Sunday Snippet: Seeing Red

Happy holidays to those who celebrate. We had a lovely day, even if the temperatures were in the mid-teens. It's way better than the minus ten degrees we had earlier in the week.

I had some catching up to do with a work project and didn't get much watched, but I did catch a couple more episodes of Batman: The Animated Series. I guess I'll be watching all next month also because it's going to be removed from HBOMax.

I got to catch a couple of good episodes, featuring The Joker and Harley. Bane made his first appearance and the Clock King showed up again. Harvey and Two Face along with the Riddler both had episodes. And the episode with Baby Doll ended up being better than I remembered.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Seeing Red, a novella featuring metahumans and how they navigate working and living together.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Vesta Crock can't stand tension and a major meta-human uprising puts everyone on edge. Jones Blaylock becomes her target for a series of supposedly fun pranks, but when a fellow member of their team gets injured, Jones sees red and that's not a good thing for the firestarter.

And a preview snippet…

Whoa. Vesta never failed to shock him. From full-on struggling female to responsive woman in less than a heartbeat.

Crossed the line. Mistake. Big mistake. The red haze of lust gripped him hard and his blood pumped, surging through his veins. Her lips opened and his tongue sought hers. He wanted to kiss her forever. But, no, he couldn't … getting tangled up with a team member screamed bad idea.

He eased away from her. "Ves? You with me now?" Her mouth called to him, but he resisted the urge to lock lips with her again.

She nodded then blinked. "Wow. That was … intense." Her thumb brushed over her lower lip.

He backpedaled and downplayed the reaction they had to each other. "You gave me a scare. How bad was the dream?" Let her think he didn't know what she referred to.

Vesta cocked her head to one side. "We're obviously not talking about the same thing, Jones." Her eyes slid shut and her shoulders drooped.

I'm a dick. Guilt sank its sharp teeth into his gut. But he needed time to wrap his head around what happened. He had to get a handle on the way he'd been acting with her lately.

Letting out slow breath, Vesta gave him the bullet points. "Nightmare level dream, vortex intensity." She shrugged. "Sorry you got sucked in." Her tone oozed irritation.

Jones shook his head. "Don't be. I'm glad I got here when I did." He waited a beat. "How often does a nightmare hit so hard?" He didn't have a clue she even had terrible dreams.

Vesta shut down. "That's none of your business, Jones." She scrambled to the edge of her bed, fished around for a shirt and yanked it over her head. "I'm fine. You can go now." She settled on the edge of the opposite side facing away from him.

Dammit. He'd misstepped with her. Again. The sizzling reaction had him off balance.

"Yeah, okay." He started for the door. "Ah, almost forgot, Mixed-team skills training starts tomorrow. Wanted to let you know." Lame. So lame.

But he had to try to smooth things over.

She lifted a hand in acknowledgment but didn't speak or turn his way.

He backed out of her quarters, reluctant to leave on a bad note. "Sucks to be the team leader sometimes." Mixing the personal and professional … definitely not in his wheelhouse.

I have a lot of love for this story. Vesta is going to push Jones's buttons and his struggle to keep his cool will be tested in big ways.

 

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Seeing Red

So, we finally have snow in Ohio. Not a lot but enough to remind people it's actually winter. This isn't a bad thing. I'm hoping that means we won't have blizzards in April or May. Just saying.

After a very slow January workwise, February is going like gangbusters. I'd rather be busy than not so no complaints here. I did have a slow week of television though.

I started with an episode of Murdoch Mysteries and enjoyed it. Fun to see a familiar face with Ruth's brother showing up. Should be interesting to see what happens with Henry now that Ruth has access to loads of money again. Also interesting happenings with William and Julia's neighbors. I'm still not quite sure what to expect with them.

Caught the Frankie Drake Mysteries finale for season three. Always fun when a character returns to stir up trouble for Frankie and the girls. I'm hoping season four continues to have a big focus on the friendships.

Arrow's second episode ended up being better than I anticipated. Interested to see what happens with Lyla. I truly love the mix of present and future in these episodes.

Caught another episode of Midsomer Murders and quite enjoyed it. It's fun when the case doesn't quite go where I think it will.

Also watched another series one episode of Peak Practice. I gotta say Will's wife is quite the piece of work. I have no idea how long she lasts but I'm thinking it's not through the end of the series. That's not a bad thing.

I saved the best for last. I finally watched the season four premiere for Riverdale. I'd be lying if I said there was no ugly sobbing involved. Because there was. A lot of it. I honestly didn't expect less, I mean I'd been warned by at least three people to have a box of tissues. Needless to say, I did and used an undetermined amount of said box.

I can honestly say I can't imagine a better tribute to Fred Andrews. I loved how pretty much everyone put aside their grievances—Reggie and Cheryl in particular—and paid homage to a stalwart member of the community. Reggie's gesture with providing a hearse moved him up a notch on my like-the-guy meter. And Cheryl's conversation with Mary and her about face regarding the parade had a nice symmetry. I have no clue what the hell her deal is with CorpseJason but I don't need to know for this episode to work so well. Relenting on having a parade to celebrate Fred's life and put the focus on someone not a Blossom is big badass energy and I'm here for it.

FP taking on a role of filling big shoes also worked well for me. Figuring out where Archie was and what he planned to do when he found out who ended up being responsible for Fred's death and his subsequent response of calling in Archie's friends showed a good bit of foresight for the former Serpent leader. I also loved the way he handled asking Archie if he'd mind an escort home. I knew what was coming. I figured out what Cheryl wanted to do. And, man, I literally grabbed the box of tissues and pretty much sobbed through the whole thing. Throw in Jughead's obituary and the reaction shots of people reading—the focus being on the grown-ups, friends and enemies—and, yep, the tears flowed again.

Shannen Doherty's guest appearance was a nice touch. For those of us who are a certain age, the poignancy of having her involved in memorializing Fred and, in turn, Luke Perry packs a punch and creates a nice thread that goes from beginning to end.

The other part I found poignant is Betty at the cemetery by her dad's grave. Season three ended with Hal being murdered by Penelope and it's easy to forget that happened and have it eclipsed by Fred's demise. The trashing of his plot, while sad for Betty, serves as a solid visual reminder of where things left off.

Finally… the last scene of Archie in the garage sifting through memories of his dad, the only scenes that actually showed Fred in action, was extremely well done. Kudos to KJ, the writing team, and the film crew for what, I'm sure, had to be a difficult time.

All in all, a terrific sendoff for Fred and Luke. Next week, I'll dive back into the normal batshit crazy world of Riverdale and enjoy the hell out of it.

That's pretty much it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Seeing Red, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Vesta Crock can't stand tension and a major meta-human uprising puts everyone on edge. Jones Blaylock becomes her target for a series of supposedly fun pranks, but when a fellow member of their team gets injured, Jones sees red and that's not a good thing for the firestarter.

And a preview snippet…

Jones didn't blame Vesta for being antsy. She'd asked everything he wanted answers to also. Tyrian had something of a god complex when he got to lead briefings. Sometimes pushing through made him a good leader… other times, it made him an ass.

Being an ass ruled the day today.

Tyrian stepped back from the podium. "That's it. Any questions?" He purposefully didn't look toward Jones's team.

Jones stood up. "What's the estimated timeframe for this confinement?" The caution because someone had taken out the communications array might be important, but keeping people with super human power in lockdown begged for trouble. "What's the thinking on the watch situation? Regular schedule or intermittent change-ups?" He shot a quick glance toward Vesta, hoping she understood he actually did have her back and to give her unvoiced credit for asking smart questions.

She lifted her chin in a quick acknowledgment.

Jones finished up. "And do you have an official date for the completion of the array?" Which should give a clue as to when the lockdown would end.

Tyrian's lips thinned. "I haven't been received any timeframe about the comm array yet. We'll handle the watch schedules by mixing those with the team training and downtime. Team leaders will meet after the briefing to get something put together." He shot a look at Vesta then back to Jones. "Any other questions from the gallery?"

Jones sat down and gave Vesta a warning look. She tucked her cards back inside her vest pocket. He pinned Tyrian with a hard gaze but said nothing.

Tyrian smirked. "In that case, we're dismissed." He swept out of the room via the back entrance.

Vesta snorted. "Asshole." She got up and stalked toward the opposite exit but paused and turned to face Jones. "Thanks… for what you did. The entire room wanted answers, which we didn't get, but at least the questions got asked." She angled back around.

He sometimes forgot about her latent ability to read people. Part of her talent of pushing suggestions on others involved being able to burrow inside one individual but it also let her absorb the general feeling and mood of everyone around her. No wonder frustration got the better of her during the briefing.

Jones called out. "They were smart questions, but you already know that." Her keen intelligence often got her in trouble.

No… zero patience got her into numerous scrapes. The smarts made her mistakes more spectacular.

Vesta paused and shot a glance over her shoulder. "I do. And so does Tyrian. He wants to appear a lot more knowledgeable than he is and that's why it pisses him off when anyone pushes back. I don't give a hang if he gets pissy with me." Because she could take his snippy snipes where others sometimes couldn't.

Jones completely understood why Vesta pushed the big red button that screamed do not touch. But he walked a fine line. Not crushing her spirit worked to his advantage but he constantly had to weigh how much to let her get away with when it affected the other team members too.

Vesta shrugged. "I'm sorry he's going to be a dick when you're figuring out the watch schedule." She started for the door again.

Jones didn't want to let her brood alone. "Hey, let's get the team together in an hour and we'll strategize game plans to work on during the lockdown." He'd send a notification to the others.

Vesta groaned and rolled her eyes.

Jones quirked a brow. "Do you have something better to do?" She couldn't exactly go anywhere.

Vesta replied with her usual razor wit. "Not really, but smokin' hot sex sounds like way more fun." Her lips twisted in a wry smirk.

Jones usually didn't encourage the innuendo but today he shot back. "Hmm. Can't accommodate you today. We'll see what tomorrow looks like."

Her mouth dropped open and Jones had the singular pleasure of getting the last word in with her.

I like where this one is going. Vesta doesn't do well with confinement and I like the challenge of writing how she deals with her dilemma.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Seeing Red

Some nice weather, not too hot or cold. No snow, which is always a bonus. Fingers crossed it stays mild. Of course, everyone knows not to hold their breath. It's still March.

Didn't pay much attention to The Walking Dead, but did catch The Talking Dead. Definitely going to have to check out Hardwick's The Talking because it should be loads of fun.

How much longer is the hiatus for Gotham? I'm missing the dark, crazy ride.

The Flash had another crossover with Supergirl and, I have to admit, the mash-up ended up being fun and worth the watch.

Arrow… wow. I guess I'm going to assume Oliver's last buried deep secret is finally out there for, well, the viewers at least. Kudos to that walk down memory lane. That said, I've got a crap-ton of questions and need to watch again with zero, I mean absolutely no interruptions or distractions. I do have a hope some of the bad guys are now going to ripple out from Oliver's past transgressions, especially Talia. I would love to see an Oliver / Nyssa / Talia meet up. That would be worth an entire episode, right?

Looking forward to a new episode of Riverdale. I've missed seeing my new favorite group of actors.

Finally finished Luke Cage and thoroughly enjoyed the first season. I'll admit I'm not thrilled with how it ended but I'm assuming all will be addressed soon. Continued the City Homicide rewatch and have most of season two out of the way.

Still need to catch up on a few other shows and might get to those this week.

That's it for television. Tonight's post is from Seeing Red, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt of "seeing red". I loved that as a title and decided to use it.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Vesta Crock can't stand tension and a major meta-human uprising puts everyone on edge. Jones Blaylock becomes her target for a series of supposedly fun pranks, but when a fellow member of their team gets injured, Jones sees red and that's not a good thing for the firestarter.

And a preview snippet…

"So we'll be on lockdown until a new base of operations can be set up."

Vesta Crock fought the urge to go deep inside their leader's mind and use ability to fry his brain. No one would keep her imprisoned again. Not even the esteemed Tyrian Lancaster. Lazer vision and the ability to fly didn't mean he should have the final say.

Unofficially being elected, however, did.

She changed a playing card into a thin metal sheet. "How long do you expect to keep us confined?" Interruptions pissed Tyrian off, but Vesta needed an answer.

He shot her an aggravated glance, but didn't respond to the question. Nope. He droned on about team building skills, contingency plans, and getting battle ready. Oh… and watch shifts. Couldn't leave those out.

Vesta threw out another query. "How many rotations are the teams responsible for?" She altered another card, making this one into thin parchment she could crumple and toss in Tyrian's direction, if necessary.

He flicked an irritated look in her direction, but didn't veer from his information dump. Vesta growled and balled up the paper. A heavy hand on her forearm stopped her from lobbing it. Jones Blaylock, her primary team captain, shook his head.

Vesta grumbled but subsided, sinking lower in her chair. She hated being imprisoned but not knowing how long chapped her ass worse than anything. Short periods she could manage. Lancaster's lack of a timeframe sent alarm bells ringing in her mind.

After another ten minutes of circular repetition, Vesta lost patience. "How long is this lockdown going to last, exactly?" She didn't dare nudge the answer from Tyrian, but the need for one almost compelled her to do so.

Lancaster paused, his frustration evident by the way he adjusted his goggles. "Blaylock, did you forget to properly inform your team member how our briefings work?" He slid his gaze toward Vesta. "Questions can be asked when it's completed." He bit the last words out.

Jones shot Vesta a scathing look and she slumped further down in her seat, accepting defeat. The deck of cards melded together into a solid mass complete with her handprint. She kept her mouth shut for the remainder of the briefing, silently fuming at Jones for not having her back.

She focused on the block of cards. "Might be time to examine why I threw in with this group of metahumans."

I'm having fun building the world and characters with this story. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye

Sunday Snippet: Seeing Red

September 1, 2013

Hello!

Yeesh, first day of September. That means the holidays are just around the corner. I know, right? How is that possible? According to our local Dollar General, Halloween stuff has to be displayed before the kids even go back to school the third week of August. *shakes head* I fully expect to see Christmas stuff out within the next two weeks. *shudder*

Thankfully, my post tonight isn't about the holidays. I'll save those for a later, more appropriate time. :D

Seeing Red is about a group of meta-humans who face a big battle with an opposing faction. Their special abilities are sometimes a little hard to control which makes the characters so much fun to write. :D

Here's the tagline:

Vesta Crock can't stand tension and a major meta-human uprising puts everyone on edge. Jones Blaylock becomes her target for a series of supposedly fun pranks, but when a fellow member of their team gets injured, Jones sees red and that's not a good thing for the firestarter.

And a preview snippet…

Jones drew in a deep breath, trying to shove the red haze aside. "By Christ, Vesta, do you not have a clue?" He exhaled, long and slow. "Your latest escapade just landed Bryce in the infirmary. He almost lost a damned eye."

Vesta opened her mouth then snapped it shut.

Jones shook his head. "Yeah, didn't figure you'd deny it was your handiwork."

She jabbed her finger at his shoulder. "You prick. Did Bryce get injured or not?"

He grabbed her hand, the red rage kicking in with a vengeance. "You're goddamned right he did. All because of your stupid attacks against me." He squeezed her flesh, the transfer of heat involuntary.

Vesta jerked her hand away, rubbing at her skin and blowing on it. "Shit, Jones. Calm down."

The tray of food on the table beside them burst into flames and the occupants scrambled away. Jones visualized glaciers and a frosty wind and the small fire died down. Vesta backed up to a healthy distance. A fissure of fear crept into her gaze and Jones growled low in his throat, turned, and stalked out.

~:~

Vesta tamped down her guilt over Bryce's injury and started out after Jones. She didn't deserve his wrath. At least not the fiery kind. He could've killed everyone in the room. A hand shot out and halted her progress.

Vesta jerked free and swung around ready to let loose with a torrent of cursing.

Hal shook his head. "Don't even think about it, Vesta."

She snapped her mouth shut. "Fine. What do you want?"

Hal grabbed her hand and tugged her away from the door. "For you to leave well enough alone right now." He pushed her onto the lounge and dropped down next to her. "If you go after him right now, he'll likely burn the place down." He shot her a sideways glance. "And not one damn person would blame him."

Vesta snorted. "I suppose they'd lay that at my feet, too."

Hal huffed out a breath. "Ves, do you have any idea how much of a pain in the ass you've been lately? The deal with Bryce pushed Jones past his limit."

Vesta wanted to deny the accusation, but couldn't. She cast her gaze downward, unwilling to let Hal see the shame in her eyes.

He laid a hand on hers. "Look, you went too far and someone got hurt. Everyone knows you didn't intend the end result, but it's still there, you know?"

She nodded, unable to speak over the lump in her throat.

Hal squeezed her fingers. "He's gonna take the heat and probably receive a harsh reprimand. All because he can't control one of his assets."

She hadn't thought of the possible repercussions. Hadn't looked past busting the boredom. She never did well in a hurry-up-and-wait situation. Didn't mean her team leader should have to pay the price.

Vesta sighed and met Hal's gaze. "You've made your point, Hal. I'll apologize as soon as he's had time to cool off."

Hal nodded. "Give him the rest of the day, Ves. You made him see red."

She shuddered. "I know and it's not his best shade." She turned and started for the door again. "If we get our orders, come find me." She glanced back over her shoulder. "You know where I'll be."

Hal's lips quirked. "In the danger zone. Got it."

Vesta smiled. Hal knew her better than anyone. And the danger zone gave her an outlet for the pent up energy she never quite expelled.

At least she couldn't get in trouble or cause damage in the huge atrium full of combat equipment.

Except maybe to herself.

Vesta will hopefully end up finding herself before it's all over. Jones might have a wee bit of something to do with helping her along. J

That's it for this week.

Cheers!

Skye