Cookoff on Ice: From the Journals of Samantha Bloodworth

Briar Lee Mitchell

Feb 2015 · Permuted Press

About this ebook

Samantha Bloodworth is still stationed at McMurdo, Antarctica, waiting for her next writing assignment. She smells a fun story being cooked up when some of the guys from the motor pool challenge the neighboring New Zealanders’ to a chili cook-off, with a group of Korean pilots as the judges.

Just as the first batch of chili is being judged, an explosion occurs near the party. Burning debris rains down on the party goers. The volcano that looms over McMurdo has chosen this unfortunate time to lob some lava bombs.

The commander of McMurdo orders everyone over to the New Zealanders’ base on the other side of the hill. For three days, the Americans, the New Zealanders and the Koreans are jammed into the smaller space. The taunting that had started during the cook-off continues and tempers flare. Initially, a winner was to have been crowned during the cook-off, but soon Samantha just hopes that everyone can survive the ordeal of living in a sardine can.

About the author

BRIAR LEE MITCHELL, MA, began as an illustrator in 1977 and has degrees from the University of Toledo (Ohio, mcl BA in Art) and the University of California, San Francisco (Masters in Medical and Biological Illustration, scl). As an illustrator and writer she has worked for Johns Hopkins, Yale, The Smithsonian, The US Air Force, Lucafilm Ltd., The Tuskeegee Airmen, Disney, Universal Studios (games division), Warner Bros. (TV and Feature Animation - Quest for Camelot, Sylvester & Tweety, Pinky & The Brain among others).) and currently is full time faculty for Art Institute, teaching courses in game production.

She produced art, portraits, storyboards and animation for a project in conjunction with The Smithsonian titled "The Life and Times of Albert Einstein". The videodisc and a portrait she painted of Albert Einstein are still at The Smithsonian.

Joining the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles in 1992 she served as President for two years. Through her association with SILA, she became a member of the Air Force Art Program and traveled around the world with the Air Force to document their work in paintings that are inducted into the National Archives in Washington, DC. Her travels to date have taken her to Asia, the South Pacific, New Zealand and as far away as the South Pole along with noted director/producer JAMES CAMERON.

Currently, Briar runs Star Mountain Studios, a successful gaming company with her partners RICHARD STERNBERG and ADAM RYAN. They produced an on-line video game called Genie Joe and the Axeman with JOE PERRY of Aerosmith and an interactive game titled Apparitions with JASON HAWES and GRANT WILSON, the Ghost Hunters.