Sunday, June 21, 2026

Sunday Snippet: Six Degrees of Separation

Happy Father's Day to all the dads, father figures, mentors, and fur dads out there. And if this is a hard day, please find peace where you can.

It's so mild in Ohio right now and I'll take the comfortable temperatures. We're supposed to have a soggy week, but the rain is welcome. Hopefully without flooding.

Busy work week with multiple projects crossing my desk. I have a potential new project with a new author starting possibly soon. Finished up a proofread and got that one invoiced. Continued work on a memoir developmental edit, pulling several files together into a single document. Also finished a copy edit and returned it for review. Started a new one that's on the long side, close to one hundred thousand words. A jammed week ahead.

Had a pretty good viewing week. I made it through my regular stable of shows and started one of my back-burner ones. I didn't end up making it all the way through but I'll finish it up this week. I hope.

Started with a Foyle's War behind the scenes interview with one of the guest stars. Very interesting.

Watched another episode of Tales from Irish Castles. Truly a fun series to watch. So many castles in Ireland.

Caught another episode of Death in Paradise and kind of loved the bit of a cliffhanger. I also kind of like how Mervin is settling in with the other officers. Very cool to see the new sarge completely supported by the commissioner also.

Also enjoyed another episode of Poirot. Very interesting case with an unexpected ending. So many colorful characters.

Elementary ended up being a little mind-blowing. I'm really interested in how the whole Shinwell situation will be resolved.

Caught another episode of Young Justice and I'm rather enjoying seeing how the team is coming together.

Also watched another episode of Star Trek Lower Decks and I'm really amazed by how much I love this show. Started out being pretty iffy on whether I'd like it or not and I'm totally in if I haven't mentioned it before.

Started an episode of Peak Practice and made it about halfway through. There's a lot going on in this one and I didn't want to miss anything. I'll finish up this week. Maybe.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Six Degrees of Separation, a book in the Academy of Light series.

Here's the miniblurb:

Melick Traynor and Ramona Peartry, two Academy of Light magicians, have a single passionate encounter after Ramona nearly loses her life to a dragon. But when they navigate their new relationship status, Melick has to step down as Ramona's precept, but neglects to tell her why.

And a preview snippet…

Ramona had a big problem and didn't want to face the issue at the moment.
Being here had taken a big prod from Melick to get her out of bed and on her feet. His casually dropped bomb—the dragon isn't an organic creature, but biomechanical—had her brain screaming to get a better look.
She snorted. "Just as he'd known it would." The guy knew her too well.
He even had a pair of crutches at the ready and handed them over as soon as she sat up. A quick round of instructions from the medical staff—rest and elevate her leg frequently and do light physical therapy to keep her muscles warmed—and off she went to the lab. It didn't take her long to get lost in the intricacies of the highly advanced beast.
She'd been inside the dragon most of the day, working out the flight systems with the mechno master and his assistant. As soon as they'd discovered the dragon to be biomechanical, they hit a wall. Which she could help them scale.
She'd itched to get close and take a look. "Well, I got one." She'd quite literally crawled into the belly of the beast to see how it flew.
The mechno mancer peppered her with questions, and Ramona finally snarled for him to shut up and let her work. She'd figure it out … eventually. If he gave her the space to do so.
He'd gone for a meal break with the assistant. Melick had left a long time ago. He'd only stuck around for about ten minutes to make sure she got settled and hadn't returned. Even pissed off over the suggested precept change, she'd welcome his presence at the moment.
Heaving a sigh, she closed her eyes. "I need to head back to the infirmary and let the medical staff yell at me for not keeping my leg flexible." She'd completely lost track of time while she worked out the flight schematics.
The problem with getting back to the alcove? She couldn’t get out of the damn creature. Well and truly screwed, her leg and hip throbbed from inactivity.
Ramona tried to scoot backward to slide out of the confined area but by her fifth attempt to get out, frustration warred with pain. She tried lifting her leg over the hump but kept hitting the top of the dragon's midsection. Her knee had stiffened and she couldn’t flatten her leg out enough to get past the barrier.
Dammit, dammit, dammit. Why hadn’t she made it a point to move in and out of the stupid thing on a frequent basis? For that matter, why had she let the insane urge to help the mechno mancer figure out the dragon's systems drive her to leave the alcove in the first place?
She knew the answer to that.
Melick.
She let out a growl "Always Melick."
Why were they so awkward right now? What did her getting back on her feet have to do with anything? Ramona figured he used the excuse as his way of stepping back now that the crisis had been averted. But they couldn't put the pool experience back in the box. Hell, she didn't want to. She would admit being disappointed, but she'd rather have him as a friend than lose him altogether.
They were in a weird place she didn't enjoy. He continued to stop by several times a day, which made her happy and drove her mad, depending on her mood.
During one of the mad phases, she'd basically told him to fuck off, especially when he tried to be there for her when she made her first tentative attempt to get back on her feet. She hated being weak. She really hated being weak in front of Melick.
She'd finally refused to even try to keep going on the crutches, and he'd left in a fit of exasperation. She regretted not having his company, but fear had her by the throat, damn it. What if she didn’t get it together? What if the binding spells didn't last long enough to finish healing her knee?
The possibility of not being able to walk without aid freaked her out.

This story is all over the place but it's finally coming together. I love Ramona and Melick so much.


 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

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