Sunday Snippet: Gotta Start Somewhere

Whew. What a week. We have some actual fall weather, and I love it. Who knows how long it will last. Pretty sure we'll have at least one more heat-up before December and the official start of winter.

Had another busy work week because I'm still playing catch up from being under the weather in late September. I finished a very challenging copy edit of a 95k-word manuscript. Great story with a lot going on.

Update on our doggo. She's doing so much better. She's still a little congested, but she finished her round of antibiotics and the steroid seems to be helping also. Of course, she's drinking a ton of water, which means we're going out for potty breaks about two times her normal rate.

Had a very slow viewing week. The challenging copy edit required a lot of focus. But I did make it most of the way through my regular shows.

Started again with Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Enjoyed the episode because it's one I remembered and loved on my original run through.

Caught another episode of Foyle's War and enjoyed watching again. I'd forgotten some of the key moments in this one. Sam sure struggled a bit to find another place to stay after her rooming house got bombed.

Enjoyed another episode of Death in Paradise. Really glad to see Mervin figure out his mom's murder and also so happy to see Mr. Sterling Fox get his walking papers. Smarmy jerk.

Watched another episode of Poirot. I always enjoy when Miss Lemon gets involved in a case. Watching Hasting completely destroy her filing system—after she told him not to touch anything—made me laugh out loud. In his defense, he'd already halfway trashed it before he spoke to her.

Elementary had another solid episode. It's very interesting to watch Sherlock interact with Moreland. So much trauma to unpack between them.

I didn't get to check in with Batman Beyond or Lower Decks this week. I'm hoping to get a full run this upcoming week.

That's it for the life update. Tonight's post is from Gotta Start Somewhere, a novella about a couple that get to know each other on an undercover mission.

Here's the miniblurb:

Colleagues, Justine and Thatcher, work for a private security company and finally land a mission together. When things go sideways and the duo gets trapped behind the safe zone, they have to lay low and wait for an extraction. There's no better time to discover what else they might have in common.

And a snippety peek…

Thatcher settled on his bunk and did a quick memory refresh about Justine Holden. "Nice to finally get an opportunity to work with her." He didn't get a chance to know her when they went through training.

But he'd noticed her. And heard nothing but good things about Justine from others who had worked with her. She had a solid record of getting the job done.

Kicking back, he gave a nod. "Probably a good thing we didn't take the same route getting here." He'd had one relationship with another trainee that busted up soon after they finished.

He'd avoided going out with anyone else at the firm since.

Rubbing a hand over his jaw, he shrugged. "Might be time to make an exception." He liked the vibe she had.

She always greeted everyone with a quick smile and had a distinctive laugh. One that always made him wonder if he'd just missed something amazing. Maybe he'd get to find out.

He didn't know what branch of the military she'd come from, but her qualifications listed familiarity with the UCMJ. A good thing in his book … especially when traveling to another country. Sometimes things could get dicey, and having others who could operate within legal parameters counted as a bonus.

The Brownwells were a nice couple with the misfortune of having a family estate bordering directly on a drug cartel's holdings. There shouldn't be any issues, but bringing a security team in while they settled everything and sold the property would be a good move.

Thatcher wished he spoke Spanish, but knowing at least three others on the team spoke the language helped ease his mind. "Can't wait to hear more from Justine on how she operates." He'd never met anyone who could read and understand but struggled to converse.

Maybe she could teach him? He'd like an excuse to spend time with her. Who knew … if he picked up the ability to read Spanish, he might be able to add more languages to his knowledge base.

He snorted. "If I don't drive her insane trying to figure it all out." He'd have to come up with something he could teach her.

A nice tradeoff sounded pretty good right now.

Not quite sure where this one is going to go. The sages are whispering ideas that deviate from the plan … and I'm weirdly okay with that.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin