Tuesday Treats & Titles: Under the Cubano Moon

Posted on November 29, 2022 by Silver James

I’m still celebrating the release of UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON. So…when it came time to pick a recipe for today, I considered something Brazilian, since the bulk of the story is set in Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon jungle. I even mention some Brazilian food in the book. However, the heroine is 1/2 Cuban and the granddaughter of Cuban immigrants. And I happen to really like Cubanos. I won’t get into the discussion of whether these delicious sandwiches are traditional Cuban or a creation from South Florida. Don’t care. They’re good. Also, I lean toward the Miami version rather than Tampa, because I’m not a fan of salami. Anyway…

YIELD: Makes 2 sandwiches
ACTIVE TIME: 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes

Ingredients
2 (8- to 10-inch) sections Cuban bread, split open horizontally (see note)
4 tablespoons yellow mustard
6 ounces sliced Swiss cheese
6 ounces thinly sliced dill pickles
8 ounces sliced honey ham
6 ounces leftover Cuban-style roast pork
4 ounces sliced Genoa salami (optional; see note)
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
1. Preheat a panini press or a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat. Lay bread, open side up, on a work surface and spread the bottom and top halves with mustard. Layer bottom and top halves with Swiss cheese. Working only on bottom halves, layer on all of the pickles, ham, roast pork, and salami (if using). Close sandwiches, pressing gently.

2. Butter top and bottom of panini press and press sandwiches with moderate pressure until crisp on both sides, about 8 minutes. If using a cast iron skillet or griddle, melt half of butter in pan and add sandwiches. Use a second pan to press on them as the first side crisps. When crisp, flip sandwiches, add remaining butter, swirl to coat, and continue cooking while pressing until crisp on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Slice sandwiches in half diagonally and serve immediately.

Special Equipment
Panini press or 10-inch cast iron skillet or cast iron griddle

Notes
Cuban bread is a soft white bread made with lard. Look for it in Latin bakeries or groceries. If unavailable, use any not-too-crusty, soft white rolls, preferably with some lard or fat baked into them. Salami is a traditional ingredient in Tampa-style Cuban sandwiches, but can be omitted. In a pinch, you can use Italian bread, so long as it isn’t a hard crust.

For step-by-step instructions and a very entertaining description of how to make a Cubano. CLICK HERE. As I mentioned above, Izeta Cordero, the heroine of UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON, is half Cuban and was raised by her grandparents. Even though she’s a CIA operative, in the quiet times beween assignments when she’s curled up at home on the Outer Banks, Zeta would definitely make herself a Cubano. And trust me, Brody thinks these hit the spot. They can even make them when they’re motoring around on The Moonstruck. You’re new and improved copy is only one click away. Just put your mouse on any place I mention the title or there’s a pic with book cover and click to see what on-line booksellers have it available. only have to wait one more week to read their story. Just click on the cover to pre-order it now from Amazon!

Do you have a favorite warm sandwich? If so, share with the rest of us!

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The Monday After

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Silver James

So, this is the Monday after Thanksgiving–at least here in the USA. Other places, it’s pretty much a regular Monday. I wonder if other places have Black Friday, Small Business Saturday (which usually stretched into Sunday, as does Black Friday, actually), and Cyber Monday. There’s supposed to be all sorts of deals on-line today for Christmas, and all the stuffs are supposed to arrive BY Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I’ve started. I have two presents for Stormy, one for Lawyer Guy, some stocking stuffers, and I know of at least one I’m getting Only. Nothing big. Nothing fancy. But…it’s stuff I hope they’ll like. I’ve been known to be buying stuff the week before Christmas and wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve. Madness. And crazysauce, especially if folks were coming here for Christmas Eve dinner. That doesn’t happen any more. Family situations change and so do family traditions. Ah well. Time marches on.

Case in point: A friend mentioned seeing a FB post about the iconic “WKRP in Cincinnatti” episdoe where the radio station’s ad manager Herb and Les Nesman, their weather guy, did a turkey drop from a helicopter as a Thanksgiving giveaway sponsored by a grocery store. It was…a massacre. See, domesticated turkeys don’t fly, not to mention the downdraft of the helo’s rotor blades. Anyway, back in the day it was funny, and those of us who remain politically incorrect still giggle over it. But back to my friend. She couldn’t believe how many comments there were about “What? What are you talking about?” So, at T-giving lunch at Uncle Fix-It’s house, I mentioned the scene. Only laughed (she is my daughter after all), LG laughed, Cousin K laughed. Then Niece Two asks, “What?” So we all explain it. Only even pulled ithe YouTube up on her phone. We all laughed. Except Two. She just blinked. “I don’t get it,” she said. “And I don’t remember that show at all.” Dear Lord, I’m old.

In other news, I didn’t finish one book last week. In fact, I barely listened to the one currently queued up in Audible. Why? I’VE BEEN WRITING!!!! I figured out a snag in the prologue that had been niggling at the back of brain for months. I got the wording right and BAM! As Emeril would say. Y’ll do know who Emeril is, right? Anyway, I’m almost to 50K in chapters, notes, snippets, and full scenes. Will I be left with that many when I’m done? Probably not. I’ll be happy with about 45000 words finished and published. I have 5 solid chapters that just need a final edit, I’m not quite 1/2 way through #6, and all those snippets and scenes are now pretty much in chronological order so I can write them in, adding more words. I may not have CROSSFIRE publsihed before Christmas, but 🤞🏼 I get it out before New Year’s.

Once again, let’s not talk about sports, um-kay? Except maybe FIFA. Big upsets there and the USA is doing better than expected. Also, speaking of upsets, go Michigan! Thank you for running over that other OSU, you know, the one that tried to trademark the initials and when that didn’t happen they started calling themselves THE O State U. Really? Anyway, no offense to anyone in the state of Ohio. I have nothing against y’all. In fact, I have friends there. It’s just the arrogance of that university that puts my hackles up. And it’s not personal. I feel the same way about Notre Dame, the Red Sox, the Oakland/LA/Las Vegas Raiders, and about half the teams in the SEC. See? I’m an equal-opportunity disliker. 🤣

In other news, I’ve hit a smilestone with this blog. (And yes, I mean SMILE as well as MILEstone.) According to WordPress, I’ve had 100,000 views. Holy cow! Now, if even half those views bought a book, I’d be a best-selling author. Still, glad folks find something interesting enough to drop by to check me out. It’s appreciated. And to my regulars? Y’all rock my world!

So… *scratches head*… that seems to be all the news I have to share. Off to Wallyworld this morning and then back to work on the ol’ WIP. I’ve been stuck high-centered for so long, I’m a little weirded out by how much I’ve accomplished this past week. I’m hoping the streak continutes until this puppy is ready to upload and hit PUBLISH. What about y’all? How was your weekend? Whose ready for Christmas–decorations, shopping, etc. Or any of the other winter holidays because there are some cool ones coming up. Inquiring minds and nosy people (me!) want to know.

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Friday Sinema: BUC-EE’S!

Posted on November 25, 2022 by Silver James

Okay. I admit to be jealous of Texas for one reason. They have Buc-ee’s travel stores. All along the highways. I ❤ Buc-ees. And kolaches. And yeah, I’m still in a “I find this hilarious” mode with these videos. Raise your hand if you’ve been to a Buck-ees! 🙋🏼‍♀️ Be careful out there if you’re going shopping today. If I had a BUC-EE’S nearby, I’d do all my Christmas shoping there. Just sayin’… Have a great weekend.

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Thursday Thoughts: Holiday Mayhem

Posted on November 24, 2022 by Silver James

No wise words from the Universe today. Sorry. It’s Thanksgiving. Even the Big U gets time off. Instead…

True story. I had two jobs for Thanksgiving lunch at the BiL/SiL’s house today–my homemade Ice Box Rolls (hot yeast rolls )and pie. I have been making the dough and rolling out and baking the rolls since I could stand on a stool, erach the counter, and turn on the electric mixer. I don’t even look at the recipe anymore. I mean 60+ years? Even my brain can remember that. Except…

I digress, for a moment, to the pandemic and supply chain issues. I don’t bake  from scratch like I used to but I had a canister just a little over half full and a parial bag of flour in the pantry. As lots of things were hit or miss at the store, I went ahead and grabbed some Shawnee’s Best. They’re a local company, comparable in price and excellent quality. Skip ahead to Wednesday morning. The rolls are supposed to rise in the fridge over night, hence the reason they are called Ice Box Rolls. However, you can do them in the morning, let the dough rise during the day and roll them out after dinner for rising at baking first thing in the morning. This beats getting up extra early to rolle them out, let them rise, and bake on the morning of. Or you can do them early and freeeze them. Except I have no room in my freezer.

Hang in there, I’m getting to the part where you’ll laugh. So. Wednesday morning. I start making the dough. I do the liquid mixture using the “sticks” of Criscoo–handy things those are! I had just enoug for that and greasing pans. I thought to myself as I used the Crisco to the first batch, “Self, you need to add Crisco to the grocery list for next Monday.” So, I’m mixxing up all the wet stuff and start adding the dry. It’s all good, even though the flour seems a bit…coarse? I end up with some on my finger and I taste it. And it’s salty. Now, 4 teaspoons of salt are NOT notciable in the mix of all the other ingredients. In fact, the 1/2 cup of sugar completely hides the salty. So…

I pick up the bag of “flour.” It’s Shawnee’s Best. Shawnee’s Best WHITE CORN MEAL MIX. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ Too bad I wasn’t making the dressing too. I would have had some incredibly fluffy and rich cornbread to stick in it. Instead, it all went into a plastic bag and to the trash because we’d NEVER eat that much corn bread. Not in a year. Or two.  So now, I need more yeast and flour. REAL ALL PURPOSE FLOUR. Cuz, gotta start over don’cha know. I run up to the grocery that’s only a few blocks away, grab TWO sleeves of yeast–because you know, just in case–and I had the very nice young man stocking the shelves verify that I was getting FLOUR, as I explained WHY I wanted him to double check. He was nice and admitted the packaging did look similar and he was trying hard not to laugh. Until I adivsed him not to get old because it sucks. He lost it at that.

So, I get to the checkout. My total is $6.61. I have excatly $4.00 in cash. 🙄 I use my debit card. I get home. I wash the mixing bowl and beater than had been soaking and I start up the water, Crisco, sugar and salt (that gets poured into the activated yeast and eggs mixture before adding the flour. Except…Crisco. I need 3/4 cup of Crisco, plus Crisco to grease rising bowls and baking pan. I had 1/4 cup.  🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️ Off I go back to the store. Remember that nice young man? Yeah, he is now stocking stuff right next to the Crisco. I said, “Don’t ask, just go ahead and laugh.” He did. I did. We wished each other a Happy Thanksgiving. The girls at the checkout who’d been flirting with the local firefighters who’d been in line in front of me the first trip, tried not to laugh. I told them to go ahead and since was laughing on the inside, they wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they laughed out loud. My tab thistime is $6.72. I STILL only had $4.00 in cash.

Anyway, I made it home in the cold drizzle–yeah, I haven’t mentioned that it was a lousy day to be out and about–got the new batch of dough mixed up and it turned out pretty darn gooe. This morning I thawed the pecan pie and made the pumpkin pie and baked the rolls. Off to the BiL/SiL’s around 11-ish. There could be 20+ people there and y’all know how much I love peopling. 🙄

That said, it’s Thanksgiving Day here in the USA. And I do have things to be thankful for. I may be old but I can still get around and I remember things if I write them down. 🤣 I have a wonderful family and friends. I have furry critters to love on. I have books to write–thank goodness the imgination still works! And best of all, I have y’all. Thank you for hanging out here, for buying and reading my books, for leaving reviews, and most of all for being totally cool people that I’d actually people with. In person, even. Anything you’re thankful for today? And is anyone watching the Macy’s Parade?

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Wednesday Words: Far-feteched Explanations

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Silver James

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I suspect some of us here in the US will be cooking or otherwise preparing for tomorrow. If you’re busy, take a break and check out our #1lineWed prompt **.FAR: Beyond the world I know. And away. Near and.**  Plus, we have our #ThursdayThreads inspiration: “Then explain this to me.” I managed to write a 250 word snippet that received an honorable memtion from last week’s #ThursdayThreads judge. I’ll admit I had fun with a silly bit of fluff. Sometimes I forget to lace some humor and lightheartedness into a WIP. I’m working on that with this one. Anyway, here’s your break-time snippet, which occurs toward the beginning of the book.
****
“Time t’rise and shine now!”

Meg groaned inwardly at the Irish soldiers pronouncement, which was followed immediately by Petro’s in Ukrainian. The kids whined too. At least she wasn’t the only one feeling tired and sore. They’d only been walking for four days. She just thought she’d been in good physical condition when taking the internship with the wolf refuge. After all, she jogged every day and worked out. Usually. One would think she’d be in even better shape by now. Walking was supposed to be good exercise, right?

She stretched her legs and toes, gratified when no cramps hit. Bracing up, she winced, missing civilization like crazy. She’d give everything she owned for a hot bath—for stiff muscles and to just be clean. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had more than a quick rinse off with a wet rag. Ugh.
The kids stirred around her so she reached for her boots, snagged one. She managed to get it on and laced while still inside the sleeping bag. She reached for the other. It was gone. Unzipping the bag and standing, she checked the area around her. Nothing. Walking on one boot and tiptoes with the other foot, she went searching far and wide around the camp.

Maxim called, “Miss Meg, what do you look for?”

“My other boot. Do you see it—” She broke off when Petro held up her missing boot—what was left of it. The man handed it to her, his expression blank. Examining her boot, she was even more confused. “This looks like a dog chewed it up.” She glanced suspiciously at the children. “Are you hiding a puppy?”

At their chorus of denials, two other people caught her attention. Loch and Kin. The Irishman stared at the Scot, who ignored his comrade. She glowered at one then the other. “Do either of you know what happened to my boot?”

Loch continued staring at Kin as he answered, “Possibly.”

“Then explain this to me.” She shook the chewed-up boot at them.

“Wolf,” Kin said, his face completely deadpan. “A playful one.”

“Are you serious right now? That’s not even funny, dude. A wolf sneaks in here and decides my boot makes the perfect chew toy? Yeah, right.” She stomped, though her balance was a bit precarious, back to her sleeping bag and pack. Good thing I have another pair or you lot would be piggybacking me.” She faced them again. “Just sayin’…”

She could deal with old boots and stupid explanations. She jerked off her remaining boot, tucked it into her pack just in case, and pulled on the worn pair. Fine and dandy. She could deal with whatever this situation threw at her, but the whole hot bath thing? That was nonnegotiable. They couldn’t get to civilization fast enough.
****
Dear Kin, liar, liar, pants on fire. And yeah, there are times when we all want to just hide in the bathtub while yelling, “Calgon, take me away!” Am I right? Writers, hopefully today’s prompts will give you the impetus to create new words. They did me, even in retrospect because I took the original 250-word snippet to 468, almost doubling the word count. Yay! Readers, have you had a “Calgon moment” lately?

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Tuesday Treats & Titles: 1905 Moons

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Silver James

No trip to Tampa was ever complete without having lunch at the historic Columbia Restaurant. And my favorite meal there was their famous 1905 Salad. This is mixed and served tableside. What a tasty way to use your leftover Thanksgiving ham, turkey, or both! I’m a big fan of using both. 😉

1905″ Salad®​
Makes 2 full salads or 4 side salads

4 cups iceberg lettuce, broken into 1½” x 1½” pieces
1 ripe tomato, cut into eighths
½ cup baked ham, julienned 2″ x ⅛” (may substitute turkey or shrimp)
½ cup Swiss cheese, julienne 2″ x ⅛”
½ cup green Spanish olives
2 cups “1905” Dressing (recipe below)
¼ cup Romano cheese, grated
2 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1 lemon

Combine lettuce, tomato, ham, Swiss cheese and olives in a large salad bowl. Before serving, add “1905” Dressing, Romano cheese, Worcestershire* and the juice of 1 lemon. Toss well and serve immediately. Makes 2 full salads or 4 side salads.

“1905″ Dressing Recipe
1/2 cup extra-virgin Spanish olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
⅛ cup white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix olive oil, garlic and oregano in a bowl. Stir in vinegar and season with salt and pepper. For best results, prepare 1 to 2 days in advance and refrigerate.

Tips:

  1. You actually dribble the Worchester sauce over the lettuce and then do the same with the lemon–cut it in half, squeeze both pieces over the salad, then toss it. Do NOT add the Worchester sauce to the dressing. Just sayin’…

Take a moment and CLICK HERE to check out the Columbia’s website. The place is absolutely amazing! I’m not the only one who thinks so. Izeta “Zeta” Cordero is of Cuban descent and while her occupation and personality don’t lend themselves much to cooking, she has a hero who can and does fix all sorts of things. Of course, he’s used to cooking on a boat and hey, this salad is perfect for that! Also, they can sail into Tampa Bay, dock and head into town to indulge at the Columbia. Brody might even be tempted to stop into the family-owned cigar store next door. I’m pretty sure the scent in there drives him a little crazy. Want to find out why? Grab your copy of the newly revised, updated, and released UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON from the on-line retailer of your choice. Just click on a pick or the title to find the universal link page that with the list of stores. What about y’all? Do you consider a salad like this a full meal or would you rather share it as a side salad? Me? I don’t share. 🤣

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Thankful for a Routine Monday

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Silver James

Oops! I got so involved in work yesterday, I almost forgot to set up this post. My bad. Here in the good ol’ USA, it’s Thanksgiving week. The James Gang is gathering on Thursday at Uncle Fix-It’s house. The SiL’s family is included and we’re all bringing our “specialties.” In my case, it’s pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and hot yeast rolls. Only is brining the relish tray and her version of Crack Dip. It’s pretty darn yummy. One of the nephews-in-law on Aunt Hooey’s* side is doing the turkey. It could be interesting. Jake will stay home. He will be a sad puppy but too many people in too crowded a space.

I’m not gonna mention sports except how ’bout that TCU vs. Baylor game?!? That there was some good college football. If you follow college ball, hope your team won. Mine didn’t.

Writing. Boy howdy, I’ve ben on FIRE! I finished polishing and publishing UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON. Now all seven of the Moonstruck Wolf books are live on lots of on-line stores. If you want to see where a digital copy is available for $2.99, click on the title. Yes, this book is a “republish” but there’ve been substantion changes and additions to all the books.

In other writing news, we authors are weird. It’s just part of our make-up–and I don’t mean eyeliner tutorials on TikTok. Sometimes, the oddest thing will get us wrapped around the axel and there we sit, spinning wheels. There was one line (an epitaph) in the prologue of CROSSFIRE that has bothered me since I wrote it. It’s been so long since I just sat and read this MS due to getting the rights-returned books revised and back into the wild, that I decided to take a few days to just read and fill in some blanks I’d left, while rearranging all the various snippets and scenes to get them in some semblance of the right timeline order. So, yesterday, I started with the prologue. And I hit that line. And I started spinning wheels. You’d think I was living in Buffalo, New York and drining a two-wheel-rear-drive vehicle. I played with words. I hit Theasarus Dot Com. I even thumbed through a physical theasarus. And then I found the way. I fixed it. And when I hit Chapter 1, I started writing. Oh, I was still reading, but I was fixing and adding and writing tons of new words. Like almost 2K worth. Holy Hot Wheels, Batman. So now I’m excited and once I return from my Wallyworld trip, I’ll get back to CROSSFIRE.

See, I’ve been out of…alignment, for lack of a better word. Too bad I try to make my living as a wordsmith. 🤣 Getting the rights to those four books is/was a good thing over the long haul but I had to stop progress on two different projects to fix them. Personally, I think all four are humming along on all eight cylinders now but that’s just me. I hope readers who’ve already read the old version will take a chance on the new and enjoy it even more.

Okay, all automtive allusions aside, the thing is, I got out of my own way yesterday. I fixed the words that bugged me. I looked at the notes where I left off on a chapter (reminding me of where I thought I was going once I got back to the darn thing) and BAM! Now I feel like Emeril. But no food analogies. Promise. Anyway, I have a sense of purpose and it seems I am back in the groove with CROSSFIRE. I hopt to have 50K by the end of the month–I’m almost halfway there and if I can write as much every day as I did today, I should reach that goal. Then, with lucky, I’ll get it edited, polished, formatted, Only will get the cover done, and it’ll be ready in time for a New Year’s celebration if not Christmas. 🤞🏼 That’s the goal.

Uhm…not much else went on last week or over the weekend. Except there’s a certain amount of excitement in getting back into routine. Wallyworld and groceries today, followed by writing. Laundry tomorrow, writing during and after. Cooking and writing on Wednesday. Writing on Thursday while uncook stuff prepared on Wednesday bakes Thursday morning. Family time. Collapse in bed from all those people and writing on Friday. I don’t do Black Friday.

So, that’s my plan for the week, Yay for routine stuffs! What about y’all? Does routine help or put you off? And holiday plans?

*Aunt Hooey picked that name out herself when Stormy was born. For Only, the grandmothers were “Mamsie” on LG’s side and “Granny Gooch” on mine. Don’t ask. I don’t know why either.

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Friday Sinema: Greatest Generation

Posted on November 18, 2022 by Silver James

Y’all know me. I’m often a day late and a dollar short. In this case, I’m a week late but I didn’t see this video until after Veteran’s Day. It’s still worth the watch. Warning–it’s 10 minutes but totally worth the time spent watching. We can never thank our veterans enough. Thank you, again, for all you’ve done and all our active duty military continues to do every day. Live epic lives!

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Thursday Thoughts: :Universal Accomplishments

Posted on November 17, 2022 by Silver James

I’m done. And yes, it feels like a HUGE accomplishment. Getting these four books rewrttien, reformatted, updated, and published has strained my brain to the max. But the final one is done. I have no clue why UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON messed up my head so much. It was a dang good book, even if I say so myself. It’s even better now. And yeah, I’m defnitely feeling it, Universe.

You know that feeling, Silver, of accomplishment, triumph, and sublime joy that immediately follows a job well done, a victory, or a fresh, hot pizza delivery to your door?

I say feel it now.

Go on. Give it to yourself without all the rules.

Your boss,
The Universe
©www.tut.com

Feel it later today, too, Silver. And from now on, let’s choose to feel these things often.

I’d say the pizza’s on me but I’m not ordering any. I am, however, suggesting that we all take the Universe’s advice. We need to feel accomplished, triumphant, and find the sublime joy in Life every single day. I forget sometimes to make note of the things that make me smile, that give me happiness. The good things. Not the bad things. Bad things happen. But we shouldn’t let those define us or set the tone for our day. So, I’m done. UNDER THE ASSASSIN’S MOON will be populating bookstores starting today. Hopefully, the link attached to the title will also be live. If not now, soon. So it’s a good day. What’s good in your life?

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Wednesday Words: Better Send Backup

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Silver James

We are back in the environs of my Cajun Wolves for today’s snippet. Given the first part of the #1LineWed prompt, I knew the Wolves would be involved. That prompt would be: **BETTER TO: See you with. Have loved and lost. Etc.** The #ThursdayThreads inspiration sealed the deal on who: “You can send backup now.” I have no clue where this scene will appear but it most definitely will. I hope you enjoy!

****
Beau tilted his head back until his neck popped. Damn but the sky was a long way up. He lifted his right foot. Mud squelched as water gushed from the top of his boot. Chin dropping to his chest, he heaved out a sigh. Raising his head, he pleaded, “Seriously? My favorite pair of boots?” He briefly wondered who he’d pissed off, gods and human alike.

With serious effort, he freed both feet and sloshed over to the sloping wall of mud. He unsheathed claws as his hands sank into slimy dirt and no matter how hard he scrambled with paws and feet, he only managed to climb about four feet before ending up on his ass in the murky water skimming the muck. Soaked and mud covered, he just sat there, filthy hands resting on his bent knees.

“Well, ol’ son,” he groused. “This is a mell of a hess you’ve gotten into.” He glanced skyward. He was about thirty feet down. What the hell happened?

Gazing up at the sky once more, he replayed events in his mind. They’d been sent out to pick up Florent Mouton on an arrest warrant. The damn couyon took off running, he and Luc hard on the Cajun’s heels. He remembered sprinting toward the bank of the bayou, knowing that if Mouton got to his boat, they’d have no chance of catching him. Luc had been beside him, matching him stride for stride. And then the bottom dropped out. What the fuck?

He studied the space surrounding him. Sinkhole? What else could it be? Nothing that he knew of. But while Louisiana was dotted with sinkholes, including that huge one over in Assumption Parish that all but redefined Bayou Corne, he was’t aware of any in Jefferson or Orleans Parishes. Still, here he sat all but up to his ass in alligators.

Then his brain kicked in. Luc had been right beside him.Cussing in French, he half crawled, half swam searching the crater’s bottom. “Luc!” Silence. Panicked, he turned around in circles until a little voice sang in his head, “Grandmother, what big ears you have! All the better to hear with, my child.

Grandmother, what big eyes you have! All the better to see with, my child. Grandmother, what big teeth you have got! All the better to eat you up with.”

“You be a damn Wolf, Beau LeBlanc. Use your damn big nose.” He would have head-slapped himself if not for the crud coating his hands.

Inhaling sharply, he quartered the area. Luc was a Wolf. He wouldn’t drown. Not immediately. He finished one side and was about to start the next section when he drew in another deep breath. His mouth watered at the scent of hot, buttered popcorn. Someone was amused. Looking up, he saw Luc peering over the edge. Laughing. “Need some help?” his partner hollered down.

Beau snarled. “Yeah, you donkey’s ass”

Luc spoke into his radio. “Dispatch, you can send backup anytime now. Probably the fire department.”

The female voice that replied said, “You got a kitten up a tree?”

Laughing, Luc said, “Nope. Gotta wet dog down a sinkhole.”

Beau lobbed a mud ball at his partner, who ducked easily out of the way. “Asshole.”
****
There you have it. Was it fun to read? It was fun to write. Writers, pick one or both and tease some words out for your WIP. Readers, have you ever seen a sinkhole? There’s a series that “marathons” on the Discovery Science Channel from time to time called “Sinkholes: Swallowed Alive.” Fascinating, but then I’m weird. And yeah, they are pretty scary..

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