This is just a reminder… This blog will be going away very shortly (hence, why no new posts in a while). For all my news, excerpts, and more on my writing, please visit my new blog at http://esthermitchell.wordpress.com
And for those interested in the paranormal/metaphysical side of things (news, lecture schedules, deals, and tidbits), please visit Wildflower Parapsychology & Metaphysics’ new blog at http://wildflowerpara.wordpress.com
Thanks! See you on the dark side!
Esther Mitchell
I know it seems a little odd for me to be focusing so much on a series that isn’t even available for sale, at the moment. However, Underground is one series that’s never far from my mind, so what better place to devote time to it than here, where my musings (and muses) show themselves to the world.
Underground started life in a few words jotted on the inside of a paper airplane, that turned a friendship into something more. I’ve been asked why, since it has such a heavy Science Fiction orientation, I chose to thread it with a romance, as well. My answer is simple. No one lives in a vacuum. Even the most solitary person you can think of has a past, they are how they are for a reason. And, because Underground’s characters are based in part on real people I’ve known, there are stories to be told, lives to be lived, by these characters. The romantic elements add depth and connectivity to the characters, and maintain that thread of essential truth necessary to make the fiction work.
*smiles* Of course, I’ve been asked the opposite question, as well – why, if I write predominantly Romance, would I write a book so heavy with Science Fiction and Suspense motifs that have little to nothing to do with the romantic interaction. That answer, as well, is simple. When I first started writing, decades ago, my focus was on the Fantasy and Science Fiction genres. Over time, my work evolved to incorporate Romance. TAMIA (Underground’s first book) was actually the first book I ever wrote that involved romantic interaction between the primary characters.
Underground takes a look inside the military world, and where I believe certain events and laws may be leading the world as a whole. And it’s definitely a more sociological Science Fiction series than it is technologically heavy (think Bradbury, not Roddenbury). Having grown up inside the “military machine” I’ve applied my unique perspectives to the writing process (I was actually still inside that world when I started writing this series, years ago). And, lest anyone misinterpret me, there is a reason I used quotes around military machine. I love the military, and I have nothing but respect for the men and women who are part of it (I would have been one, myself, had health issues not muddied the water), and my work is written from the perspective of those who put their lives on the line every day. How the changing world and policies of governments effects their lives and ability to do their jobs.
Well, I’ve rambled enough. Back to work, for me.
“The Kiss” – Excerpted from Underground #1: TAMIA
copyright 1992 by Esther Mitchell
“I want to talk to you!”
He kept walking, as if he hadn’t heard her.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Tamia muttered under her breath, and surged after him. She finally caught up to him a short distance from the living quarters. She grabbed his arm and whirled him around to face her. “You have a lot of explaining to do!”
His icy glare, and the smoldering heat beneath it, made her feel as if he could strip her clothes away with his gaze alone.
“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” he said frostily, moving to yank his arm away.
Tamia glowered at him. “The hell you don’t! Why am I stuck here? I’m more use to the team if I’m out there, helping!”
“You,” Rick said tightly,” are better off learning to follow orders. I told you you’re confined to quarters, now do it.”
“God damn it, Rick!” She grabbed his arm again as he turned away, her own anger at boiling point. “I didn’t join this outfit to sit on my ass! Why are you doing this to me?”
“It’s safer for the team.” Even spoken quietly, those words stung. She was right; he thought she was a risk, because of what happened between them.
“Safer for you, you mean.” Tamia glared defiantly up at him. She wouldn’t be shut out like this. Not again. “It doesn’t change anything, dammit! What happened—”
She stopped with a sharply indrawn breath as his midnight gaze pierced her clear to her source, and set her nerve endings trembling. Dear God, she’d had no idea his eyes could get so blue!
“Between us, you mean? Tamia, my decision has nothing to do with what I want.”
Staring into those eyes, Tamia’s world tilted. She couldn’t remember what they were discussing. All she was aware of was the need to have his lips against hers, his hands on her.
“What you want?” She applauded herself for even that breathless query. “What do you want?”
“This, dammit.” Then his mouth was on hers with a hunger that defied sanity as he reached to meld her against himself, and she nearly wept with relief.
Tamia squeezed her eyes closed and pressed closer, aware of how fragile this moment was. She could feel the heat of his hands on her, of his body pressed against hers, and the barrier of their clothes frustrated her. Time hung, suspended, as she lost herself in the overpowering shelter of his arms. Never before had she felt so secure, or in so much danger, as she did now.
“Rick,” she breathed against his lips, her hands on his face as she pulled him more firmly to her. She never wanted this moment to end, if it meant an end to the delicious sparks that shot through her body.
“Dear God,” he muttered, pressing kisses over her face and neck, “it’s so hard to remember you’re a spy when you get this close.”
