Sunday Snippet: Tell Me More

Happy Father's Day to anyone celebrating. For those not for whatever reason, I hope your day is filled with peace and calm and you find your joy.

It's been a really rough week. I definitely didn't make it through the worst the week prior. I had a lot more yuck to get through. Thankfully, I'm now down to some nagging congestion, but I can breathe again and I'm not coughing every five minutes, which makes me happy because we're due for some awful heat this week.

Managed to stay mostly on top of my work projects. I'm not as far along as I'd like to be, but I'm within my window to meet my deadlines. Not being 100 percent isn't fun but at least I can work around being less than my best. If I had a job with set hours, I'd still probably be fighting through the slog of upper respiratory yuck.

Had a very slow week of viewing. I didn't have the brain power to get involved in much of anything but comfort shows like Perry Mason and Midsomer Murders.

I did catch another Best in Paradise and thoroughly enjoyed the introduction from Don Warrington. It's fun to hear him speak without the Caribbean accent.

I also watched another Death in Paradise and it's one I only saw bits and pieces of when it first aired. Nice to see if from start to finish.

That's pretty much it for the life update this week. Hopefully I'll be back to somewhat normal for next week's entry.

Tonight's post is from Tell Me More, a novella that explores how a couple comes together after being at cross purposes.

Here's the miniblurb:

Shannon Tewes and Webber Dillon work for a premiere event planner and don't always see eye to eye. Shannon has a knack for putting Webber on the hot seat whenever their boss is around, and Webber has several ideas of how he'd retaliate if he ever got Shannon in a compromising position.

And a snippety peek…

"Fuck my life with a blow torch." Webber kicked the structure, praying it stayed together.

Miracle of miracles, it did. Thank whatever ruled the universe.

Hot, sticky, hungry, and irritated because the first three frames didn't want to cooperate, he finally found the method to the madness of constructing the tunnel so it could be erected and torn down quickly, but also safe for guests to walk through. And he only lost two hours of his life on that part. Now, he had to gear up to lose the next seven days to this cluster-fuck project.

Dragging a hand through his hair, he growled. "Damn Shannon and her stupid-ass ideas." Especially when she put him on the hot seat.

If he refused and said he wouldn't do the work, Marjorie could always find someone else. They wouldn't have the same high standard, but Marjorie didn't always care about the quality. She did care about sticking him between a rock and an immovable force … namely her.

He sighed. "Why do I do this to myself?"

Right. Not a hard answer. He loved the steady work she provided. And he'd grudgingly admit the tunnel idea would rock the wedding reception. But no way did Shannon have any concept of how much time went into figuring out how to make shit sturdy yet keep it light enough to haul back and forth to a location. Someday, he'd sit her down and explain—in excruciating detail—how difficult her brilliant ideas made his life.

Dragging another arch over, he started the process of getting it connected. How many times had he pulled off a last-minute miracle? Marjorie never wanted to hear what couldn't be done, so he inevitably made Shannon's vision happen.

He snorted. "I seriously wonder if Shannon spends her days visualizing ways to wreck my life?" He hadn't gone out on a date in months.

Who had time? Fantastic Fetes kept growing. Its reputation as the event planner to use, built on a lot of his sweat, made the phones ring and online contact forms flow in at a steady pace. As long as he got paid and didn't have to cave in to Marjorie's twisted bargain, he'd deal.

Shannon probably had lots of dates. He had several notions of what he'd like to do with her, if he ever got her in a compromising position. Because annoyance aside, he actually liked her. Super hot, she never used her looks to take advantage of situations. At least not with him. And he wanted to admire her serious creativity but tended to get stuck in pissed-off mode because her genius usually meant hard labor for him.

Because of Marjorie and her insane desire to blur the lines between personal and professional. Shannon had no clue about their boss's sexist bargaining. And he'd like to keep her in the dark. No one else needed to know how low he'd gone to get the job.

Lost in thought and work, he didn't hear the pounding on his door…

I'm having so much fun writing this one. Webber is ready to lose his mind but Shannon might have just the thing to keep him together.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Tell Me More

Okay, we're a week before Thanksgiving in the US and I'm happy to say I've got the bulk of my holiday shopping done. I need to get a few more items then it's time to put a bow on the whole package and be done. YAY!

Had a pretty solid week of working and watching television. A new project crossed my desk and it's going well. On the television side, I started with Classic Who and watched a four-episode arc then hit a two-episode arc. Both were enjoyable.

Caught the last two episodes of Roswell: The Final Verdict. Really enjoyed this six-part series. Not sure what I'll pick up with next, but probably something else UFO related.

I watched four episodes of The Muppet Show and finished out season four. The guest hosts were Doug Henning, Andy Williams, Alan Arkin, and Diana Ross. Season five is the final run of the original show and I'm not sure what I'll watch next. Maybe some of the movies.

Enjoyed two more episodes of Fantasy Island. So far, I'm liking the new premise and how things from the past are blended into the current incarnation of the island. Based on what I've read, there's going to be a holiday episode. I'm a total sucker for stuff like that and can't wait.

Finished out season five of Peak Practice. Did not expect it to end with a house burning down, but it happened. Looking forward to starting season six. I'm at the halfway point. Yay!

Watched two more lessons of MasterClass with Brandon McMillan. He's got some great methods and I'm hoping to try some out on my furry mutts soon. I've already incorporated a couple of things and they've worked well.

Completed the first season of Glitch. I didn't see a couple of things coming and I love the twists. Looking forward to starting the second season this week. I gotta say I really feel for James and this show is like catnip because of the love triangle that isn't really a triangle and the fact that no one is a bad guy in it. That's a trope I thoroughly enjoy.

Started a new episode of Blue Heelers and have a feeling it's going to be one of those odd ones where the heelers are on opposing sides. Not sure how I'll like this one.

Finished the finale of Star Trek: Discovery. Man, what a ride the first season ended up being. I can't wait to see what the breakdowns will look like on The Ready Room.

Caught two more episodes of Chicago Med. I'm almost finished with the second season and looking forward to the third. Gotta take a moment to appreciate the episode titles. This show makes them fun.

Started a new show with The Madam Blanc Mysteries. So far, I'm hooked. I loved the first episode. Looking forward to seeing more.

Finished the second episode of Silent Witness. I have vague memories of this one and how it played out. Kind of a twisty tale.

Last but not least, I watched two more Classic Rugrats episodes. I'm trying to decide if I want to watch the holiday specials or hold off and watch as they pop up during the seasons. Stay tuned.

That's pretty much it for weekly updates. Tonight's post is from Tell Me More, a novella where the characters start out on opposite sides but end up meeting in the middle.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Shannon Tewes and Webber Dillon work for a premiere event planner and don't always see eye to eye. Shannon has a knack for putting Webber on the hot seat whenever their boss is around and Webber has several ideas of how he'd retaliate if he ever got Shannon in a compromising position.

And a snippety peek…

Shannon slid into her car, sticky from the late October Indian summer. "Well, shit." She'd really pissed Webber off.

As in totally, completely, massively. She kind of couldn't blame him. He'd somewhat called the deal about her last minute inspirations and always sliding them in unexpectedly. Her creative process sometimes gelled right before a big meeting, ideas pinging fast and furiously—yes, sometimes in her dreams.

She started the engine and set the air conditioner to max. "Usually Webber just blows up, yells, and gets over it." Not exactly what he did this time.

She liked Webber a lot. They often engaged in flirty banter, which she enjoyed because he fueled many of her fantasies. The man had talent and worked well with almost everyone. She didn't know anyone who had a bad thing to say about him. She definitely didn't … except when he got cranky about things—like her incredible ideas.

Then again, she'd never laid out a full-on tunnel the size of half a football field before. Looking at it from his perspective, she didn't blame him for being angry. Or thinking she threw stuff out at the last minute to drive him mad.

Actually, if he pulled something like that with her, she'd consider the gesture disrespectful.

She shook her head. "Jesus, Shannon. You really fucked up this time." Putting the vehicle in reverse, she backed out and waited for oncoming traffic to clear.

She tried to imagine how much work it would be to put the tunnel pieces together.

She winced. "Kind of hurts my brain." The least she could do would be to order him dinner and drop it off. "Not like it's out of my way. I have to pick up something to eat anyway."

Maybe he'd be less irritated if she tried to take off some of the burden? But first, head home, grab a shower, and get into some comfortable clothes.

I'm trying something a little different with this story and flipping a trope on its head. Shannon will end up helping Webber out of a sticky situation.

 

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Tell Me More

Ugh! August is fast becoming the craziest month I've ever had. This past week I filled my gas tank up on Monday and by Wednesday, I only had half a tank left. For perspective… a full tank of gas usually lasts about two to three weeks for me. Does that say anything about the week I had? LOL

Seriously, though, a lot of back and forth travel several times a day did give me lots of windshield time. It also gave terrible drivers and a buttload of construction but that's a whole different rant for another day.

I did end up having a highly productive week workwise, which means I didn't have a lot of time for television. I did hear the news of Krypton's demise unless another network picks it up. Here's hoping that happens. I really do love the characters.

I've been rather disappointed that my once favorite network is no longer in the running for my viewing time. I either watch on demand via the app or not at all. It makes me sad that Syfy has fallen so far. I literally used to watch the channel almost exclusively way back in the day.

As much as I love the convenience of streaming shows, I miss having a wide variety of stuff to choose from during the day on regular cable television. I have been enjoying the local channels' digital offerings. MeTV, Decades, Comet, Charge, This TV, etc. has some great classic stuff. That's what I've been having on in the background. I'm also a big fan of Ovation right now.

I did get to watch a few more episodes of Peter Gunn this week but that's about it.

Tonight's post is from Tell Me More, a novella that got a start with a writing community prompt.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Shannon Tewes and Webber Dillon work for a premier event planner and don't always see eye to eye. Shannon has a knack for putting Webber on the hot seat whenever their boss is around and Webber has several ideas of how he'd retaliate if he ever got Shannon in a compromising position.

And a snippety peek…

Webber Dillon yawned and stretched then swung his legs over the mattress to sit up. "I gotta stop working seventeen hours a day." A hot shower and breakfast on the go should wake him up.

Of course, coffee would be necessary for him to stay awake. Early morning meetings sucked balls.

He made the shower short even though he wanted to stand under the hot spray for at least an hour. "Right… not this morning." He had to go over the emailed images Shannon sent earlier in the week.

Right in the middle of the haunted garden project. He barely finished the wrought iron edging Marjorie insisted on adding to pathways. Of course, her last-minute faux forgetfulness amounted to bullshit. Marjorie loved to dump a pile of steaming crap in his lap so she could watch him frantically try to pull off the impossible.

Shaking his head, he poured a travel mug of coffee. "Not sure how much longer I can take Marjorie's ballbusting." Then again, he only had to do one thing to get her to back off. "Right. Not gonna happen." Ever.

So far, he'd kept his end of the deal from hell he'd struck with the event planner. And he planned to never give her a reason to pull her trump card. His work ethic spoke for itself but Marjorie had his balls in a vice and wouldn't hesitate to use any leverage she could gain to force his hand.

He took his caffeine to the table and opened the file Shannon sent. After familiarizing himself with the plans, he jotted a few notes and ideas to add during the meeting. Shannon did good work. Her mock-ups were easy to follow and she didn't scrimp on detail.

He grabbed his folder and tucked it under his arm. "And she got it in before the meeting for once." Finally… he could look forward to a less stressed and busy week.

Scooping his coffee up, he headed for his SUV ready to grab a quick breakfast taco on his way in to Fabulous Fetes.

Webber is going to lose his mind when he discovers Shannon had a last-minute, brilliant idea for the wedding. How much fun will it be when she decides to apologize?

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Tell Me More

February in Ohio can be an angsty monster. Two days ago we hit almost eighty degrees. Yesterday, we had a fifty-degree drop in temperature and snow. Seriously… Mother Nature has a warped sense of humor. Just saying.

I'll be skipping this week's The Walking Dead but thoroughly enjoyed last Sunday's episode. I'm always up for Daryl and Carol being in the same space.

The Flash ended up being pretty good, but I need to rewatch. Too many distractions going on while it aired. I did get to see most of Legends of Tomorrow and I'm torn between really hating Rip as a bad guy and kind of enjoying it. I'm very fickle sometimes.

Arrow ended up being awesome! Thea moving behind the scenes to protect her brother is terrific, even when she goes too far. The Merlyn blood is strong in her. I loved Oliver comparing her to Moira, too. A nice, subtle reminder of her other role model in life.

Riverdale got real with the Blossom family secrets. I loved getting some dark background on them. Also enjoyed some of the other undertones pinging in the background. I'm a little confused about Fred's marital status… didn't he say he and Mary split up but they're civil to each other? Oh well, whatever adds more drama, right?

I'm halfway through season two of Daredevil and still enjoying it. It's not as tightly written as the first season, but I love where things are going.

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from Tell Me More, a novella that started with a two-word prompt of "don't stop".

Here's the mini-blurb:

Shannon Tewes and Webber Dillon work for a premiere event planner and don't always see eye to eye. Shannon has a knack for putting Webber on the hot seat whenever their boss is around and Webber has several ideas of how he'd retaliate if he ever got Shannon in a compromising position.

And a snippety peek…

Shannon Tewes jolted awake and sat up, scrambling for her sketchpad. "Holy crap. This is perfect." Her fingers traced out a design, lightly shading in the gauzy effect that her brain conjured while sleeping.

She wanted to get as much detail on the page as possible before adding the new concept to her presentation.

Five minutes later, she leaned back and held up the pad. "Wow. This will be amazing." She'd drawn a long tunnel draped in a crepe-like fabric. "Add some lights, probably red, and some candelabras to line the path and, viola, a stunning entry for the guests." The Halloween-themed wedding would go down as one of her favorites.

Crawling out of bed, she crossed over to her small workspace and got her laptop going. She opened the project file and scanned the sketch into the computer. She'd flesh out the idea after she made some coffee.

She'd pay for this burst of inspiration when she came down from the creative high. And she didn't need Marjorie to lose faith in Shannon if she nodded off during the meeting later today. She'd already be pushing the limits of Marjorie's patience by adding in a large-scale, last-minute stroke of genius.

Mercurial by nature, Marjorie walked the gamut when they made changes close to a deadline. Which they did all the time. Fantastic Fetes earned its reputation for pulling off the impossible.

Working the mouse to fill in the color, Shannon grinned. "It's a good thing Marjorie could sell snow to Santa Claus." Unlike Shannon.

She preferred to be well behind the scenes. But Marjorie had mad people skills when it came to clients and getting them to part with their money. With her employees, she created friendly—usually—rivalries that garnered terrific ideas from her design teams.

Ugh. "Webber's not gonna be thrilled with me." Her counterpart for the Halloween nuptials had cranky down to an art form.

But, damn, between the smokin' hot body and the way he worked miracles by bringing her ideas to life, she hated working with anyone else. She kept her serious crush buried deep and under wraps. Marjorie liked to taste-test the help, but Shannon tried to maintain the separation of personal and professional.

But if Webber ever eased up on the grouch factor, Shannon might consider crossing the line.

She snorted. "Yeah, right. As if that'll ever happen."

Especially when he got a look at her new presentation.

I think I'll fun finishing this one up. Shannon and Webber have a ton of chemistry.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin

Sunday Snippet: Tell Me More

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, if celebrated. For my family, it's the official beginning to the holiday season and we come up with a new theme for our tree. My middle kidlet is choosing this year and he's decided to go with a sports-related color scheme. Should be interesting because we're mixing scarlet and gray; green, blue, and white; and brown and orange. I have a general idea of how to make it work, but we'll see what the final result is.

A lot of years, we've waited until December 24 to do the actual decorating, but I think we'll be getting it done earlier this season. We also have a big puppy in the house for the first time and I can't wait to see what she does around the tree. LOL

Not much on the TV front this week, but The Flash turned in a great episode. Gotham and Sleepy Hollow were pretty good, too. I'm very much looking forward to the fall finale of Walking Dead tonight. I have a feeling someone's not going to make it… but we'll see. Thankfully, I'll have Chris Hardwick's Talking Dead to soothe whatever gaping wounds I might have. J

Tonight's post is from Tell Me More, a novella where Shannon can't quite stop pushing Webber's buttons.

Here's the tagline:

Shannon Tewes and Webber Dillon work for a premiere event planner and don't always see eye to eye. Shannon has a knack for putting Webber on the hot seat whenever their boss is around and Webber has several ideas of how he'd retaliate if he ever got Shannon in a compromising position.

And a snippety peek…

"Well, thank you guys for coming up with some terrific ideas." Marjorie closed the file and turned off the projector. "Shannon, I think we'll use your design for the extended archway. I love the idea of having the guests walk through the macabre tunnel and exiting out into the lavish, sumptuous ballroom for the midnight wedding." Marjorie stood up from the conference table and directed her attention to Webber. "You'll be able to configure the steel frame, right? I do not want to see any PVC piping under the gray gauze fabric."

Oh, he could construct the frame, all right. If he didn't plan to sleep over the next seven days. And the cost would be—

Webber added the stipulation. "If the client has another three thousand in their budget, I'll get it done." And maybe duct tape Shannon to his welding bench and make her witness how many hours of work she'd just loaded onto his plate.

Marjorie tapped her pen against the file. "Hmm. I'm confident I can talk the bride into forking over the extra. She's going to go ape shit over the design change." She gathered up the file and her bag and strode from the conference room.

Shannon remained seated at the table, not speaking until the door closed. "Okay, Webber, let me have it. Tell me how much my brilliant idea is going to fuck up your life." She scooted her chair back and crossed her arms over her chest.

Any other day, he'd go off on her, giving her every detail she demanded. Today… he didn't have the luxury, not if he wanted to meet the deadline and have the monstrosity of framework welded together.

He pushed away from the table, rising from his seat. "You know what, Shannon? We've played this scenario out so many times, why don't you just insert my long, list of reasons into a tirade, mad lib style." He picked up his notebook, shoving the sketch of her design between the pages. "I've got a shit ton of work to do." He crossed the room, twisted the doorknob, and exited out into the main showroom.

Shannon followed behind him, right on his heels. "Look, Webber. I'm sorry. The idea hit me in the middle of a dead sleep and I had to include it." She grabbed his bicep. "I don't do this stuff on purpose, you know."

He snorted. "Right. Whatever you say." He pulled away from her grip. "Just once, I'd like to be in on the whole idea before the meeting." Striding through the display area, he didn't stop until he'd entered the cavernous warehouse Marjorie used for storage.

Shannon trotted along beside him, waiting patiently while he greeted Greg and George, the two guys who kept track of the inventory. What else could she possibly have to say? Webber didn't particularly care at the moment and almost wished she'd take the hint and leave.

No such luck. She trailed behind him when he left via the back door. He spotted her car parked next to his truck, which explained why she dogged his every step.

He yanked the door open and tossed the notebook onto the front seat, climbing up inside the cab.

Shannon blocked him from pulling the door closed. "Seriously, Webber? You're going to drive off in a shit storm? That's it?"

He made a garbled choking sound. "Shannon, you just made sure I'll be working non-stop for the next seven days. I'll be lucky to get the framework completed." He jammed the key in the ignition and started the truck. "What the hell else do you want?"

She opened her mouth. "I want—" She stopped, pressing her lips together in a frown. "Never mind. Not important." She stepped away and closed the door, her fingers gripping the panel through the open window for a second before she dropped her hands and strode toward her vehicle.

Webber backed out of the parking spot and gunned the engine, pulling into traffic and heading for his workshop. His lips twitched. Shannon Tewes, speechless, kind of blew his mind.

I have a feeling Webber is going to end up giving Shannon a run for her money.

That's it for this week. Happy reading!

Skylin