Friday, January 14, 2022

BOOK: The Captain and the Ambassador by Carol Ann Kauffman


 The Captain and the Ambassador
by Carol Ann Kauffman


Ambassador Tull Redmond is looking for a quick ride home back to Earth after ending her twenty-year mission as peace negotiator. All she wants is peace, quiet, and to be left alone. 

She boards the Earth Starship Giuseppe Verdi with its questionable leader, Captain Ben Jacobs anyway. It's the fastest way home. Her quarters has a full bath, a space view window, and a large, real bed! How bad could this rule-breaking, authority-defying Captain with a Casanova reputable be? 

High Council hates him, true, but his crew loves him. Surely, she's too old and tired to be drawn into this bad boy of the quadrant's personal circus.
 
Will Ambassador Redmond get the quiet, uneventful ride home she craves?


Excerpt:

Chapter One

A New Passenger

 

Captain Jacobs? Sir, big news. Ambassador Tull Redmond is meeting us at Bridgeport Seven tomorrow and will join us as our passenger all the way to Earth,” said second-in-command Commander Zack Mankewitz of the Earth Starship Giuseppe Verdi.

“Ambassador Redmond,” repeated the captain. “Oh, I’ve heard of him, Commander. He’s that peace, love, and hope guy. He’s the most successful intergalactic mediator in this quadrant. Wow, my very first five-star passenger. Yes, that is big news. I’m glad I didn’t miss him. High Council’s never trusted me with a big wig before.”

“Yes, sir. I know.”

“So, the ambassador and I will be going home to Earth at the same time. Well, I’m not sure the Ambassador is Earthite, I just assumed. Is he retiring, too, I wonder?

“Well, sort of. From what I heard the ambassador refused to sign another ten-year contract, so resigning from intergalactic mediation is the only other option. You two are lucky ducks.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it, Commander. It’s plain, old-fashioned endurance. Any special dietary requests? I heard the ambassador was a vegan.”

“No. No special food requests, but a full bathroom in quarters, and the ambassador is a woman. She’s also requested a room with a space view.”

“You’re kidding me? I’ve seen him, eh, her, from a distance. Short, pale, plump, light-colored hair slicked back or something. Hair was hardly noticeable. Wears a big, long, hooded, monk-like robe. Kind of like a round beige ball. A non-sexual being.”

“Does that matter?”

“No, I guess not. The ambassador gets the job done. A full bath and a view, huh? Well, there is only one accommodation like that aboard this ship, and that’s mine. Damn. My first five-star passenger and she boots me out of my quarters. Oh, well. Go ahead and assign her to Captain’s Quarters, Commander. 

“She’ll enjoy the view in the sitting area as well as the full bath. I’ll take the quarters next to mine. I don’t mind sonic showers. I’ll move my things over this evening.”

“Do you need help, sir?”

“No, thanks, Zack. I don’t have much to move. But send someone in to give the place a good cleaning and shine it up a bit. Change all the linens. Put a little welcome note or something inside. I want my first and only five-star passenger to be impressed with her deluxe accommodations, if nothing else, on this tugboat for her four-month stay with us on her way back home.”

“Yes, sir,” chuckled Mankewitz.

 

“Ambassador Redmond, welcome to the Giuseppe Verdi, a class one intergalactic Earth Starship. It is my pleasure to have you aboard, ma’am.” 

“Thank you, Captain Jacobs.”

“You’re my first five-star passenger in a twenty-year career.”

“Yes, I’ve heard. I’ve been duly warned.”

“You have?” Captain Jacobs laughed. 

“Yes. High Council strongly urged me to wait for the next Earthbound starship, which is scheduled for early next year. They say you are the juvenile delinquent of the quadrant. They say you think the rules don’t apply to you and you love to defy authority.”

“And yet, you came aboard my ship anyway. You are a brave soul as well as a successful negotiator, Ambassador.”

“Thank you, Captain. I’m not afraid of bad boys. Your safety record is exemplary. You’ve never lost a passenger or crew member. Upper management may not admire your quirky leadership skills, or your less than organized reports, but your crew holds you in the highest esteem. So, you like to bend the rules a bit, big deal. You like to cut through the nonsense, that’s fine with me. You allow your crew to become far too familiar with you…”

“And my passenger, too,” he winked, “if you’re interested.”

She ignored it. “You hate quarterly reports, so what? All I ask is that you get me to Earth in one piece.”

“Thank you for your confidence in me. I promise I’ll get you there, safe and sound. And I promise to be on my best behavior while you’re aboard my ship. May I escort you to your quarters?”

“Yes, thank you, Captain.”

“Were you born on Earth, Ambassador?”

“Yes. Eagle’s Landing, Ohio. Midwest United States.”

“And your parents, they were both from Earth?”

“Yes.”

“Are you a member of a religious order then, Ambassador?”

“No, Captain. What made you think that?”

“The ‘peace love, joy’ stuff. The non-violence lifestyle. The robe.”

“So, you have something against peace, love, joy, and non-violence, Captain Jacobs?”

“No, ma’am, I do not,” he giggled. “Maybe the robe, though.”

“I’ve been a member of the Society of Peace and Light for the last six years. It’s not a religious order, Captain. It’s a chosen lifestyle.”

“And what exactly does that particular chosen lifestyle entail? Yoga? Essential oils? Meditation? Veganism? Celibacy? Power crystals? Tea leaf readings? Tinfoil head cones?”

“I’ll forward you some information on the society if you’re interested. It was very helpful to me while I was mediating.”

“And now that you’re leaving intergalactic mediation, what will you do?”

“Now I’ll be making some changes.”

“If one of those changes happens to be a big, juicy burger on a toasted homemade bun with melted cheese and all the fixings, I’m your man.” He winked again. “I grill them up for my crew on Thursdays in the dining room and you are invited.”

“You get ground beef out here?”

“Domesticated livestock from whatever’s in the area. We haven’t had Earth meat for so long, we’ve all forgotten what it tastes like. Right now, Resa, our cook, has a supply of Plumarian yak. Yummy.” 

“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind, Captain.”

“And your Earth parents from Ohio? They named you…Tull?”

“Getting rather personal already, aren’t we? What is your first name, Captain?”

“Ben. Benjamin Joseph Jacobs. My childhood friends called me BJ. Or Beeje. And your first name is …?”

The Ambassador remained quiet.

They came to the Ambassador’s new quarters.

“Here we are, Ambassador. It is the finest accommodation aboard the Verdi. Full bath, quiet, away from the noise of engineering and the recreation hall. Observation window seat in the sitting area overlooking the beautiful blackness of space. Just as you requested. The rooms are spacious. And that’s a great bed,” he pointed.

“Thank you. It’s just perfect. And now if you don’t mind, Captain, I’m thoroughly exhausted. I’d like to rest now.”

“Of course. Digital control panel here. It’s also voice-activated. 

I’ll help you set it up later this evening, after you’ve rested.

 “And when you’re ready for a little walk outside on the pressurized deck, I’ll be happy to take you. But we’ll need to be tethered to the platform. Any atmospheric disturbance, no matter how small, could weaken the edges and send you catapulting into space.” 

“Yes. Thank you. Goodbye now.” She motioned toward the door.

“Yes, I’m going. Now. I’ll see you later. Please feel free to call upon me for anything you may need during your stay with us. Have a pleasant rest, Ambassador.”

 

“Well, Captain, what do you think of the Ambassador?” whispered Zack when he met Ben walking down the corridor back toward the Bridge.

“You know, I like her.”

“Oh, that’s a surprise,” teased Zack.

“No. This is different. She’s different. She’s…more. A strange combination of Mother Earth and a 1960’s Flower Child Peace and Love Beatnik and something else I can’t quite put my finger on.”

“Yet.” Zack laughed. “But I’m sure you will.”

“She has a serenity about her. Interesting person. But that robe? Ugh.”

“I think maybe you want to get a peek at what’s under that huge yardage of beige material,” giggled Zack.

“No, Commander. That’s completely ridiculous. Well, maybe a little bit.”

 

An hour later, the Captain returned to the Ambassador’s quarters and pushed the Enter button.

“Ambassador? It’s me, Captain Jacobs. May I come in?”

“No, thank you, Captain.”

“Did you have a nice rest?”

“Not yet.”

“I’d like to talk to you for a moment. May I enter?”

“Not now, Captain.”

“It’ll only take a moment.”

“Captain, what do you want?”

“I…I would like to help you set up the digital system with your own voice command. It’s a little tricky.”

“It’s done.”

“You did it yourself?”

“Yes, Captain. It wasn’t difficult.”

“Well, okay then. How about some dinner? Are you hungry? I can show you the way to the dining room.”

“There’s a map on the ship’s digital home screen.”

“So there is. I just thought…”

“Captain, please forgiven my bluntness, but I am tired and I’m not in the mood for company.”

“But I think you may be hungry. I’ve noticed women tend to get angry, aggravated, and maybe a little curt when they get hungry.”

“And dealing with a persistent sexist middle manager doesn’t lead to anger, aggravation, and curtness aboard your ship, Captain?”

“Sexist? Middle manager? I assure you I am not a… I was only trying to…”

“Captain, listen to me very carefully. Go. Away.”

 

Ship’s doctor Fernando Espinoza pushed the enter button.

“Captain, it’s Nando. We need to talk about the supplies we’re taking on our humanitarian mission to Argon 14.”

“The captain is not here. Go away,” answered the Ambassador.

 

Ship’s cook Resa Kolitsus pushed the enter button.

“Hey, Cap, it’s Resa. Don’t you want to go over the supply order before I send it in?”

“The captain is not here. Go away and don’t come back,” shouted the Ambassador.

 

“Ambassador, it’s me, Captain Jacobs, again. We need to talk. I think maybe we got off on the wrong foot. May I come in?”

“Captain Jacobs!” she shouted through the intercom. “What in the hell do I have to do to get some rest around here?” Her shouts reverberated through the metal hallway. “And why on earth does your entire staff think you are in here with me? What did you tell them? That I was the latest addition to your easy passenger conquest list?” 

“What? I… What did I tell my crew, my dear Ambassador?” He breathed hard, but did not raise his voice. 

“I told them I was gladly giving up my deluxe accommodations for the last four months of my final tour of duty so that sweet, gentle, quiet, diplomatic you could have a full bath and an amazing space view in the largest rooms with the best security and my bed, the best bed aboard this entire ship. They think I’m in there with you because you are in myquarters.”

“Oh,” whispered the Ambassador.

Captain Jacobs stormed away, muttering obscenities.







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Thursday, January 13, 2022

ENTERTAINMENT: Don’t Look Up (Netflix)



Oh, this is the movie they're all talking about! It'a one of those you either love or hate. It's a political satire about the end of the world. 
A graduate student in Astronomy discovers a comet that's on a direct collision course with Earth. She and her professor set up to inform the president. The talented Meryl Streep plays the President of the United States of America. When she doesn't care, or doesn't believe them, they decide to go directly to the public via a morning talk show.

The movie would have been totally laughable if it weren't very close to the truth on some points. The end of the world was inconvenient for some people. For others, the doom and gloom news was bad for TV ratings.

My husband liked the movie. I didn't care for it.







 







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Wednesday, January 12, 2022

INTERVIEW: Author Carol Ann Kauffman Talks to the Literary Vixen




Dear Gentle Readers,

This is an interview I did with Laura Trujillo from the Literary Vixen. I thought you might be interested. 

 

1.     How long have you been writing? 

      As soon as I could put big, fat primary pencil to paper, I was writing. I used to revise the stories in our primary classroom readers to be more relevant to my friends, and get big laughs on the playground. I won essay contests in the upper elementary grades. I had a story published in a magazine in high school. But then, life happened and I quit writing to go to work. I didn’t write seriously until I retired.

 

2.     Describe a typical writing day. 

      There is no typical day for me. I write when the mood calls to me. It could be the middle of the night. I especially liked winter when the weather was bad and my husband got called out to work at 2:00 in the morning. A few of my novels were written in that time frame. Normally I set aside a few hours in the morning to write. If “it” doesn’t happen, I edit, blog, or market. Late night hours are also good writing time for me, when everyone is asleep and the house is quiet.



      3.     Where do you get your inspiration for your books? 

      Some are life experiences, mine and others. Sometimes it’s part of an overheard conversation or especially touching song will evoke an emotional response in me that needs to be written down. When we were on our second honeymoon in Florida, back to the same hotel where we first stayed, I promised my husband it was a “no writing” vacation. However, I woke up in the middle of the night in a bit of a state of anxiety. Unfamiliar room, etc. For a moment, I couldn’t figure out where I was. The snore next to me brought me out of it, but that made for the beginning of my novel, Charming Deception. I wrote that opening chapter on my phone in the bathroom.  

 

4.     Do you have a favorite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special? 

      Yes, Richard Mackenzie, the main male characters in my Time After Time series, is my favorite. (Shhh…don’t tell the others.) People ask me if he is modeled after my husband. I laugh. Richard is a composite of many qualities I find admirable in a man. He is tall, dark, and handsome, yes, but he’s also loving, strong and vulnerable. Not many men are brave enough to open up emotionally the way Richard does.

 

5.     When you’re writing an emotionally draining (or sexy, or sad, etc) scene, how do you get in the mood? 

       Just start writing. Louis L’Amour has a great quote. “Start writing. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” There are days I’ve started with a grocery list. But on really great writing days, that mood comes first and I have to hurry up and write it.  

 

6.     If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be? 

       Happy. Empathetic. Italian.

 

7.     When writing a series how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself? 

      I always have more than one project going on at the same time.  Different series. Time After Time is a romantic adventure series about the same couple finding each other over and over again in different lifetimes. Cat Collier Mystery is a girl sleuth series. Different genres. Romance, mystery, sci-fi, Christmas. It helps me to bounce around from one to the other. If I don’t think it’s new and fresh and exciting, my readers won’t either.  

 

8.     Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with me?

       I am excited to share with you my work-in-progress, 47-O, Ford Deseveno. 


A sci-fi tale about the male humanoid in tank number 47-O at an upstate Ohio cryogenic facility who is suddenly needed back on his home world to avert a planet-wide crisis. His emergency thaw is activated. But while Ford struggles to remember his mission and regain his strength, forces are gathering against him.

​Meanwhile, Ford feels an immediate attraction to Dr. Olivia Bellamy, granddaughter of founder William Ulysses Bellamy (Wubsy), the man who put him in the cryogenic tube so, so, long ago to save his life, and also to separate him from Wubsy's wife who has developed a strong attachment to the tall, thin, ashen alien called 47-O, or Ford. Granddaughter Olivia bears a strong resemblance to her grandmother, also named Olivia.

​From there, things get complicated.

This completed novella is now available to read on Kindle's new platform, Vella.

Link:  tinyurl.com/yhc8zby8

 

9.     What advice would you give to other authors? 

      Everybody has a book inside them. Everyone has at least ONE story to tell. When I taught school, I always had my students keep a journal. Writing things down helps you remember, helps you work through a problem, makes you a more organized thinker, and lowers your blood pressure. Now, that said, it doesn’t mean anybody will want to buy your book. But write anyway. Wasn’t it Edgar Rice Burroughs who said, (paraphrasing here) if you write one book, it could be really bad. But if you write 100, you’re bound to improve? I’m working on #27. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t let someone who never wrote a book tell you how to write yours. And when you get that first awful, terrible, soul-sucking review (and you will because Amazon lets anything with opposable thumbs write a review if they spend $50), read it once, take from it any glimmer of honest, constructive criticism, then forget it as you gently step over the warm, stinking pile and continue on your happy writing way. 

 

10.  What is the one thing you want people to know about you and your books? 

      My books are about life, love, loss, and lunacy. I bristle at the label “clean romance” because although there are no graphic sexual scenes, they’rewritten for adults. On a personal level, my advice is: Open up. It’s never too late to be the person you were meant to be. Life is full of second chances if you’re brave enough to take them. Yes, you risk getting hurt. And sometimes you will and it will be sad and pitiful. But the rewards are astounding. Don’t be that old person who says I should’ve done this or that. DO IT!  

The characters in my books tend to jump in with both feet, especially my heroines. They are brave and feisty. I don’t know where they get that…

 

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to your captive audience. Stay well.  


















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Tuesday, January 11, 2022

BOOK REVIEW: Monster is in the Eye of the Beholder by Lorinda Taylor




Monster is in the Eye of the Beholder 
by Lorinda J. Taylor was a well written sci-fi novella that will 
make you think and make you shiver. A team of scientists are on a 
mission to learn more about an intriguing alien species, the Kal, 
who some might call  monsters. What we bring to their planet is 
astounding. 
As a species, are we ready to go to the stars? This one will 
make you spot and think. I highly recommend.


Buy Link:




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Sunday, January 9, 2022

SCHEDULE: Jan. 10 - 14, 2022


Mon., January 10 - ART:
German Artist 
Hans Hassenteufel
Tues., January 11 - BOOK REVIEW:
Monster is in the Eye of the Beholder
by Lorinda J. Taylor
Wed., January 12 - INTERVIEW:
The Literary Vixen Interviews
Author Carol Ann Kauffman
Thurs., January 13 -ENTERTAINMENT:
Don't Look Up
(Netflix)
Fri., January 14 -  BOOK:
The Captain and the Ambassador
by Carol Ann Kauffman






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Note:

Vision and Verse does not store any personal information like email addresses, home addresses, etc. We do not give any information to third parties. And cookies? We eat cookies.