Thursday Thoughts: Universal Upgrade

Posted on July 7, 2022 by Silver James

Hot town, summer in the city. Baby, it’s hot outside. Sumertime, and the livin’s supposed to be easy… Okay, I’m being silly and showing my age. Can you name those tunes? And who remembers that show? 🙋🏼‍♀️ Anyway, it’s Thursday. And I’m still fighting the urge to just ignore the revisions. Which is stupid. All these books are better than I remember. And even better now with new words and my characters as secondary, with references to things in my books. Part of me wants to blame it on the summer doldrums. It gets blazing hot, the cost of electricity quadruples during peak hours. I’m serious. It’s normally 7 cents a KWH. During peak heat emergencies, it surges up to 43 cetns a KWH. Which is…six times higher. Math is not my strong suit. Anyway, I just want to strip down to the bare necessities and go lay down under the fan and nap. But…

I write books for living. It’s not a huge living but it does help pay bills, or did until inflation and the recession, but that a different rant. Today is about making choices. I have to make the choice to work. No one can make it for me. Oh, I can feel guilty when a reader asks about the next book. And I can promise myself every day that I’m going to finish that last part (at this point about half of the last book) and then get them all shiny-bright and pretty and uploaded and then move on to the projects on the back burner but…

But it’s too hot to cook. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. But…
But then the Universe rears up and drops this into my inbox. Grrr.
****

We always have a choice. Nothing is carved in stone. Well, not everything is. Just as soon as I start making statements of absolute, someone will remind me that this or that is the exception to the rule.

You can always change how you feel, Silver, and you can always feel whatever you like.

Don’t you remember? You bought the upgraded “Superior-Deluxe, Double-Plus-Good Time-Space Package,” with a side order of “mousse,” if I recall.

Smooth,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

You can always change how you feel, Silver, and you can always feel whatever you like.

****
Yes, I am singing and humming Morris Albert’s “Feelings.” Why do you ask? All ear worms and joking aside, there’s something to this. I’m “allowed” to feel whatever. But…

But, when push comes to shove, I can also change what I feel, how I feel it, and what I do about it. Guess what. Writers are their biggest WIPs*. I need to be a harsh a taskmaster with myself as I am with my characters and plots and settings. Because, dammit, I AM a writer and I need to do my frickin’ job. So Imma gonna get right on that. Right after I have that mousse. Or some ice cream…

*Works In Progress

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Wednesday Words: Was it a Mistake?

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Silver James

Once again, it’s Wednesday and that means new words. #1lineWed **WAS** far too easy. Writers, run a word search an see how many times WAS appears. The prompt for #ThirsdayThreads was far more interesting: “It’s a mistake many beginners often make.” This snippet will appear fairly early on in the book but beyond that, it’s also pretty self-explanatory.
****
Meg was not a stranger to firearms, not with a soldier father. He’d taken her hunting every school break and vacation she spent with him. She hadn’t fired one in ages though. While she’d never admit it aloud, she was a bit hesitant about firing one now. Still, she and Petrov were the only adults and with the war going the way it was, she needed to be able to protect the children. And herself.

Petrov showed her how to load the rifle while Maxim set up a target. Going to her belly, legs spread, elbows planted in a proper prone firing stand, she fitted the weapon to her shoulder, laid her cheek along the stock, and closed one eye peering through the scope. The target—a shirt pulled over a bush—appeared in the scope’s crosshairs. She inhaled, held her breath, exhaled, pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. Well, snickers broke out from the males standing behind her, but the rifle didn’t do a bloody thing. It was loaded. She’d checked.

“It’s a mistake many beginners often make.” Petrov sounded smug.

Meg turned her head. Eyes narrowed, she glowered at the older man and the teen standing next to him. Maxim had the sense to take a backwards step to put further distance between them.

“I’m not a beginner.” She bit off each word.

“Safety.”

Puzzled, her expression morphed from anger to confusion. “I was being safe.”

“No. The safety. You left it on.”

Okay, maybe her noob status was showing a little now. She had no idea a hunting rifle had a safety, which was, in itself, a d’uh moment. She found the small mechanism, clicked it off, and resumed her firing position. Following the same procedure, when she pulled the trigger this time, all sorts of things happened. The rifle bucked. There was a deafening crack. The shirt flapped. And her right cheek and eye hurt like she’d just been kicked by an elephant.

Maxim said something in Ukrainian she couldn’t translate. Petrov answered in English. “Yes, she will need ice for the eye. Good shot, though.” The older man flashed her a sardonic grin. “You killed my shirt.”
****
Yeah, that’s gonna leave a bruise. LOL Writers, feel free to share now or just take the prompts and run with them in your own work. Readers, ever fired a rifle?

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: Organized…NOT!

Posted on July 5, 2022 by Silver James

I have to tell a funny on myself. I sat down yesterday and rather than diving into revisions, which I did later, I decided to get today’s blog set up. Because…you know…I forget sometimes what day it is. 🙄 So I open WordPress editor, and I set up the blog, cutting and pasting from the WIP the snippet I wrote last week for a flash fiction challenge and to be used as a post this week. I titled it. I set up the coding. I got ready to save it/schedule it… And realized that yesterday was MONDAY. And I’d just done the post for Wednesday. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Sadly, this is becoming my go-to emoticon.

However, my “senior moment” has given me a topic for today. I’ve prepared a fresh cup of coffee and I have my cinnamon biscuit to munch on. I’ve mentioned how much I love the Pillsbury frozen buttermilk biscuits, right? They take about 20-25 minutes, look and taste like homemade (way more than the canned variety) and if any are left over, I save them to cut in half to add butter, sugar, and cinnamon before sticking them under the broiler to toast up. Yummers! I do the same with yeast rolls, FYI. Anyway, I have that beside me with my coffee, so that’s the treat section of today’s post. Now for the titles part.

UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON. I don’t know why I have such a mental block about getting this sucker updated. I am, though. I mean, I’ll fold laundry and clean bathrooms rather than work on it. Crazy, right?!?! Part of it is continuity. It’s sort of tied in with ASSASSIN’S MOON. The folks from ASSASSIN’S MOON appear in both, but the romantic leads are different. So is the plot. In the originals, the Delta Force team also appeared. Should be easy enough to switch to my Hard Target team, right? You’d think! However… Originally, those books were written about a year apart. I wasn’t confused. Now, I revised AM and immediately started on UTAM. And screwed up the continuity in the relationship between Duke (Hard Target, who was a SEAL) and Brody, who was Delta, confusing him with Griff (AM–Delta Force sniper who trained with Duke. I think. 🙄 ) You see my problem? Continuity! And a Swiss cheese brain that conveniently forgets facts.

Which brings me to sort of today’s topic–orginazation. Fiction authors totally need a series bible. I am sooo not the organized type. I mean, that should be obvious by the way I actually write a book–in bits and pieces that finally all fit in the same puzzle. Scrivener helps, and I do try to keep current notes as I write but way too often, I get lost in the story and I just toddle along merrily slapping down words to form scenes and then I’ll wake up–not quite screaming but almost! LOL–in the middle of the night and think, “Oh $h!+. I think I f*cked that up today.” Which leads to tossing and turning, blearly eyes and lots of coffee as I madly scramble through previous books/scenes/chapters to see how royally I screwed things. Word of advice: Don’t be me!

Anyway, I’m going to forge ahead with UTAM but before I finalize it, I will go back and read AM just to make sure I haven’t “crossed the streams.” BTW, that Direct TV commercial that combines baseball with Ghostbusters? I crack up every time. Needless to say, it’s not always bad if you cross streams, but be sure the result works rather than repeats or throws the rest of the plot off kilter. Questions? Besides the obvious: Who needs more coffee? 🙋🏼‍♀️

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May the Fourth be With You

Posted on July 4, 2022 by Silver James

To those here in the USA, Happy Birthday, America. My flag is flying though I am not too happy with the idiots shooting off fireworks until after midnight and starting up again at almost the butt crack of dawn today. People, you don’t need the freaking noise to celebrate. Besides, it’s as hot as a firecracker, even early in the morning. Better to sit inside under the AC and drink your beer while it’s still cold. Yeah?

Our neighbor two doors down was smokin’ yesterday and last night. Now I’m craving BBQ ribs. Just sayin’…

No Wallyworld today. Holiday. Everyone who forgot something will be there. I’ll wait until tomorrow, thank yoiu very much.

Guess what?!?! I actually revised three–count ’em 1 – 2 – THREEEEE–chapters on UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON. Go me. Now to keep it up. I’m also making an effort to be more sociable and you know…actually respond to comments on social medis.

I finished up the Psy-Changling series, including the anthologies and short stories in multi-author anthologies. Sadly, there’s been a delay of almost a month on the new release so that means a delay on starting and finishing the follow-on Trinity series. I did see a review for a book that intrigued me but sadly, it isn’t available in audio. By the time I get off the computer, I can barely see the TV much less a printed page/ebook. Anyway, for those interested in light-hearted paranormal,you might check out A LITTLE TOO FAMILIAR by Lish McBride. There’s a witch/mage and a werewolf. I favorited it on Hoopla so I can find it again once I have adjustable eyesight again.

My Cards are driving me crazy. They do things like hit 4 (FOUR) back-to-back homeruns in the first inning, then lose the lead, then finally get it back and win by one. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Lately, when they win, it’s been big and they lose small, except for Satruday. Anyway, a win is a win, right?

Weird and odd thoughts:

Who in their right mind acquires an actual human skeleton and installs it in their home? (my thought during pisode of “Portals to Hell” with Jack Osbourne.

I hate the new KDP author’s dashboard. Hate. It. It’s depressing and hard to see much information at a glance.

Computer “pop” games are addictive.

So is watching compilation videos from The Voice.

Trust me, it really IS the humidity.

On that note, I will return your attention to your regularly scheduled lives. If you have sensitive pets, a veteran, or anyone else suffering PTSD, you understand my frustration with neighborhood fireworks. Save your money people and just go watch the community shows. Have a safe and sane holiday, US peeps. Have a safe and sane day, everybody else, too. It’s a crazy world out there.

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Friday Sinema: Southern Summer Camp

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Silver James

I just have two things to say: “It’s always chicken nuggets and French fries” and “Legos.” Also, been there, done that, still have the T-shirt. While technically, this is #SoTrueY’all it’s the same cast as #ItsASouthernThing so enjoy. Also, I want pickles now.

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Thursday Thoughts: Empty Head

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Silver James

Uhm…

Once again, I thought I’d set up a blog for today only to wake up to realize that I had, in fact, not done so. Yeah. As a result, I fear there is not enough coffee in the world today but I’m going to make an effort. Anyway, considering the state of the world, I leave you with something a little lighthearted to maybe make you smile. As for me, I’m hoping for all the things! Also, #ThisMadeMeLaugh…

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Wednesday Words: Say What?

Posted on June 29, 2022 by Silver James

Hey, look at me! I’m totally posting on time. (A day early, actually.) Go me! So, today’s mixed prompts are diverse. Which is a good thing. Makes one stretch the ol’ creativity muscles, yeah? Here’s the #1lineWed prompt, verbatim: MISINTERPRETED ‘Mute point.’ ‘One in the same.’ ‘Nip in the butt.’ (ie. MOOT point, One AND the same, Nip in the BUD. LOLOL). The #ThursdayThreads prompt is “He wants something.” Below is the scene the popped into being after I spent a great deal of time trying to find an “original” example of mishearing a phrase and giving up, used one of the examples, but given this scene? I think it works. Again, they’re still in the forest trekking through the Carpathian mountains on their way to Moldavia.
***
Meg huffed out a frustrated sigh as she lightly banged the back of her head against the tree she sat propped against. “He wants something.”

“He does.” Loch’s voice remained flat, his attention elsewhere.

Unable to give up, she pushed. “I’m not sure I can give it to him.”

“Why not?” The man still sounded bored.

“He’s so…so…” Meg shrugged when no words would come. How could she explain? Kin was intense. Fierce. Terrifyingly so. If she allowed, he’d overwhelm her. Take control of her. Never let her go.

Loch continued shaving small slivers off the piece of wood he held. His control of the combat knife he used fascinated her. When he didn’t speak, she added. “I don’t know what to do.”

They sat in silence for almost an hour before Loch stood. Meg glanced up at him. He handed her the small figure he’d carved—a wolf in a play bow. He walked away before she could respond.

Five minutes later, he located Kin. “Well, lad, you’ve gone and done it now.”

“Done what?”

“You’ve confused the poor girl enough. Ya better nip this in the butt, and soon.”

Kin growled. “I’m thinkin’ ya meant t’say nip it in the bud, for I’m fair certain ya wouldn’t be mentioning Meg’s very lovely ass t’me.”

“I meant what I said, man. Nip her in the butt. Mark her.”

“She has a choice in this.”

“Does she? Really?”

The penetrating look Loch pinned on him made Kin back up a step. He considered before speaking.

“The woman always has a choice.”

“Not when the bond is already there. I can all but smell it stretchin’ between the two o’ya. Go claim yer mate.”

Good advice that. Smart man, Kin decided. Just then, Duke announced the break was over. Time to hit the trail again. His claim would have to wait. He rounded up the kids he was in charge of that day and kept a wary eye on Meg as she did the same. He stood downwind of her and the acrid tang of an old-fashioned sulfur match lighting bit his nostrils. Well, she wasn’t the only one frustrated, though his was deeply rooted on the physical level.

Fate was a bloody bitch to throw his mate at him in the middle of a war zone while they were surrounded by a small herd of children. Nosy children. And that included his feckin’ teammates. They were all as bad as a mob of old biddies, all gossip and tut-tuts. Besides, he couldn’t just take her up against a tree. Or in a sleeping bag. He wanted to court her proper. Give her champagne and chocolates and silk sheets.

“Are you just going to stand there?”

He glanced down into brown eyes sparking with angry gold. Meg glowered another few seconds then pushed past him. He watched her stomp away, her hips doing the rumba in her cargo pants. He couldn’t help tilting his head to watch, fascinated.

“Loch’s right,” he said aloud. “I do need to bite that in the butt.”
****
There you have it. Writers, feel free to grab the prompts and run with one or both in your own WIPs, and feel free to share now or later. Readers, what phrase(s) have you misheard/misinterpreted?

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Tuesday…Seriously?

Posted on June 28, 2022 by Silver James

It’s Tuesday. I forgot to write a blog for today. Because yesterday was Monday. All day. And it’s primary vote day and the phones, and life and…here. Have a meme that I find totally apropos re: my current writing life.

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Monday Mehs

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Silver James

It was summer last week. I mean, like Neil Diamond “Hot Augut Night” summer. We had back-to-back heat advisories and energy emergencies. And then yesterday returned things to comfortable. Yay. We hit mid-80’s with low humidity and the forecast for today is about the same. FYI, I’m at Wallyworld early today. There’s less chance of having to interact with people–other than the few associates and brand stockers that Jake and I like.

The world is insane. LG and I are totally considering becoming hard core hermits. The crazies are out there and don’t you dare hold a different viewpoint.

I had fried catfish for dinner Saturday night. It was yummy! I LIKE catfish and it’s perfect for dinner on a hot night. I do wish that Golden Chick had hushpuppies, though. Ah well.

Trying to decided whether to buy a new laptop. I have a fairly early edition Macbook Air. I haven’t used it in at least a year because it’s memory is so small I can’t update it to whatever operating system number is current with Apple. I’ve also gotten spoiled by my desktop’s touch screen. I found a HP Pro-Book 360 touchscreen, Grade A refurbished for really cheap! I’m torn because I usually only use a laptop when traveling and I darn sure ain’t doin’ any of that lately (or in the past 3 years). Yes, there are times when it would be nice to move awsay from my office becaue…Boone. But…$$, even on the cheap. Still thinking about it. Book sales are taking a hit so there’s that too. I can buy a week’s worth of groceries or about 3 tanks of gas for the price. Still thinking.

Depression is a bitch and I let the world get to me last week. Hell, the last couple of months, truth be told. I need to get over myself.

Baseball was crazy this weekend. Weird plays, crazy scores.

I’ve mostly finished my marathon relisten of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changling series–well, “cycle one” anyway. The first plot arc pretty much closes out at book #15 and she expands the series with her follow-on Trinity arc. New book releases in 30 days. I’ll be finished with ALL the books well before then if I push on through the 5 Psy-Changeling Trinity books. The next book that is dropping in a series I auto-buy arrives in 14 days. I recently did a marathon of two interelated series but stopped before moving into the spin-off but there’s only 2 previous books. That’s like…4 days worth of listening. 🙄 I do plan on hitting the 2 Psy-Changling anthologies before decided where to go next. I’ll probably grab a a couple of standalones to tide me over. Decisions, decisions.

In case you can’t tell, life is pretty boring these days, so long as I ignore the news and avoid people. FYI, I love the LG Zero Cord vacumm commercial. It uses one of my all-time fave songs–“In the Air Tonight” by Phill Collins. The scene from “Miami Vice” that made that song so iconic is my favorite 4 minutes of TV. Here. I’ll share becaues I’m all nice like that. You’re welcome. How’s your life?

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Friday Sinema: You Aren’t From Around Here…

Posted on June 24, 2022 by Silver James

So, I had a whole different video picked out but whoever uploaded it to Youtube said no sharing. So, since it’s that’ time of year and it so totally IS the humidity not the heat, here. The first day of summer (or Midsummer, which I’ve never figured out but whatever) was just Tuesday, I figured this was apropos… Stay cool!

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