Sunday Snippet: Six Degrees of Separation

Apparently an awards show aired earlier tonight. LOL I didn't watch the Oscars because I got sucked into Doctor Who and The Walking Dead. I have an episode of Banshee to catch up on then I'm ready to start my new TV viewing week. YAY!

As promised, tonight's post is from Six Degrees of Separation. It follows the events in The Souvenir and delves a little deeper into the fallout when Ramona and Melick realize how they feel for each other.

Here's the tagline:

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 the preview snippet…

Ramona shifted on her cot. The healing chambers didn't offer much in the way of entertainment. She'd already been banned from practicing spells. Too disruptive to the other four patients or something stupid like that.

Bored and cranky, she had no to blame but herself. It sucked.

Technically, after five days in the infirmary, she should've been back in classes and working on achieving the next level. They'd repaired the more extensive damage to her knee after tangling with the dragon, but not even two binding spells seemed to be enough to get her up and on her feet. She knew the biggest reason had nothing to do with the dull throb that wouldn't quite go away. She might be great at acting tough. But she hated pain. Yet that didn't keep her down for the count.

Nope. The big, bad reason she couldn't seem to get out of bed related to one thing.

Fear.

It terrified her to think she might have permanent damage. Sure. But if she had to be honest—and she kinda didn't have an option since she had nothing to do but think about stuff—she didn't know if she could face Melick on equal footing after the whirlpool tryst.

He'd opened up something, broken through her defenses and changed the rules on her. And yeah, he stopped in to visit her every day but the maddening man hadn't mentioned the hot encounter at all. What, exactly, should she think about that?

Too many different things, dammit.

She had time on her hands and it forced her to run through every scenario. Goods ones. Bad ones. Yesterday she'd almost grabbed him and begged him to explain what he'd been thinking that first night back. If only to get the big asshat to have a reaction. Yet she couldn't bring herself to spit it out.

Usually she had zero problem asking point blank questions, but found when she really gave a damn about the outcome, the words didn't come so easy. And it sorta pissed her off. She could pull off elaborate pranks and jokes, but didn't have the ability to have a very serious conversation?

Mage's bones, what an idiot.

She settled back down in the bed and whipped out a deck of cards. A distraction would do wonders to restore her mood.

Melick needs a good, strong lesson in Communication Skills 101. LOL

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: The Souvenir

February 17, 2013

I have a wonderful secret to share. Watching an all-day marathon of Firefly makes catching up on mountains of laundry more fun than it should be. LOL

Tonight's Snippet is from The Souvenir featuring two of my favorite characters. (Yes, I know. I say that frequently. :D) It has a follow up in the works called Six Degrees of Separation that I'll preview next week. I'm hoping to submit both at the same time.

Here's the tagline:

Melick Traynor and Ramona Peartry, childhood friends and top students in the Academy of Light, compete for prominence in their respective classes. But when Melick throws out a challenge, Ramona takes an insane risk to prove him wrong and winds up tangling with the dragon plaguing campus grounds.

And here's the preview snippet…

Ramona Peartry let out a loud whoop.

The extra practice she'd put in finally paid off. The elusive quadruple somersault followed by a double barrel roll had finally been attained. Showy stuff and usually frowned upon, but she'd set a goal two years ago when she'd entered the Academy of Light so to actually achieve it? Divine Master, she felt infused with warmth and a sense of accomplishment.

She made several giddy flips and dips in celebration and couldn't wait to get back to campus and throw her solid win in Melick's face. She obviously did not lack the stamina and control to pull off the difficult maneuver.

Not anymore.

Her face split in a wide grin. Crowing to him would be the highlight of this semester. Melick Traynor might be her precept, an elder adept who tried to mentor the lower level cadets, but she counted him as a friend, too. She'd become a ward of the Master Sage when her parents died and had grown up alongside Melick.

Now, at the age of twenty, and halfway through her training, her pranks made him insane, but he made her just as mad with his rigid adherence to the rules. And yeah, things had been a little weird lately. She caught Melick looking at her like he'd seen her for the first time. The way she looked at him sometimes. It put a strain on their interactions. Having something to make him proud might nudge them out of the funk they'd been in.

She made a slow, steady bank around the back of the practice field and spun forward to head home. A strangled gasp escaped when she looked up and saw her worst nightmare headed directly toward her.

A huge, gleaming red, dragon…one that spewed fiery flames from its mouth.

Holy underworld.  She'd just flown into big time trouble.

Ramona biting off more than she can chew? Nothing unusual. Getting her out of the scrapes is half the fun of writing for her. :D

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye