Effing Feline is a tulip #wewriwa

 [image error]

I, Effing Feline, want wooden shoes.

[image error]Why, you ask? Because I learned that my cousin, Pamela Kaat, wears them. Her pet humans are Ed’s son and his girlfriend, who live in The Netherlands. Over there the law is that all cats must wear wooden shoes.

It’s true, I swear. Pamela told me so herself via Skype, and she wouldn’t lie to me.

Constellation XXI, has now been released. Today’s snippet continues from last week’s. It’s the calm before the storm, because we’ve flashed back to the very beginning of Sienna Dukelsky’s first solo mission. After positioning her tugship to intercept any spaceships coming in through her sector, she takes a moment to remind herself what’s at stake in her job.

Trying to anticipate what might go wrong, because if anything went wrong, her ship and her life were at risk, she double-checked diagnostics and scanned sensors manually.

“Step forty-one B,” Sienna whispered — because this step was her own, not the Intragalactic Traffic Control Guild’s. “Study the holos to remind yourself why you have to be perfect.”

She swiveled the chair to face the montage of holograms she’d affixed to the cover plate of storage compartment Portside-B9. At top left, mom and dad in healthier days, gazing at each other; Sienna yearned to make them proud while they still lived.

Top right: Cousin Duke and his wife, Sandrina, who were Farflung Station’s Security Chief and Assistant Stationmaster, respectively. They’d be dishonored if a rookie with the same last name screwed up.

Bottom: her brother and two sisters with arms outstretched to encompass Sienna’s four nieces and three nephews. All of them could die if she failed to keep an incoming ship on a precise course at a slow, safe docking speed. As she caressed each holographic cheek, wishing she felt warm skin instead of cool plastic, her fingertip lingered on seven-year-old Dani, who wanted to be a pilot like the aunt she idolized.

[image error]

Effing Feline here again. I want some wooden shoes of my own. According to Pamela, they’re like wearing your very own scratching post. Sounds wonderful!

I notice, though, that none of her pictures on her Instagram page show her wearing them. I wonder why that is. Any ideas?

Be sure to check out the other great writers in Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday.

[image error]

Constellation XXI

Rediscovering Love at the Worst Possible Time

[image error]

Although Sienna Dukelsky had been the most promising student pilot at Keening AstroSpace Academy, she inexplicably settles for a routine, unglamorous job guiding incoming spaceships to safe berths at Farflung Space Station. Rumors blamed her startling decision on heartbreak after Crispin Hunt, the love of her life, got expelled.

Approaching Farflung years several later, Crispin’s freighter is met by Sienna’s tugship. Love rekindles, though dampened by old betrayals. And when her ship loses power while aimed straight at the space station, Sienna must confront astonishing secrets about Crispin and his cargo—secrets that make hers the most important job in the galaxy.

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Apple iBooks
Kobo Books
Smashwords