Sunday Snippet: Yarn Spinning

Another month endis almost in sight. August is gearing up to be a busy month for me and I'm excitedand exhausted at the same time. I love being busy and having projects on mycalendar but also have to remember to take time to decompress.

Cleanout projectstalled again. I had deadlines to meet and also got a new office chair that neededassembly. Have to admit it's comfy.

Had a solid workweek with several projects ongoing and two that needed to be finished. I gotthose out of the way and started a new one that's a long procedural.

Pretty good week ofviewing. Made it through a full round of shows and started both of my back-burnerones.

Started with MissFisher's Murder Mysteries and enjoyed the backstory of Janie and Phryne. Almostthrough the first season.

Started the newseason of Madame Blanc Mysteries and a holiday episode. Looking forwardto more of this show.

Caught anotherepisode of Death in Paradise. Kind of sad to see Marlon go. He ended upgrowing on me. Thrilled to see JP back for a brief appearance. The mystery alsogave Marlon time to shine, which is nice for his final ep.

Watched anotherepisode of Poirot, which is the first of two parts. Looking forward toseeing how this one ends. A super-young Polly Walker is a guest star!

Enjoyed an episodeof Elementary. I haven't quite decided how I feel about Morelandsticking around for a while, but I did like his interaction with Sherlock. The casealso proved to be interesting.

Caught another episodeof Batman Beyond and have vague memories of this one the first timearound. Always fun to have Shriek back.

Watched anotherepisode of Lower Decks. This show annoys and charms me in equal measure.I did quite like the interaction between mom and daughter even when I rolled myeyes several times.

Started an episode ofPeak Practice. I didn't quite manage to finish it but will get it donethis week. I hope!

Also started andgot most of the way through another episode of Reacher. I only stoppedbecause I couldn't keep my eyes open. That's what watching a show at four a.m.will do.

That's it for thelife update this week. Tonight's post is from Yarn Spinning, a novellathat puts a couple together in an awkward situation.

Here's theminiblurb:

Torrin Becks and Gaelan Van Zant pull duty on the samescout ship, which creates a good bit of tension in the five-man crew. Torrinand Gaelan have something of a history and when the yarn spinning—who has thegreatest exploit—starts, Torrin has to decide if she'll call Gaelan out on abig fat fib or let the story stand as the winner.

And a sneaky peek…

Torrin lurked in the corridorhoping to run into her female crewmate, Emlee Natch. If she could talkLieutenant Natch into trading quarters, Torrin wouldn't have to suffer throughthe awkward situation with Gaelan. Seriously, who did she piss off to land thisduty assignment?Humming preceded footsteps on thedeck. Torrin pushed away from the bulkhead and walked toward the musical sound.Her first look at Emlee, dark hair,friendly face, and welcoming eyes, eased some of the tension in Torrin'sshoulders.Emlee grinned. "You must beLieutenant Becks." She thrust her palm forward. "Welcomeaboard."Torrin clasped the other woman'spalm. "I am, yes. It's nice to meet you." She nodded toward thebunkroom across the corridor. "You're Lieutenant Natch?"Emlee nodded. "Yep. But callme Emlee. Except for the captain, we're on a first name basis here. So mucheasier with this small crew and it's distracting to use rank when we're alllieutenants." She propped a shoulder on the bulkhead. "You gettingsettled in?"Torrin would take that opening."Uh, about that. You wouldn't be interested in switching sides with me,would you?" She hesitated to say more because she didn't want to putGaelan in a bad light.Emlee tilted her head. "Isense a story here … one you're not ready to talk about, yeah?" Torrin grimaced. "Wouldn't beappropriate, but it's not anything terrible. More like awkward." She lefther reasoning there to avoid diving too deep.Emlee gave her a commiseratinglook. "Understandable. But I won't be able to help." She leaned inand pitched her voice low. "Craig … Lieutenant Lawler … and I are, well,involved. If we weren't, I'd've been happy to switch quarters."Torrin's head bobbed. "Ah. Isee. And I get it. Thanks anyway." She dipped her chin. "Really greatto meet you. Looking forward to working with you." Easing back, she turnedand reentered her quarters.Emlee paused at the hatch. "Ifit helps, I'll trade shifts with you once we're out in the black."Torrin smiled. "Thanks. Can Iget back to you on that?" She might take Emlee up on the offer if Gaelanmade things too weird.Emlee nodded. "Absolutely. Letme know." She stepped away and crossed the corridor to her quarters.Torrin sat down on the small sofaagainst the bulkhead.Gaelan rapped on the door to herside of the bathroom. Torrin sighed. "Yeah?"He poked his head inside her space."Are you moving across the corridor?"She shook her head. "Sorry,no. We'll have to make do." She drew her knees up to her chest and restedher chin on them.Gaelan grunted. "Right. Okaythen. I'm going to grab a shower. Captain wants a quick briefing inthirty." He closed the door, and the water turned on.Torrin let out a long exhale."At least he told me." Something Eric wouldn't have done…She didn't want to think about him.And her newly formed plan would see her avoiding Gaelan as much as possible.Which pissed her off because he based his opinion of her on Eric's descriptionof their breakup.She had a good reason to split upwith him. "And it wasn't easy." No matter what her ex probably toldhis best friend.

I'm pleased withhow this story is coming together. Torrin takes the upper road and it shouldend up paying off for her.

 

That's it for thisweek. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye