest of the soda and mix on mediumfor about two minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed until all dry ingredients are blended in.

4 – Pout the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 45 minutes, until cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean.

5 – Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Flip the pan onto a cooling rack and carefully “unpan” the cake. Let cool almost completely before icing.

Icing
1 – Mix the powdered sugar with ¼ cup of Mountain Dew in a small bowl. Stir until smooth and creamy. The icing should be thick but pourable.

2 – Gently pour the icing onto the top of the cake. It should run down the sides. If you want more complete coverage, use a knife to spread it. Don’t feel you have to use all the icing. Ice to your tastes.

3 -Let the icing firm up before slicing.

TIPS
1. Store the cake in an airtight container, or cover it loosely with plastic wrap for up to three days.

2. You can use Diet Dew to cut out some of the sugar.

3. Don’t believe ’em when they say “no-stick” bundt pan. Brush on a coating of oil if the pan is the newer, heavy aluminum non-stick. If using an older, thinnger pan, coat the pan in shortening and flour to get the cake to release intact. Do NOT completely cool the cake in the pan. That’s just an exercise in frustration and results in an ugly cake.

4. Not a fan of icing? Sift powdered sugar over the top of the cake for a hint of sweet and to make it look “dressed up.”

While I haven’t made this particular cake, I know someone who makes it often. Who knew a former arson investigator and now mate of a Nightrider Wolf would make Mountain Dew cake. Of course, Smoke keeps trying to get Leigh to add tequila. Go figure! 😉 How did a Dallas Fire Department arson investigator end up as the old lady of a member of the Nightriders? You can read their story in NIGHT FIRE. Just click on the title or eitther pic that contains the cover. This book is available from a variety of on-line book sellers. The links will take you to Books2Read and you can find your favorite store. In the meantime, I need to had a bottle of Mountain Dew to my grocery list. What about y’all? Are you fans of doing the Dew?

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Mocha Monday

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Silver James

Why yes, I AM going to stop at Starbucks to grab a venti mocha frappucino on my way home from Wallyworld today. While my list is fairly short, considering the weather we had Sunday morning, I’ll be taking the long way home because I’m nosy. The local storm chasers were following both flash flood and regular flood warnings. We got almost 4″ of rain in just over an hour. That’s a LOT of rain. We also had high winds and hail. Needless to say, I didn’t get must sleep.

This has been an unusual July, weather-wise. Lots of rain–every or every other day. Conisdering we were in severe drought conditions, no one is complaining but the previous rain pretty much saturated the ground so the stuff we had this weekend had no place to go but into creeks, rivers, ponds, and lakes. We needed that too. Anyway, I want to meander my way home today to check out the lake, certain drainage areas nearby because I’m nosy and a bit of a weather nerd.

Still making slow progress on CROSSFIRE but it IS progress. I’m getting closer. If RL would stop intervening, I’d further along. Still, I’m hoping for serious news by the end of the week. At the same time, I’m coming to the end of my marathon Kate Daniels relisten. I’m on MAGIC TRIUMPHS and the dual audio book of MAGIC TIDES and MAGIC CLAIMS releases today. After I listen to them, then I’ll finish off the marathon with BLOOD HEIR, which puts all the books into story arc chronological order. Yay.

In sports news, soccer was rained out–the fields were too wet Saturday. Make up game for Stormy’s team is supposed to be played Thursday evening. The OKC Spark, the local professional softball team played the British national team in the inaugural Royal Spark Challenge in London. They won both games and brought home the trophy. It was cool to watch, despite some “amateur” streaming (only one camera) and some technical snafus. They got things worked out and it was fun. Also, this is the All Star break for major league baseball.

In health news, which is something I don’t often share, I gave blood Saturday. I’m down-range far enough from my eye surgeries. The good news is that my blood pressue is waaay down. It’s been high but not needing medical intervention high. Yet. It was 125/75. Hemoglobin count was 15.4. Also, the weight I lost after the surgery and part of which came back is slowly melting away again. I’m down 25 pounds from this time last year. S’all good so yay!

And…That’s about it from here, folks. Boring life but that’s okay. I’m not a fan of drama or excitement these days. I prefer that in my books–either the ones I’m writing or the ones I’m listening to. I do NOT want in in RL. LOLOL So what drama is happening in your world?

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Friday Sinema: Summertime

Posted on July 7, 2023 by Silver James

I do love me some “It’s a Southern Thing” videos, especially this time of year because, heck yeah. They are dead on. And it’s still hot because…summer. In the South! Have a great weekend and stay cool, boo.

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