Sunday Snippet: Kill Switch

I hope everyone who observes Thanksgiving had a terrific one. The fam and I went to my dad's for a very low-key dinner and quality time together. It's been a few years since we've been able to do that, which is weird because he only lives two miles away from me. LOL

I can honestly say this year I'm so thankful that my family and work life is on an even keel and I some majorly great ideas popping for both my writing and a business venture I hope to pursue in the new year. My editing work keeps me busy and I get to read new books all the time. For a book nerd, there's nothing better.

Television took a back seat to some work commitments and the holiday. I caught a bunch of Classic Who episodes. I'm in season two during the Rome arc. Thoroughly enjoy watching the first doctor.

I’m almost finished with season one of Penny Dreadful. There are times when the show seems to plod along a little. I hope that smooths out with the next season.

Legends of Tomorrow had a great Thanksgiving episode. I kind of like Nate being with the time bureau. Of course a huge showdown with his dad is inevitable. Sadly. I also kind of love Ray getting a little tarnished and being so uncertain about some of his decisions. Makes him a lot more interesting.

Wow. Wynonna Earp keeps getting better. They never quite do what I expect them to do and I love it. Messy relationships playing out on screen is highly entertaining.

Got in another episode of The Dresden Files and I remember watching this one. I hope the new incarnation stays with some of the interesting details of how Harry became a wizard. Also got the last episode of Underbelly's first season. Gotta say it started out pretty slow but ended up being pretty decent.

I watched Midsomer Murders while getting caught up on folding laundry. The entire episode… so yeah, I had a crap ton of clean clothes to fold. Also got an episode of Babylon 5 in on the same day.

To round out the week, I caught episode seven of Birds of Prey on CW Seed and then followed up with The Flash's All Doll'd Up. While I like Nora, she can be a little whiny sometimes. Hope that changes soon.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Kill Switch, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of write a scene where the characters are beaten up and jealous and suddenly have a need to let that jealousy out.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Karsen Hill and Theo Gordon live in a modern world full of magic and mayhem. Torn apart by their circumstances, they still share a powerful attraction and it will take a kill switch to keep their feelings at bay. When a bar of the same name opens, the duo can't resist meeting to explore their options.

And a preview snippet…

Karsen Hill sank down over the thick length of Theo Gordon's rigid erection. "Ahhh, Theo, I never get tired of riding you." She rocked her hips, drawing him deeper inside.

Theo's eyes slid closed and he groaned. "Karse, I could die a happy man right now." His fingers gripped her thighs, digging into her muscles.

She leaned down and captured his mouth in a lingering kiss. Theo's tongue dueled with hers and his palms moved to cup her ass.

Increasing the pace, she upped the friction by grinding hard against his groin. After being together almost two years, they had unlocking pleasure down to a fine art. Tonight, she craved a hard and fast release and Theo obliged, grabbing her hips and using his thumbs to circle her clit. The motion sent tingles of awareness along her nerve endings.

The past month… had been crazy. Her work as a bounty hunter took her to some dark places infested with demons, vampires, and other dodgy preternatural creatures. The never-ending power plays between the ruling houses kept her busy.

Theo lifted his chin. "Focus on now, Karsen. You're with me, right?" His tongue flicked over her nipple then his lips trapped the bud and sucked hard.

She gasped and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. And I'm close, Theo."

His phone rang and she groaned, grabbing the offending device to check the caller ID. "It's your mom." As usual, the woman's timing sucked balls.

She'd been dragging Theo into the family drama more and more. The shifters ruled in Shadow City, setting the laws the lesser houses adhered to. Teller Stewart, Theo's grandpapa, fought hard to become the alpha laird and, to date, he ruled with just fairness.

Theo's mom, Teller's daughter… not so much.

Theo made a growling sound. "I'll call her back." He focused on her other breast.

Karsen dropped the phone and rolled her pelvic bone, grinding against Theo again. The pressure started blooming low in her spine. His hard cock throbbed deep inside her.

Her phone buzzed with her handler's notification tone. "Argh… not now." She picked up the device and read the brief text.

"Urgent. Respond ASAP"

Not now, Seamus.

Theo barked out a question. "Seamus?"

She nodded. "Says it's urgent. Everything's urgent with him." And too many times they defined the word differently.

Seamus could wait.

Dropping the phone, she planted her hands on Theo's chest. "I'm so close… I'll get him—ah, god, yes—later." She loved the way Theo hit every single sweet spot she had.

Theo brushed his thumbs over her clit and she shuddered, toppling over the edge into an orgasm that took her breath away. Theo clamped his hands on her hips and thrust upward, bucking against her before going tense and gasping her name. His release sent little shockwaves of pleasure through her, robbing her ability to stay upright. She collapsed on his chest then slowly eased sideways, spent and sated.

God, she loved him.

I'm pretty excited about this story. Finding the time to sit and write in long stretches is my biggest challenge. Someone needs to invent a way to imagine the words and have them transfer directly to the screen without typing. LOL

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Kidnapped

Geez… what a week. I can honestly say I've never worked harder on a copy edit than I have for the past twelve days. I've actually never taken twelve days to complete a copy edit before. TLDR… it's a long manuscript and there were a crap ton of glitchy little things that needed review. My brain kind of hurts right now. LOL

To top the long work week off, my daughter had three nights of after-school events.  National honor society inductions on Tuesday, golf awards banquet on Thursday, and the holiday parade on Friday, which we made five gallons of hot chocolate for the choir kids to drink and keep warm while riding the float. Seriously… it's not as easy to make five gallons of a hot drink as one might think. And… my daughter's also in band so she doesn't even ride the float with the choir. She marches and misses all the chocolaty goodness.

Needless to say, I'm now behind on my television viewing. I actually couldn't watch the finale of The Last Ship. I'm not ready to say goodbye to this show yet. I'm going to miss that damn ship and its sailors so much.

I do have a brief rundown of what I did get to see. Caught another episode of Strike Back's fifth season. I'm starting to like this group a lot. I do miss the instant chemistry the previous cast had, especially the leads. That said, the dynamic is different enough with this group that I'm interested in where things go. And they're completely pared down, carrying on with how the previous incarnation ended. The commander is rebuilding and restoring the reputation of Section Twenty. So… they get lots of wiggle room.

Caught the Chicago crossover event with Fire, Med, and PD. Thoroughly enjoyed all three shows. I've lost some love for Chicago PD. The fifth season kind of lost me with all the sneaky snitchy bullshit. I really want to watch Chicago Med from the beginning. Here's hoping that happens in the near future.

I'm almost finished with Luke Cage. Disappointed there won't be a third season but maybe we'll see the character is something else. Who knows.

Got an episode of Murdoch Mysteries in. I like how this show weaves current topical events into the storyline, showing how often history tends to repeat. Not necessarily a great thing, but it's fun to see how they work it all out.

Watched a couple episodes of Classic Who. I'm behind on the new season but should get caught up soon. Started a new episode of Penny Dreadful and should finish the first season by the end of the month.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Kidnapped, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of "think French Revolution, a commoner and a noble". I like the commoner and the noble aspect but, eh, didn't really want to dive into the French Revolution. Instead, I'm hoping to get that kind of feel with an urban fantasy vibe.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Jaina Wraith discovers Seb Morrison is a member of the nobility and she kidnaps him, fully intent on having him executed. When Seb reminds her how many times he's come to her aid, she has to decide whether to help him escape or leave him to a tragic fate.

And a preview snippet…

Seb Morrison cut through the park on his break from working in the plotters' gardens. At ten, his duties only included watering the many rows of vegetables and keeping the plots free of weeds and critters. When he got time off, he went to his favorite spot, under the huge oak in the square, to read, write, or draw.

"Give me that back. It's mine."

He glanced toward the voice. Jaina Wraith struggled with two tough nuts, the name given to youths who lived in the dregs and earned their living by brute force. They were trying to take her novice healer's kit. Jaina cherished the small box because her father made it, giving his blessing for her to follow in his footsteps as the prime healer.

Just last week, she'd shared the good news and showed Seb the contents of her case.

She doubled up her fist and punched one in the shoulder. "Let go. There's nothing of worth in here. It's a novice kit." She kicked the other one in the shin.

The taller of the two, Rash Markey, countered her statement. "Yeah, what if your dad decided to stash some good stuff in there? We wanna see for ourselves." He finally got the kit away from Jaina.

But not for long. She snatched it back when he tried to pry it open.

She tucked the case under her arm. "I've got bindings, a needle, thread, and some poultices. That's it."

The shorter, bulkier tough nut, Dav Warder, grabbed her arm. "Then let's see. Those herbs and stuff might be worth something." He made a move to take the box.

Jaina ducked and dodged, trying to get around the duo.

Seb made a quick move and stepped in between Jaina and the toughs. "Leave her alone." The two guys had at least two years on Seb, but he'd hit a growth spurt and topped both by a couple of inches.

Rash narrowed his eyes. "Why? What's it to you?" He made a move to get in Seb's face.

Seb planted his hands on his hips. "It's belongs to her and you should respect her property."

Dav snorted. "If I get hold of it, it'll become mine. Your logic is stupid."

Seb gave Dav a hard look. "You're not going to take it from her."

The duo exchanged a glance.

Rash tried a different tactic. "Who are you to say so? Some hoity-toity noble bum?"

Ugh. Calling him a wharf rat would be less insulting. No one who lived on the fringes wanted to be lumped in with the nobility.

Seb shook his head. "I'm no noble. But I paid attention when they handed out manners, which means you don't take something that doesn't belong to you." He jabbed Rash in the shoulder. "Good manners aren't exclusive to nobles, you moron."

Dav tsked. "Maybe not, but possession is almost exclusive to ownership and if you can't keep what you have, you don't own it." He knocked the box out from under Jaina's arm and made a dash for it.

Rash tried to give aid but Seb stopped him with a hard uppercut to his chin. Jaina chose that moment to use both fists and boxed Dav's ears. The two toughs yowled in pain and scampered off muttering curses twelve-year-olds shouldn't even know.

Jaina retrieved her kit and dusted off the dirt. "I didn't need you to save me, you know." She sent him a sideways glance.

Seb admired her fierce independence. She showed no fear when dealing with the tough nuts. He wouldn't take that away from her.

He nodded. "Of course you didn't." He started toward the oak where he'd stashed a book earlier.

Jaina fell into step beside him. "Then why did you butt in?" She skipped ahead and turned to look back in his direction.

Seb shrugged. "Because two against one isn't fair no matter how well you can defend yourself." His mother taught him to always stand up when someone needed help.

Jaina stopped for a moment, her head tilted to one side. "Oh." She paused a moment then added, "Well… thank you, I guess." Her cheeks went pink.

Seb gave her a wide smile. "You're welcome." He stopped at the tree, reaching inside the hollowed out spot to grab his book. "Wanna stick around for a while?"

Jaina shook her head. "Can't. Gotta meet my dad at the old man's estate. Anwar has been beating the stable hands again. I'm learning how to apply the poultices to stave off infection from the crop marks." She waved farewell and started back toward the city gates.

Seb sighed. "Anwar is such an ass." Not even Seb's mother would get angry at his use of foul language.

Because she knew exactly how much havoc the Grafton heir could cause. After all, Anwar happened to be her nephew. Not that her brother Hanson claimed his sister. He banished Seb's mother to live on the fringe when she married Cantor Morrison, Hanson's chief courier.

Anwar, at the tender age of five, caused Seb's dad's death by planting a splitter in the axel of the car he drove for work. Anwar meant it as a prank, but the splitter didn't do its job until Cantor went around a precarious curve in the drive leading away from the estate. When the device popped the wheel, the car swerved into traffic and Seb's dad had been killed in the resulting crash.

Born three days later, Seb never got to meet his dad.

I'm really hoping the world-building comes through without having to do a lot of detailed descriptions. I like to experiment with minimalism. Thankfully my beta babes always let me know when I fall short.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Juvenile Behavior

As someone with family and friends who have served or are serving in the military, I'd like to thank all of our service members for their courage, sacrifices, and efforts. Thank you.

It's been a rough week with two difficult manuscripts and the end of daylight savings. Seriously, I've been all out of sorts and my internal clock hasn't caught up yet. LOL

I didn't get a lot of television in this week—see above for why—but I did stay current on usual shows. The Last Ship killed off another of my faves, which means I'm trying to prepare for a high body count in the finale. A box of tissues and alcohol might be involved. Just saying.

Arrow kicked some butt. I'm kind of liking the flash forward stuff, especially because the flashbacks are a thing of the past for the most part. I'll give kudos to Stephen, Emily, and Katie because I think they're doing some stellar work. The rest of the cast is on point also. Riverdale's Midnight Club episode rocked. The more batshit this show gets the more I seem to enjoy it. And it's definitely over the top.

Legends of Tomorrow keeps delivering great episodes. I'm always excited to see who's going to interact with whom. The constantly changing dynamic of the cast is so much fun.

I did catch an episode of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and, honestly, I love this show. It's going to go down as one of my favorite viewing experiences. I also caught an episode of Classic Who and finished up an episode of Midsomer Murders.

That's it on the television front. Tonight's post is from Juvenile Behavior, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of using a magical setting with two top mages.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Freddie and Owen, top adepts putting cadets through their paces at the Mage Academy, are very much in love but refuse to act on their attraction. But when the Mage Principal has enough of their antics, he strips them of their rank and tenure and pushes them to act like grown-ups instead of juvenile delinquents.

And a preview snippet…

Freddie Radd burst through the doors of the Mage Academy and stopped to drag air into her lungs after the hard run from the lower dormitory bathing suite.

Owen Parker followed hot on her heels. "That… was so much fun!" He caught her hand in his and dragged her toward the gardens east of the quad.

Freddie breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes Owen let regret bite him on the ass before they even finished one of their practical jokes on the cadets. Their latest—exploding confetti bombs in the shower heads—had been a stroke of genius. The squeals and cursing worth hiding in a cramped laundry bin to view their handiwork.

Confetti almost topped glitter for being difficult to get rid of.

Sharing her brainstorm with Owen and pulling it off made her entire day and Freddie danced on the edge of being happy, almost forgetting she and Owen would never be. The euphoria never lasted long. She always crashed back down when the hard truth smacked her in the face. Owen Parker could be her best friend and fellow instructor but never her lover. No matter how attracted they were to each other.

Stupid family feuds.

Owen snapped his fingers. "Hey, come on. Come back to me." He gave her a long, questioning look.

Freddie smiled and shoved the melancholy aside. "Sorry, what's next?" Owen got to choose their final adventure for the day.

His lips curved in a triumphant smirk. "We're going to do something no one has done in over two decades." Reaching into his pack, he retrieved a bottle of Amberlane, a potent alcohol distilled with magick.

Freddie's eyes went wide. "Where did you get that?" The golden elixir topped the list of contraband adepts always sought.

Oh… they could have some fun with that liquor.

Owen waggled his eyebrows. "Sometimes it pays to have an inside connection."

Yeah, it did. Owen's great-grandfather cofounded the Mage Academy and his family still held authority. Unlike hers—who got shoved aside in a power play.

Which made her acceptance to the academy at age twelve and her subsequent position as an instructor something to shock the board… and set the rumor mill to overload.

Freddie didn't care about the drama. She'd proven herself on merit by working harder than anyone else. Except maybe Owen. He walked a fine line between upholding the family name and making one for himself.

A brilliant idea flashed in her mind. "Let's go to the maze." The constant changing layout never failed to entertain.

Owen stared in her direction. "You know the side effects to Amberlane, don't you?"

Oh, yes. She did. Maybe she'd have lucid waking dreams of really hot sex with him.

Giving him a nod, she grabbed his hand. "Of course. What's the worst that can happen?" She started for the entrance of the maze, dragging him along. "Let's go."

I'm having fun with this story. Friends to lovers is a favorite trope and I love the family drama on top of everything.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Justified

November 4, 2018

We're entering the next to last month of the year… how did ten months already fly by? I got some scary news earlier in the week. My younger sibling had a major heart attack while at work and ended up having surgery to put stents in. He's actually doing terrific, considering it's one of the worst types of cardiac infarctions. I'm so very grateful I still have him around.

Needless to say, television viewing ended up being limited this week. The Last Ship killed off one my favorite characters and I’m still mourning that loss. Thankfully, The Flash had a pretty terrific episode and I love the introduction of meta-tech. Arrow is doing a great job of keeping me interested. I didn't know how I'd end up liking the whole prison angle, but I'm very satisfied with how it's playing out. Legends of Tomorrow remains excellent. I'm always surprised by how fast the hour flies by when I'm watching.

I caught another episode of The Sarah Conner Chronicles. I'm about halfway through the season and the end is being shaped. I truly forgot how much I loved this show. Also caught another episode of Birds of Prey. Stylistically, I love how this series plays out on the screen. Caught another episode of Lexx and completely forgot about Stan's trial. I actually enjoyed this one.

Doctor Who's episode with spiders ended up being pretty good. I'm never sure how I'll take to episodes with creepy-crawly things. Somewhat disappointed there won't be a Christmas special this year but having a New Year's show could be fun. We'll see.

Got another episode of Pensacola Wings of Gold in. Enjoyed seeing how that one played out. I'm almost finished with the first season and I'm not sure if I'll continue on because it seems like the second series has an almost entirely new cast. I'll watch a few episodes and see what happens.

Caught another Hallmark movie, Hannah's Law. Ended up being pretty decent. I watched mainly for Greyston Holt, a favorite actor of mine.

Rounded out the week with some classic television marathons. The Saint throughout the week and Burke's Law this weekend.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Justified, a novella that started a while ago with the rise in popularity of superhero shows.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Electra Cage and Nix Naught shouldn't be together. She's firmly on the side of law and order and he's on whatever side pays the most. They justify their liaison when they discover a common enemy—one they'll need their unique skill sets to destroy.

And a preview snippet…

Nix Naught exited the high-rise building, unseen and armed with a wealth of stolen information. The data breach should go undetected for at least forty-eight hours. Not that it mattered. Nix never left any trace evidence behind for security teams to track him with.

"Thank you, Mom." She'd passed on her ability to manipulate DNA at the cellular level—the only decent thing she'd ever given Nix.

Parental guidance had been nonexistent. Nix discovered how to use his freakish talent by complete accident and learned control by trial and error. But, once versed, he used his skill to every advantage.

He opened his encrypted line and forwarded the coded files to his client. "And I make buttloads of money for being a ghost." An incoming beep alerted him to the payment made.

He followed up with the key to read the information, a precaution he'd learned early on to take with some of the unsavory people he worked for. Closing the line, he made his way to his SUV and slid behind the wheel. Thirty seconds later, before he even had the vehicle in drive, a text notification pinged on his phone.

He fished it out of his pocket and opened the message. "Son of a bitch." The entire quarter million transaction had been transferred out of his account. "How? How did that asshole manage to pull that particular sleight of hand?"

Bribery? Blackmail? Didn't matter. His client screwed Nix over and he shouldn't be surprised. The guy defined double-crossing dickhead.

Nix put the SUV in drive and pulled out into traffic. He'd planned to lay low for a while and soak up some tropical weather. Now… he'd be driving cross country, headed back home to find out what happened.

He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "Metro City, you better watch out. I aim to make some waves."

God help whoever got in his way.

I'm kind of excited to see where this one goes. The general outline is complete but the sages like to surprise me with plot twists on occasion. LOL

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye