Thursday Thoughts: Universal POV

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Silver James

Sometimes, in writing, the hardest part is to decide which character should have the floor, so to speak. In other words, who is the POV (Point of View) character. A lot of publishers, editors, and readers like to be in only one character’s head a time. Me? I want to know what the whole love of them are thinking and doing from their POV. While I think the Universe is actually referring to real life, I prefer to talk about writing, but feel free to apply this advice to your world. ☺

In all tests of character, Silver, when two viewpoints are pitted against each other, in the final analysis, the thing that will strike you the most is not who was right or wrong, strong or weak, wise or foolish… but who went to the greater length in considering the other’s perspective.

Don’t you agree?
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Well, yeah, Silver, I did mean the final, final analysis, but you’ll see, that one really counts.

Some authors will write the same scene from both main characters’ POVs and then decided who has to most at stake and use that version. Others simply include both, one after the other, which seems a little repetitive to me but if done well (done WELL being the operative words), then i appreciate the conflicting veiwpoints. Me? When I’m writing what and how I want to write, I just let it fly. Every character has an opinion and they’re entitled to it. It’s important to me–as a writer AND a reader–to know the reasoning behind their words and actions. That’s what intrigues me. In practicality, when I write in first person POV (like in  Nightriders MC series), I’m limited but those guys insisted they tell their own stories in their own ways and it only seemed fair to allow their mates the same courtesy. In my “publisher” books, I have to follow their guidelines and it’s usually “she said/he said” each in turn. I can do that but the editing process is much longer because I do slip up and just throw it all out there. Cuz that’s how I roll. 🙄 And yes, I am happiest when I can just do my thing and use what I call “cinematic POV.” That means whoever has the “camera” angle gets the thoughts, facial expressions and reactions, and the words. Of course, the joy of that is I get to use multiple camera angles.

Writers? What POV/tense do you write in? And readers? What about an author’s use of POV really irritates you? Inquiring minds want to know!

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Wednesday Words: Backwards Decisions

Posted on May 11, 2022 by Silver James

Once again, we’ve hit midweek and I’ve knocked out two prompts with one snippet. Today’s challenge is a scene using the #1lineWed theme of **BACKWARDS** and the #ThursdayThreads prompt of “I can’t decide.” I’ll admit, I had some fun with this one. Again, while it’s a random scene from the team and orphans trek to safety, it should be pretty self-explanatory.

****
They’d made camp for the night. Loch and Kin had emptied two packs. Uri added more items from his pack. The kids pawed through everything and once they’d made their choices, Meg scanned the boxes and tins. She checked every offering. “Golly. It all looks so scrumptious I can’t decide.”

The kids giggled and the men rolled their eyes at her and Dalton snickered. “That’s why I always carry a bottle of Tabasco sauce. It makes anything palatable. Even MREs.”

“Tis the same for ORPs,” Kin said, pronouncing the acronym like it was a word. “Only we tend t’use malt vinegar.”

Meg laughed. Bless the military of every country for their acronyms. Meals Ready to Eat. Operational Ration Pack. They at least had more variety than the tins of meat and other foods that she and Petro had gathered up when they escaped with the orphans. She had to give props to the Americans, though. MRE sounded much tastier than ORP.

After dinner, the kids settled into their bedrolls, which had been laid out near the small—but hotly burning—fire. Eventually, the men dispersed—guard duty, patrols, combat sleep. Meg waited until no one was paying her any attention. She dug into her pack and pulled out a small but precious roll of toilet paper then she slipped off into the woods. Announcing the need to answer nature’s call was always embarrassing. She’d gone at least 100 feet before she found a deadfall that made a suitable latrine. She unzipped her jeans but before she could squat, something rustled in the brush. She held her breath, listening hard and casting about for the direction of the noise. She caught another crackle of branches.  There. Her head jerked toward a large tree. A shadow moved in the darkness. She froze.

An ominous growl created chaos in her chest. She couldn’t breathe and her heart beat erratically, hammering against her rib cage. A huge wolf, silver in the moonlight stalked toward her. Meg stumbled backwards, tripped, and fell on her butt. The wolf lunged. She had no time to scream before it was on her. Flat on her back, she sank her fingers into the thick fur of the animal’s neck as if she was strong enough to keep those very large, very sharp teeth from ripping out her throat. Then the damn thing licked her face.

“Ewww.”
****
There you have it. Writers, are you up to the challenge? Or do you have a snippet already that fits one or both of the prompts? Readers, are you…”bush trained?” 😉

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: What’cha Readin’?

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Silver James

Dang. This is what happens when I get out of sync. There’s a reason I try to post the same thing on the same day of the week, and often try to set up blogs in advance. I almost forgot today is Tuesday and I hadn’t done a blog. Gah! I really need to get those four books re-released so I have some titles to tout. In the meantime, here are three quick questions for you to answer.

A. Do you snack while reading?

1A. What’s your favorite snack?

B. Do you drink while reading?

2B. What’s your beverage of choice?

C. What’cha readin’?

3C. What is your preferred format? (Hardback, paperback, digital, auido, other)

Okay, so technically, that’s 6 questions but who quibbles numbers between friends? Here are my answers.

A. YES! Often.

1A. Popcorn is a favorite. Or Hint of Lime Doritos. Occasionally trail mis, cookies, or muffins. Note: Since I listen to books, I have both hands free to feed my face.

B. Yes! I always have a beverage nearby.

2B. Depends on the time of day–coffee until usually mid-afternoon and then Pepsi Zero.

C. TEAR DOWN THE CROWN by Jennifer Estep (Gargoyle Queen #2/Crown of Shards world #5) Epic fantasy with quite a bit of romance but nothing over the top sexy wise. I ❤ this whole series and I think I’ve tagged every book in the series as “Best Book of the Year” when each released. I love Esteps voice, her characterizations are terrific, the worldbuilding is incredible (LOVE her take on magic), heroes are flawed, villains are truly evil, and holy smack, the threads from Book 1 that are still being woven into the plot in this book. If fantasy with no damsels in distress are your thing, try this series. The first book is KILL THE QUEEN. And I do only audio books these days. Stupid eyes. Hopefully, by summer, the vision problems will be dealt with and I can read again, though I admit, I adore audio books if the narrator is really good. I can go “hands free” and doo all sorts of stuff–cook, drive, laundry, deal with furry critters, shower.

Okay, your turn!

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A Mother of Mondays

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Silver James

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. It was hot and humid and I hid under the AC because…that’s how I roll. 😉 The James Gang celebrated on Saturday, which was a beautiful day. First, there was siren test because…first Saturday. Then it was lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Alvarado’s, with the Kids. LG put Only’s Christmas mobile HAM radio into her Mustang for Mother’s Day. She was excited. I got a Starbuck’s gift card from the Kids. I’m excited. We all went home after, with pledges of naps. I got one. So did LG. Not sure about Only or Baseball Boy. Stormy never naps. 🙄

In other doings, my honeysuckle bush is finally blooming! When I go out to toss food for the birds and crows, and fill the outside bowl for Pistol Pete (he also has an in-garage bowl for food), I can smell one of my favorite frangrances. Sadly, it’s too hot to open my office window so I don’t get the pleasure of its perfume while I’m working. So far, it looks like my peony buds will bloom. 🤞🏼

My OSU Cowgirls didn’t do so well against OU. Then again, neither has anyone else. And there’s still a chance to take a game from the #1 ranked team during the Big 12 tournament this coming weekend. My Cardinals ran hot and cold against the Giants. That probably made my friend Allison Brennan happy. She’s a huge Giants fan! Still talking baseball, my OSU Cowboys are on a roll. Yay! We’re coming up on regionals and super regionals in softball and baseball so rankings and RPIs REALLY mean a lot. We’ll see what happens. And yes, I am rambling on about this because I don’t have much else to say.

I’ve done a minimal amount of revisions. And the adding of new words is’t much better. My get-up-and-go got -up-and-went and it’s not just my brain. I have no energy. It doesn’t help that I took a header Friday night. The good news is, neither the plate that hit the rug nor any bones were broken. The bad news is my left knee (never in good shape anyway, but then again neither is my right) and leg has deep bone bruises. At least I fell on a rug this time, instead of the parquet wood floor when I fell on my right knee. Thought I’d shattered the kneecap that time. I’m thinking of changing my pen name to Kathy Klutz. I’m actually considering falling “prey” to the commercials and ordering those fruits and veggie pills that are advertised everywhere. Of course, they run $90 a month so yeah, I probably won’t order but I need to figure out something. The good news on thet front is that I am getting a bit more sleep. You’d think that would help the whole energy-level thing but so far, nada.

New release dropped into my Audible app this past week and it obviously necessitated a maratho reread of the series! Luckily, I adore this particular fantasy. The first three books are an arc about Everly “Evie” Blair, the Winter Queen of Bolona. The fourth book transitions to Gemma Ripley, the crown princess of Andvari, and the new release continues Gemma’s adventures. The Crown of Shards/Gargoyle Queen series is amazing. The rules of magic are innovative and unique. The characters aren’t perfect but you can’t help but cheer for the good guys and boo the evil bad guys. Now, let me explain that–as a person with power, the characters aren’t “perfect” but the characterizations from the author? All kinds of awesome! I finished the previous 4 books last night and today I’m starting TEAR DOWN THE THRONE, the new release. If you are a fan of sword and socery fantasy, I highly recommend these books by Jennifer Estap. There are tomantic elements, and romance develops between the two main characters of each set, but it’s there to enhance the story, not overshadow it.

Hard to believe we’re already into May. Seems like just yesterday that was March. I thought time was supposed to slow down the older you get. Yeah…hasn’t worked that way for me. Ah well.

As always, Monday means Wallyworld. And Starbucks. Jake and I will be off early because I like having a close parking space close to the cart return. Yes, I am both lazy AND conscientious. People who leave their shopping carrs in the lot–especially in parking spaces just irk the snot out of me. Hope all the moms had a happy day and that life is good for everyone. What about y’all? Do you return your carts? And what really irks you about shopping?

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Friday Sinema: Girl Time

Posted on May 6, 2022 by Silver James

[EDIT: I did it again. 6 pm instead of am 🤦🏼‍♀️] Yes, I did go on a Southern Thing binge. But hey, new videos! And this one made me laugh because it’s such a chick flick premise and I’d still like to be gal pals with them all. And yes, I might be a little guilty of some of their antics… Are you? 😉

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Edits

Posted on May 5, 2022 by Silver James

[Edit: This was supposed to published at my usual 6 a.m. However, I evidently didn’t change the time when I scheduled. Brain fog. Anyway, better late than never, right?] Ishould maybe explain how these posts come about. I get an email each morning with an inspiratonal message from “The Universe” courtesy of Tut.com. Some of them hit close to home and I take them to heart. Some of them make me smile. Some of them sound like good advice when it comes to writing. So I give them a title, copy and paste them to a draft post on my blog and save them for later use. This one has been around for awhile and frankly? I have no clue why I called it what I have. Anyway, here’s the message:

While you can’t ever go back and relive past glories, Silver, there are always better ones gathering.

Make way,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Indeed, Silver, it is written in your genes, your DNA, and chiseled upon the pearly gates of heaven, that whosoever ventures into the jungles of time and space, from that day forward, all things must get better, and better, and better, ad infinitum.

All things considered, I thought we all need to hear this one. I probably should have called it Universal Hope but maybe Universal Edits fits after all–since I need to edit the way I’m viewing things. Also, happy Cinco de Mayo!

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Wednesday Words: Somersault Something

Posted on May 4, 2022 by Silver James

Today’s double theme could have gone somewhere far different than it did. For today’s #1lineWed theme, we have **SOMERSUALT** and last week’s #ThursThreads flashfiction, we add “Something’s wrong.” This is what randomly (sort of randomaly) came out of my fingertips as I tried to add some new words to CROSSFIRE. Warning, this IS one of those random puzzle-piece snippets that will be in the final manuscript but I have no real clue just exactly where. You’ll just have to stick around for the release to find out. 😉
****
Loch stopped, holding his hand up in the universal signal for everyone to halt. He searched the surrounding terrain using all his senses.

Duke appeared at his back. In a voice not much more than a whisper, he said, “What’s up?”

“Something’s wrong.” Loch continued his scan, now relying completely on his Wolf senses. His eyes flashed red as his nostrils flared. He tested the air. The woods had gone dead quiet. Not even the kids were making a sound. No birds. No wind rustling the leaves. His inner wolf wanted out to hunt whatever was out there. The man wanted to hunt too.

Duke turned to the next team member in line and in that same murmured voice ordered,. “Dalton, get the kids under cover.”

The older ones had already squatted down along the trail, and the younger ones followed suit. Meg crept up the line from the rear, urging them toward an ancient pine that had fallen against another tree to make a haphazard lean-to. Her heart broke for these children. War had taken a terrible toll on their lives and the idea that even the toddlers had stuffed their hands into their mouths to remain silent? Tears prickled her eyelids and she blinked them away. She would be as brave as they were, and it wasn’t like they didn’t have strong, competent soldiers guarding them.

She’d seen firsthand what they could do. She’d always responded with a bit of snark whenever her father pontificated on the SAS. After watching Kin, who’d been SAS, and the others who served in other special operations groups of their country’s military, she promised she’d apologize to her dad if she got out of this mess alive. Without this men, neither she nor the children would have come so close to safety.

Kin came up behind her and her heart turned a somersault when he squeezed her arm. The heat from his hand radiated all the way through her jacket and she suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Her internal organs needed to stop with the acrobatics.

Taking enough time to ensure that all the kids were tucked up tight in the nest made by the pine, Kin assured each one with a touch, a smile, or a word. Then he bundled Meg into the space. She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. “T’keep ya safe, we need t’know where everyone is, which is right here. We can cover you but not if someone decides t’pop their head up t’see what’s goin’ on.” He gave her a fierce glare. “Stay with the kids. We got this, yeah?”

Nodding, she returned his glare with her own glower. On hands and knees, Meg herded her charges deeper into the tree fall. Yeah, they had this. All of them. Whatever was out there, Kin and the others would deal with it. They would survive.
****
So, writers, if you have no somersaults or Something’s wrongs to share, go for a little free writing and see if you can do a 250-word scene. Readers, you choice: Did you love to turn somersaults as a kid? and/or What do you think is out there waiting for our intrepid band of rescuers?

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Tuesday Titles: Reading Habits

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Silver James

I’m not sure how popular the whole Tuesday Treats and Titles thing is–me pairing one of my characters and books with a recipe. It’s kinda fun for me until I just keep using the same books and characters. So, until I have re-released or new books to hawk, we’ll talk about reading, if that’s okay with y’all?

I love to read. Or a did until the eyes started giving me trouble. Now I love to listen to books. My dad told me that I stopped listening to bedtime stories when I was about three. He said I much preferred reading them by myself, and not out loud. Reading them out loud took too long. My mother thought I was just flipping pages and looking at pictures until I’d tell her the story written in the book. Yes, I was one of those kids.

A lot of you have heard the story about other weird stuff in my early reading habits–like starting with the As and working my way through the whole children’s secton of my hometown library all the way to the very last Z book. Granted, the library wasn’t huge but there were quite a few books. At the age of ten, Dad took me to Mrs. Lake, the head librarian, to have my name added to his library card so I could read any book I wanted. The first two I checked out were Mary Stewart’s “The Moonspinners” (because Disney and Haley Mills!) and Ian Flemeng’s “The Spy Who Loved Me” (because Sean Connery and James Bond movvies!) And yes, I was precocious. We won’t mention me thumbing through Playboy magazines (for the cartoons and Little Annie Fanny, y’all! No, really!) Are you at all surprised that I grew up to write sexy romance novels?

Anyway, that’s a long way to meander around to today’s topic. Book series. Are you a fan? Do you read them as they release or do you wait until the series is over to read them all? (Which would be tough if you are a fan of JD Robb or Nalini Singh, to mention a couple of favorite authors of mine.) As a writer, I try to bring closure to a series, which is not to say that those chararcters don’t crop up in other series. That’s the fun of my Moonstruck world! But I digress. Series. Love ’em or leave ’em? And do you reread the series when a new release comes out? I usually do because I read/listen to 150-300 books a year and it’s easy to lose track of characters, storylines, and such stuff like that there.

I bring this up because I just finished relistening to a series due to a new release and now I’m starting another series because the latest book came out today. Actually,, it’s a spin-off series but the heroine in the spin-off makes her first appearance in the first book. I’m talking about Jennifer Estep’s Crown or Shards and The Gargoyle Queen series. These are fantasy books with romantic elements. Estep does an amazing job with the rules of magic and the worldbuilding. I forget how much I like her voice until I open the series each year, because yeah, one new book a year. Which is another reason for a marathon reread/relisten. So, I’m happily relistening to “Kill the Queen.” And I totally recommend this series for fantasy fans.

The floor is now open for discussion. Series: yay or nay? Rereading: yay or nay? And what are you currently reading?

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May Day Monday

Posted on May 2, 2022 by Silver James

We’re starting a new month. How is that even possible? What happened to April? I had all these plans and goals and stuffs and then I blinked. And here it is the second of May. Gah! Picture me doing the Muppet Flail™.

So, what’s up in my world? We’ve had lots of Stormy time because Only is snowed under at work and Baseball Boy’s team made the state playoffs. We’ll probably have him quite a bit this week too. I haven’t received my “marching orders” from Only yet.

Why do screws disappear? I had to change the battery in the outside garage camera yesterday and I couldn’t quite get the darn screw for the battery compartment seated just right. And then my fingers didn’t want to work. That happens when you get old like me. I watched the screw fall. I saw it hit. I climbed down off the step ladder, bent over, and the stupid screw had been swallowed by a magic portal. Or something. I used the broom. I used a flashlight. LG used the magnet bowl thingy he uses to hold screws and nails when working. The dang thing was just…poof. Gone.

Websites. Coding. And headaches, oh my! Long story that I won’t bore you with but it all started when I got the rights to four books reverted to me. I’m lazy and the idea of having to update the back matter on every book (almost 40 now) books that I’ve self-published just made me boggle. And cringe. And all I wanted to do was hide. I got this wild hair to use the readlings lists on Books2Read to set up carousels for each series and use that link as a sort of universally “green” link for my books. That way, all I had to do was add the book to the carousel and I’d only have to update back matter in the other books when I had several new books out. Then I realized that I wouldn’t have links for the books I got back until I revised them all and uploaded and they went live and then…and then… And this is where a long story gets even longer. Suffice it to say that I spend five days on carousels, links, backmatter updates, and website updates (which now involves way more HTML coding than my brain can handle) and by mid-afternoon yesterday, I think I had it all in hand. And then my brain broke. I’m hoping it’ll be mended a little by the time I get back from Wallyworld and Starbucks.

RESCUE MOON is almost ready to go. SEAL MOON is almost read to go. That leaves ASSASSIN’S MOON and UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON to revise and update. I think I’m going to wait until they are all ready and then upload them and release them a week apart. Because I might actually do some markeing on each one. Or something. Anyway…

A few new words but mostly behind-the-scenes writerly crude this past week. I need to dig out one of my favorite memes–the harried woman in a disaster of an office that reads: Be a writer, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. 🤦🏼‍♀️

There was softball and baseball this weekend. My OSU Cowgirls lost, by 1 run each game, to a higher rainked team so that shouldn’t hurt their rankngs. Scarily, they take on OU for the Bedlam series starting Thursday. The Cowboys swept Texas so yay. My Cardinals seem to be on a low streak. The D-backs gave them trouble but due to the lock-out and shortened spring training, players are just now hitting their strides. Hoping for better this week.

I’m weird. At the moment, my favorite TV shows are “To Catch a Smuggler,” “Portals to Hell,” and whatever is on the Science Channen late at night because it doesn’t go to infomercials and I can sleep through the shows. Speaking of movies, who decided we needed a remake of “Firestarter?”

And that’s my rambling for the day. How was your weekend? What’s your week looking like?

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Friday Sinema: Southern Cooking

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Silver James

Y’all know I ❤ It’s a Southern Thing. And I ❤ mac-n-cheese. Plus, there’s bacon! Have a happy weekend.

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