Sunday Snippet: XO on the Warpath

It's the weekend of trying to keep my doggos from losing their minds. I love fireworks, don't get me wrong, but I feel for all the pets out there that freak out over them.

I continued with the great cleanout stuff this week. Honestly, I did more organizing than cleaning but being organized helps make cleaning and clearing a little easier.

I'm finally at a manageable level of projects. I have a few odds and ends to finish on a couple of them but they're with the authors or the designer and I'm waiting in the wings to review revisions.

Had another decent viewing week. Having a lighter workload does help. And I'm not as scattered on the attention span side of things.

Started out with Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I'm finding new things in the episodes, which is one of the reasons I love to rewatch a series I've seen before.

Watched another episode of Art Detectives and I'm enjoying this show. I'm very interested in the backstory of Mack's dad. I'm also hoping for more backstory with his partner.

Caught another episode of Death in Paradise. Good to see the commissioner's daughter again. The mystery also ended up being intriguing.

Enjoyed another episode of Poirot. Very fun to not have a big murder to solve and see how Poirot uses his skill to ferret out what's going on.

Watched another episode of Elementary and, wow, season three ended on a big downer. I'm still trying to decide if Sherlock ended up relapsing or if he's just horribly distraught from Oscar's machinations. Oscar needs to die in a fire. Just saying.

Caught another episode of Batman Beyond and it's one I remembered. Loved the spin on an urban legend that had a grain of truth in it.

Started a new to me series with The Lower Decks. Enjoyed the first episode and ended up being happy I clocked the relationship between the captain and the know-it-all crew member. I'll enjoy watching more of this one.

Ended the week on an episode of Peak Practice. A lot going on in this one. And the tragic leap Will's patient made kind of surprised me. Kerry finding out the truth about her parentage kind of bummed me out, but I'm also seriously irritated by her parents being such ninnies about the whole thing. Definitely feel bad for Sam.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from XO on the Warpath, a novella about a couple who have to survive a series of mistakes that set one of them off.

Here's the miniblurb:

Garrick Mellark, executive officer of the Methone, is on the warpath. His crew is bucking orders and he's not going to deal with it anymore. Shay Vamper gets elected to soothe the snarly XO into his usual jovial self, which shouldn't be hard considering she's his current flame.

And a sneaky peek…

Garrick left the ship commander's quarters after briefing him on Garrick's zero tolerance policy. "Can't say he's thrilled with me right now." He didn't often cross swords with his superior officer, but he didn't mince words today.

Moving down the corridor to his quarters, he undogged the hatch … and found Shay pacing back and forth inside.

Heaving a sigh, he shut the door. "I can't right now, Shay." He crossed to his duty locker and yanked the latch.

Shay paused with a hand on her hip. "Can't what? Talk? Listen? Or hear what I have to say?" Crossing her arms over her chest, she arched her brows.

Garrick closed his eyes. "All of the above. I'm done talking. I just listened to Warff disagree with my strategy, and you're not going to say anything I'm ready to hear yet." His fingers undid the buttons on his shirt, and he shrugged out of it.

Shay flicked her tongue against her teeth. "So, you're still pissed off and cranky. Got it." She turned to exit his quarters.

Garrick shook his head. "Don't go. Please." He moved and wrapped his arms around her. "Stay with me." His lingering anger drained but exhaustion filled him. "My head hasn't stopped spinning and I'm terrible company, but I'm not mad at you. I'm really not."

Shay turned and rested her forehead against his. "When was the last time you got at least three or four hours of sleep?"

He huffed out a breath. "I don't know. A week ago?" More like a month.

She nudged him toward his berth. "I think you're off by about ninety days, Garrick." Patting the mattress, she waited until he got stretched out then slid in beside him.

Had it really been three months since he'd had a full eight hours of sleep or even half that? He shuffled through his memory. Damn. Pretty much.

Biting back a yawn, he sighed. "Geez. I need a vacation." He tucked on arm behind his head and wrapped the other one around Shay.

She chuckled. "Don't we all? But you … definitely need it the most." She lifted the cover of his shelving unit and set an alarm. "Get some rest. I'll run interference if anyone comes looking for you." Putting her head on his shoulder, she burrowed closer to his side.

Garrick didn't respond. His eyes drifted shut and sleep claimed him.

This story is a fun exploration of how reaching a breaking point can lead to good and not so good things.

 

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: XO on the Warpath

Kind of a weird week in flux. I keep getting a lot of stuff done but more things get added to the plate. Not complaining, the timing is just odd.

Had a solid week of viewing. I'm kind of jammed schedule-wise this upcoming week so I'm hoping to stay on my semi-normal schedule by watching ahead a little.

Got to watch two episodes of The Snoopy Show. This season seems a little less seasonal and I'm okay with that.

Started the new season of The Brokenwood Mysteries. As usual, an excellent premiere episode. Familiar faces with the secondary characters, which I completely love.

Finished up the second half of a two-part Silent Witness and started a new episode. This season is off to a roaring start with good episodes.

Watched the final episode of a Classic Who arc and should be starting a new multipart one this week. Hoping the daleks are gone for a bit.

Caught another episode of Most Terrifying Places in America. This one focused on cursed towns and ended up being more interesting than I anticipated.

I started Moon Knight and thoroughly enjoyed the first episode. My brother highly recommended the series and I'm excited to talk about it with him.

Watched an episode of The Hardy Boys and the danger is amping up. My one complaint for this season would be how the Fenton storyline is playing out. I'm also very iffy on the whole Joe plot points. I'm hoping there's a good explanation for why he's being a little butt.

Enjoyed an episode of Peak Practice. I have a feeling the next episode might have a lingering issue left over from this one.

Caught another MasterClass lesson with Roxane Gay. She talked about her writing tools and I got several good ideas from her.

Got the first episode The Babysitter's Club season two in and enjoyed it. This is a charming show and I'm sorry there's not going to be another season after this one.

Watched an episode of The Ready Room. The interview with Sonequa Martin-Green ended up being so terrific.

Enjoyed an episode of Chicago Med. I'm kind of wondering what's going on with April. I think the writers sell her short and that makes me sad because I love her character.

Finished up Tangled, a Passionflix original. I'll be starting season three of Driven this week and I'm looking forward to it.

I've started a rewatch of Batman: the Animated Series. I'll probably be doing a bunch of DC Comics shows, specifically Titans and Doom Patrol, in the near future. Again, my brother highly recommended so I'm giving them a whirl. But I have to start with my all-time fave, which is Batman: TAS.

Started a new-to-me series with the Agatha Christie Hour. The first episode ended up being enjoyable so I'll continue on. Looking forward to another episode.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from XO on the Warpath, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Garrick Mellark, executive officer of the Methone, is on the warpath. His crew is bucking orders and he's not going to deal with it anymore. Shay Vamper gets elected to soothe the snarly XO into his usual jovial self, which shouldn't be hard considering she's his current flame.

And a sneaky peek…

Shay rolled her eyes at the riotous explosion of disbelief. "Way to go, Garrick. Drop a bomb and don't stick around for the fallout." Not that she blamed him.

He'd been on a short fuse with good reason. Being down an executive officer, followed by everything that could go wrong doing so, created nothing but a massive shit show. And Garrick didn't have an extra buffer to head off the nonsense and inconsequential stuff.

She got to her feet and propped her butt on the back of a seat. The huddle of pilots started spreading out but no one looked ready to leave. She had so many better things to do … yet she also needed to keep her ears open.

Mark Hender got up on the dais. "We need to do something. This is bullshit."

Another pilot, Analise Tor, zeroed in on Shay. "Check that. Shay should do something." She planted her hands on her hips. "She's got the inside track with the XO."

Shay arched her brows. "You did not just suggest I use my relationship with the XO to curry favor for you guys." She straightened and walked to the edge of the center row. "You'll notice he didn't say anything about giving me a free pass." Why the hell would he?

Mark made a rude noise. "You can't sit the fence on this one. Not if you're not getting special treatment." He paced back and forth. "You gotta pick a side, Shay."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "First, I don't take orders from you. Second, take a step back and make an effort to see with the XO is coming from." She pinned Mark with a hard glare. "Stupid mistakes have been made. And the CAG isn't here to cover your ass."

Analise waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah. We're still calling you up and out. You're the only one who might hold a chance in hell of getting him to back off."

Shay narrowed her eyes. "What about holding ourselves accountable? Can any of you say you're under the same kind of stress and pressure the XO is under right now?" No one answered … because they weren't. "It's not gonna get better until the new CAG arrives. Maybe we need to slow down and make sure we're checking off all the boxes instead of bitching about shit all the time. We're grown-ups not toddlers." She shot Mark a nasty look. "Not that anyone would know by your behavior sometimes."

His cheeks turned red. "Fine, but no one can ever be completely on top of everything. Can't you do something to get the XO off the warpath?"

A murmur of agreement rippled through the room.

Shay heaved a sigh. "I'll think about it." She started for the exit but turned around. "Do any of you remember what it's like to get zero sleep for days?" Her gaze scanned each individual one by one. "Because I haven't had a good night's rest in a full month." No one had. "And the XO? Hasn't had more than an hour or two in the last three days. Think about why that is before you start making demands for intervention."

Several heads bowed in shame and more than a few feet shuffled back and forth to escape her scrutiny. Good. Exactly what she'd hoped for.

Leaving the briefing room, she headed for quarters to figure out how to approach Garrick. Because the squadrons weren't wrong. A zero tolerance policy sounded great on paper but throwing anyone who screwed up in the brig would wreak more havoc than descending to the inner circle of hell.

I love this story! Shay and Garrick are a lot of fun to write and putting them on kind of opposite sides is a great way to challenge my skills.

 

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: XO on the Warpath

Well… May is starting out with a crazy-busy schedule. I've got two new projects underway along with my regular work. That said, I love being busy so I won't complain.

I got to spend time with two of my best friends from high school. It's so much fun to catch up with them and we're hoping to make this a several times a year thing. Good food and terrific wine… a fabulous way to spend an evening.

Had a semi-decent week of television viewing. I started out with an episode of Blade: The Series and discovered I'd missed this one. Glad I caught up with it… it had several good pieces of information in it.

I caught the penultimate episode of Strike Back and, wow, as usual, it delivered. Gotta say I'm sad we didn't get to see Coltrane in action between the sheets, especially considering we've seen almost everyone else.

Also watched another episode of Classic Roswell and it's another episode I thoroughly enjoyed but didn't quite remember fully. I love revisiting this series.

Caught another episode of Arrow and got to finally discover Oliver's newest family member. The hits really do keep coming for Oliver and I love to watch him react to each one. Also starting to enjoy the futurescape a lot. I'm going to miss this show so much when it ends after the next season. But I'll look forward to having a dark Gotham to visit if Batwoman gets a pickup.

Watched the penultimate—a frequent refrain this week—episode of Murdoch Mysteries. I have to admit I'm disappointed with a couple of things. Miss Hart's seeming underhandedness is a big one and I'm holding out hope it's smoke and mirrors on that end. And, seriously, the character assassination of John Brackenreid makes my head spin. I truly hope the finale swings the pendulum back to normal.

The Murders had a terrific fourth episode. I like the little bit of mystery surrounding Kate and I definitely like Nolan's slow spiral. It looks like the next episode starts to address his issues and I'm totally there for it.

Caught the… you guessed it… penultimate episode of Ms. Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries and, man, I loved it! This show is so. Much. Fun. Seriously, I'm crossing every appendage I have that there might be a second season.

Watched the first part of Chicago Fire's crossover with Chicago PD. Haven't watched the police episode yet but really wanted to watch Cruz go undercover. I'm not quite sure what to think about Grissom's about-face with Severied. That might not go anywhere good. Just saying.

Caught episode seven of Iron Fist and actually enjoyed it a lot. I'm sad to view what's going on with Danny and Colleen but I also think it's an interesting wrinkle in their relationship. Davos, as usual, irritates the ever loving crap out of me. I'm totally hoping Joy is making a long play to get her hands on the bowl but won't hold my breath. As usual, Ward and Misty entertained just by being on screen. I'll miss not having new episodes after this season ends.

Watched an episode of Painkiller Jane and it's another one I didn't get to see on the first run of the series. Glad I caught it. I do like how Jane finally accepts being part of the team and starts to consider them family.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from XO on the Warpath, a novella that got its start with a two-word prompt of "take me". Honestly… how much fun is that?

Here's the mini-blurb:

Garrick Mellark, executive officer of the Methone, is on the warpath. His crew is bucking orders and he's not going to deal with it anymore. Shay Vamper gets elected to soothe the snarly XO into his usual jovial self, which shouldn't be hard considering she's his current flame.

And a sneaky peek…

Garrick stood at the podium, his hands gripping the edge with white-knuckled intensity. "This has been the worst week of fuck-ups I've ever seen." He pinned the entire room with a nasty look. "And that's for the entire history of the ship." He'd checked the numbers.

A group of pilots in the front row chuckled and Garrick nearly lost his shit right there in front of the whole assembled group. Since the CAG got put on medical leave, Garrick had pulled double duty and received an extra-large dose of sheer stupidity as his reward.

Everything went wrong—mistakes, errors, sheer dumb luck. In the air, on the deck, in the galley, the head, and everywhere in between. Time to read the whole crew the riot act and hold them accountable. And they weren't going to like it.

Too damned bad.

Shay sat in the back of the room. She'd be as surprised as anyone. They'd had maybe all of an hour together in the last week. But she'd been the one to nudge him to create an action plan because burning the pipe at both ends didn't look good on him.

No shit. The extra duty sucked balls. And she basically refused to make his nightmare worse by stepping in to the CAG role. The paperwork aspect alone gave her hives, which she freely admitted. No way would she add insult to the injustice of being the XO and the CAG simultaneously.

So, here he stood, calling the shots since he got stuck with the responsibility. "I'm not putting up with it anymore. You're all on notice." He raised his voice for the last part and a collective wave a silence met his ears.

Finally.

Sweeping his gaze through the room, he dropped the next bombshell. "Every mistake, error, lapse in judgment, or dumbass move will warrant brig time from this point forward." He stepped away from the podium and delivered his parting shot. "I suggest you all pay attention and make sure you're on your game because I don't care if every single crewman ends up in hack. This ends now." He paused one moment. "You're dismissed." He only just cleared the hatch before the room erupted into pandemonium.

Good. He'd bet his next pay grade he'd have no less than five people in the brig within the next hour.

Garrick is at his wit's end and he's not messing around anymore. I can't wait for Shay's plan of action to soothe his bruised psyche.

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

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: XO on the Warpath

Ugh. Got hit hard with a nasty cold / flu something. It's been a miserable week trying to hit editing deadlines and maintain my sanity at the same time. LOL

This week's Teen Wolf brought back an old, well… I can't really call the character a favorite, so let's say a familiar face instead. I like having some old school peeps back on my screen. Nothing wrong with the new crew, but eh, I think a lot can be said for taking care of the roots, too. Hopefully, I'm not being too spoilery.

My shows are back this week. The Flash, Arrow, the premiere of Legends of Tomorrow, and maybe even Agent Carter. Not sure about the premiere date for X-Files, but I'll be checking to make sure I don't miss it.

And that's it for this week on the TV front.

Tonight's post is from XO on the Warpath, a novella that got its start with a two word prompt and has my hero ready to burn a lot of bridges. LOL

Here's the mini-blurb:

Garrick Mellark, executive officer of the Methone, is on the warpath. His crew is bucking orders and he's not going to deal with it anymore. Shay Vamper gets elected to soothe the snarly XO into his usual jovial self, which shouldn't be hard considering she's his current flame.

And a sneaky peek…

Shay Vamper grabbed the armrest of the chair and lifted her hips to meet the tongue flicking over her clit. "Garrick, gah! So close."

Her lover, Garrick Mellark, increased the pressure then sucked the hard nub between his lips. Shay groaned, bucking hard against his face.

The overhead comm pinged."Pass the word. XO Mellark, report to the pilots' briefing room, RFN. Pass the word. XO Mellark, report to the pilots' briefing room, RFN."

Garrick growled and settled back on his haunches. "Dammit." He quickly buttoned his shirt.

Shay went limp, frustration oozing from every pore. But she couldn't beg for release. RFN meant right fucking now. Perfect. And she'd been moments away from a mind-numbing orgasm.

Garrick shook his head. "Sorry, Shay. Gotta go see what the hell is so all fired important I have to be paged over the comms." He turned and headed for the hatch. "I swear we'll finish this…" His gaze held regret when it met hers. "Soon." He exited, pulling the door shut behind him.

Reaching down, Shay gathered her pants from the deck and shoved her legs through. "Soon. Right." Yanking the garment up, she fastened the fly. "Seventh time we've been interrupted this week. Not gonna hold my breath we'll finish anything… ever." Shivering, she dragged her shirt from the back of the chair, shrugging into it and doing up the buttons.

She settled down behind the desk, heaving a sigh. She'd known when she got involved with Garrick their time together would be hit and miss. The XO wore a lot of hats and played mediator between everyone. Scooting back, Shay stood up, figuring she'd better head to the briefing room. Anything involving pilots affected her… sooner or later. And with the CAG's poor health, she kind of wondered if maybe they'd be looking for a replacement in the near future.

Not a job she'd want to have. Not that anyone would ever be brave enough to offer the position to her. Her severe allergy to paperwork pretty much guaranteed she'd never have to worry about bucking for a promotion to an executive rank.

Perfectly okay with her. Especially after having an inside track with Garrick's headache inducing nightmare of a job.

Crossing to the hatch, she nudged it open, checking to make sure no one hovered in the corridor. She and Garrick didn't hide their relationship, but they didn't flaunt it either.

Not that they had much of one lately.

Frowning, Shay exited Garrick's office and made her way to the briefing room.

Yeah, Garrick definitely has one foot on the warpath and he'll make his irritation clear in the very near future. LOL

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

ML Skye