The X-Files - It's Back!

***WARNING: There are spoilers in the post below. If you have yet to see the first two episodes of the new season of The X-Files, you may want to wait to read this until after you've watched the episodes. Unless of course you don't mind spoilers.***

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Copyright Info on The X-Files Title Screen

Forgive me, but this may be more of a fangirl post than observations with a critical eye. But hey, I'm allowed to get excited over something and just enjoy it for what it is. Right? Right? Well, I am!

Anyway, I was to no end thrilled when I heard The X-Files was coming back to TV. See, I was in high school when it first aired, and I fell in love with it almost instantly. I have fond memories of watching episodes. Heck, even my mom watched the show, and it's not really something that would usually interest her.

Now, while I love the series, and I label myself a fangirl, I have to admit I probably haven't seen every episode. College happened. I also haven't seen the second movie (my husband and I kept saying we needed to see it, then we never got around to it - I know, horrible, especially since I bought the soundtrack and the score for the first movie, you'd think I'd have made more of an effort). My memory also sucks at times, and it has been a long time since I watched any episodes (though I own several on VHS - lol). I am actually regretting not binging and re-watching all the episodes before this new season started. Eh, live and learn. Though I'm guessing I may start watching them soon anyhow.

Until I watched the two new episodes, I didn't realize just how much I missed The X-Files. It brought back a lot of memories. Especially since they used the old intro for this new season as well! I thought that was amazingly awesome - it really brought me back.

Oh, but who wants to hear about my silly reminiscing? Probably no one - ha. That's OK, I'll move onto the episodes themselves.

The first episode, "My Struggle," started out with a brief summary from Mulder, which was much appreciated due to the aforementioned sucky memory. Clearly, Mulder and Scully have moved on with their lives. OK, maybe Scully has - Mulder will always be that dog that just won't let go of the damned bone. That's what makes him Mulder. =D Because of this, he's easily dragged back into things by Tad O'Malley. We also get to see Scully's unending skepticism. This is great, especially for fangirls like me. We get to see the characters we fell in love with over two decades ago.

Of course, Scully is less skeptical by the end of the episode, and Mulder's bone morphs a bit. I love the transition, though. We start out the episode with the usual song and dance, that the government has been hiding the existence of aliens. That's The X-Files we remember, the conspiracy Mulder always wanted to crack wide open. But by the end of the episode, things are flipped a bit. Instead, it's theorized that the government is using alien technology to experiment on humans, to change their genetics, and to eventually use this to pretty much take over the world. Humans are the ones behind the abductions, not aliens.

The apparent cover up of trying to out the truth on O'Malley's show (which includes the death of at least one person - spaceship blowing up her car no less), results in re-opening The X-Files. And now we get to my favorite scene of the episode. Yup, the Cigarette Smoking Man is back! Smoking through the hole in his throat even - awesome.

"Founder's Mutation" is the next episode, and it really does continue with the strain of manipulating human DNA with alien DNA. I loved the mirror of Scully and Mulder thinking about what life would have been like if they kept their child along with the sister and brother whose genes had been tampered with to give them powers. Could this be what their child is like? Could he have been tampered with? I really do hope we get to see their son in a future episode!

This episode, though, made me realize one thing with this revival of The X-Files. They are not pulling any punches! From watching a man shove a letter opener into his brain via his ear, a woman graphically cut open her belly to release the baby inside (oh, yes, we see the cutting and the blood and the baby sticking his little hand out), and finally seeing blood pour out of all orifices of the doctor who experimented on his own children. Holy cow! I love it.

I'm looking forward to the next episode, and I may need to start sneaking in some of the old episodes during the week when the toddler has driven me to insanity.

What are your favorite recollections of the old episodes? And what did you like (or not like) about the new episodes?

(Not) Writing With A Toddler

Almost two years ago I wrote a post called (Not) Writing With An Infant. That was a fun little post, wasn't it? Well, I think it's time to write an upgraded version. The Toddler Terror definitely adds a new layer to trying to get something (anything) done. I hope you can at least get a laugh from this post.

WARNING: What follows may or may not be a work of fiction. Tread carefully into the realm of possible hyperbole. Do not let any likely truth scare you from either a) writing or b) having a child (though it may scare you from doing both at once). I take no responsibility at the emotions the following text will invoke.

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(Not) Writing With A Toddler

1. Wake up, tired and bedraggled, but determined to get some writing done today. Some things don't change from one age to the next, huh?

2. Quickly hop into the shower before toddler wakes up. Of course, when you get out, she's already awake. But she's not lying nicely in bed. Oh, no. She's already grabbed your phone and texted your husband ten unintelligible messages. You receive a text back asking if you've already dipped into the booze.

3. Change toddler's diaper, get her dressed, and feed her breakfast. The first two things usually include kicking and laughing, the last an insane amount of multi-tasking because she's sure to be banging on the computer keyboard while you're trying to cut up her banana. Or turning the computer off.

4. No hope for a nap yet (for her or you), you offer toddler about a million toys to play with while you sit down at the computer determined to get some work done. She seems content for now.

5. Open up your current project, start formulating your next sentence, and then halfway through the thought, toddler screams. A toy offended her. It wouldn't bend the way she wanted it to. She proceeds to have a meltdown for five to ten minutes.

6. Toddler finally calms down. OK, back to it. You try to remember what that sentence was you were pondering, but it's fled. Drat. Ah! You start typing, but halfway through the sentence you hear, "Blankie! Blankie!" The toddler is a yard away, lying on the floor with her blankie next to her. She wants to be covered up. No, she can't just grab the blankie and cover herself. Of course not. You get up to cover her to silence the screams of "Blankie! Blankie!"

7. You type another word in the sentence. "Cup!" Toddler wants her water while she's snuggling under her blanket. You oblige. "Plate!" Now the bananas she never finished eating. You set it next to her. "Pikachu!" Her favorite stuffed toy. You hunt around downstairs looking for the stuffed animal, and when you finally find it, toddler has thrown the blanket off and upended the bananas. She takes Pikachu and runs up the stairs.

8. For a second, you ponder leaving her to her own devices upstairs while you get some writing done. What's the worst she can do? Then the sound of a radio blares--she's playing with your alarm clock. You climb the stairs, change her diaper and brush her teeth while you're upstairs, then drag her back downstairs kicking and screaming.

9. Right when you set her down, she darts back upstairs. How can a 2-year-old be so damned fast? After a few cycles of going up and down the stairs to fetch her, you decide to hold onto her and sit at the computer.

10. Toddler bangs on the keyboard. Oh, look, she's written more words than you have. When you pull her hands away, she grabs at your neck and face and pinches. You imagine bruises forming on your throat. How can a 2-year-old be so damned strong? She wiggles like a crazed wildcat and you almost drop her.

11. Once she finally settles down, she stands next to you and says, "Hi." You say, "Hi," but you're sure there's a catch to the sweetness. She then proceeds to grab everything off of your desk. After a few minutes of chiding and snatching the items back, she runs off squealing.

12. You sigh, and hope you have a few moments reprieve. Amazingly, you bang out a whole paragraph! Wait. But it's awfully quiet. Too quiet. Uh, oh. You find toddler in the kitchen eating the cat food.

13. Toddler runs off after being scolded and starts torturing one of the cats. You pull her away and say, "Not nice!" She decides you've offended her, like the toy did earlier, picks up a hard toy from the floor and throws it at you. Then she throws her pacifier, flings herself on the floor, and bangs her head until you pick her up and try to contain her fit.

14. After another ten minutes of calming the wildcat, you decide it's nap time. Of course, the only way to get her to sleep is to sit in the bed with her. After ten to fifteen minutes of fiddling on your iPad quietly while you tell toddler to lay down, she finally drifts off to sleep.

15. Now you can get some writing done! But the last fifteen minutes of sitting in a nice, warm bed has made you sleepy. You snuggle under the covers and tell yourself you'll only close your eyes for a few minutes, then you'll write.

16. Two hours later the toddler giggles and wakes you up.

17. Change toddler's diaper, then prepare lunch (while taking your phone and iPad out of her clutches--your husband texted you again asking how much booze is left in the house and if he should pick more up on the way home). You both eat.

18. You're at your limit, and you really need to get some writing done. So, you inhale the guilt, and put a TV show on for the toddler. Bad, bad mom. You have her sit nice, then gather all the items she needs--blankie, pacifier, bowl of Cheerios, plate with the rest of lunch, water cup, and Pikachu. Once she seems sucked into the show, you sneak off to write.

19. Look at that another whole paragraph! Then the tell-tale sound of a plastic bowl hitting the floor interrupts your flow of thought. Toddler spilled her Cheerios all over. You clean them up, and then she has another fit because you're throwing them in the garbage. She throws her plate of food.

20. You finally calm her down and clean everything up. Maybe she'll sit through another episode, if you're lucky. But then you look at the clock and realize you need to pick up the grade-schooler. Crap.

21. You pat yourself on the back for writing two paragraphs today, knowing once your eldest is home, there will be no getting anything done. But that's a whole 'nother list.

Love Fades Snippet

It's another release day! Today Love Fades, the second story in the Fortunes of Fate series is available on Amazon. For those of you who like romance in your fantasy, this is definitely the story for you. Again, you can get it via Kindle Unlimited or the Kindle Owners' Lending Library as well.

I'm sure you'd love to get a taste of the story, though. Right? Well, here it is. Happy reading!

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Caradeci stared at her hand – it was happening again. The flesh and bone faded, her fingers paling to dim outlines. She raised her hand, now translucent; the water of the pond she knelt next to shimmered through it in the sunlight.

Relief flooded Cara when her hand returned to normal, but her hope was brief since it flickered back to transparency. This cycle Cara was trapped in sent shudders to her soul.

The breeze tousled her hair, but she felt nothing on her faded hand – no wind, no warmth – like a black hole sucking at her being. It left her stranded and alone. If this was what death felt like, she wanted none of it.

Cara's hand flashed in and out, the rhythm akin to a stoplight in the wee hours of the morning. Fear snagged in her throat. Only one reason why this could be happening – she didn't belong here, shouldn't be here. Ten years ago she had tripped over a stump, landed in a pond, and somehow slipped from her world of purple hues into this Earth of green. Instead of hitting bottom, she'd emerged here – an accident, some dimensional goof, but one that meant she could no longer find her way home to Fate.

Caradeci didn't want to go home.

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Loves Fades

A woman who's fading away.

Years ago, a portal in the world of Fate sucked Caradeci up and deposited her on Earth. She struggled to fit in and adjust to the differences. And then she met Alex. She fell in love, confessing her true origins, and he believed her.

Now her body flickers in and out of existence, threatening to pull her away from the life she's made. She fears Fate beckons to her, that she must return home to save herself, leaving her love behind.

Alex, refusing to lose her, drags her to a fortune teller. Their only hope is that this strange woman can tell them what to do before Caradeci vanishes from existence.

Fortunes of Fate Series

For every card, there's a story.

The three cat sisters, Joslyn, Mia, and Amber, are world-hoppers. They're in search of a world to call home, and they finally find it in Fate.

However, they've grown fond of Earth as well, and they stick their noses into the lives of people from both worlds. From Fools to Magicians, the three cats are witnesses to the stories that unravel.