Muse Food – Add Some Spice
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I love exploring the spice markets when we travel.
(This display was found in Dubai.)
When I cook, I tend to reach for the same spices again and again.
A visit to a spice market reminds me that there’s a vast assortment of spices available on this wonderful planet, spices I rarely or have never used.
I make it a goal to try at least one of those spices after each visit.
And that changes my cooking and my meals significantly. The new-to-me spice adds interest, another dimension to the food.
This is the same with writing and telling stories. There are words and cadence and sentence structure and other aspects that we can use to add interest and variety to our tales.
Try something new. Explore new-to-you writing lands.
(smiles)
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Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – June 29
This beautiful fur ball (grins) was spotted in Mazatlan, Mexico.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I are enjoying the summer. He is playing a lot of pickleball. I’m doing a lot of gardening. The plants are growing. The bumblebees are buzzing. I’m thinking of future stories I’d love to write and hoping the world will allow those stories to be published.
Life is good.
(smiles)
Have a wonderful week, my friends. (big hugs) Dream happily of the future. Think of all the things you want to see or do, the cats you’d like to pet, the online friends you would love to chat with. There is a lot of light and joy left in this awesome universe. I wish for you to experience both!
***
Cyborg Sizzle Homeland Omnibus
Cyborgs will do anything to protect their Homeland.
* * *
The cyborgs have claimed their Homeland but that has come at a cost. As they reconcile with their pasts, they seek to manufacture happier futures with the females they’re destined to love and cherish forever.
This omnibus includes three stories in the Cyborg Sizzle series: Taking Vengeance, The Cyborg’s Secret Baby and Dark Arsenal.
All of these Cyborg Romances are set in a dark, gritty, often violent universe.
Taking Vengeance
The only force stronger than their hate is their love.
Vengeance hates all humans. They killed every being he ever cared about. When the huge C Model cyborg is told he’s genetically compatible with the enemy, he makes it his mission to capture the female and use her to expel all humans from his home planet.
The Cyborg’s Secret Baby
A fierce cyborg warrior and his curvy human female share a no-longer-so-little secret.
Stealth, a K Model cyborg, knows his passion for Zebrina, the commander’s human daughter, is forbidden, yet he can’t resist the curvy female. He craves her touch, cherishes her sounds of pleasure, would do anything to keep her safe.
Dark Arsenal
A cyborg warrior and a Rebel female’s first mission together might be their last.
Arsenal considers himself to be a disposable cyborg. He drifts from assignment to assignment, forming no connections to anything or anyone. When the cyborg council requires a warrior for a high-risk mission, Arsenal volunteers. He believes no one will miss him if he dies. He doesn’t realize he’s one female’s fantasy.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Cyborg-Homeland-Omnibus-Romance-Continuum-ebook/dp/B0DVQF51ZG
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyborg-Homeland-Omnibus-Romance-Continuum-ebook/dp/B0DVQF51ZG
Amazon AU:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Cyborg-Homeland-Omnibus-Romance-Continuum-ebook/dp/B0DVQF51ZG
Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Cyborg-Homeland-Omnibus-Romance-Continuum-ebook/dp/B0DVQF51ZG
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book-series/cyborg-romance-continuum/id1488934279
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cyborg-sizzle-homeland-omnibus
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1700426
Topics: Cynthia Sax Weekly Update | Comments Off on Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – June 29
AI And Rereading Your Stories
There was drama in Romancelandia recently when some clearly AI-written stories were published with AI prompts left in them.
I write for myself first and foremost. I love writing the messy first drafts. That magic is what makes the rest of the process worth it (revisions, edits, proofreading, marketing, etc.).
But I can kind of, sort of, maybe understand why other writers would be tempted to use AI. Writer’s block is a very real thing. I suffered through it for a short while. And COVID unfortunately has damaged ALL of our brains. This damage has been very noticeable for writers.
What I don’t understand is…
Why weren’t these stories, at the very least, read by the writers before they were published?
My stars. I reread my stories a gazillion times before publishing them. I’m so worried about accidentally uploading a rough draft or having missing chapters or dealing with the many other things that could go wrong during the formatting/writing process.
Reread your final stories before you hit publish (or send them to Beta readers)!
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on AI And Rereading Your Stories
Share The Joy
Recently, the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I donated my wedding dress to a charity shop.
This wedding dress was purchased second-hand from a consignment shop and our wedding occurred several decades of happiness ago. The dress is a classic, timeless style. I see similar dresses being wore by brides now.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby was the person who originally found it for me. It was everything I wanted in a dress. And I felt like a princess when I wore it.
I want another person to have that same joy, to feel beautiful, to experience that happiness.
(smiles)
Share your joy if you can. It shouldn’t diminish your happiness. It should expand it.
(big hugs)
Oh and we waited this long to donate the wedding dress because the Dear Wonderful Hubby didn’t think I truly wanted to let it go. He had seen how happy I was when I wore it and didn’t want me to lose that.
I won’t. My happiness has INCREASED, not decreased.
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on Share The Joy
Throwback Thursday – Warlord’s Mercy
I love a great villain turned hero story. I also love surprises during the writing of my stories.
Warlord’s Mercy gives me both.
Because Tolui, the hero of Warlord’s Mercy, is the big baddie in the previous stories in the series. I was CERTAIN the Warlord brothers would defeat him…permanently.
I was surprised when Tolui not only survived but insisted on having his own romantic happy ever after.
(grins)
Tolui has a very strong sense of honor. It is unique to him but it exists. He also had to do some terrible things to protect the beings he cares about.
But he is more like the Warlord brothers than any of them realize.
I love him. Lea, his heroine, (eventually) loves him.
I suspect you’ll love him also.
(smiles)
Other Chameles view him as the enemy.
She sees the warrior hero he never believed he could be.
* * *
Tolui is a Warlord in search of a planet to rule. He has been leading his fellow clones in a stealth battle, fighting for both control of the Chamele sector and the right to exist. The brave warriors he commands warrant respect, and they deserve the best.
That best isn’t the barren, dangerous terrain on Chamele 4. When Tolui crashes on that planet’s surface, he’s determined to leave it as soon as possible. The tiny human female rescuing him might be as beautiful and as wild as the land she inhabits, but her flowing words, trusting gaze, and enthralling submission won’t stop him from rejoining the war.
After many solar cycles of living alone, Lea is overjoyed when a tall, scarred, muscular warrior falls from the sky. Her savage stranger is strong and severe, and he makes her feel safe, an emotion she hasn’t experienced in a long, long time.
He also insists they must part. Before they do, she’ll show him the splendor of her home, and she’ll enjoy his big form, collecting passionate moments she can revisit when she’s solitary once more.
Every additional moment Lea and Tolui spend together increases the chance they’ll both die. Lea is being chased by female-hating fiends. Tolui is being hunted by the best bounty hunters in the universe. War will soon arrive on their threshold, and the blood spilled might be their own.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0886K65F9
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0886K65F9
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/warlords-mercy/id1511995733
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/warlord-s-mercy-1
SmashWords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1020349
Topics: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Warlord’s Mercy
Yard/Garden Uses For Coffee Grounds
At least once a week, the Dear Wonderful Hubby goes to coffee shops en route to wherever else he’s going and he loads up the car with coffee grounds.
These are a FREE resource and we use them in a few ways.
We use them to bank the house. This improves the gradient, which in turn, decreases the risk of our basement flooding. And coffee grounds supposedly discourage mice, squirrels and some other unwanted visitors.
We sprinkle coffee grounds over the lawn once a year (usually before several days of rain). This is a free fertilizer and it also builds up the soil a bit.
And we, of course, use coffee grounds in compost. We add it to compost bins. And we also layer it over the leaves in the Fall/Autumn as we put the garden beds to rest. The coffee grounds add nitrogen and they help to keep the leaves from blowing away.
Topics: Gardening | Comments Off on Yard/Garden Uses For Coffee Grounds
Coconut Boats / Basket Boats In Hội An, Vietnam
One of the activities to do in Hội An, Vietnam is to take a coconut boat or, more correctly, a basket boat tour.
The round boats were designed to get around tariffs being levied by the French on boats.
They were traditionally made from woven bamboo, sealed with a waterproof natural resin and were shaped like baskets because, the locals argued, they WERE baskets, not boats.
And since they were clearly baskets, the taxes on boats didn’t apply to them.
(grins)
I thought this tour would be a peaceful paddle around the mangroves, looking at nature, and listening to the birds.
And there was a bit of that.
A TINY bit.
Most of the tour was a very loud, boisterous party. There were hundreds of other people in boats. Music blasted constantly. There were shows on the water. And cheering. And bumping into other boats.
Expect THAT experience and don’t expect to see much nature.
Topics: Travel, Vietnam | Comments Off on Coconut Boats / Basket Boats In Hội An, Vietnam
Muse Food – Stranded Boats In Vietnam
During the rest stop at the pearl factory on the way to Hanoi, Vietnam, the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I spotted this boat.
Visitors were encouraged to board it unsupervised. It is now a tourist attraction.
But it clearly started its life as a working boat.
How did it end up at the pearl factory? Why was this specific boat chosen for the display? Is it no longer sea-worthy? Is that why it is surrounded by land and not close to the water? If so, what happened to make it no longer sea-worthy?
(My vote was it had been attacked by ancient sea monsters and those sea monsters will down it if it ever touches the sea again. – grins)
Its unexpected and unexplained appearance prompts questions. And one of those questions could lead to a great story.
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Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – June 22
This kitty the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I spotted in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is doing what I am doing with the book publishing – he’s sitting (on it).
(grins)
It is summer, which is always a slow time for publishers. And the publishing environment seems to change every dang day.
So I’m enjoying the warmer weather in my part of the universe. I’m relaxing, gardening, spending time with the Dear Wonderful Hubby, dreaming of new stories, and refilling the emotional well.
And that’s a great thing!
Have a wonderful week, my friends. (big hugs) Do what you can to refill your emotional well also. Take a short nap after work. Read a great romance novel. Hug your furbabies, if they’ll allow you to do that. (smiles) Touch the ground. And show yourself some love. You deserve it!
***
Cyborg Sizzle Homeland Omnibus
Cyborgs will do anything to protect their Homeland.
* * *
The cyborgs have claimed their Homeland but that has come at a cost. As they reconcile with their pasts, they seek to manufacture happier futures with the females they’re destined to love and cherish forever.
This omnibus includes three stories in the Cyborg Sizzle series: Taking Vengeance, The Cyborg’s Secret Baby and Dark Arsenal.
All of these Cyborg Romances are set in a dark, gritty, often violent universe.
Taking Vengeance
The only force stronger than their hate is their love.
Vengeance hates all humans. They killed every being he ever cared about. When the huge C Model cyborg is told he’s genetically compatible with the enemy, he makes it his mission to capture the female and use her to expel all humans from his home planet.
The Cyborg’s Secret Baby
A fierce cyborg warrior and his curvy human female share a no-longer-so-little secret.
Stealth, a K Model cyborg, knows his passion for Zebrina, the commander’s human daughter, is forbidden, yet he can’t resist the curvy female. He craves her touch, cherishes her sounds of pleasure, would do anything to keep her safe.
Dark Arsenal
A cyborg warrior and a Rebel female’s first mission together might be their last.
Arsenal considers himself to be a disposable cyborg. He drifts from assignment to assignment, forming no connections to anything or anyone. When the cyborg council requires a warrior for a high-risk mission, Arsenal volunteers. He believes no one will miss him if he dies. He doesn’t realize he’s one female’s fantasy.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Cyborg-Homeland-Omnibus-Romance-Continuum-ebook/dp/B0DVQF51ZG
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyborg-Homeland-Omnibus-Romance-Continuum-ebook/dp/B0DVQF51ZG
Amazon AU:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Cyborg-Homeland-Omnibus-Romance-Continuum-ebook/dp/B0DVQF51ZG
Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Cyborg-Homeland-Omnibus-Romance-Continuum-ebook/dp/B0DVQF51ZG
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book-series/cyborg-romance-continuum/id1488934279
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cyborg-sizzle-homeland-omnibus
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1700426
Topics: Cynthia Sax Weekly Update | Comments Off on Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – June 22
No One Knows When They Don’t Die
I tend to use probabilities as guidelines. I’m not as great at calculating those probabilities as cyborgs are. (grins) But I’m good enough to give myself direction.
And those probabilities tell me…
Without prevention, you and I would likely be dead by now.
Yes, sometimes the difference between life and death is pure luck.
But more often than that, medicine and engineering and other sciences, combined with laws, saved us.
If you were vaccinated as a kid (or as an adult), almost all, if not all of those vaccinations prevented deaths. One of those deaths could have been yours.
Air trafficker controllers ensured the plane you were on didn’t crash into another plane.
The traffic lights at an intersection stopped a driver from running your walking a$$ over.
Food inspectors ensured the package of lettuce you picked up at the grocery story wasn’t infused with E.coli.
Hundreds of years of work by thousands, perhaps millions, of people have resulted in many of us having water that is safe to drink, that won’t kill us.
And the list goes on and on and on.
We take these guardrails for granted. We assume they will be there for us. And we assume we won’t die when we do simple things like mow the lawn or use a microwave.
Because that is the thing about prevention. As John at vlogbrothers shares “When it works, nothing happens.’
No one thinks about the many ways they could have died. They don’t realize how dang lucky we are to have these laws and processes and inspectors and scientists.
We are fortunate to have them and to be alive today.
(smiles)
It is a fraggin’ miracle. And I’m grateful to be in this wonderful world with you.
(big hugs)
Topics: Cyn-Sights | Comments Off on No One Knows When They Don’t Die
