Sunday Snippet: Broken Arrow

Well, January inOhio has been the usual weird warm one day, cool the next, and hey, let's throwsome snow into the mix. It's not a lot of snow, but it's enough to be annoyinguntil we get the first really good blanket of the white stuff.

Solid work week. Ihad a bunch of projects going and added a few to my calendar. I'm kind of excitedto be delving into some new territory. I also got a lot done on my new ventureand updating my website, which is very much needed. I've neglected it for fartoo long.

Had a decent weekof television. Didn't quite make it through every show, but I got most of mycurrent slate watched.

Stared the weekwith My Life Is Murder and kind of liked seeing a bit of Alexa's past evenif her friend ended up being the culprit.

Caught the firstpart of a two-part Agatha Raisin. Enjoyed it for the most part. I'm nota fan of the whole lack of progress with Bill and Toni, but I loved having Royback.

Finished up thesecond part of Silent Witness and I'm disappointed they lost Adam after ahandful of episodes. What a twist though.

Watched another episodeof Death in Paradise, starting the fifth season. I'm very much enjoyingbeing able to watch all the episodes in chronological order.

Enjoyed an episodeof Elementary. I kind of like the lack of boundaries and the need toestablish them. This episode kind of brought that idea home in a big way.

Caught anotherepisode of The Batman. "Grundy's Night" ended up being so muchfun and it's one I didn't quite remember from my original run through.

Watched another ClassicRugrats. I actually didn't remember either of these, so it was fun towatch.

Finally, started anew episode of The Secret Life of Amy Benson. I'm enjoying this series,but I also feel like a lot is being left off the screen. Probably the biggestfallback when adapting books for viewing. That said, I love that Passionflix isdoing this. So many books to choose from and they've chosen some of the verybest.

That's it for thelife update this week. Tonight's post is from Broken Arrow, a novella thatexplores the relationship between a couple dealing with a limiting experience.

Here's the miniblurb:

Cailin Berg is a broken arrow, a mage suffering from acrippling experience who can no longer use their skills, and she wants to finda way back to her practice. Phelps Morlach can't give her any answers, but hewill offer whatever assistance he can provide … especially since he holds someof the responsibility for Cailin's predicament.

And a preview snippet…

Phelps got another book from thepile sitting on his desk. "There has to be an answer here." He'dspent the past month studying possibilities for Cailin's dream and potentialreasons for her appearance through a portal with no memory.

The obvious reason hit hard. "Shecould be a darkling." And wouldn't that suck.

Darklings tended to walk a shadowy pathwhether they wanted to or not. The pull to use the black arts often overcamethe ability to cause no harm with magick. Anything damaging would make steepdeposits in the negative column of karma.

Phelps dug into his research ondarklings and made notes for an hour before putting that tome aside andgrabbing another.

He heaved a sigh and started a newsection on his notepad. "Maybe she's a changeling…" Which couldexplain the big gap in her memory.

Changlings were often blank slateswaiting for direction. Cailin's dreams could be prophetic of things to come ora warning of what to avoid. The not knowing part about her past made reaching aconclusion difficult. But the lack of memory could also be part of the journey.Cailin would be able to choose what road she wanted to travel if she had thechangling gene.

His heart leaned in the directionhe wanted it to go, and he spent the next few hours poring over passages filledwith information about other changlings and how they navigated their course. Alot of the descriptions fit Cailin's set of circumstances. Hope reared itselflike a bright, shiny beacon, and Phelps gave himself permission to revel in thepossibilities for the future.

But he didn't spend too much timein that happy place.

Because there could be oneadditional explanation for Cailin's troubles.

He put the books back on the shelfand retrieved a carton filled to the brim. "She could be carrying a curse,which might also explain a lot." Setting the box on the table, he starteddigging through the books, leaflets, and handwritten journals.

He picked a few different works.Curses, hexes, and bedevilments would be his topic of research for the nextday. Right now, he needed to get some sleep, or he wouldn't be able to workwith a clear head. Placing everything he'd need in a neat arrangement he got upand headed for his bedroom.

After crawling between the sheets,he let his mind drift to the edge of the city and a bar called the Houndstooth.Cailin would probably be finishing her shift and getting ready to head to theShanty soon. Turning to his side, he ached with the knowledge of where she'dlanded. He'd known her whereabouts within the first day after she'd left.

But … he kept his distance. She hadto find her truth. Until he had something to offer in the way of assistance,he'd leave her on her own.

Even if the idea kicked him in thegut.

 

I love how thisstory is coming together. Phelps is a great character to write.

 

That's it for thisweek.

 

Cheers!

 

Skye