Friday, April 24, 2015

Flash Fiction Friday - Hockey

Prompt: Three Reasons

Hockey

"Give me one good reason."

Mike glowered at me, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because I'm bigger than you, and I can beat you up."

I rolled my eyes and glared just as hard at him. "You wouldn't hit me. I'm your little sister. Try again."

"Because you'll get hurt playing street hockey. You're just a little kid."

"I'm the same age you were when you started playing with them!" I shot back. "And I'm just as big as you were too."

He made a sound in the back of his throat that sounded like it was either a growl or a laugh. Probably a growl. "You are not!"

"Sure I am! Go ask Mom if you don't believe me."

He didn't move, except to ball his hands into fists. "Well... well, none of my friends want you to tag along with us!" he finally snapped.

For a second, even though I knew something he didn't know, I felt hurt by that. Mike and I were only two years apart, and we'd spent nearly every summer of my life hanging out together, sometimes with his friends, sometimes with mine. I'd always considered his friends to be my friends too.

Then I remembered the thing I knew. "Oh yeah?" I challenged, and for a second he looked smug. "Well, Charlie was the one who asked me to play, and he said JT and Danny want me to play too. He said they're inviting a new guy from school, and they need someone else to make the teams even. So there!"

Mike huffed angrily, then shoved a hockey stick at me. "Fine," he snapped. "But don't come crying to me if I hurt you trying to get to the puck."

"Fine," I agreed, shoving his helmet back at him, "as long as you don't either."

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Writing Update

Things are still a little on the slow side when it comes to my writing. Pack Supremacy is still with one of my beta readers, and it's due for another round of edits once she's done. I came up with a better ending to the B story, so I'll start working on that once I get all the feedback. Hopefully this will be a shorter round of edits than the last few times.

I haven't done much work on Bex since my last post, but I have outlined more of the third Capitoline Hill book, and I accidentally started a new MG novella project. I say accidentally because it was supposed to be a short story, something I could throw up in a weekend or so. And then I made a map, and then it became a three-book project. But book one is fully outlined, and I've started writing, so maybe I can keep that one weekend from stretching more than a month.

I also spent some significant time this month redesigning my website. I wanted to create something more static, a separate entity from my blog. So if you have some time and are interested, you can check it out at www.tobisummers.com (the permanent link for this blog will now be www.tobisummers.blogspot.com).

And, because it's the playoffs and I'm listening to a hockey game while I write this, LET'S GO RANGERS!!!

Friday, April 17, 2015

TV Review - CSI: Cyber


Photo credit: CBS.com

The latest addition to the CSI family this season is CSI: Cyber. It centers around a unit in the FBI devoted to solving cyber crimes.

I've never watched a CSI before, aside from an odd episode here or there. I was too young when the original came out to really be interested in crime TV, and neither Miami or NY caught my attention. But this one did. As a child of the digital age, I'm fascinated by (and terrified of) cyber crimes, so I was highly anticipating this when they first announced it last year.

Five episodes in (at the time of writing this post), I have mixed feelings about it. My favorite parts are the cases, which are fortunately the driving force of the show. Though I sometimes feel like they over-explain the technical elements (cyber crimes for people who don't really know much about computers), I occasionally find myself learning something. The pace of each episode moves pretty well, and there's a strong element of suspense that keeps me on the edge of my seat.

What I find lacking are the characters. If you've read any of my previous posts, you know how important characters are to me. I can forgive a lot of sins if the chemistry is there, and I don't feel it in CSI: Cyber. I don't like Patricia Arquette's Avery Ryan much at all, and I'm not invested in her backstory or her emotions. In fact, the only character I have any real interest in is Brody Nelson, the blackhat hacker that Avery brought into the team. The other secondary characters--including James Van Der Beek's Elijah Mundo--have the potential to be engaging, but they haven't gotten there yet, even though we've been giving significant looks into the lives of Elijah and Daniel Krumitz, one of the other team members.

So I'm still up in the air about this one. For now, I enjoy watching the episodes enough to keep up with it, but if the characters don't start stepping up soon, I'm not sure how much longer I'll stay invested.

Anyone else watching this?

CSI: Cyber airs at 10:00 on Wednesdays on CBS.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Teaser Tuesday - 4/14/15


Photo credit: Kate Wilhelm's website

I first read Death Qualified back in high school, and I remember enjoying it enough to buy two other books in Kate Wilhelm's Barbara Holloway series, but I don't remember any of the details. And since I've been in a mystery mood lately, I thought I'd start from the beginning and read the series in order.

Nell Kendrick's husband disappeared seven years earlier, abandoning his young family. Nell hasn't seen him since, until the day Lucas Kendricks arrives at the edge of her property and is shot and killed. Accused of his murder, Nell turns to lawyer Frank Holloway for help. But Frank knows he cannot win this case alone. He calls upon his daughter, Barbara, who remains "death qualified," legally able to defend clients who face the death penalty if convicted.

The rules for Teaser Tuesday are:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
  • Then hit up Should Be Reading to add your link.

And the teaser:

"Isn't that why? And you think when the time comes, when I have pushed and poked and probed and got nowhere, I'll help you persuade her that it's the only way out for her, the only way to be able to have any time with her children before they're both grown up."

Friday, April 10, 2015

Flash Fiction Friday - Unpacking

Prompt: Where Will It Be Found?

Unpacking

With a grunt of exertion, Cade shoved the last box toward the back of the attic and used the bottom of his shirt to wipe sweat out of his eyes.

"Everything alright up there?" Jeffrey called from the bottom of the ladder.

Cade's head poked through the opening so he could peer upside-down at the man whose belongings he was currently stacking next to his own. "Just about done. How's the kitchen looking?"

Jeffrey looked stricken. "It's a disaster. Did you not label a single box when you packed your apartment up?"

Cade couldn't help but grin. "It's more fun when it's a surprise."

Jeffrey's hands fluttered in the air for a minute as if he didn't have the words to properly contradict that statement. Cade's smile widened. "Besides," he added, ducking back into the attic for a second so he could spin his body around and descend the ladder, "you're cute when you can't find your apron."

Jeffrey gave him a half-hearted glare that morphed quickly into a pout. "Two weeks ago, you said I was cute while I was wearing the apron."

"Funny how that works."

Jeffrey was right, Cade decided, following him through the house. The kitchen was a disaster. But the bedroom was completely unpacked, and the living room had neat piles near the bookcases and entertainment center so Cade could put their books and movies away (because there was a system that Jeffrey just couldn't get the hang of, no matter how many times Cade explained it). The office was just a pile of boxes at this point, but they'd agreed to unpack that last.

"Come on," Cade said, flopping onto the couch they'd taken from his apartment that looked just right sitting next to the squishy armchair from Jeffrey's. "We can finish the rest tomorrow."

Jeffrey hesitated, dark eyes darting toward the kitchen door. "Come on," Cade insisted. "I promise I'll help you go through every one of those unlabeled boxes."

Jeffrey glanced at the door again, but followed Cade to the couch reluctantly. "No, you won't," he grumbled, twisting so he was leaning most of his body weight against Cade. "You'll do two boxes, and then you'll tell me you have to go sort the books."

"You never do it right."

"Your system is weird."

Cade laughed in a way that was more like a sigh, kissed the top of Jeffrey's head, and closed his eyes, letting the rhythm of Jeffrey's breathing lull him to sleep.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

New Website!

Go check out the new TobiSummers.com! It's a more static website that I feel will better showcase PACK MENTALITY, PACK SUPREMACY, and my future books. I'll continue to update this blog at this address, or you can view the most recent posts here.

Enjoy, and thanks for visiting!