Sunday Snippet: Mr and Mrs Black

May is flying by at a rapid pace. This week has been intense with burning the candle at both ends for me. This is a good day to take some downtime, which I'm trying to do today.

Work exploded this week with multiple projects dropping into my inbox. I have four nonfiction manuscripts and three fiction manuscripts in various stages of editing. I don't normally have seven different projects going at the same time but, so far, I'm managing them. It'll make for a nice June once they're all turned in.

Had an amazing week of viewing. I got a full round of shows in and caught a couple of extras. Also started a new show that might be sporadically viewed until it's available for streaming.

I started a rewatch of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries this week. I'm waiting a some new episodes of a few other shows to drop and this is such a comfort series for me.

Caught another episode of Brokenwood Mysteries and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very twisty and turny, which is always fun.

Enjoyed another episode of Death in Paradise. I'm happy to have some Naomi backstory. I'd love to see a bit more of that for the characters.

Started a from the beginning run of Poirot. I've seen quite a few episodes of this show but haven't watched any of them in order. This is another filler series until new episodes start dropping of my current shows.

Watched another episode of Elementary and quite enjoyed it. I'm always interested when weird cases pop up and the cryogenics angle ended up being interesting.

Caught an episode of Batman Beyond and have some vague memories of the first time I watched it. I'm wondering if the Ts are in any way a throwback to Mr. Terrific. I might have to dive down that rabbit hole at some point.

Enjoyed another episode of Classic Rugrats. I don't remember either of these vignettes and I liked both.

I finished up an episode of Peak Practice and might start another one this week. This is one of my back burner shows and I'm happy I got to finish watching.

Started a new-to-me series and watched Reacher. Gotta say I loved the first episode. I did a bit of dive into write-ups of future seasons, and I think I'll stick with this one.

Also got a minimarathon of Return to Paradise in over the weekend. I'm looking forward to streaming this one when it's available in the US. Really enjoyed the first three episodes and I'm excited to see the rest.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Mr. and Mrs. Black, a novella about a couple whose work makes them keep secrets from each other.

Here's the miniblurb:

Ember Frost and Winter Smoak, assassins for opposing factions, are ordered by their respective employers to kill each other, which would be so much easier if they weren't happily married but hiding some big secrets—like their occupations—from each other.

And a preview snippet…

"That should do it." Keeping the slow boil of anger in check, Ember set the stage.

She'd booby trapped the doors—front, back, and the French doors leading to the patio. Even with the haze of betrayal clouding her vision, she put backup contingencies in place. Because … when it came right down to reality? She honestly didn't know if she could actually pull the metaphorical trigger.

If Win died in an explosion, it would be on him for not being cautious. Right? Then again, she'd never known him to not be vigilant.

She snorted. "Except when it comes to the truth." He'd prevaricated there.

Big time.

And okay, the irony stabbing her in the gut because she also hid her true work from him only calmed the swirling spiral of rage, disappointment, and … if she had to own it … hurt a tiny bit.

Squaring her shoulders, she ran her mental checklist. She had a barrage of spells ready to go. She considering planning a seductive scene to hide the real reason she'd lured him to this location … on the off chance he cased the house first. But why would he do that? She'd asked him to meet ASAP, which could mean anything. Right?

She ruthlessly ignored the small niggle she should dim the lights and start a fire. Could she sneak in one last romp with the man she married? No. She had an assignment, and she would carry it out like she'd done with every other target she'd been handed.

And when her heart broke after she completed the task?

Well … she'd deal with that by never falling for another person again. Ever. She'd sworn to cherish and honor Winter Smoak until her dying breath.

She shook her head. "Should've said until his dying breath."

"Sounds like you're plotting my demise."

She whirled to find Win standing on the stairs behind her.

Well, fuck. Of course he entered through a window on the second floor.

Caught off guard, she reacted quickly and flung a fireball at him. "Maybe because I am…"

Having a lot of fun with this one. Ember and Win might be keeping big secrets but they know each other very well and that makes this encounter dangerous between them.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Mr and Mrs Black

Kind of a busy, frustrating week. We dug out of eleven inches of snow, which is actually a lot more than we've seen in several years. I had a lot of work stuff hit sideways and struggled to get some insurance stuff sorted out for my middle kidlet.

Had a decent week of television viewing, mainly due to hold times on the phone. I started with Seduction and Snacks, a PassionFlix movie and have about half of it completed. I had to pause because the distractions were too many and I want to take my time and enjoy this one.

Got two more episodes of Snoopy in Space watched and kind of enjoyed both. It's fun to have something quick and easy to view.

Caught some behind-the-scenes stuff for The Madame Blanc Mysteries. So much fun to watch the cast interviews and get some insight on how they shot the series. I really hope they do a second one.

Finished up one and began a new Silent Witness two-parter. Good stuff this season. I'm looking forward to more.

Watched two more episodes of Classic Who. The Master is gone again—for now. Can't say I'm sorry to see him go. Six is kind of growing on me and it's fun to have two wandering around again. I'll see how that arc ends this week.

Enjoyed two more episodes of The Alaska Triangle. Shipwrecks and underwater UFOs and ghost ships were the focus. Always love watching what might have happened to downed ships.

Started The Muppets and, meh, it's okay. Really lacks the charm of the original but it's kind of fun to see the muppets in a docu-style series.

Caught another two episodes of Fosse Verdon. I'm so intrigued by the ins and outs of Bob and Gwen's personal and professional lives. Can't wait to finish this one.

Watched two more episodes of Peak Practice. I'm almost finished with season six and should be starting seven this week. I've enjoyed not having weird manipulating characters for the past few episodes.

Got two more MasterClass lessons with Bill Nye. I love how much fun he has educating people.

Ended up getting in two more episodes of Classic Rugrats—two of my favorites. I love reminiscing while watching.

Watched another episode of Chicago Med and enjoyed it a lot. Really looking forward for more next week.

Caught another episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries. I'm kind of sad because a favorite character ended up saying good-bye. I'm hoping some light will be shed in the behind-the-scenes interviews.

Enjoyed a seriously great episode of Star Trek: Discovery. This show … never fails to suck me into the action and emotion.

Last but not least, I finished the second season of The Witcher. I'm so intrigued by the ending and can't wait for more episodes. I ended up being very satisfied with how things played out for the main trio and the side characters. I love this show.

That's it for the weekly television update. Tonight's post is from Mr and Mrs Black, a novella where a very-much-in-love couple discovers how many secrets they're keeping from each other.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Ember Frost and Winter Smoak, assassins for opposing factions, are ordered by their respective employers to kill each other, which would be so much easier if they weren't happily married but hiding some big secrets—like their occupations—from each other.

And a preview snippet…

"Do you understand the objective, Mr. Smoak?"

Fuck, yes, I do.

Winter stared at his screen then gave a nod. "Not much to misunderstand, is there?" He refused to let the icy rage take over or show in his tone. "I'll report no later than midnight."

After cutting the call, he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. A deep, frigid chill settled over him, keeping the swirling tendrils of anger and fear at bay. He prided himself on never taking his work home or letting it get personal.

That ended now.

Because his job just took a turn into personal territory and parked right out front.

He swiped his finger over the image. "How could you do this to me?" Damn her to hell.

Hello, pot. You've got no room to talk.

Maybe not, but obviously he needed to have a conversation. And maybe a long internal discussion about missing the forest for the trees. And probably about being gullible enough to believe her cover, which okay, didn't look all that different from his.

The ice cracked a little but froze over again. No. He had to maintain a separation of fact and fiction.

She'd lied to him. "What a betrayal." Working for the other side, not as a consultant as he'd believed, but as a fixer. Assassin. All-around pain in the ass.

"Whose time has apparently run out."

Because his objective didn't leave any kind of wiggle room. And right now … being pissed off she'd kept something so utterly important from him would make his job easy. Find her then add another check to his achieved agenda.

A ping for an incoming text drew his attention.

He glanced at his phone. "Geez. Wouldn't you know?" His target made contact.

Ember kept the message short and sweet. "We need to meet. 524 Windsor Ave. ASAP."

He didn't think twice, firing off an immediate reply. "On my way."

Checking his weapon, he didn't know whether to thank the universe or curse it for Ember setting the meet away from their home. His personal stash of weaponry would come in handy, but she, no doubt, had a full cache hidden around also. She wouldn't be the number one most wanted if she didn't.

Exiting out into the chilly night air, he put his game face on. The mask slipped a little when he slid behind the wheel of his vehicle. For the first time in his long career, doubt about his profession crept in.

"Damn, this sucks big hairy ones."

Because he'd been tasked with taking Ember Black—no, Frost—out of commission. Permanently. The woman he happily married and loved more than anything.

I love writing this one. I have no idea exactly where it's going to go but it's fun making the discovery as I happily type away.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Mr and Mrs Black

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all who celebrate. I'm not big on drinking green beer, but I do have Irish—apparently from County Cork and County Down—on both sides of my family so I love to visit some of the traditions around this time.

Once again, we've had crazy back and forth weather. A lovely high in the upper seventies on Thursday with a thirty degree drop to the mid-forties on Friday. Lots of wind and rain Thursday night. Everyone who just got over the nasty upper respiratory ick that went around is probably going to end up with it again. Bleh.

Had a decent week for television. Caught another episode of Chicago Fire. Gotta say I'm a little "meh" about the whole Stella and Severied breakup. Honestly, and I don't say this lightly, her accusation of Kelly being jealous kind of put me off. First… because she's the one who went a little crazy when Kelly's former flame came back to town and second, because Kelly never really tried to keep her from hanging out with creepy friend dude. The distant thing, I definitely feel. But if she knows Kelly… and she does… his go-to coping mechanism is to be kind of aloof and alone, not to mention he's been giving her some space because of creepy friend dude. So, yeah, the whole breakup thing? Not thrilled with it. Too forced, in my opinion. Casey's situation, though, really played out well. I enjoyed the whole storyline of the reporter getting her story with his help.

Caught an episode of Iron Fist. Actually loved Ward and Joy's interactions with everyone. Ward is such a dickhole but I love how it's played. Kudos to the actor because he's perfect for the part. Danny and Colleen make me happy even when they're not really communicating well. The whole Mary or whatever her name is better start making sense soon. I'm a little lost with that arc.

Watched another Passionflix movie, The Protector, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm truly thrilled to be a founding member of this group. If you haven't checked out a subscription, please do. And if you're not big on streaming subscriptions, maybe think about getting a DVD. Their original movies and programs are excellent.

Also caught another episode of Classic Roswell. The one where Liz's journal goes missing and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed that episode. Michael started growing on me after this one.

Watched an episode of Murdoch Mysteries and I'm getting into the story of William and Julia's endeavor to write a book. The case this week also intrigued me. I love having some backstory with William.

Caught another episode of Arrow and it's one I've been waiting to see. "Slabside Redemption" didn't disappoint. I've been excited to see how the prison storyline would end and I'm quite happy with how it played out. My one and only "meh" moment? Stanley's escape. That means we'll be seeing him again, right?

Watched another episode of Roswell, New Mexico. This show is starting to eat my brain in the best way. It's messy and I love it. There's nothing uncomplicated about any of the relationships. I'd love to see a better and stronger Maria and Liz vibe because I loved that friendship in the original. The Rosa storyline is starting to grow on me and I'm hoping the whole illegal alien thing smooths out soon. On one hand, I like the topical aspect to making Liz's dad illegal. On the other, I struggle a little because it's so very different from the classic version. We'll see if that one starts growing on me.

Caught another Painkiller Jane episode I either missed or forgot about the first time around. "Breakdown" ended up being a terrific episode. I loved how it ended.

Started another episode of Underbelly: Razor. This show goes to some interesting places and I'm kind of interested in where this episode will end and who will be left standing. Hopefully will have time to finish it soon.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Mr and Mrs Black, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of putting original characters into a scene from a movie.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Ember Frost and Winter Smoak, assassins for opposing factions, are ordered by their respective employers to kill each other, which would be so much easier if they weren't happily married, but hiding some big secrets—like their occupations—from each other.

And a preview snippet…

"Do you understand your orders, Ms. Frost?"

Oh, yes. I understand perfectly.

Ember glanced at the screen on her phone once again. "I do. End of night." She drew in a long breath, trying to keep a lid on the red-hot rage coursing through her veins about the image staring back at her. "Report by midnight." She ended the call and barely refrained from throwing her device across the room.

Son of a bitch.

Her work as a "fixer"—a more palatable word than assassin—for the House of Thorn just took a very personal turn.

She paced, back and forth, cursing softly under her breath. "How could he do this to me?" For that matter, how could she not know? "Stupid. I'm so, so stupid." Only anger kept mortification at bay.

A person with her intelligence and skill set shouldn't have missed the now obvious signs. And, okay, he had a solid cover. Bigwig consultant to several fae corporations with ties to House of Bellark. His spellwork and in-depth knowledge of history made him very in demand.

And, hell, her cover-story rivaled his. Troubleshooter for hire, problem solver extraordinaire. Mainly for House of Thorn industries, of course.

But the similarities didn't quell her rage. Nope. Not one tiny bit. Her gullibility didn't trump the betrayal.

She stopped walking, raking a hand through her hair. "All those business trips? Hit jobs. Just like me." Argh! How dare he keep something so important from her?

Because now she'd really hit the shit jackpot. Fuck! She didn't have a single damn option to get out of the work she had to do.

Her orders were to take Winter Smoak out of action by any means necessary. Which totally sucked balls.

Because Winter Smoak?

Happened to be Ember's husband. And she loved him more than anything.

I'm having such a good time with this story. Ember and Winter are going to have to get past the issue of keeping their professions secret from each other then they'll turn the tables on the employers. It's so much fun to write.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Mr and Mrs Black

Holy crap. What a week in TV—oh, and a kick awesome movie, too.

The Walking Dead's finale delivered the best ending line, maybe ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but damn close. I completely enjoyed Rick's journey over the entire season. And seriously, The Talking Dead and Chris Hardwick are so great. I love having that hour after TWD to decompress.

I have to take a moment to mention S.H.E.I.L.D. also. I'm one of the fans who completely enjoy the show, but the last several episodes have really amped up the drama and awesomeness. I'm excited to see what happens through the end of the season.

Arrow's Deathstroke blew my mind. Manu Bennett is truly remarkable in his performance. I love and hate him… at the same time. LOL I had a flurry of back and forth emails with a friend not long ago and one of the things we love the most about the show is how much Oliver totally screws up so much. His heart is usually in the right place, but he'll make the wrong call and everything blows up in his face. I, for one, love that about the show.

And finally… Bitten. Whoa. The season finale rocked!! I can't believe how much they crammed into forty-something minutes. I made the right call about who really pulled the strings, but I won't spoil anything here. LeBlanc and Santos got brilliantly awesome send offs. Basically, the perfect finale… even the very, very end. LOL I do have a bit of a quibble with Rachel, but I'm actually hoping there's more to her too stupid to live moments… and maybe my speculation will pay off regarding her. Come on, season two. *prays for news soon*

Last, but not least, gotta mention Captain America: Winter Soldier. I LOVED it. It's now at the top of my fave Marvel movies. I've always been a Cap girl anyway, but this movie just kicked major ass. And totally blew up the Marvel 'verse. LOL

My one and only gripe is having Natasha be former KGB. If her birthdate is 1984, the timeline doesn't fit since the KGB disbanded in something like 1991. Hmm… unless she joined at birth. *shrugs* It's a tiny blip. Besides, I can go with comic canon and assume she's doing the slow aging thing if I really need to. J

Whew… should get to the actual post, right? Tonight's snippet is from Mr and Mrs Black, an urban fae fantasy where my characters are on opposing sides, but don't know it.

Here's the tagline:

Ember and Winter Smoak, assassins for opposing fae factions, are ordered by their respective employers to kill each other, which would so much easier if they weren't happily married, but hiding some big secrets—like their occupations—from each other.

And a preview snippet…

"Black? Really?" Ember rolled her eyes.

Win scowled. "Yes, Black. What else would I choose? It's your favorite color."

Well, shit. He had her there. She did have a particular fondness for anything dark and mysterious. Hence her powerful attraction and deeply abiding love for Win. The man oozed shadowy, seductive charm. She'd been a sucker from the moment they met.

"Why did you pick Black?"

Ember shrugged. "Same reason." She waved a hand. "Not because it's my favorite color." She tilted her head to the side, studying him. "No, the name reminds me of you. You're like faceted ebony, all slick and smooth with unplumbed depths, but angled and sharp, too."

A wicked smirk curved his lips and she wanted to smack him.

"Shut up."  She spun around to gaze at the moon's reflection, rippling in the water.

He quirked a brow. "I didn't say anything."

She snorted. "Didn't have to. I know you better than anyone."

He moved forward and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Yes, you do. I thought the same, but you've shown me wrong." His lips traveled along the column of her throat. "I had no idea you could be so… poetic with description." His teeth nipped her earlobe.

A sensuous shiver raced down her spine. "Mmmm. Good to know I can still surprise you." She turned, facing him. "Keeps things interesting." She lifted her chin, leaning in for a kiss.

He took it step further, backing her up against the window, his hands slowly inching the fabric of her pants lower and lower until her bare ass pressed the cool glass surface.

Ember moaned, wishing they had time to get act on carnal impulses, especially when he inserted two fingers inside her slick core. But they needed to handle some nasty business first.

She reluctantly stopped his sensual onslaught. "Win…" Her eyes met his. "I'd love to have you buried balls deep inside me, but we're working against the clock here." She tried to squirm out of his grasp. "I'm supposed to make a report within the hour."

Win leaned in, his lips hovering over hers. "I know, me, too." He briefly meshed his mouth with hers. "But trust me. We've got plenty of time, Ember." He trailed a line of kisses along her jawline.

She shuddered and bucked against his hand. "You, I trust. Our employers, not so much."

His seductive voice fanned over her ear. "Good, because you and I are going to beat them at their own game and I've already figured out how." He brushed his thumb back and forth over her clit. "Want the plan now, or later?" His fingers stilled.

Stupid question.

Her hands moved to his belt, loosening the buckle. "Later. Definitely later."

There's something about having a big secret that makes me happy when writing. J

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye