Wednesday Words: Than and Then

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Silver James

Wednesday once more. Amazing how that keeps happening. LOL Still, it’s a good excuse to whip out some new words. Today’s prompts were a lot of fun to combine and play with. Once again, this is from the CROSSFIRE WIP. From #ThursdayThreads, we have “It’s a long way down” and from #1lineWed, we have this little gem: **THAN: Greater. Less. Not now and…** I had fun writing this snippet. I hope you have fun reading it.
****
Meg stared down the twisting trail. Wet, cold, forlorn. She was so tired. A little hand tugged on her and she automatically curled her fingers around the girl’s. “I’m an idiot,” she muttered. “What goes up, must come down. And it’s a long way down.”

“Aye, lass. It’tis.” Did Kin have to agree with her so readily? He gave her an arm bump. “But the good news is, once we’re off this moutain, we’ll be at the border. There will be help once we cross over.”

“Terrific.” She didn’t hide the sarcasm.

“Terrific!” Galyna agreed.

Unsure whether she was going to laugh or cry at the sweet girl’s conviction, Meg squeezed her hand. Ah, to be a cockeyed optimist.

“Head’ em up and move ’em out,” Dalton called out.

The kids started moving without protest. Like a golden retriever puppy, Dalton bounced down the trail.

“I am less than impressed by his enthusiasm.”

“Dalton!” Galyna released Meg’s hand and charged after the man. He halted and waited for her to catch up. When she did, he took her hand and they set off down the path.

“Not many have greater patience than he does,” Kin mused.

“I think she has a bit of a crush on him.”

“He’s mindful of that and of her.”

“I’m not worried.”

“And you?”

“Me?”

“Do you have a bit of a crush on the lad? You used to watch him, back in the beginning.”

“Nope. Not now and not then.”

“Good t’know.”
****
There you go. I’m not quite sure where this scene fits in the timeline. My initial impression was toward the end but now? I’m thinking the middle. We’ll see once I get started back on full-time writing this one. I have one more Moonstruck Wolf book to polish and get ready for next week. After that, I have every intention of getting back on track with this book. In the meantime, writers, you have your prompts should you decide to play. Readers, off the wall question today. Would you rather walk up a hill or down?

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Posted on October 4, 2022 by Silver James

As I’ve been touting for almost a week, here’s an easy-peasy cinnamon roll recidpe that is also yummy-scrumptions. Please note that I have a couple of signature “dishes,” including my yeast rolls and subsequent cinnamon rolls. It’s a family recipe. They are pretty easy but messy–all the ingredients, the mixing bowl, a second mixing bowl for overnight rising in the fridge, then rolling out, cutting, putting in pan, rising, baking. There’s no immediate “fix” if you get a craving. This recipe? You can have hot cinnamon rolls in under an hour. Heck, in about 45 minutes, depending on how long it takes to preheat your oven. I got this recipe from the local food guru, Sassy Mama, who appears on our local CBS station, KWTV 9.

Easy Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients
2 cans Grands refrigerated cinnamon rolls, save frosting
1 cup whipped cream
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Chopped nuts to taste (optional) I used pecans but you can use walnuts, almonds, etc.

Directions
1 – Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 casserole pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2 – Place the cinnamon rolls in the pan, and pour the whipped cream over the cinnamon rolls. In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. (According to the video, you can top with nuts for “sticky buns” or fruit. Just click and watch. 😉 )

3 – Pour the mixture over the cinnamon rolls and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

4 – Remove from the oven, and use the frosting from the cans to spread over the top. Enjoy!

You can watch Sassy Mommy’a video HERE. The frosting is optional as far as I’m concerned but the nuts are a must! And yeah, for my first batch, I used the icing. Totally YUM! Evidently, Lennox, our heroine from the just-released ASSASSIN’S MOON, say this recipe on TikTok. I think Sassy found it there too. Lennox loves popping these rolls into the oven and her mate, Griffith “Abel” Caine, is very careful to share, though he’s quite capable of inhaling the entire pan. Lennox and I have both discovered that you’ll want to leave leftovers, if there are any, in the pan covered with aluminum foil. I didn’t refrigerate, and nibbled on them for 3-4 days. You can warm them in the microwave. I covered them with a damp papertowel draped over a toothpick stuck in the center to keep the icing from sticking. They’re just as good the next day as they are hot out of the oven. And yeah, Lennox gave me the toothpick/wet towel hack. If you want to get to know her and find out how she and Griff hooked up down in Rio, grab ASSASSIN’S MOON. Click on either pic showing the cover or the title where mentioned. The sales outlets listed on Books2Read are slowly populating as it goes live. Do you have any easy cooking “hacks” to share?

Psst: It’s live on Amazon as of last night. Hopefully, the universal link at Books2Read is starting to populate. I’ll get the ‘zon link added there as soon as it does. In the meantime, here’s the direct LINK.

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Manhandling Monday

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Silver James

I will tame Monday. And I will tame the chaos currently hiding behind my browser.window. More about that later. It’s Monday. The first Monday in October. There’s a movie by that name. About the Supreme Court. There’s your random fact of the day. I switching things around today. I am NOT making a Wallyworld run. There are reasons. I’ll hit the store tomorrow.

So why am I manhandling Monday? Because I need to get it to behave. That’s one reason I’m not following my habitual schedule. The main reason is that I ran into a few speedbumps this weekend and ASSASSIN’S MOON isn’t uploaded yet. Saturady was busy with family, sports, and a crash-landing of a nap. All of which kept me off the computer. Add the eyesight issues–I can only read for so long before everything goes blurry, my eyes burn and water, and I get a headache, it makes it tough to polish as many pages per day as I’d like. Stupid real life. I workd off and on yesteray and got a lot done but I’m not finished yet. And yes, I’ve added/changed some words and fixed some typos. Anyway, the plan is to get it uploaded today and hopefully, it’ll go live various places over the next 24 hours. Tomorrow’s blog will have links. If they are live. 🤞🏼

In other writing news, I did manage some new words on CROSSFIRE. It’s moving along and it’ll go fast–I hope!–once I get the Moonstruck Wolf books back in publication.

In sporting news, Stormy had a good soccer game Saturday but he was disappointed because his team lost. He blamed himself because he let the ball through when he was playing goalie (which he plays only occassionally and doesn’t actually practice at). He was also taken down by the biggest kid on the other team, who happens to be a “flopper.” That means that he “gets tripped” by opposing team players in hopes of drawing a penalty kick. The kid is notorious for doing it and it took the ref about twice to figure it out. Anyway, the kid ran right up to Stormy as he was about to bend and grab the ball. He took an elbow to the face but managed to hold onto the ball. And the kid flopped. 🙄 On a good note, Stormy got a “free” kick (I am NOT a soccer person!) earlier in the game and the ref, who is the head ref for the league, complimented Stormy on his ability.

More sporting news. Did you hear about the Chicago-area youth football league that suspended a team because one of their players is in the 10th grade. Here’s the story. It’s a 14U bracket. The kid is 14. He also happens to be REALLY smart so he’s been accelerated to the 10th grade. The kid is barely 140 pounds, looks 13, and is no way ready to play against high schoolers. The league says that their by-laws state no high school players can play in the league. Two fallicies. The kid is NOT a high school player. He’s a student attending high school classes. And he’s THIRTEEN!!!!! That ranks right up there with the female volleyball players being told they can’t use the girls’ locker room at the gym because there’s a trans player on the team and girls in the girls’ lockerroom might be bullying. So they have to change in the little bathroom. Don’t even get me started on trans males participating in womens’ sports. 🤬

More sporting news of a happier variety. The REAL OSU (Go Cowboys!) beat the Baylor Bears and have moved up two spots to #7 in the polls. Sadly (mixed emotions here for…reasons), OU lost to Texas Christian University. My Cardninals had quite a weekend. Albert Pujols hit homeruns #701 and 702 and he tied Babe Ruth in career RBIs. This was the last regular season home series and they split with the Pirates 2-1. Big ceremony for Albert and Yadi Molina, both who are retiring after this season. They are in the post season and it would be awesome beyond belief if they went all the way!

Okay, no more sports. Reading. Or in my case, listening. I’m still trucking through Jayne Castle’s Ghost Hunters/Harmony series. There’s a new release, SWEETWATER AND THE WITCH, at the end of the road. I’ve also picked up a couple of sale audio books. We’ll see how they go.

Baking. I actually did some. These easy-peasy cinnamon were pretty darn tasty. Not quite as good as my homemade version but yummy enough that I’ll make them again. Luckily, Lennox (our heroine from ASSASSIN’S MOON) makes them so I’m featuring them in tomorrow’s Tuesday Treats & Titles blog. Note that the picture is of the actual batch I made. How ’bout them apples?

It was First Saturday but due to the timing of the soccer game, none of us made the siren test. However, we did trek up to our usual First Satruday restaurant for yummy Mexican food. Jake made a new friend with a little kid that had been terrified of dogs until Jake. Mom and grandmom were surprised but glad. They had no clue why the little boy freaked out around dogs but he sat on the floor and petted Jake for about 5 minutes. The child was probably 2? Maybe 2 1/2? Anyway, it was sweet.

That’s it for me. I need to flex my muscles and get ready to manhandle Monday now. That dang book ain’t gonna polish itself. Off to work I go. Right after one more cup of coffee. What about y’all? Good stuff for you this weeknd? Plans for the week? Yummy foodstuffs? Good book, movie, TV show? Sports story? Go ahead, distract me! 😉

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Friday Sinema: Night Watch

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Silver James

No, this isn’t about one of my Nightrider MC books. Yet. That said, yes, this is a title for one of the books yet to come. Nope, this is a whole different Night Watch. LG and I were watching a show on Monday, “Mysteries of the Unknown with Don Wilder.” One of the segments involved Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. As a result, I remembered this video of a flash mob in Amsterddam that I though was cool–and have posted before. Anyway, it’s still cool. Take a minute and enjoy. Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Cheshire Cat

Posted on September 29, 2022 by Silver James

I found this message from the Universe tucked waaay back in my draft file. I’m not sure why it got buried. In hindsight, I find it interesting because the first series of books I sold (to Wild Rose Press) were all about time travel and reincarnation. I happen to believe very strongly that if you don’t learn from history, it’s bound to repeat itself. I also happen to believe in reincarnation. I was part of a psychology study MANY years ago and as a study subject, I underwent regression hypnosis. Since I was convinced that I couldn’t be hypnotized, imagine my surprise when several different past lives came to light during the study. None of them were famous, though one was a minor lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn. As a student of history, I researched all and yeah, women with those names actually existed. Weird. Anyway, I think that experience laid the groundwork, many years later, for the Faerie Reign books–FAERIE FATE, FAERIE FIRE, FAERIE FOOL, and FAERIE FAITH.**

Of all your lifetimes, Silver, do you know which ones you’ll look back on with the fondest memories, the most pride, and the widest grin?

The ones where in spite of challenges, no matter how daunting, difficult, or painful, you pressed on.

Like a Cheshire Cat,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

Silver, you utterly fascinate us.

So, y’all know I try to incorporate a bit of writing craft in these musings. I tied it into my first series but the point is, look at your own life–this one or a previous one. Find the interesting bits. Find the off-beat bits. Find the hidden treasures tucked away in your memory. Use them to create realism in your writing. Tap into your emotions. Tap into the humor. Or the anger. Or the hurt. Use the whimsy and love and the warm fuzzies. When we infuse our words with those things, we touch our readers. And isn’t that the whole point?

**If you aren’t familiar with these books and would like more info, check out the series page on this site. Just CLICK HERE. Or you can click on the title for the ‘Zon buy link.

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Wednesday Words: To Fall or Not to Fall

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Silver James

This is the last Wednesday in September. The last quarter of the year starts Saturday. Where have the days gone?!?! I have new words today. Not many but I don’t want to give too much away with today’s snippet. What’s our inspiration today? For #1lineWed it’s: **TO ** with these suggesntions: Your good healt. The stars. Absent friends. Our #ThursdayThreads prompt was “I can’t let you fall alone.” Totally inspired by the following, I went back and revampted the prologue. I don’t often do that but this time? Yeah. I knew there was some underlying stuff for our hero, Kin. Now that I have a good handle on it, I’ll lace it in when I do edits and revisions. Yay! Anyway, random scene at random point in story.
****
Petro pushed his chair back from the table, the legs scraping the floor. Raising his glass, he saluted each of the men on the Hard Target team. “To your good health. To the stars for guiding us to safety.” Lines appeared around his eyes as his expression sobered. His voice grave and echoing with sadness, he added one last toast. “To absent friends.”

The men from Hard Target all stood, their glasses raised as they echoed that last sentiment. “To absent friends.”

As they all settled in their seats again, Corey placed her hand on Duke’s forearm. “It’s okay, love. They’re gone, but they aren’t forgotten.” Her voice carried a trace of guilt. Duke, Tank, and Dalton had been the only members of SEAL Team Atlantis to survive her rescue.

Meg watched Kin closely. The shadows in his eyes were cause for concern. She knew so little about this man who had claimed her heart. She leaned closer until their shoulders brushed and she whispered in his ear. “Who?” she asked. “Who did you lose?” Part of her was terrified it was a former lover or worse. A wife.

“I can’t let you fall alone.” The words came back to haunt him. He’d let his brother down. He’d let him fall. Alone. Warm lips touched the skin of his face. He blinked. Focused. All eyes watched him. He shifted, put his arm across Meg’s shoulders. “A brother,” he said. “Who fell into darkness.”

“I’ll never let you fall,” Meg promised.
****
There you have it. Writers, take the prompts and run if you wish. Readers, what book have you fallen for lately? Sadly, while I’ve enjoyed most of the books I’ve read lately, none of them have given me a book hangover. I need to read more! 😉

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: SEAL Po-Boys

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Silver James

I almost did an Italian recipe for today because due to circumstances and on account of because, SEAL MOON went live on Amazon as the Italian Edition. FYI, there is NO Italian edition. That’s been fixed now on the ‘Zon site and it’s slowly going live in other on-line stores. I also had the dilemma of my two main characters in SEAL MOON. Our intrepid heroine is Taylor Dagny. Rich family. Focused and driven to cxcel, cooking is not in her lexicon. Our hero, Riley “Speed” O’Brien, was a SEAL. He ate MREs when on a mission, in the mess when on duty, and fast food or in a restaurant off base. The same applied when he went to work on the platforms. What to feature? Well, since the crews for the Delta Trident are based out of New Orleans, I picked shrimp po-boys because that’s a favorite aroud here too. Plus, they are easy to make.

Ingredients
Breaded popcorn shrimp (bake in the oven kind) – 1 serving for each sandwich
Hoagie rolls or French bread rolls – 1 is usually enough, unless you’re a former SpecOps dude
Shredded lettuce
Louisiana-style romoulade (red) fish sauce
*sliced or chopped tomatoes and/or dill pickles are optional

Fix It
1 – Bake shrimp according to package instructions (usually around 450 for 10-12 minutes)
2 – Open rolls and “grill” in butter (I use a griddle, melt the butter on it, slap the rolls on “open face” down and let them toast a little.
3 – “Build” your po-boy. Layer ingredients however you like. Around here, it’s just shrimp, lettuce, and sauce, so that’s how we stack it up.)
4 – Enjoy with chips, fries, and/or cole slaw.

Around here, we don’t do tomatoes as a rule. I’m allergic, LG can take ’em or leave ’em on a sandwich.True New Orleans style po-boys have tomatoes and pickles. You do want to use a denser roll for these, rather than a hot dog bun. Riley can eat several of these in a sittinng and he introduced Taylor to them, muffalettas, and NOLA style bread pudding, all favorites of mine. If you want to find out how they got from the Delta Trident, a drilling platform in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, to a deserted island that’s not on any maps to New Orleans, grab the newly re-released SEAL MOON. It’s been updated and expanded. You can click either pic that shows the cover or any of the titles to head to the universal link on Books2Read link (or click on it! 😉 ) to find the stores where it’s currently available. It will keep going live lots of places as this week goes by. What’s your favorite “fancy” sandwich?

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Monday Memo

Posted on September 26, 2022 by Silver James

Note to self: Always upload to Amazon first to find typos so you can fix them before uploading to D2D. And yes, I had 3 weird typos that I missed in SEAL MOON. That said, I also fixed a bunch during the fnal proof. I suspect that by the time you are reading this, the updated version of the book will be live on the ‘Zon. It’ll take a few days to start populating other stores. At least it’s published! And yes, it’ll be featured in tomorrows Treats & Titles with links. In other publishing news, I hope to have ASSASSIN’S MOON uploaded for release on next Monday–again with no preorder period. I’ll start the proofing process when I get back from Wallyworld this morning.

In sports news, my Cards ran hot and cold. The good news is, Albert Pujols hit 700 home runs! He’s now in a very exclusive club and it’s sooo cool that he’s there. The Cards beat the Dodgers 11-0 in the game. The other games? Yeah…bats went mostly cold. It happens. I’m hoping they’ll peak again for the post season!

Another memo to self: Double check language when uploading to the ‘Zon. SEAL MOON went live yesterday–ITALIAN EDITION. There IS no Italian edition. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Since it was live, I could pull up the detail page and change it back to English. Don’t ask me how Italian popped up. And don’t ask me if that Italian edition will disappear once the English one updates.

Okay, moving on. Except there’s not much else to move on to. 🙄 In reading/listening, I’m currelntly 10 books ahead of my Goodreads book challenge. I’m in the middle of a marathon relisten to Jayne Castle’s Ghost Hunter/Harmony series. These books combine SciFi with paranormal romantic suspense. And there are dust bunnies!

There was soccer Satruday. Stormy scored the winning goal so there’s a bit of grandparental glow going on. It’s amazing how much progress the kids have made since the beginning of the league. They are figuring out how not to “swarm” the ball and spread out so they can pass to each other. It’s fun to watch.

One last memo: Self, be sure to update the book page on this site with links because Books2Read now has SEAL MOON listed. Just click on that link to see where it’s currently available.

And that pretty much sums up my world.Nothing exciting but some progress at least. That beats the alternative. How’s your world?

 

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Friday Sinema: Southern Fall

Posted on September 23, 2022 by Silver James

Fall arrived yesterday. Technically it was last night at 8:06 p.m. central time. Don’t ask me if it’s CDT or CST time because I no longer keep track of the time change. It just pisses me off. Anyway, we had a front come through just in time for the Autumnal Equinox (First Day of Fall). When I woke up, it was 65 instead of 75. And we hit a high of 79. Today? Summer is back with a projected high of 94. Which is why I totally cracked up over this video. You might have to live in the South to get it, but maybe you people up north and out west can get a giggle out of it. Anyway, happy fall, y’all.

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Inspiration

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Silver James

I know I’ve discussed inspiration before. In fact, I’ve done it often. Because, as a writer, I get asked about it a lot. We all do. Right? Writers, artists, musicians–anyone that uses their imaginations to create. That includes a parent telling their child a bedtime story. Sometimes, we start with a glimmer of an idea. And those of us who are mostly pantsers, we start creating and if we’re lucky, something very cool takes shape. I’m all about the cool. When this popped into my inbox, I found myself nodded in agreement, because this happens too. Often.

The odd thing about inspiration, Silver, is that it often comes after, not before, a new journey is started.

Yippee ki-yay!
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

So go on, Silver, break the ice! Put on that tutu, spin a whirly, clutch the sky, and you’ll have them quivering in their boots in no time at all… or am I thinking of someone else?

I’ve often mentioned that my characters take on form and personalities and I often find myself carrying on conversations with them. When I finally get them to open up about themselves, I’m often surprised by the secrets they spill. In the sace of Hawk Greenwood, the hero of RESCUE MOON, it was his grandmother who spilled the beans. Here’s this big tough “water-walking” SpecOps soldier and what’s his favorite dessert? Grape dumplings. As was shared this past Tuesday. I grin whenever I think about it because he is so stoic and such a Wolf and yet his grandmother makes him grape dumplings whenever he comes home for a visit. Who knew? And where did that inspiration come from? A trip to the Chickasaw Herigage Center and a boswl of the darn things from the cafe there. While I was writing RESCUE MOON. And I knew, in 20-20 hindsight, that Hawk considered this treat his comfort food.

And yes, this is, in my own weird way, an attempt to market the new release of RESCUE MOON because I totally suck at marketing. Have you had an inspirational moment lately?

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