Jack Chaucer's Blog, page 6

Channeling Under the Milky Way by The Church in the chapter Loveless Fascination

Nikki’s POV

“We’re officially assets. Don’t you feel special?” Bill asked.

“Do you? I’m officially paranoid. We’ve got people watching our back now. They could be spying on us right now,” I said.

Bill cringed.

“What about last night?” he asked.

“Do we have to think about that? I loved last night. Don’t ruin it.”

“Cheers to that,” Bill said, clinking his glass into mine.

“I could use some cheers. Christmas was awful. Now this … incident … tonight.”

“What can I do to help?”

I nodded toward his guitar and smiled.

“Any particular request? ‘Crashed My Car Into The Bridge’ again?” he asked with a lovably goofy grin as he grabbed the guitar.

“I so loved that. The perfect song for that stuffy crowd. I love your reckless sense of humor.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“What’s your listening pleasure?”

“I’m thinking.”

I sipped my wine, looked up and saw a few stars twinkling somewhere over the ocean.

“I’ve got it,” I said.

“What?”

“It’s an old one. Definitely your era, not mine, but I loved it the first time I heard it. Maybe you’ll know it.”

“What song?” he asked.

“Under the Milky Way.”

He squinted, pretending like he didn’t have a clue, but I knew he knew it. He played dumb anyway.

“What band?” he asked.

“The Church,” I said.

“The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints?”

“No,” I laughed.

“The Church of Scientology?”

Before I had finishing rolling my eyes, he started playing. And singing. Beautifully. He made his voice deeper just like the original singer. He knew every word. I blushed and sang along with him, at least the words I knew.

“Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty
Sound of their breath fades with the light
I think about the loveless fascination
Under the Milky Way tonight

Lower the curtain down on Miami
Lower the curtain down all night
I got no time for private consultation
Under the Milky Way tonight

Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find
Wish I knew what you were looking for
Might have known what you would find

And it’s something quite peculiar
Something shimmering and white
Leads you here despite your destination
Under the Milky Way tonight”

From "Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble"
Pub date: 10-9-15
ARC date: Available now on NetGalley

To cheat or not to cheat? Steve and Nikki from "Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble"

Steve’s POV

I parked in the hotel garage and told myself not to get out of the car and enter the forbidden building with the beds in it under any circumstances.

“Thanks for the ride,” Nikki said.

I did not look at her in my passenger seat. All of the looks had to stop or I wouldn’t be able to.

“It only took a minute and a half so don’t worry about it,” I told the steering wheel.

“You coming up?” she asked, bold as shit. I didn’t answer for at least 30 seconds. I spent 25 of those seconds trying to determine if this whole scenario was real or a dream. I had never cheated on my wife and, as ballsy as I might seem, I had never showboated myself this close to Siren Isle before.

“Um … I don’t think that would be a good idea,” I finally said.

“Good answer,” she immediately said, shocking me almost as much as her question.

Now I looked at her. Yes, I wanted her. No, I couldn’t have done that to my wife and children. Yes, I was glad she said what she said.

Nikki broke our stare, got out of the car, closed the door and came around to my side. The window was already down. Another chink in my defenses she could exploit.

“I respect you even more now, Steve,” she said, kissing my cheek.

I’m damn sure I blushed like a maiden — definitely not an Iron Maiden.

“If I weren’t married …”

“I know, but you are.”

“Then why did you torture me tonight?”

“I don’t know. I guess maybe I wanted to find out if all men cheat … or just my father,” she said, looking down at her boots and sounding so sincere that I was less pissed off than I should’ve been for being the subject of her seduction experiment. “I’m sorry,” she added, looking at me again.

“Don’t be,” I said, not sure why I was so quick to let her off the hook.

“No, I shouldn’t be like that … but sometimes you have to be a little shit to find out the truth.”

“Or a big shit, in my case. It’s what I am and what I do for a living.”

“You’re good at it,” she said.

“You will be, too.”

“I don’t know about that, but thank you for helping me learn a better side of the truth tonight. I wasn’t sure it existed.”

“It does … barely,” I said with a smile and a wink. “You’ll find more of it if you look in the right places.”

“Right faces,” she corrected me, staring at me again. I wasn’t so sure it was an experiment. The chemistry between us was undeniable.

This time I broke the stare.

“I’m leaving now,” I said, starting up the car.

“Thanks again,” she said, sullenly waving as I backed up — a reluctant, one-mile-per-hour retreat from the edge of an unforgettable night that would’ve ruined all my other nights.

“See you on TV, Nikki Blue. You’re way too hot to handle in person,” I said, driving away with a new-found hatred for the bloody person who invented monogamy.

From “Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble”
Pub date: 10-9-15
ARC date: Available now on NetGalley

David and Nikki from the chapter "Mars Wing"

Nikki’s POV

David Michael: “Before we return to the Earth Wing for a celebratory feast, do any of you have any questions for V.X. or myself?”

A couple of people raised their hands, but David spotted mine first.

“This should be interesting,” he said, approaching me and looking down at me. It’s like he yearned for me to challenge him so he could school me again for all to see.

But the question I had burned at my insides. Kathy “She’s Crackers” Kepler had told me to keep my journalist hat on, so I did. I desperately wanted to trip up David because, fancy Mars presentation or not, I still didn’t trust him.

“On the way in here tonight, a reporter from the Boston Herald was removed from the building right in front of me. Why?” I asked firmly but calmly. My fits of laughter were long gone and the room hushed, taking my question seriously.

David smiled and turned to the blue suits. He was confident in his answer. He would not be tripped up by the likes of me.

“Because we don’t need the Boston Herald,” he said, smug as ever. His voice grew louder and more passionate as he spoke. “We are the Boston Heralds. We are the heralds of a new age. We are the media, the experts, the scientists, the Red Cross, the problem solvers and the future leaders of this world, as well as the Red Planet after which this wing is named. We are The Bridge for this drowning planet. We are also The Bridge from this drowning planet to other civilizations. And some day sooner than you think, the drowning people will stop laughing. They’ll wake up and they’ll panic because they’ll realize they should have listened to us, they should have joined us … but by then, it will be too late. We can’t save everyone and we won’t. That’s when the drowning people will fully understand the meaning of the words ‘inconvenient truth.'”

Thunderous applause followed. David basked in his moment.

And I felt like throwing up.

From "Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble"
Pub date: 10-9-15
ARC date: Available now on NetGalley

Nikki and Derek from the chapter "World Cup Breakup"

Nikki’s POV

“Derek, do you find me annoying?” I asked him as I finished washing our dishes and a few of his housemate’s for the third night in a row.

“What?” he mumbled, distracted by the World Cup soccer match on his giant flat screen TV.

I didn’t know who was playing, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Team USA. Nevertheless, he was mesmerized by every dizzying kick up and down the field. I knew it was a bad time to talk, but this stupid World Cup tournament was going to last for another month and it seemed like they had matches around the clock. Enough was enough. I wasn’t going to wait until August, especially with his older sister’s wedding coming up and me dreading it for a number of reasons.

“Do you find me annoying?” I asked again, this time right into his ear as I joined him on the sofa.

“Seriously? You’re trying to pick a fight with me right now? While I’m watching Italy and Mexico?” he snapped loudly, not even turning to look at me.

“I’d like you to turn off the TV so we can talk. You’ve got a DVR. You won’t miss one second of it.”

If I wasn’t annoying before, I sure was now, but he turned off the TV and faced with me an unsurprisingly impatient look.

“I mean, it’s not like you have relatives in Italy or Mexico,” I had to point out.

From “Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble”
Pub date: 10-9-15
ARC date: Available now on NetGalley

Nikki and Candace from the chapter "Adam Bomb"

Nikki’s POV

Candace: “What’s wrong?”

Nikki: “What’s wrong is I wish you were in my life every day like you used to be. You always … well, usually, had my back.”

Candace: “That’s fair. You pushed my limits and then some, but I tried. I mean … hanging out with Adam? Hiking in the woods with a kid like that? I hope you didn’t actually climb that mountain with him alone over the summer when I couldn’t make it.”

I bit my lip.

Candace: “You did? What are you thinking, Nikki? And you talked to Thomas on Skype? What the fuck? Do you get off on spending quality time with psychopaths?”

Nikki: “You’ve hiked with Adam more than once. He’s not that bad. He’s turned his life around somewhat.”

Candace: “I think it’s amazing how you reached out to that kid and helped him … and saved all of us in the process. But there’s a pretty big line there that he crossed when he even considered doing what he planned to do. I look back on all that and I must’ve been crazy to go hiking with him after that. I only did it to be there for you. But at some point, you’ve got to be smarter than that, Nikki. Stop putting yourself into dangerous situations. You can’t save the world. No one can.”

Nikki: “Yeah, I know. I’m not as naive as I used to be. Believe me.”

From “Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble”
Pub date: 10-9-15
ARC date: Available now on NetGalley

Nikki and William ... from the chapter "Premature Wisdom"

Nikki: “If I were to tell you the whole story behind that conversation I just had, I’d be making you an accessory to obstruction of justice. Is that what you want?”

William: “No, but I do like when you get all judicial on me.”

Excerpt from "Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble"

Pub date: 10-9-15 for both ebook and paperback

NetGalley date: Available now

"Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble" now available on NetGalley

Just posted Thursday morning!

Mars talk ... from the chapter "A World Without Guns"

Judith Feld:
"The early colonists will be forced to work together or they will die. The Red Planet itself will govern every second of their existence."

Peter van Wooten:
"So we shouldn't debate whether there ought to be guns on Mars?"

Judith:
"No, there will be enough threats to human life on that planet. Trust me. Guns would be incredibly superfluous."

Nikki:
"As someone who suffered a gunshot wound when I was 17, I find Judith's answer more refreshing than scary. I would be willing to risk my life to go to a world without guns."

Excerpt from "Nikki Blue: Source of Trouble"
Pub date: 10-9-15
NetGalley ARC date: Later this week

Steve, the newspaper reporter

Steve Pearson:

"Ask interesting questions, yeah, that's what I do ... 24 hours, 7 days a week. Even in my dream the other night, I asked the Dalai Lama how to get to Saratoga Race Track. I was lost somewhere in New York. I thought he could enlighten me. ...

To Nikki:
"So ... what's it like getting shot?"



Pub date: 10-9-15

Steve and Nikki ...

Steve Pearson:
"I wanna be you when I grow up ... the girl who can't be stopped by bullets, the girl who takes down pedophile mayors, the girl with the dragon ..."

Nikki:
"Will you please shut the hell up?!! You're talking all over my audio!"



Pub date: 10-9-15