Wednesday Words: While Away Some Time

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Silver James

While I’m not getting much done, I  am trying to swim through the miasma and get back on some sort of social media schedule*. Hence, today’s post. The #1lineWed THEME for today is **WHILE**. That’s open to a lot of interpretation. But look! I found a snippet that has the word twice. Whohoo! Anyway, this is from CROSSFIRE and is pretty self-explanatory.

****
Dom stared at the control panel of the Russian helicopter NATO tagged as the Hip for short. The Mil Mi-17 chopper was roughly equivalent to the Blackhawk he normally flew. He glanced at his co-pilot. “Please tell me you read Russian.”

Bo laughed. “Sure, boss. Along with Arabic, Chinese, and Swahili.”

“Swahili? Seriously?”

“No.”

The two men grinned and started fiddling with the controls. “Think we can fly this turkey?” Dom asked.

“Yes and she’s not a turkey.”

“She’s not a hawk.”

“No.” While he’d answered with a negative, he was in semi agreement. “Maybe an owl.” Bo glanced out the window and caught sight of Uri. “I’m not about to call her a falcon.”

That got a snort from Dom. “Test flight?”

“Probably wise. I wish we had one of our mechanics to really check this bird out.”

“Agreed, Bo, but we don’t. We both did the look see. Everything looked right. And flying this baby into Ukraine hopefully doesn’t trigger anything.”

Bo rolled his eyes. “Except maybe getting a Stinger up our ass.”

“We’ll just have to avoid any Ukrainian forces. At least we’re on the west side of the country. The closest Russians are around Odessa.” He pushed open the side window and waved Duke over. “Bo and I are taking ’er up for a test flight. If all goes good, be ready to load and head out when we land.” He glanced at his watch and then the sky. “We want to come in at night for obvious reasons.”

“Agreed,” Duke said then looked over to Dalton. “You still have a fix on the girl’s location?”

“Yeah. I’ll have the coordinates when the get back, since the stud muffin there will be flying by the seat of his pants.”

An hour later, the team relaxed—ostensibly—while Dom and Bo skimmed at tree-top level over the heavily-wooded landscape of western Ukraine. No aircraft appeared to challenge them and they saw no troop movements on the ground. They had all the technology advantages, including night vision devices. From the briefings they’d gotten, the Russian invaders weren’t so equipped. Lucky for them.
****
While the rest of you writers and hunting for a snippet to share–hopefully–readers, here’s your question to answer: How do you like to while away your time?

*Today, I’ll either catch up on email or Facebook, and tomorrow will be whatever I didn’t catch up on today. This whole zombie existence is really startin’ to piss me off. I KNOW better than to let this happen! Still, easier typed than executed as any of you who suffer from depression are away. Insidious bitch that it is. Grrrr.

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Tuesday Titles: Pete the Cat

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Silver James

My brain wasn’t adding up a recipe with a book and a character so I thought I would share the story of Pistol Pete* today. Pete, or Mow-Mow, appeared a bit ago. I’d look up and see him creeping across the driveway to chomp on the dogfood the boys hadn’t finished from the night before. The crows like the leftovers. Anyway, he’d run away each time I tried to make contact. Eventually, I started putting out cat food. Then, one day, I heard this very demanding, “Mow! MOW! MowmowmowMOW!” (Hence the Mow-Mow nickename). I “mow-mowed” back. He came out of the bushes and sat and waited for me to put out the food. In ensuing days and weeks, we’re now good budies. He still yells at me. He also rubs against my legs, allows me to pet him–in fact, occasionally demands it–even while he’s eating. Most cats aren’t that cool about hands on their fur when eating. During a cold snap, I lured him into the garage and he made himself at home. He’s litterbox trained. He has a cropped ear so he’s been neutured as part of a local feral cat catch and release program, but I can’t believe he’s actually ever been truly feral because…pets and litterbox. He occasionally bunks in the backyard, alongside the serviee “runway” between drive and  yard. There’s old fencing and stuff, plus lots of dead leaves for bedding. Jake ignormes him. Boone does not. Pete and Loki have stared at each other from Florida room (Loki) and garage (Pete.) Loki’s a little freaked. Not sure how Pete feels but he does get hissy with one of the long-haired black ferals that normally hangs on the porch. Shy Cat does roam and his path has crossed with Pete, which led to hissy fights that break up when I open my office window and yell..

Pete should have a loving family. We’d take him–even LG likes the little critter–but Boone and Loki. Loki was a feral kitten basically “raised” by two big dogs. He’s not all that affectionate, though after two years, he doesn’t always flinch when I try to pet him. LG has better luck with him. Go figure. I like Pete. He’s a cool cat. And he doesn’t deserve to be out on the streets. Sadly, it’s kitten season so the shelters are full. Anyone want a really cool cat?

*There was a huge orange feral that used to come by and eat on the porch from time-to-time and I’d named him Cowboy. Oklahoma State colors are orange and black, their nickname is the Cowboys, and their mascot is Pistol Pete.

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Palm Monday

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Silver James

I’ve been a slug. And I’m really tired of the brain fog. I need to get over myself. It’s not like interrupted sleep patterns, the world going to hell in a hand basket, and my utter lack of ambition hasn’t happened before. I’ll deal. Sooner or later. In the menatime…

First, something interesting for the gardeners out there, especially those in deer country. This popped it in a DIY newsletter I get and I thought it was pretty cool. Checke it out if you’re interested. DEER-PROOF RAISED GARDEN.

There was softball and baseball. My OSU Cowgirls split 2-1 with Iowa State and for the moment are still ranked #7. #1 OU is still undefeated and still being the juggernaut sailing through both home port and “enemy waters.” And still run-ruling teams. I am both in awe of and slightly terrified by this year’s team. My Cardinals also started off with a 2-1 record over Pittsburgh. This afternoon will determine the series outcome.I wrote a little. They were good words but not nearly enough. We won’t talk about revising. See the part where I need to get over myself and get out of my own way.

Technology hates me. Just sayin’…

LG made a Wally world run for brown shoe polish. They didn’t have any. The supply chain thing is totally crazy. Anyway, he DID bring home cookies. Big soft ones. Including some called Cowboy Cookies that have coconut, cinnamon, and pecans. I’m all over those suckers! I mean it’s like eating a bite of coconut cream pie smooshed together with a bite of apple pie with pecans thrown in for texture. Swear to Dog they are my new favorite cookies. Did I mention big AND soft?

Yeaht, that’s pretty much my world at the moment. Still not thrilled with social media but it’s time to emerge from hibernation so I’ll try to be better this week. Today is my regular grocery run and thne Stormy Time after school. It’s baseball season for Baseball Boy and Only has a big project going at the office. Fun times. Anything good in your worlds?

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Friday Sinema: Somehow

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Silver James

I’m a huge Reba fan and she makes me both laugh and cry–sometimes at the the same time. This song was nominated for an Academy Award and she sang it live on the award’s broadcast–which I didn’t watch. I did read, though, that after this song, there was a moment of silence in support of Ukraine and then she shared places where people can help. I have no clue what the movie is about and the song is sad but damn if it doesn’t give me hope. Have a hopeful weekend!

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Wednesday Words: Whistler’s Mother

Posted on April 6, 2022 by Silver James

This snippet is a combination of prompts. The THEME for #1LineWed today is **WHSITLING**. The prompt for last week’s Thursday Threads flash fiction challenge was “How tough would that be?”  And sometimes, a plan just comes together and this scene fell into place for CROSSFIRE.
****
“What is it you want us to do?” Tank asked.

The man presumably in charge didn’t hesitate. “Blow up the bridge.”

Silence followed before Dalton asked, “How tough would that be?”

The big explosives expert checked the small amount of available C4 then studied the structure with a knowing eye. “We might be whistling in the dark but there’s a chance.”

Dalton glanced back at the group of Ukrainians he now secretly called the Irregulars. These men and women were part of a civilian defense force. They’d stayed behind to help refugees, like the ones huddled in the woods higher up the mountain, and to defend their beloved country. Most of them were young and he couldn’t help but think about Red Dawn, the movie about America getting invaded and a group of high school kids turning into guerrilla fighters up in the Rocky Mountains. He liked the original version with Patrick Swayze. He grinned. “Then lets get this done.”

Two hours. Kin heard them first—the muffled diesel engires and the squeaking treads of the tanks. Everyone hunkered down to finish waiting.

As the first tank in the column neared the end of the bridge, Tank pressed the little box in his massive hand. At first, nothing happened and then… It started with a rumble. The lead tank stopped. Heads popped out of turret and driver hatches. In slow motion, the bridge shuddered. Swayed. Crumbled. Tanks plummeted into the gorge.

The Ukrainians cheered and Dalton raised a triumphant fist, yelling, “Wolverines!”

Tank gave him the side-eye. “Seriously? You went there?”

Grinning broadly, Dalton punched the big man on his massive biceps. “Tell me you didn’t think the same thing.”

Both men were grinning now, fists raised and punching into the cold, mountain air, yelling in unison, “WOLVERINES!”
****
There you have it. A slight spoiler maybe but y’all know that my guys are always blowing up something because that’s what they do. Writers, any whistles you want to share? Readers? Can you whistle? I can’t actually. It’s frustrating but whatever.

[EDIT] FYI: This blog was set up last week so I’m basically still “off blog duty” and probably will be tomorrow too. That said, Friday’s Sinema is also “preset” and ready to go. Sometimes I get ahead of myself. 😉

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Tuesday Time-Out

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Silver James

I’m taking the day off. Not from writing but the blog. A couple of reasons–I don’t really have a recipe or a book to tout at the moment, and I totally need to focus whatever brain cells I can muster toward getting books revised and back up. No books fixed and reuploaded means no sales. No sales means no coffee and NO ONE wants to see how ugly that can be. Me without coffee? **SHUDDER** Anyway…

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April Flowers on a Monday

Posted on April 4, 2022 by Silver James

Welcome to Spring, since this is the first Monday of April. We’ve had a few showers–but neet morre! And my daffodils FINALLY burst into bloom. I have a bumper crop this year and those yellow blooms nodding in the breeze make me smile every time I look out the window.

Saturday was siren test and lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was a beautfiul day, the food was awesome, and Jake was a good boy. I always laugh–inside–when we leave and other diners realize that this giant furbaby has been there all along. Sadly, Baseball Boy had to miss it. He was coaching in a tournament but getting time with Only and Stormy was all kinds of awesome.

In writing news, I have my letter of revisions of rights, though I’ll admit I haven’t checked to see if the books have come off sale on Amazon yet. I had one of the books ready to go (SEAL Moon) except for updated back matter and then…I lost it. Don’t ask me how. The internet swallowed it. The cloud rained. My computer ate it and didn’t spit it back out. I’d added over 3K words to the book and those are words I’ll never find again. So, being all up in my head, I tabled that book and started on the book that was the first one orginally published. While all four are part of my Moonstruck Wolf world and share some characters, they are stand alone stories. Anyway, the problem with RESCUE MOON was figuring out the military group (originally a Delta Force team created by Susan Stoker, since I was writing by invitation ). In the other three books, it will be easy enough to insert my Hard Target team. But they aren’t “active duty” military. So, I had to create new characters. And darn if that didn’t take me a heckin’ longer time than I thought it would. Why? Because I’m trying to make them like real characters, ie. dimensional. Not to say that Susan’s weren’t but the original books were aimed at her readers and they already knew her characters. These four books, like MONTANA MOON, CRASH & BURN, and BLOOD & FIRE, will be all mine now.  So, it’s taking awhile. Everything else is only hold because I don’t get paid if I don’t sell books and I don’t sell books if they aren’t available for sale. So, there ya go.

In sports news, my Cowgirls are rockin’ the softball diamond. They’re currently ranked #8 in the nation. They played Baylor over the weekend and the games were televiased, including Satruday night’s game on big ESPN. My Cardinals are having a typical spring–win some, lose some, lots of picthing changes and subtstitutions on defense. It gives invitees a chance to shine and gives the starters both time to practice but also rest so lest chance of injury. Opening day is this weekend and I’m ready! And yes, I’ll be all boring as I wax on about my sports infatuation.

In TV news, our main U-Verse box died. We could still get TV with the two “regular” boxes hooked to the other TVs. We got the replacement box in a few days and everything is mostly copacetic now. Sadly, we lost all of the DVR’d shows. There’s something to be said for those shows to be up in the cloud but, hey, my revisions were supposed to be there too and oops. Whatever. Luckily, we didn’t lose the master list of shows that are supposed to automatically record. Still, I went in and changed some of those shows’ settings from first run to all. I’ll delete the ones I’ve already seen. Yes, technology was not my friend last week.

In reading news, I finished off the Pride and Honey Badger Chronicles series. Laurenston’s characters always make me laugh. I’m now into a relisten of Suzanna Wright’s Phoenix and Mercury Packs series. They are entertaining but also rather dark and dirty. I tend to skim through the sexy bits at this point. I did mention relisten, yes?

And that’s my update for this slightly rainy Monday. Jake and I have Wallyworld and then we’re pick up Liam from school for a visit until his parents get stuff done. I have hopes of getting many words added and revised between my trips out into the world. Dang but I have having adult on a Monday. 😉 How about y’all? Do you have to adult today?

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Friday Sinema: Rednecks

Posted on April 1, 2022 by Silver James

It might be April Fool’s Day but I’m not jokin’ about this–or tryin’ to prank y’all. I admit it. I was born and raised around rednecks. And I do love me some country music–especially when it comes to Brantley Gilbert and Jason Aldean. So…when this new video popped up, I knew I had to share because…yeah. When you get right down to it, rednecks work for a livin’. And the livin’ can be good, especially with these two singin’ about it. Have a great weekend!

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Thursday Thoughts: Universal Challenges

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Silver James

Sometimes, the biggest challenge facing a writer isn’t figuring out who the characters are, what comprises their chracter arcs, the turning points in the plot, the opening line and the final end. Nope. Sometimes, the biggest challenge is actually sitting down at a computer (or a with a pen and notebook for those who write old school) and creating words that flow from the brain to the fingertips. There are lots of people who think they can write a book but there’s few of us that do. It’s work. Good thing we love our work, right? Well, at least most of the time. Anyway, as usual, the Universe has something to add to the discussion.

Silver, each challenge adds to the suspense, adds to the mystery, adds to the chaos, adds to the possibilities, adds to the romance, adds to the adventure, adds to the joy.

And I say anything that adds to the joy should be embraced.

Cool?
The Universe
©www.tut.com

There’s nothing challenging that has ever happened in your life, Silver, that one day you won’t look back upon with deep gratitude.

Sometimes, writing is the biggest challenge of all. But you know what? Those of us who are driven to tell the stories floating around in our heads, we have no other choice. So we channel those challenges into the challenge of creating a story that other will want to read, and if we’re lucky. they’ll enjoy they story, recommend it to others, and buy the other books we’ve written. Writers live on creativity but we also need the sell books to meet the challenge of living–like paying bills and putting food on the table. Still, whenever I finish the challenge of writing a book, I am deeply grateful that the words still come. Because I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life. What’s your challenge today and are you grateful for anything?

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Wednesday Words: Star Power

Posted on March 30, 2022 by Silver James

Time needs to slow down! How can it be Wedneday again? *sigh* Anyway, it is and that means new words based on a #1LineWed prompt.  I’ve noticed a trend the past few weeks. First, there was “banner.” Then there was “spangled.” And today’s theme? **THE STAR**. Hrmm. Me thinks there might be something to this. :roll” This snippet is hot off the keyboard so ignore the typos and it’s fairly self-explanatory. This scene happens a bit deeper in the book, as the Hard Target team on the ground herds this group of orphans across the Carpathian mountains in western Ukraine, trying to get them to safety in Moldava. Our hero and heroine are still getting to know each other.
****
The light fall of snow stopped about the time they halted and made camp. By the time a shelter had been built for the kids and they’d been fed, the clouds overhead had cleared. Kin leaned against a fallen log. He dozed off yet still aware, as soldiers in light combat sleep were, of any movement around him. He didn’t open his eyes as a body settled beside him. He knew who it was from the fragrance of blooming heather. He lifted an arm so she could snuggle against him. She did so, immediately. Kin managed to not smile.

“Are you asleep?”

He considered snoring as a response but didn’t. “Not now, lass.”

“I’m sorry.” She pushed away but he tightened his arm around her shoulders.

“Don’t be.”

“Well, still. I didn’t mean to wake you. I know how hard you guys are working to keep us safe. Sleep is a luxury.”

“Aye. It can be.”
She nestled her head on his shoulder and looked up into the dark sky. Raising a hand, she pointed. “See

that?”

He followed the position of her finger. The star she indicated was the brightest in the myriad lights scattered across the blackness of space.

“Yes.”

“That’s the star we followed. Petro told the children that it would lead them to a place where there was food and warmth and people who would love and take care of them.”

“All of them are orphans?”

Meg nodded. “Sadly, yes. Some were placed in the orphanage due to their disabilities. Don’t get me wrong. I think their parents were just too poor to be able to get them the care they needed. And until the war started, they were taken care of.”

“And the others?”

“Some were rescued from a hospital that the Russians bombed. The doctors and nurses were overwhelmed so Petro and I ended up with those who weren’t quite so sick.”

“Their parents?”

“A few died there in the hospital during the bombing. Others were killed out on the street in other incidents.”

She felt his muscles tensed and she patted his chest. “Yes. The Russian leadership is made up of nothing but butchers. But at the same time, there was a group of Russian soldiers who gave us fresh water and a little food, even though they had almost no rations themselves. I don’t think many of them knew what they were getting into. And I don’t believe the majority of the Russian people have any clue about what’s actually going on.”

Kin remained silent, mulling that over for a few minutes. “Aye. When ya live in a totalitarian state that controls everything you see and hear and where any who might disagree get disappeared…” He let the thought trail off.

“Yeah,” Meg agreed softly.

“How did you end up here?”

She huffed out a quickly swallowed laugh. “I went to see a man about a dog.”
****
And I wonder what kind of dog she’s talking about? Anyway, the words are still coming slow but they are coming. Forward progress is always a good thing and I’m hopeful that this book will be ready for release by the end of April. 🤞🏼 Writers, do you have any starry words to share? And readers, whose your favorite movie/TV star? Ha! Thought I’d throw a curve ball here. LOL

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