Sunday, July 8, 2018

Sunday Snippet: Rewarding Experience

Ugh. I love fireworks but my dog… not so much. Seriously, July is a rough month because various places around where I live have events and they're within hearing distance. The poor dog just shakes, trembles, and pants like it's the end of the world. Oddly enough, thunderstorms don't tend to bother her much. When they're really severe she gets a little antsy and won't settle down, but she doesn't tremble and shake. Here's to getting through the midway point of the month when the last show is scheduled. Whew.

Had a decent viewing week for television shows. Caught Endeavor and Midsomer Murders. The mystery shows are always a treat.

Caught the second part of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Started season five The Batman and it's terrific.

Watched my military shows, Band of Brothers and Strike Back. I'd forgotten how crazy Strike Back gets about midway through season four. I'm looking forward to seeing if season five keeps the frantic pace alive.

I'm almost finished with season one of Sense8. I love the interactions of the group and how the fallout from those is super awkward sometimes. I'd love to have a little more information about the whole conspiracy angle but I'm truly thrilled with how the first season unfolds.

Got another two episodes of The Sarah Conner Chronicles in and, seriously, that was some awesome television. I miss the show a lot.

I only got to episode four of Mutant X before the app pulled the show. Now I'll have to find it somewhere else. Pensacola Wings of Gold had a good episode but I'm not glued to it the way I thought I'd be. I'm almost finished with Constantine. It's a bit of a struggle to stay attached to the episodes but I want the backstory when John joins the Legends lineup.

Last but not least, Canal Road is such a great show. I'm totally invested in Spence's mystery and I want to smack Olivia for telling him to not watch the video on his wife's laptop. I'm certain he'd have the proof his wife and son's death was murder. GAH!

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Rewarding Experience, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of creating a scene that shows how much fun delivering a reprimand can be.

Here's the mini-blurb:

When an explosion rocks a deep space mining expedition, injuring Trixie Bell, she realizes how much she wants and needs Jock Tennyson by her side. The grueling hours and physically exhausting work makes the couple cranky and edgy, but Trixie decides to show Jock how rewarding a simple reprimand can be.

And a sneaky peek…

Jock Tennyson fisted his hands at his side. "What did you just say?"
Trixie Bell repeated her last statement. "I said, maybe you should try shoving your dick up your ass because it'd be easier than what you're asking me to do here." Trixie didn't mince words, not even with her direct superior.
Jock's mouth thinned to a harsh line across his face. "You wanna tread lightly, Trix. I take a lot of shit from you, but there's a line and you're close to crossing it." He spun around, slamming his hand on the desk. "I'm not the one demanding more gammite ore. The company is."
Trixie sighed. Not like she didn't know where the upped quota came from. But the company bigwigs didn't work the mines. She and Jock did.
Okay, had worked the mines. Now they'd moved up a level and, boy, did she regret accepting a supervisory position? Hell, yes.
She stalked over to the desk and perched a hip on one end. "Look, we can't hit the new numbers. It's not possible." They didn't have enough trained personnel for acid mining and the gammite hid behind several feet of solid rock.
Jock shrugged. "I asked for more workers trained in AWM, but they sent the pickers we asked for last quarter when philium was on their shortlist."
Trixie growled. "Doesn't matter. We got the quota for the philium because it's easier to work around the clock with axes and hammers. Acid wash is dangerous, especially when we don't have enough people trained in the painstaking process." Cave-ins were a definite go if the math didn't get calculated just right.
Jock countered. "We do dangerous work regardless of the process. Everyone knew that when they signed on." He pinned her with his gaze. "You knew that." When she accepted the supervisory position.
Yeah, she had known. What she hadn't counted on? The weight of possibly sending workers to their deaths because greedy assholes wanted more, more, more.
And their voracity pissed her off.
She wouldn't put more people at risk… not without trying to help. "You know what? You're right. I did know." Straightening, she planted her hands on her hips. "You know what else? I'm going in. Maybe I can train some of the workers while we mine the gammite." At least she'd make an effort.
Something Jock obviously forgot how to do.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing this scene and hopefully got both sides of the conflict fleshed out.



That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye

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