Posted in Original Writing, writing

Writing Wednesday (Sunday Edition)

Got a late start this month, so the first Writing Wednesday is going to be on a Sunday. Today’s prompt comes from Writing Exercises, a random generator collection site. I used the random first line generator and got ” He kept absolutely still as the footsteps got louder ” Giving myself a 15 minute time span to write and I’m doing it in the blog editor so this is hardly going to be the most proofread story you’ll read today.

 THE STORY:

He kept absolutely still as the footsteps got louder, curling further into the niche in the wall he had found that was just big enough to hold him.  He knew this had been a poor idea, but it had been so long since he had seen Sarah, he had just felt he had to try to respond to her summons. He had made it halfway up the castle before running into any of the guardsmen that roamed it. Luckily he had worn dark clothing and the lighting had been turned down low as it was nearly midnight and most of the inhabitants were asleep. 

“What are we doing?” He jumped, turning to the opposite way of the guards to see Sarah standing there, an eyebrow raised.

“I was trying to see you.” They were going to be caught.

“Miss me then?”  Her mouth turned up slightly in amusement.  He supposed as the oldest daughter of the Regent she wasn’t as afraid of the guards finding them roaming the halls after hours.  

“No,” he said, sarcasm evident.  “I just felt like getting a good aerobic exercise in by hiding from guards.”  She giggled softly at that before turning to walk into the hall.

“Jeremey, Aara, My boyfriend is here, so don’t be alarmed.

“Of course, my lady,”  he heard a rougher voice say.  She pulled him out of the niche and pulled him down the hall past the two guards who gave him amused grins.

“Sarah, your father is going to know.”

“I don’t care, and neither should you,” she stated, continuing to pull him along.  “Father isn’t even here.  Besides, everyone knows I have a relationship with someone.  You act as if this is the middle ages and having someone visit me after 6 is some sort of infringement upon my honor.”  She shook her head as they came to the doorway to her suite, turning to look at him.  “And you have to know that Dad didn’t mean it.”

“I’m pretty sure he did.”  He couldn’t forget the cold look in the eyes of the Regent as he told him what would happen if he was found with Sarah outside public occasions.    Freiderick definately meant every word he said.  “You asked me here.”

“I know.  And you could have gone through the front door and been escorted up rather then sneaking around like you are trying to steal Gemma’s jewels.”

“Your Gemma is scarier then the Regent.  Why would anyone take her jewels?”

“Because they are idiots obsessed with money, or the shiney.” She finally got the door open and the two walked in.  “But that’s beside the point. As much as I missed you, and I did,” she stated with a look in his direction that told him she meant what she said.  He squeezed the hand still attached to his own.”I have something else to discuss with you.  Do you still have contacts with the Visen?”

“Yes,” he answered, puzzled.  As a artisan, he had many contacts across the various political bodies on the planet.  Sarah’s father was the Regent of Ikeva, a mountainous region to the north.  The Visen were located to the south of the continent, where the land was more flat and were more agriculturally based while Ikeva was more mineral and technology based economically.

“Any with political connections?”

“I think, why?”

“I was visiting with the Carens this past week, and got some intel that suggests that they are planning on trying to annex Visen.”

Posted in Uncategorized

TV Review: The Orville 2×11

Episode Title: Lasting Impressions
Original Airdate: March 21 2009/Watched June 17 2009
Grade: A
Notable Guest Stars/Directors:

Tim Russ (Dr. Sherman ) Mr. Russ is probably best known for being Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager and I was happy to see him on Orville.

Leighton Meester (Laura Huggins) – Ms. Meester is best known as Blair Waldorf from Gossip Girl, which I’ve recently watched. She has a wonderful voice which I wish Gossip GIrl had utilized more. Orville doesn’t make that mistake and she gets to sing twice on the show. This also reunites her with Jessica Szohr (Talla ) who played Vanessa on Gossip Girl.

Notable Quotes:

Look at this. She’s clearly asking her friend where to find the nearest repair service for her device. But instead of writing “wireless telecommunications facility”, she just wrote “WTF”. Now, we can decode things like this by applying historical context.

Dr. Sherman

People have been living and dying for as long as humans have existed. Most are forgotten. But not this one. She reached across four centuries and got a guy to fall in love. We should all be so rare.

Cmdr. Kelly Grayson

SPOILERS BELOW

Continue reading “TV Review: The Orville 2×11”
Posted in space history, Star Trek, Television shows, tv reviews

TV Review: The Orville 2×10 (belated)

 Episode Title: THe Blood of Patriots (2×10)
Original Airdate: March 7, 2019 (watched later via HULU)
Grade: B

Notable Guest Stars/Directors:

Ted Danson (Admiral Perry) – Danson returns as Admiral Perry, this time assigning the crew to the peace talks. I always love the Admirals on this show because they are always exciting cameos.

Mackenzie Astin (Orrin) –  I spent the whole time feeling he was familar in some way and it turns out there is a reason.  He’s the younger brother of Lord of The Rings Actor Sean Astin (and the son of actors Patty Duke and John Astin).  He has also guest starred on quite a few procedurals so if you find him familar its probably because you have seen him before.  

John Fleck (Ambassador K.T.Z.) – I know him best as Silik from Star Trek: Enterprise.  He has a diverse filmography, including True Blood, so he is probably familar from other places as well.  I think he uses a different tone, because it wasn’t till I was rewatching some clips that I recognized his voice, which if you have ever seen him is pretty recognizable.

Notable Quotes:

Capt. Ed Mercer: I hope that this marks the beginning of a new era of nonviolence between our two peoples.

Ambassador K.T.Z.: We will see. A peace is only as strong as those who uphold it.

Cmdr. Kelly Grayson: And, of course, trust is earned.

Ambassador K.T.Z.: We agree on that, Commander.

copied from IMDB.com

SPOILERS BELOW

Continue reading “TV Review: The Orville 2×10 (belated)”
Posted in Original Writing, writing

Writing Wednesday (belated)

So, its Friday, not Wednesday but it doesn’t have the same aliteration. Fiction Friday? It could work but sounds more like a recommednation post. Either way, here is my writing exercise for the week.

To explain the context of this bit, I have been working on a novel for years based on the myth(s) of Persephone called Lady of Shadows. It was a more sci-fi/fantasy take on the myths, deciding that the Greek, Norse and Egyptian gods were actually another species of Human that was more advanced and practically immortal. Cronus/Saturn is the leader of an organization called Titans, INC that the rest are fighting against because they are using the business to manipulate and use the regular humans (so Cronus is the big bad). All of his kids other than Zeus are adopted/fostered so Hera/Zeus is not quite as incesterious as it is in the myths, and neither is Persephone/Hades. So this challenge is me trying to explain the family dynamics.

 Challenge: 15 minutes, scene from one of my novel WIPS.

Hades pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to stave off the oncoming headache that often accompanied dealing with his younger foster brother.  He loved Zeus, he really did, but Zeus was at times hard to handle.  He supposed it was better that he was there rather then then Posiedon who frankly rarely had the patience.   Posiedon had the shortest fuse of the family, which is probably why Zeus went to Hades rather then the other.

Their family was complicated.  Cronus and Rhia had only one biological child, and that was Zeus.  They had struggled to have children for years, opting eventually to foster and adopt to fulfill Rhia’s desire to be a mother. Whether Cronus wanted to be a father was less certian but for all his sins, he loved his wife.  He was largely out of the picture, prefering the children barely seen and not heard, although he liked to show of Zeus when he was younger till Zeus figured out the type of man he was and rebelled.

Hades had been the first son, but the fourth taken in.  When he arrived he gained an older sister in Hestia who was never happier then when she was caring for someone.  She was his favorite sister still, partially because she was the one to try and connect to him first when he arrived and partially because they were the two with the most patience and even temper.  Then there was Ceres, who was almost as dramatic as Zeus was when he was upset.  She wasn’t quite as oblvious, however, and actually could tell when he was on people’s last nerves.

Hera had been his age, and sometimes people had mistaken then for twins.  They had a simular look…dark hair and eyes.  But while Hades had been more introverted, Hera was an extrovert.  She had ambition enough for them all, and often the skills to back up anything she did.  She did however have a temper to rival Poseidon.  

Hera had left the house as soon as she was old enough, out to case her dreams.  She kept in contact with Hestia and Hades, but not so much with the others.  Zeus had been only a baby when she left, and didn’t have the same sibling bond he had with others.  He had been surprised but not shocked when it turned out his baby brother had a crush on the driven sister.  She was more like a family friend then a sibling to zeus.

He had been more surprised however, when it turned out Hera had returned the interest.

Posted in book reviews, bookit

Bookit Review: Vision in White

(Blogger’s Note: I am behind with my June posts, so you’ll be getting 3 posts today to catch up. I apologise for the wait)

Title: Vision in White (Book 1 of the Bride Quartet) 
Author: Nora Roberts
Publication: April 28th 2009
Edition/Format: Paperback  (Larger size, regular print)
Genre: Romance
Rating: B
Bookit 2009 # 8

Nora Roberts seems to be one of the bigger names in romance novels, and I’ve read several of her novels.  In fact, I have read this book before, but it was years ago around the time of its initial publication (I believe I got in after book 3 was printed but I can’t remember exactly).  She is a prolific writer, and one of my favorites of the romance genre.  She does however fall into the formula issue when it comes to genre writers as prolific as she is.  She often writes book series featuring a group of friends and or siblings who all find love in the subsequent books.  This series is no exception.

The Bride Quartet focuses on a group of friends who run Vows, a wedding consultation and venue buisness.  The first book focuses on Mackensie (Mac), the photographer of the group (hence the the ‘vision’ in the title).  She has a difficult relationship with her parents,in particular her narcissistic mother who manipulates her daughter a lot.  At the time of the story Mac is slowly growing the courage to finally cut her mother out of her life (to a point) but still has many hold-ups in regards to love, relationships, and expectations of herself.

Another trope that Nora Roberts likes to use is the childhood love reignited one.  The male lead of this story is Carter, who had a crush on Mac when they were in elementary school, and having met her again falls for her once more.  He has some heartbreak in his past as well, but it kind of takes a backseat in the story, and is really only touched upon in regards to Mac’s own issues.  Which makes sense to a point:  Mac is the feature character.

The story takes place over 3 months (January to March) and I feel some of the angst/drama elements were a bit too quickly resolved to fit into that time frame.  Macs issues with commitment and expecting things to last seemed to be fixed fairly quickly to give us the Happy Ending we all expect in this genre.  Given the time since I last read the series, I am wondering if perhaps some of these issues will show up as a background detail in a later book to fix the artificial convenience in the first book.

This book isn’t a hard hitting story, its light, fluffy and fits into the romance genre as one would expect.  I enjoyed the story, even if parts seemed a bit too contrived/fixed.  I’m giving the story a B.  I can suggest this book for a rainy afternoon or any time you just want a happy ending. 

Now onwards to book two:  Bed of Roses.

Posted in writing

Writing Wednesday

Prompt: Alien race sees Earth for the first time (15 minute writing)

Story:

Grrr stared out the window at the small planet they had come across. It had been awhile since they had spotted lifeforms at this stage of development and the Fenfrew had decided it wanted to observe. So far the observations had not been too pleasing.

For one thing, the planet was mostly water. So, it seemed, were the lifeforms. Water was necessary, but for a Frew, this seemed the unlikest of planets for it to form. Mars, although lacking in a necessary atmosphere, appeared more to their liking.

Yet life had persevered. The beings seemed to quite enjoy the water. It seemed to be used as both nourishment and entertainment. They used it to provide hygiene. The sentient species – or at least the most numerous, were almost hairless. The variety of ways they dealt with this phenomenon, well, varied greatly. They seemed to exist in all temperatures and climate zones. Frankly, Grr preferred the cool of space, so it baffled Xim as to how the beings on this planet regularly enjoyed extreme temperatures.

The planet was not inhabitable, at least not by the Frew. It was surprising to find out any life could be sustained on it, but it was full of it, and would require much more study. Frankly, Grr was curious as to understanding the peculiarities of this planet, but Xe was glad he was not on the team that would stay and observe.

Rynli, a grey pelt, joined him in the observation room. Xe scanned the monitors before speaking.

“Their atmosphere might be more to our liking in a few decades”

Posted in Television shows, tv reviews

TV Review: The Orville 2×08

Episode Title: Identity Part 1 (2 part arc)
Original Airdate: February 21, 2019 (watched later via Hulu)
Grade:B

Notable Guest Stars/Directors:

Victor Garber (returning as Admiral Halsey)

Notable Quotes:

Cmdr. Kelly Grayson: I can’t believe they knew about Mr. Potato Head.

Capt. Ed Mercer: Yeah, we are going to get fired.

SPOILERS BELOW

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Posted in book reviews, bookit

Bookit Review #7: Playing For Keeps

Title: Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7)
Author: Jill Shalvis
Publication:  January 22nd 2019
Edition: Paperback  (look, an actual paper book) 351 pages
Genre:  Romance
Rating:  B-

Bookit 2009 #7

Alright, this book took me a while to read, half because it was hard to stay into it at first, and half because the last two months have been crazy in my life and probably won’t let up for awhile.  But that’s neither here or there when it comes to this review.  The book was alright.  There wasn’t anything I particularly hated or loved to be honest.  Its not going to be going in my re-read pile.  That being said, if someone asked me if I recommended it to them to read?  I’d probably say sure, its a nice light read.

The plot of the book starts with Sadie Lane and Caleb Parker finding a stray/abandoned dog that they name Lollipop. They have been crushing on each other in their own way for about a year now, but Sadie has issues accepting emotional connection and Caleb has a few issues of his own. They navigate their relationship around these things.

I did like the fact that this book takes into note mental health issues, but I feel like it wasn’t the right vehicle for it.  There always felt like we got the summary of things but nothing really in depth about these two characters. It was there just to keep the pair from being together long enough for it to be a novel.

And the adoption of Lollipop, a dog they find is actually far less involved then you would expect.

I’m hoping that alot of the minor details being missing is because this is book #7 and probably were mentioned in an earlier book but I honestly don’t know.  There are a few lines I found difficult not to laugh at too not because they were ncessarily jokes, but because it was just awkward phrasing  (The main one happens in one of the last chapters and involves psychic boobs).

So since I don’t feel particularly strong about this book in either way other then what I previously mentioned, I’m going to give this novel a B. 

Posted in Television shows, tv reviews

TV Review: The Orville 2×07

 Episode Title: Deflectors  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7826048/
Original Airdate: February 14, 2019 (Watched later via Hulu)
Grade: C

Notable Guest Stars/Directors:

Kevin Daniels (Locar) –  While I don’t recognize him from anything, he is known for his role on Modern Family.  He does a good job here.
Bruce Willis (The Plant) – Bruce Willis is pretty well known, so I don’t think I need to reference what he is been in.

Notable Quotes:

Lt. Talla Keyali: Locar didn’t hurt you. He didn’t hurt anyone. All he wanted was love. And yet because of you… his life is over. Except for no reason other than your own prejudice. So as far as I am concerned, you can go straight to Hell.

SPOILERS BELOW

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