Sunday Snippet: Chasing the Sun

Whew. We got hit with a ton of snow last night and this morning. About fourteen inches. My county is under a rare level three snow emergency. I had to drive out this morning and, it wasn't horrible but I definitely drove slowly. And we only had about seven inches at that point. So glad I don't have to go out anymore today.

Had a crazy-busy work week. A project came back that needed some extra TLC after numerous author revisions. I'm still working on the memoir, and I started a new project with one of my regular authors. Also working on a long romantasy novel and hitting the series book when I can.

Had a slower week of viewing with everything else going on. Prepping for the snowstorm took up some time and I needed to focus on the work stuff.

I did watch Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears. I thoroughly enjoyed this fan-backed movie project. A very cool way to cap the series.

Also caught an episode of Foyle's War that finished out the fifth season. I'd completely forgotten Foyle actually resigned from the police force. Looking forward to starting the next season.

Finished up the second half of Silent Witness. Again, the twists and turns were amazing. So many red herrings. And a side story that ended up being compelling.

Enjoyed another episode of Poirot. This one had an interesting side plot with Miss Lemon that I loved.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Chasing the Sun, a sexy short that explores the downside of following orders.

Here's the miniblurb:

Chance Martin and Rena Chavez are best friends, and maybe something more, if their work will stop getting in the way. But when Chance can't deal with a set of orders to remove an admiral with lethal action, he starts a downward spiral he can't stop. Rena has to pull him back from the edge, no easy task because she always follows orders.

And a sneaky peek…

"Chance!" Rena shook him.

Trapped in a nightmare, unable to fight his way out. She had experienced that agony more times than she wanted to remember. First as a child with alcoholic and combative parents.  Then as a teenager in care after the same parents lost their lives—and almost took hers—in a drunk-driving crash. From that point onward, Rena learned the value of following the rules.

She jostled Chance again. 

The night terror still had Chance in its clutches. His muscles tensed and bunched, and his head twisted back and forth.

And he called her name … over and over.

He scared her, because she couldn't reach him. And it meant Chance had issues bigger than she'd imagined.

She cupped his face in her hands to still the thrashing of his head. "Chance. Wake up." Rena pitched her voice low, her tone calm and soothing. "It's a dream. Chance." Her thumbs stroked his cheeks, and she repeated the same words once, twice more before he jerked awake.

Unfocused eyes darted back and forth and the last remnants of whatever unknown horror he'd been in fought to hang on. When his gaze finally settled on her face, she breathed with relief.

Gone were the stormy, terror filled eyes.

In their place, startled but clear blue stared up at her.

She kept her voice low, almost a whisper. "Hey, welcome back." Rena moved one of her hands down to lace her fingers with his.

They were like ice even though his skin was slick with sweat. He didn't respond but, his breathing calmed from erratic bursts into shallow inhales. His heartbeat raced, and Rena wished she'd paid closer attention to his plight instead of getting freaked out.

She shouldn't have left this situation for so long. How selfish of her … to not push harder to make him talk. She wanted to kick herself for leaving him to stew and brood.

No more. She'd get him through this rough spot. She owed it to him.

And to herself.

Happy with how this one is coming together. The sages are feeding the plot to me out of order but sometimes that ends up working out well.

 

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Chasing the Sun

There's nothing quite like hitting the third week of December and realizing less than half my holiday shopping is complete. I need about five more hours each day to get everything finished up. Something tells me I'm not going to see that extra time.

Had a decent week of television viewing. Caught an episode of Riverdale and, wow, I'm seriously impressed with how the relationship with Betty and Alice is being portrayed. I'm on the fence with the Hal stuff. Was completely thrilled I didn't have any Hiram to deal with and loved the father / son stuff between FP and Jughead and Archie and Fred. It's so bittersweet to watch Luke Perry's scenes.

Caught another arc of Sapphire and Steel. I should be getting ready to start the third season next week.

Watched an episode of Murdoch Mysteries. Really not sure what to make of the neighbor interaction. My gut says the wife is probably some type of murderer. We'll see if I'm proven right. I have a vague idea of who I think she'll end up taking out if she is.

Also watched an episode of Frankie Drake Mysteries. Enjoyed seeing a family member added to the fold. Loved Nora's mama bear protection instincts.

Also caught another episode of Midsomer Murders. Very happy this has another season coming up.

That's pretty much it for television this week. I also dived deep into the holiday music on a couple of days. Tonight's post is from Chasing the Sun, a sexy short that might end up turning into a novella.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Chance Martin and Rena Chavez are best friends, and maybe something more, if their work will stop getting in the way. But when Chance can't deal with a set of orders to remove an admiral with lethal action, he starts a downward spiral he can't stop. Rena has to pull him back from the edge, no easy task because she always follows orders.

And a sneaky peek…

Rena sat reading the after action report from the Moru Zasu explosion. The space substation held a key position on the relay route from their home planet Xanxia to the newly discovered Celestene, a planet the central government coalition hoped to start settling soon. They had to if they wanted to ease the current population burden.

God, what a close call? Complete with bodies flying out of the blast area with the recon ship just barely getting clear of the explosion.

She huffed out a breath. "Did Chance even bother to mention it?" Nope. Just wrote down the facts and went on with his duties. Closed the file.

A full week ago.

Yeah… something's just not right with him.

Her pen tapped the pages of the report and Rena pondered how distant he'd become. "Chance Martin can do aloof and biting on his best day, but lately he's been over the top with it." Maybe that explained his almost complete withdrawal from social activities. "He never shows up for the late night poker fests anymore." And he sure doesn't haunt the tiny little bar in the far cargo hold of the Valor.

She'd looked for him on multiple occasions.

She hadn't seen him around much since his spacewalk. And truth told… she hadn't made much effort to hunt him down—other than checking the bar and poker games. She wondered if anyone had. Probably not. She didn't like the guilt trip that set in. It had teeth.

God, she hated when her conscience reared its ugly head.

But, dammit, Chance had stunned her when she had reached out after he ejected during a battle. His admission of not wanting to come back knocked her for a loop. Rock-solid Chance Martin had a death wish? It boggled her mind. "And I don't know how to deal with it."

So… she hadn't been there for him. Not really.

His confession messed up the way she viewed him and she had no idea what to say. "After all, I'm not the one who's supposed to skirt the boundaries and pull my ass out of the fire." No, that would be Chance, much to his father's dismay.

Being the son of a government official made him push against boundaries, sometimes going too far.

Rena played by the rules. Always went by the book unless everything else failed. And, okay, she tried to keep things loosely defined when it came to Chance, because he got her on a level no one else did. "But he's not allowed to do things like give up and not want to come home."

He was supposed to bounce back and be the same guy she'd known longer than anyone else on the ship. Not disengage from life and crawl inside his head to hide away from everyone who cared about him. But he did exactly that.

This one is coming together in fits and starts. I've got a solid idea of where I want things to go but the sages aren't always on the same page.

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Chasing the Sun

The Last Ship might be the death of me. Last week's episode had my heart pounding. I forgot to breathe during the escape from the minefield, which happened toward the end of the episode. Then, I live tweeted that I'd be drinking like five shots of alcohol for fortitude because there was still time for something else crazy to happen—with only three minutes left in the show! And, of course, something else CRAZY did happen. LOL What a way to end.

Killjoys is seriously becoming one of my very favorite shows. I'm completely sucked into what's going on and in love with the subtle nuances and shifts in relationships. I have a sneaky suspicion there's going to be a big payoff for some of the dynamics being set into motion. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Dark Matter has a terrific cadre of women characters. I'm interested in the newest addition to the crew and hope she sticks around for a while. Not to take away anything from the men. They hold their own, too. Nice to see a familiar face acting alongside the android in this episode. Okay, maybe not alongside, but in the same vicinity. LOL

Still no Strike Back this week due to a crazy schedule again. But… with the sad news of Jerry Doyle's passing, I'm very happy to be in the middle of a Babylon 5 rewatch. Almost finished with season two and looking forward to starting the third.

Tonight's post is from Chasing the Sun, a sexy short that may end up becoming novella length.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Chance Martin and Rena Chavez are best friends, and maybe something more, if their work will stop getting in the way. But when Chance can't deal with a set of orders to remove an admiral with lethal action, he starts a downward spiral he can't stop. Rena has to pull him back from the edge, no easy task because she always follows orders.

And a sneaky peek…

Rena Chavez crept down the corridor of the Eagle Star. Her insertion by cutting through the hull had gone unnoticed so far. The talon transport she'd flown over, still soft-sealed on the outside, would disengage in fifteen minutes leaving her very little time to complete her objective.

She didn't take time to think about her orders. She moved forward, staying on task and focused on not getting caught.

Rena paused at the corridor leading to the Admiral Carnes's conference room. "Base, cobra one. I'm at the designated launch point." She dragged in a deep breath. "Go or no go?" Everything hinged on the next words she heard.

"Cobra one, you're a go. Copy?"

She answered on an exhale. "Copy." Her heart rate kicked into high gear and she moved ahead, making the turn to enter the causeway.

She reached the main entrance and found the door ajar. Taking a quick look inside, she barely bit back a gasp of shock. Carnes lay sprawled on the table, the prisoner he used as an informant, Gingi Maynard, held a gun to the admiral's head.

Rena opened a channel to base and hit record on her helmet camera.

The tall blonde snarled in the admiral's face. "You have no right to degrade and abuse people. You take children from their mothers. Subject women to unspeakable acts." Her hand shook for a moment but she steadied her grip. "No more. You'll never harm another human being. Or use another woman for your twisted concept of revenge." Gingi pulled the trigger and Carnes breathed his last breath.

Rena blinked and barely got clear when Gingi made a mad dash out the door. Stunned, Rena didn't bother to give chase. Instead, she stepped into the conference room and recorded the confirmed death.

Exiting, she finally contacted base. "Base, cobra one. Did you get all that?" She sent the footage.

"Copy, cobra one. Received."

She had seven minutes to get back to the talon before it disengaged. "Do I pursue the prisoner?"

"Negative. Abort mission and report to checkpoint five for debrief."

Rena breathed a sigh of relief and quickly made her way back to the transport and cleared out before the alarm went up about the admiral's death.

Every time I think this is almost completed, the sages add another wrinkle to the story. LOL Hoping to finish this up and have it ready soon.

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: Chasing the Sun

Week number four! I'm honestly thrilled to have an entire month of posts completed and posted on the blog. I keep hearing how important it is to maintain a presence and have content for readers to peruse if they want.

The Sunday Snippets are fun and, in a stroke of unforeseen luck, a great way to poke the sages into action. Someday I need to do a post about those pesky little imps.

But not today. Instead, it's time for a little preview of another work in progress. Tonight's feature is from Chasing the Sun, a tightly focused short story about the fallout the male character experiences when he's ordered to do something that goes against what he believes in.

Here's a tag line:

Chance Martin and Rena Chavez are best friends, and maybe something more, if their work will stop getting in the way. But when Chance can't deal with a set of orders to remove an admiral with lethal action, he starts a downward spiral he can't stop. Rena has to pull him back from the edge, no easy task because she always follows orders.

And here's the wee sneaky peek…

Chance Martin shut the water off and stepped out of the shower stall. He scrubbed a towel over his face and head, mopping up the rivulets before they could drip any further. The end to a very shitty month in sight, he finished drying off, wrapped the towel around his waist and grabbed his kit.

Rack time in ten. God, he actually looked forward to it. He had to be tired enough to sleep tonight. If he didn't get some solid, honest to goodness rest soon, he'd lose his mind.

Right. Chance figured he'd already pretty much lost it. How he'd managed to keep it from everyone else kind of amazed him.

When had his life become such a mess? Okay, okay. He knew when. Hell, he even knew how. But everyone had a crap life, in general. War had a nasty way of sucking the joy out of everything.

He just wished he knew why. He had no idea what they were even still fighting for anymore. And that bothered him. Once upon a time, he'd had a solid grip on the answers.

Now?

Not so much.

The freedom he held dear—to choose between right and wrong—no longer seemed black and white. The line between good and evil no longer straight, a murky shade of gray emerged and the division blurred beyond recognition.

It's a good thing Chance has Rena in his corner. He's got some major issues to work through and she'll hopefully push him to a better place.

Until next week, catch everyone on the flip!

ML Skye