Thoughts on Monday

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Silver James

Hello, Monday! May I ask you a question? Why are you always back so quickly? Don’t you have something better to do? Yay, Monday!” Said no one… Ever. Monday should be optional. And because I’m a writer–some days–a bit of poety to sum it all up: Roses are red, Mondays are hard. I’m not good at poetry. COFFEE.

So yeah, it’s Monday again. And no, RESCUE MOON will not be available tomorrow. Due to circumstances and on account of because, I failed my mission. I’m close but I found too many oopses and have added more stuff and…and…and… Yes, excuses, excuses but I promise it–at all the others–will be better books for the delays.

There was a weekend. I worked. Stuff happened. I fell asleep before the 9th inning in both Cardinals games. Luckily, they won anyway. I woke up enough to switch over to the repeat of “On Patrol Live” and promptly fell back to sleep. True story. Y’all know I have frequent bouts of insomnia. I’ll wake up for whatever reason and then it’s hours before I go back to sleep. Well, “OP Live” works to get me back to sleep. I have no clue why but I can start the DVR version and by about the second set of commercials, I’m down for the count. Which doesn’t happen when I’m watching it live. Weird, huh? Anyway, I’ve watched a week-ago-Friday’s edition like four times now and I still have no clue about everything that happened. I totally need to like watch it when I’m awake.

Awesome new book that I listened to over the weekend when doing stuff that didn’t require my full attention. Nalini Singh’s new release STORM ECHO, which is the latest in her Psy-Changeling Trinity series. LOVE IT! Love the series but sometime, the books are only 4 or 4.5 stars. This one is 5 all the way. Lots of twists and turns and I sort of suspected the ending, was pleased when it happened, and the whole thing was entirely satisfying. Currently doing a marathon relisten to the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews. New release in that one tomorrow.

Monday means Wallyworld and Starbucks. Our temps are down a little and we got a smidge of rain but I still plan to hit the place early so I can get on with the rest of my day. Stuff to do, don’cha know… Like get the damn book finished!

Wow. I’ve discussed Monday, sports, weather, reading and writing. What’s left? Nuttin’ honey. Short post today. You’re welcome. 😉 How’s your Monday going? Good weekend?

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Friday Sinema: Forever Love

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Silver James

I’ve long been a Lindsey Stirling fan. And I’m secure enough to admit that my then teen-aged daughter introduced me to Evanescence. And yes, I’ve gained inspiration from both artists. Imagine my delight when I discovered today’s video involved them both. And yes, you’ll likely encounter this video/song again because I’m thinking there’s a spot in Ariel’s book for a scene inspired by this video. Have a great weekend, all. Enjoy!

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

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Time Management

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Silver James

Time flies. Time is money. Time waits for no one. No time like the present. Use your time wisely. Running out of time. Time to kill. Time to move along, nothing to see here. The time of your life. As time goes by. Feels like the first time. Party time. If I could turn back time. It’s Miller time. It’s about time. Well, it is. About time. Today’s whole post. So there ya go. Here’s the nudge from the Universe that prompted all this nonsense.

By the way, Silver, there’s no such thing as wasted time.

Enjoy every minute,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Nor is there any such thing, Silver, as not enough time.

And then, to sum it all up, I give you this:

How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? ~Dr. Seuss

So, better late than never, right? And so far, I’m on time for getting these four books released. I must admit though, that I probably should have just checked formatting and called it a day. Nope. I’m taking the time to reread each one. Yeah, found a few odd typos. And I’ve added words in places. When I get to the final line of the final page, which is a note about book availablity, I’ll stop. I’ll check links. And I double-check the blurb, keywords, and all that book-selly stuffs. Then off they go to the ‘Zon and D2D. Writers, how do you balance your time between Real Life and Writing? And readers, what’s your favorite thing to do with your down time?

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

Wednesday Words: Doing It

Posted on August 17, 2022 by Silver James

Believe it or not, I’m keeping track of the days this week. Go me! Today is Wednesday. That means new writing prompts and words. Also go me! I have a new snippet to match our themes. #1lineWed is a little ridiculas. It’s **AND**. Really? And what? The #ThursdayThreads prompt is sooo much better. It sent me down a fun rabbit hole. Writers, your mission this week, should you decided to accept the challenge: How am I doing so far? See?!? Fun one, right? And today’s snippet helped me fill in a hole toward the beginning of the book. Again, go me! So without further adieu, here it is…
****
Meg was surprised when the Scotsman settled on the log beside her. They ate in silence but she was very aware every time his arm or shoulder brushed against her. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was about this man but he made the hair on the back of her neck stand up at the same time he sent her stomach into fluttering gymnastics. She couldn’t remember one man who’d ever affected her so strongly. And it wasn’t the accent. In fact, that should have put her off. Big time. Scottish brogue. Too ruggedly handsome for his—or her— own good. And a soldier. A soldier for chrissakes. What was she thinking? Oh, wait. She was thinking, it was her body that had lost its mind.

Warm breath stirred a tendril of her hair that had escaped it’s braid. She shivered and it was like phantom lips brushed across her skin. She slowly turned her head to find his face inches away, eyes amused and…hungry? For a split second, she knew exactly how Little Red Riding Hood must have felt. Time to take back control. She arched a brow, an expression she’d spent days practicing in the mirror because her mother did it so artfully.

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

“Maybe.”

“Why?”

Kin stared at her, unblinking. Some weird light flashed in the depths of his eyes and she was reminded of the wolves she’d worked with at the sanctuary. It was unnerving to catch eyeshine in the darksitting next to a man.

“Are ya daft, lass? Why wouldn’t a man want t’seduce you?”

She snorted. Like a horse. And then laughed, startling herself with the sound. “Look at me.” Something flashed in his eyes again and she went all melty inside.

“Oh, I am, lass. I am.”

Face heating, she hoped he couldn’t see the color rising in her cheeks. The cold night air made her skin tingle. At least, that’s what she told herself. “I haven’t seen a mirror in weeks. I haven’t bathed in almost that long. I’m wearing the same clothes I had on when you guys rescued us. And we’re tramping through the wilds of Ukraine. I am not going to be featured on the cover of ‘Vogue’.”

Little lines appeared around his eyes as they crinkled when he grinned. Charming. The man was utterly charming and under normal circumstances, she would have been oh-so-very tempted.

“You underestimate yourself, Megan Muir.”

“I’m not my mother.” Who was beautiful. Just ask anyone in Hollywood. No, she was made of sterner stuff, like her  Scottish father, the very model of a modern Major-general.

“And thank goodness for that, lass.” He winked. “So, tell me, how am I doing so far?”

“Huh?”

“My seduction. Are ya temped?”

Well, d’uh. Who wouldn’t be?
****
I hope you enjoyed this early interaction between Meg and Kin. They are a fun couple and once I’m done with formatting the Moonstruck Wolf books and get them uploaded, I can get back to CROSSFIRE. FYI, Kin and the rest of the Hard Target team shows up in some of the “new/old” MW books, so there ya go. Wouldn’t it be fun if I could get this sucker finished and published in time to release the week after the last MW book does? That’s about a month from now so it’s possible. We’ll see what Real Life throws at me next. In the meantime, writers, you have your assignment. Readers, this question is for you. How am I doing so far? 😉

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

Tuesday Treats and Titles: Recipe for Success

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Silver James

Getting a book ready for publicaton is like cooking. There’s a formula, aka a recipe. There are steps, procedures, proceesses. These are different for every author and are different if a writer is traditionally published as opposed to a self-published one. This is where I am currently I’ve pulled out my “recipe” and I’m baking up the books–all four of the “new” Moonstruck Wolf books. If I was formatting a new book, I’d begin by copying and pasting from Scrivener to Word. Yes, I can “send” the entire MS from Scriverer to Word but I’m weird. I like to do it a chapter at a time…for reasons. Now, once I’m in Word, here’s my process.

First draft font is Times New Roman, 12 pt., single space. Published is Century Schoolbook, at least 14 pt. (which makes space for heading sizes, section breaks, and makes it easier to read in digital. I also set 3 spaqces for first lines of a paragraph. This changes with first lines after a chapter heading and after a scene break. I manually set those up because that’s what works fot me. Deselect all text and search for your chapter headings to do whatever special you want to do (Heading 1 preset which is centered, font, size and spacing for me).

Next, go to find and replace (and there ae “cheats” for these). Put what you are looking for in the find box, and how you want to fix it in the replace. Then hit replace all and keep doing that until it comes up 0. Always start with your cursor at the very beginning.

  1. Tabs (^t – shft 6, lowercase t), noting in the replace. You want to remove all the manual tabs. Otherwise, the self-pub aggragators get confused. Set up paragraph indents using the paragrah tab.
  2. Extra space between words and after a period  (delete anything in find box and hit the space bar twice. Replace box cleared, then tap space bar once.)
  3. Extra space at beginning of paragraph (^p space)
  4. Extra space at end of paragraph (space ^p)
  5. Crutch words you know you use.
  6. Name spellings (and in my case where I’ve changed characters around, I check for the old names as well as the new ones)

There’s more, like ellipses, astericks, underline, enddashes, but I have that already set up for auto format in both Scrivener and Word.

Once that’s done, I create my title page, copyright page, table of contents, and back matter. A lot of this is copy/paste though the TOC is a funtion of Word in References. Once all that is done, I embed the font in the document because 1) I use a specialized fonts on the title page and 2) this keeps the aggrators (Amazon, Draft2Digital, Smashwords etc) from automatically defaulting to their font setting. In word, click on the File tab, click Options, click Save, scroll down to Preserve Fideltiy, check the Embed Font box. I always check for thisbefore uploading.

What’s next? Now, I finally sit down and read the darn book from start to finish, looking for typos and any oops in continuity. I’m especially looking for those oops in these books. Since I’ll be uploading them for a spaced-out release, I have time to fix each one.

Next Tuesday’s Treats and Titles will be back to normal–recipe from a character and a book. RESCUE MOON is first up. Yay. And yes, it’s time for our treat now. Munchies while I’m reading to fix–which means I’m not curled up in my confy chair with Kindle/laptop in hand, drink, and snacks on the side table. Nope I’m at my desk on the big computer so I can fix immediately. Yes, there’s a lidded travel mug with coffee at my left hand. Today, as I’m working, I’ll be munching on Mountain Trail Mix, with add ins. (This is a Wallyworld product)–various nuts, peanuts, raisins, M&Ms, and I add dried pineapple, cranberries, and blueberries because I like to pretend that I’m being semi-healthy. It’s the best of both worlds–salty AND sweet, and no crumbs in my keyboard.

Now it’s your turn. What are you reading and what are you munching on?

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

Midway Monday

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Silver James

IT’S DONE! Well, sort of. UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON. I finished the revisions. Mostly. I still need to update the back matter, reread it for continuity and get it formatted. You know those last ten pages I kept trying to get through? I was revising and adding words. Which added pages. So I kept having ten pages to finish. Gah! Anyway, no books tomorrow but I should be set up to start releasing starting next Tuesday. RESCUE MOON will be first up. The following week is SEAL MOON, then ASSASSIN’S MOON a week later, and finally UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON the week after. And yes, I am relieved! I have about a week of double-checking, formatting, uploading, etc. They will be available for pre-order, which is something I don’t often do. Anyway, I added almost 6K words to UTAM., fixed a whole lot of typos, so it’s all yay!

In other news, we broke our garage door. Hey, it’s almost 60 years old. And when we bought the house 20+ years ago, it still had the original garage door opener. Which still worked. Fine. For several years. We eventually had to replace it. And we’ve had to replace the springs and the cables more than once. That’s what happened this weekend. The cable on one side snapped. Then the rollers in the track started coming off the track and then the bottom section of the door sort of…seperated. So Uncle Fix-It is calling his door guy to come look at it, figure out what we need, and get it fixed. Fun times. 🙄

My Cards took 2 of 3 from Milwaukee. They are now 1.5 games ahead in the NL Central Division. That’s a big yay and we are hopping they keep the lead and make it to the play-offs and beyond! Heck, even the Division Championship would be an awesome send-off for Waino, Yadi, and Albert. (Adam Wainwright/pitcher, Yadier Molina/cather, and Alber Pujols/DH-1B). They are legends of the game and very likely Hall of Famers when the time comes. They’re also all retiring after this season. It’s been fun watching them.

After listening to a couple of Kit Rocha books, I switched back to Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changling Trinity series. I made the decision to skip SILVER SILENCE, which is weird because it is one of my all-time favorite books. But it hasn’t been that long since I listened to it and it’s been awhile since I listened to the others in the series. WIth STORM ECHO out this past week, I need the refresher on current characters and “state of the plot.”

Stormy was here 4 of 5 days last week. He’s here today, spending the night, and staying tomorrow. Then he starts school on Wednesday. His parents have a function at his school Monday night so we figured it was just easier for him to spend the night

Today was Wallyworld day. I’m certainly spoiled by having the garage to park in. I’m used to backing in, shutting the garage door, opening the hatch on Drover and transferring bags to kitchen in a matter of steps. For a few days at least, we have to use the back door, the passage alng the side of the house, and through a gate to get in and out of the vehicles. More exercise! See? Trying to look o the sunny side. Even though it’s still freaking hot. I’d much rather be looking on the shady side.

Not much else is going on in my world. I’m ready to get the Moonstruck Wolf books uploaded so I can get back to serious work on CROSSFIRE. I have managed to make a little progress each week on it so there’s hope I’ll get it finishe soon. Then back to the Boston Wolves.

That’s my world. How’s your world going?

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

Friday Sinema: Inspiration

Posted on August 12, 2022 by Silver James

It’s Fry-yay again. No big plans. Just kicking back, staying in on these hot August nights and watching baseball. Life is good, yeah? In the meantime, I’ve been surfing “The Voice” videos again. This is is shorter. Once contestatn. From Austrailia. She is amazing–her humor is as vast as her talent. I smiled, I was awed, I laughed, and yeah, I teared up a bit. In a happy way. Start your day off right and watch this one. Have a great weekend.

Posted in Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Thursday Thoughts: Universal Beautiful Life

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Silver James

I have a few favorite authors and one of them is Kristen Ashley. In her books, her characters talk a lot about finding “beauty” in their lives and in love. When I read today’s message, I wondered if the Big U had been reading her books. Then I realized that in many cases, my “guys” do the same thing, if not sayingthe same words. Just as each author has their own voice, so do their characters. I can hear a passage from a book and if it’s a fave author of mine, I can pick out their voice. They have a certain style, a je ne sais quoi all their very own. And then it hit me…

All is well, Silver. You don’t have to like or love everything or everyone. Injustices and villains always abound during primitive times. You knew this would be true before you chose this life, just as you knew that the good and the beauty would far exceed the bad and the ugly.

Life is beautiful,
The Universe
© www.tut.com 

Have your preferences, go where you’re drawn, Silver, and dwell upon all that is good.

This pretty much explains not only life but how to find the nitty-gritty in a romance. Or any book you’re writing, for that matter. We authors have to breathe life into our characters and strive to make their lives beautiful. Right after we expose them to the bad and the ugly because that’s part of the journey. How do you know you’ve reached the Happy Ever After if you’ve never been unhappy. Or hurt. Or sad. And yeah, there’s even beauty in those things, when you stop and think about it.

I especially like the “PS” from the Universe. Sometimes, writers pigeonhole themselves. And they worry about their writing voice if taken someplace different. Bollox. I’m going to repeat this: Have your preferences, go where you’re drawn, Silver, and dwell upon all that is good. Write what’s in your head and your heart because when those two work together, magic very often happens and voices ring true. And lemme tell ya, it’s beautiful when it does.

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

Wednesday Words: All Things Considered

Posted on August 10, 2022 by Silver James

Guess what!?! I actually set today’s post up last week, right after I wrote this snippet. Aren’t you proud of me? “All things considered,” I’m impressed. And that’s our #ThursdayThreads prompt from last week. The #lLineWed prompt is **REASSURING**. FYI, this scene happens in…probably Chapter 2. The very beginning of the book needs work so it might end up as Chapter 3, but yeah, it’s totally near the beginning.
****
The soldiers stood on one side of the barn, the children and their caretaker on the other. Petro held his rifle loosely but it was locked and loaded, ready for action. Meg couldn’t help but imagine an old West standoff like in the movies. She could almost hear the music. The boy standing between the groups presented the biggest threat. He held a bottle with cloth stuffed in the neck, frantically clicking an old Zippo lighter attempting to light the impromptu Molotov cocktail he’d made.

Meg had to diffuse this situation. Fast. She stood in front of him, her back to the soldiers. “Put it down, Maxim.” She spoke English. He answered in rapid-fire Ukrainian.

Petro spoke then, his voice calm but commanding, ordering the boy to surrender.

“They aren’t Russian, Max.” Megan put a lot of promise into her voice.

“How do you know this?” he asked in halting English.

“Look at their uniforms. Their weapons. Listen to their voices.” She glanced over her shoulder to the man in charge. “Say something. Please?”

Duke stepped forward. “My name is Duke Reagan. We here at the request of NATO to rescue Ms. Muir.” There was no mistaking his American drawl. “Give me the bottle, son. We aren’t here to hurt you.”

He came up beside Meg and took the bottle from the boy with no struggle. The kid looked at Meg, his eyes haunted and Duke’s gut twisted. He had no clue what was going on here and he needed to fined out ASAP.

“What about us?” Max asked. “Will you leave us behind?” He sounded as lost as he looked.

Duke looked to Meg for clarification. She didn’t disappoint but she damn sure complicated matters.

“They’re orphans. The orphanage was bombed. Most of these kids were in the infirmary. Evidently, there was no way to transport them so they were…left behind.” Her voice vibrated with anger tempered by compassion. “When I came on them, Petro—” She paused to point to the older man, and to pull the boy under her arm. “He was trying to get them somewhere safe.”

“So you stuck around,” Duke finished for her.

“Yeah. I mean…” She cleared her throat. “Yeah. They’re babies. They need medical care.”

Duke surveyed the kids then laid a reassuring hand on Max’s shoulder. “That I can help with immediately. At least a little. Brady, Shane. Grab your kits. We need some triage.” He gave Max’s shoulder another squeeze. “They’re PJs. Do you know what that is?” The boy shook his head. “They are a very special kind of combat medic.”

Meg nodded. “They are the very best of the best and fierce fighters too.”

The two men jogged over to the kids, massive medical packs in their hands. Max pulled away from Meg and followed them over.

Lowering his voice, Duke asked, “What’s his story?”

Meg sighed. “He stayed with his sister.” She nodded toward a little girl with hollow, pain-filled eyes.

“Maryska has cancer. She was getting chemo. Before the war.”

“Fuck.” Duke bit off the word. ‘Sorry.”

“You’re fine. I’ve said that word a lot since this fucking war started.” She turned her head to watch Galyna, who squatted next to Uri chatting to the dog. She was smiling so big, her eyes were mere slits. “You’ve met Galyna. The rest have a variety of illnesses or other problems. A couple we picked up along the way.” She inhaled and let it out slowly. “Parents dead in the bombings.”

Maxim reappeared, his face set and angry now. “You will leave us.”

“No, son. We’ll get you to safety.” He glanced back at the team. Every last one of them was hard core when it came to protecting the innocent and how much more innocent could these kids be? If he tried to scoop up Megan Muir and fly her out, he’d be facing a mutiny on all fronts. “All things considered, we don’t have a choice.”
****
And there you have it. It’s not exactly a spoiler because, hey, there wouldn’t be much story if they just grabbed Med and flew off into the sunset. Or in this case, they’d be flying east so I guess they’d be looking at sunrise. Writers, feel free to grab the prompts and run with them. We’d love you to share. **hint-hint** Readers, what are you considering doing today?

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

Tuesday Treats & Titles: Clutter

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Silver James

I get an email “newsletter” thingy from a site called Simplify. Like the DIY newsletter I get, the curators list blogs that show projects, give advice, etc. I look. I think “Ooh! Cool!” And then I delete the email. My DIY days are pretty much done and in my world, clutter is pretty much a fact of life. I mean, we’ve lived in this house for over 20 years, and have been home for the Army for 35 years and I’ll be you money that I can find a box or three that we moved home from Fort Knox, that then moved four times within the metroplex, and they STILL haven’t been unpacked. Don’t ask. I’m sure I’ll have some excuse or another to explain it. Still, one of the articles caught my eye today: How to get rid of clutter for good and the 7 things that are holding you back.

Hoo boy, could I write a dissertation on that topic! And yeah, yeah. Excuses, excuses, excuses. Which are probably the top 3 thinks on that list. LOL I am full of them. Some of them are actually “good reasons” and not just excuses but when it all boils down to the bottom line (and yes I AM mixing my metaphors-that-aren’t-really-metaphors-but-you-know-what-I-mean), they are still excsues. That said, the first of the rights revision Moonstruck Wolf books should be available starting this time next week, followed by a new one a week for a month. But what does this have to do with clutter, you ask…? The hardest part of revising a book is all the words involved. Sometimes there are too many. Sometimes there aren’t enough. How does an author know the difference? With luck, the story and characters will let you know before your beta readers and/or editor get their hands on the manuscript.

This brings me around to UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON, the last book in the revision pile and the one that has stumped me the most on getting it finished. Until I started going through it, I didn’t realize how truly bare-bones a story it was. Gah! True, I was working under a tight deadline (at the time) and there were total word count restrictions but still! There are gaping holes (as I look at it now) in character development. Luckily, their goals and motivation were strong but as I’m going through it, I short-changed them on the depths of their emotions, their backstories, and their romance. I feel bad for doing it to them and yes, that’s one more excuse for “revising this book makes my head hurt!” Good thing I plan on releasing one a week instead of all together, huh?

I’m down to the last ten pages. I’ve been down to the last ten pages for over a week now, and it’s not because I’m not working on the dang book. I am. It’s because I’ve added like 10 pages of new words! And will likely add even more. Part of it is switching out from another author’s world and secondary characters that had to be included to fully embracing my Moonstruck world and MY characters as secondaries. For those of you wanting more of the Hard Target team, you’ll get it in three of these books. The first book, RESCUE MOON? Well, I just leave those changes as a surprise because–with luck! 🤞🏼–it will be live, at least back on Amazon next Tuesday. Or Wednesday. ALL the big pulisher books come out on Tuesday and I’m never sure if that timing is good for an indy author or not. Do my books get lost in the shuffle or do they get noticed because of the shuffle? But I digress.

Sometimes, a story needs to be cluttered. Take any cozy mystery, for example. They are MADE to be cluttered by definition. Suspense and thrillers? Not so much. They are streamlined and action packed. But there’s still room for some skeletons in the closet, a few boxes the MC needs to unpack during the course of the story. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m unpacking some of those old boxes for Brody and Zeta. Sorry it’s taking so long. We have to decide what to toss, what to give to a charity, and what to keep. Oh, and we’re stacking while we do so.

Which brings me to the seconde part of our Tuesday talking points–food! How do you like your snacks? Sweet or salty? I lean toward salty. I’ll grab the Dean’s Onon Dip and a bag of potato chips before I’ll hit the cookie jar, notwithstanding that I’m hooked on Walmart Marketplace Decadent Cowboy Cookies. Boxes of Cheez-its snack mix and/or White Cheddar. I had to forcably tear myself away from the display of cheese-puff balls in the giant plastic tubs yesterday. So if you’re going through stuff, what’s your go-to snack? And if you say Cheese Puffs, I want to know how you keep from getting the cheezy-finger residue from getting on the stuff. Just sayin’… 😉

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