Sunday Snippet: Blending In

December 31, 2017

Greetings on this final day of 2017. I hope everyone had the best of holiday seasons and wish all nothing but wonderful things for the upcoming new year. I have several goals I'll be working toward and I'm kind of excited about starting with a shiny new calendar.

Holiday movies are winding down and I'll be a little sad to see them disappear until the next holiday season. There's something a little magical about Christmas movies. My one wish would be to see some diversity and have Hanukkah, Kwanza, and even Yule or the Solstice represented. I'm fascinated by other traditions and wouldn't mind seeing some movies built around them.

The Doctor Who Christmas special ended up being good. "Twice Upon a Time" tied some things up and delved back into the shows history and, yeah, I'll give credit to Capaldi's final bow. A worthy ending to Twelve's tenure.

Murdoch Mysteries "Home for Christmas" hit all the right notes. This show is in its eleventh season and, honestly, it's only improved with age. The cast is top notch and the revolving round of historical bigwig and the guest stars that portray them rarely disappoint. I'm happy this remains on my watch radar.

I've also been enjoying Frankie Drake Mysteries—another Canadian show. I like the leads and, so far, the mysteries have been entertaining. This is a little similar to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. If you enjoyed that one, give Frankie Drake a try.

I've started the second season of Chicago Fire and I'm a little disappointed in the whole McLeod storyline. Maybe if I had a little more to go on with why she's hell-bent on getting Boden out I might care a little more. And Benny Severied whispering in her ear isn't quite enough in my book. That said, I love everything else about the first five episodes.

I don't think I've talked about Passionflix, a new $4.99 a month subscription streaming movie service. It's brand new and they're creating original movies—and possibly series down the road a ways—and also offer several classic romantic films with more to come. To date, they have three original movies available for viewers. They're all based on best-selling romance novels and have varying levels of steaminess. The site has a convenient BON—Barometer of Naughtiness—rating system so viewers can find their comfort zone. I've been able to catch the first two, Hollywood Dirt and Afterburn | Aftershock. Guys… it's worth the $4.99 a month for those two alone. I'll be viewing the final new release The Trouble with Mistletoe later today. If you love romance, give this service a consideration.

And that's it for television viewing this week. This year's final post is from Blending In, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt of having two coworkers go undercover in a dangerous situation.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Wren and Ethan go undercover in the seedy District. Ethan's by the book style clashes with Wren's off the cuff attitude, but when a powerful Mage makes a threat, they'll have to forge an unbreakable bond or go down in flames.

And a preview snippet…

Wren let herself into the apartment, steaming mad and ready to bail on the whole operation. Spending an extended period of time in a tiny space with Ethan the dick didn't appeal to her at all. She paced the small length of the living room kitchen combo, trying hard to not wish for terrible things to happen to him.

Ethan entered, carrying their minimal luggage. The nice gesture didn't score points at the moment.

She flung a sparse glance in his direction. "Just leave mine. I'll get it later." Or maybe she'd take the case and run.

Ethan placed the bags on the floor. "Look, I'm sorry." He moved into the living room, sucking all the light and air with his looming presence. "For the record, you're jacket speaks for itself. I trust your ability." Standing with his feet planted and his arms across his chest, he didn't look like he'd move until she said something.

Wren stopped walking. "Right, but you don't trust me. And that's a problem." Pushing the urge to bail down hard, she mimicked his position.

Ethan relaxed and moved to the café table, pulling a seat out. "I don't know you well enough to trust you, so you need to cut me some slack there." He sat and pushed the opposite chair out. "Take a seat, please, and let me tell you what I do know."

She trudged over and dropped down across from him.

He rested his forearms on the table. "Your experience on the streets surpasses mine. I work deep cover, which means I'm used to having lots of time to prepare and research my targets." His gaze met hers. "We don't have time for that here. I get that. But—and I realize this is a lot to ask—having a plan of action, even if it's only vague, goes a long way to keeping us alive."

Wren snarked. "Especially you." She added a smirk to emphasize her point.

He had a valid point.

Ethan nodded. "Especially me. I'm a little out of my element, Wren. But I'll get the job done."

And didn't he smoothly douse her flaming anger in one go? Pretty much.

Wren conceded. "Fine. We'll hash out a loose plan." She fished the burner phone out of her pocket. "Mind if I call for takeout first?"

I think this story is going to end up being terrific in ways I didn't expect. I'm excited to keep diving into Ethan and Wren's adventures.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye