Sunday, February 10, 2019

Sunday Snippets: Photo Ops

Ugh. Another week of crazy back and forth weather. We went from sixty-two degrees on Thursday to twenty-five on Friday. Every time I took the dog out starting on Thursday evening, I added a layer of clothes. And… I now have a raging upper respiratory ick thing. LOL Never fails.

Not a bad week for television. I caught the premiere of Strike Back and loved it. One of my favorite actors is starring this season and I'm very excited to see what he does on the show. I'm also kind of caught between the old style with Stonebridge and Scott and the new style with Wyatt, Mac, and Gracie. The former cast had more time to build the relationship between the leads and I liked how that spread over the four seasons they helmed the series. The new cast feels like they had to skip a lot of the nuance and I kind of miss that. And none of this is to say they don't gel together, because they do.

Also caught an episode of Chicago Fire and ended up being an ugly-crying mess by the end. Benny's sendoff didn't disappoint. I tend to get very emotional over signing off a fallen firefighter. With a retired fire chief dad who's still active with a volunteer department, those things hit home for me.

I'm almost finished with Luke Cage's second and final season. I'm pretty sure I'll be satisfied if Mariah goes down hard. I'd like Luke to have a resolution with his anger issues too and I think he's come a long way. Misty is just awesome no matter what so there's that.

Also caught Classic Roswell on a different app where I can watch single episodes. I'm looking forward to comparing the new reboot with the classic series.

Caught a few episodes of Classic Who this week and the Daleks are back, creating trouble as usual. I love how long this Whovian villain has been around.

Watched Murdoch Mysteries and Midsomer Murders. I love both of these series and how long they've been running.

Penny Dreadful had an interesting episode with Vanessa meeting the cut wife. The icky witch woman annoys me in ways I can't begin to describe. I do love Ethan and Vanessa's interactions so watching the creepy woman be evil is a small price to pay I guess.

Finally finishing up season four of Killjoys and, man, the "It Takes a Pillage" episode rocked on so many levels. Great character development and growth, a family reunion, betrayal, and Zeph being awesome. Can't ask for more than that.

Worked in another episode of Painkiller Jane, one I don't remember watching during the original run of the series. The show makes me nostalgic for La Femme Nikita and Mutant X. I miss the crazy creative style of that era of television.

Also started another episode of Underbelly: Razor. I'm about halfway through the series and continue to enjoy watching life in Australia during the twenties and thirties.

That's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Photo Ops, a novella that started with a writing community prompt of writing a scene or a story around a main character reluctantly participating in a photo shoot. I added a small spin and set the story up for both characters being in front of the camera.

Here's the mini-blurb:

When Mace McKenna decides not to participate in the annual Officers of the City charity calendar photo shoot, Nina Dean won't let up until he caves. But when Nina loses a bet and has to pose for the women's version, she soon discovers Mace is the orchestrator of the whole thing.

And a snippety peek…

Mace swung his leg over the motorcycle and settled on the seat. "Long ass shift deserves a nice cold brew." Pop's Joint served for another hour.
A female voice called out, "Detective McKenna? Mace? Can I get a moment?" Her feet appeared first from a black SUV.
Long boots, black with white laces and chunky soles. Perfect for the shitty weather in March. Her fingers wrapped around the door frame, multiple rings on each digit. Finally, her head popped up and a smiling face greeted him.
She nudged the door shut and strode across the parking garage. "I hope you don't mind, but Micha Lowe said I'd probably be able to find you here after shift." She tucked a streaky silver swath of hair behind her ear and thrust out her palm. "I'm Seely Osgood, the photographer for the charity calendar. The one city hall is hoping will boost morale." Her raised eyebrows indicated he should know what she meant.
He didn't have a clue in hell.
But if Micha Lowe had his nose up in the deal, Mace already hated the idea.
Shaking her hand, he rested on the seat, keeping the bike ready to start. "I'm sorry, Ms. Osgood, you've made a wasted trip. I'm coming off a long shift and really don't have time to talk about calendars." A niggle of guilt edged against his spine. "Can we maybe meet another time? It's after midnight and I'm done for." The cold beer all but called his name.
She winced and gave him an apologetic flash of a smile. "Yeah, I'm sorry about the time. I get a little excited when I start a new project and this one is, well, something I've been dying to do for ages." Spreading her hands, she continued. "But, you're right. It's late and I can give you the rundown on where the photo shoot will be at a later time." She turned to get back in her vehicle.
Mace frowned. "Photoshoot? What are you talking about?" He started the bike, revving the engine and wheeled closer to her.
She grinned. "The Officers of the City shoot. We're getting a large group of you primo specimens gathered to get pictures for the big event."
Mace shook his head. "Oh, no. I'm not interested in being on some calendar. I'll buy tickets to the fundraiser or whatever else, but, yeah, I have zero desire to waste a day or even a minute on being photographed." Micha would get his ass kicked the next time Mace ran into him.
Seely's face fell. "But Micha said you'd be available—" She stopped short. "Ugh, never mind. I can see you're not open to having a conversation about it." Ducking into the SUV, she started the engine. "I'm sorry I wasted your time." While she pulled out, her mouth moved, no doubt making a call to the commissioner's rep.
Mace sighed. "Headache for tomorrow. Right now, Pop's is looking even better." He eased into traffic, pushing the stupid photo shoot idea to the very back of his mind.
No way would he be stripping down for the entire city's amusement.
Not even for morale.

Poor Mace. He won't be happy when the headache for tomorrow hits him right between the eyes.



That's it for this week. Happy reading!


Skylin

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