Bookcover Spotlight #283

This week is  

Amidst the Surf

The sun beat down on the spray- drenched rocks and gulls wheeled overhead, calling incessantly. The breakers came crashing in and around her, and continued towards shore, foaming and eddying around her little refuge. Sometimes a great slap of spray would drench her and set her teeth to chattering, but it was exhilarating at the same time. She pulled herself up onto the rock, trying to avoid slick patches and make herself more comfortable. As she gained the summit of the rock she found a relatively flat spot where she could stretch out a bit and begin to dry off.

Looking back towards shore she was surprised how far she had come. She was at once pleased with herself and a little concerned, for she was farther out than she had anticipated. The wind was cold and wet and she felt very alone, but her sense of accomplishment crowded out her fears and she resolved to savor the moment and bask in her new- found freedom as long as she could. Around her were other rocks jutting out of the sea. Most were not as large as this one, and some close in to shore were barely large enough for someone to stand on. Farther out to sea she thought she could see more rocks, or perhaps islands, though it was hard to tell. They must have been quite a ways out. She wondered briefly what was on those islands, if anything.

Away to the south she could see the outlines of a shipwreck, part of a hull and several masts protruding from the water. The merfolk were known to cavort in the ruins of the ship, so most sensible people steered clear of it. Sometimes strange flickering lights were seen in and around the wreck at night, or so people said. She had never seen them herself. Beyond the shipwreck in the distance were the great rocks, rising from the surf like primordial giants and large enough to have trees and vegetation. Some of these were quite high, and the Sea People would sometimes row out to them and climb the paths to the top where they could see for great distances.

After a time she must have drowsed, for she woke with a start to see the sun hanging lower in the sky. Time to be heading back. Her clothes were nearly dry and she did not relish the idea of going back into the water, but there was no help for it. She sighed wistfully and looked around her once more, gazing out to sea at the horizon and then back towards shore. It was not as sunny as it had been, clouds were rolling in and the air was feeling cooler. She had best get moving.

As she swam for shore she let the incoming waves carry her along, laughing as the swells lifted her and seemed to throw her forward. When she could touch she strode out of the surf, wringing her tunic in both hands to get some of the water out. The swim back to shore had taken a lot less time than the swim out to the rock, she reflected. It was just as well. Glancing at the sky she was not sure she wanted to remain out of doors too much longer.

Cover Love Dean Ellis

Some of my favorite SF covers are by Dean Ellis. And since this weeks Top Ten Tues is a freebie I thought I'd spotlight some of my favorite Ellis covers. These are old school but still awesome.

I love how there are people in the ship- you can see the portholes- and they are offloading something. I included the full image below where you really get the sense of an alien world, the moon in the upper left- the full image really gives a better sense of the art.

Apparently he also did crime covers!

This one I read recently- notice the machinery below ground. This is a pretty wild generation ship tale.

Is this terrifying or what?

I love this domed city.

Song of the Week #105

This week is Twist of Fate -  a song by Olivia Newton-John from the 1983 movie Two of a Kind. Which is a guilty pleasure movie of mine (and should be a candidate for my Movies That Suck posts, I guess). It also showed up on a certain popular Netflix show recently. Enjoy!  

 

Sunday Post #420

Another week. This one flew. I did post a Cover Love and I received Vol. One of Golden City in the mail. My favorite graphic novel series but it hasn't been translated yet like a lot of the other French- Belgian series I've been reading. My first time ordering from Amazon France. And I had to laugh at some of the tweets I included below, especially the one about packages at UPS. 

Next week I'm going to post new flash fiction on Wednesday.

           

This week in walking tours I have a rainy night in Seoul.  

Song of the week

PULP COVER OF THE WEEK: 

Some more Carla  

First off this is AMAZING. 

 

They aren’t allowed to get direct payments (blatant conflict of interest). The insurance money goes to the hospitals.

But the top killing nurse on each shift weekly gets “Employee of the Week” parking privileges and a $17 gift card to Olive Garden.

— Twitted 🏳️‍🌈 (@VegasVegan777) September 14, 2021

      

I don’t have that Venn diagram but I do have this one. Pretty much sums up our lives these days pic.twitter.com/MKH0AIZftf

— Mimi *Live a Great Story* 💙🙏🏻📿😷 (@MaryWeglarz) September 9, 2021

I used to work for UPS. We’d throw packages left and right because hey it’s not our shit who cares. And then we’d find it under the conveyer belt like a week later like WHOOPS

— Subtlety is for suckers (@Ianthejefferson) September 16, 2021