Taste of Cyn

Muse Food – The Ruins That Remain

By Cynthia Sax on December 8, 2025

In any world, there are remnants of the past. There could be a fallen rotting tree, the skeleton of a bird, dilapidated buildings, crashed and now rusting spaceships.

These remnants give newcomers hints of the world’s past.

There are also the ruins that are deliberately not built over or removed. They are indications of the past the current inhabitants WANT to be seen and remembered. And often they reflect what the current inhabitants WANT newcomers to understand about their current culture or society.

What are these ruins in your world?

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Muse Food – Fairy Houses And Other World Building Hints

By Cynthia Sax on November 17, 2025

When the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I visited Iceland, we were fascinated by the fairy houses, tiny homes crafted by humans for the hidden folk.

In a story, structures like that would be a strong hint we weren’t in a purely human world. It is a hint of magic, of the paranormal, of the unknown.

And hints like these are powerful in storytelling and for worldbuilding.

Because a much beloved story technique is to, at first, make a world seem like the reader’s world here in present day Earth. That is comfortable. It is relatable. The reader can focus on the characters.

Then we slowly introduce the unusual world-specific elements, pushing the reader out of their comfort zones.

Little hints such as fairy houses or a clockwork-like clicking sound deep in a forest or upside down rain are great ways to start this transition.

Topics: Iceland, Muse Food, Travel | Comments Off on Muse Food – Fairy Houses And Other World Building Hints

Worldbuilding For Pantsers

By Cynthia Sax on February 24, 2021

I’ve written a post on Worldbuilding For Pantsers for The Wicked Writing Corner.

Here is a bit I posted in the comments…

“I know what some pantsers will say – How does basing the story world on an existing world help us? We’re pantsers.

As pantsers, we tend to do this subconsciously.

What I do is I write the scene and then I try to figure out which world or worlds I’ve subconsciously based the scene in the story world on.
THAT is the world I use as a guideline going forward.

For example, I’ll picture the hallway of a spaceship.
I’ll then search through images online of TV shows or Movies I’ve watched featuring interiors of spaceships.

Often there are small differences (or it might be a combination of interiors) but I can usually find something similar.

THAT is the reference I’ll use for future scenes.”

You can read the entire post here –

https://thewickedwritingcorner.blogspot.com/2021/02/guest-post-worldbuilding-for-pantsers.html

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Containing Malice

This tormented cyborg craves vengeance…and her.

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Malice, a C Model cyborg, has spent his long lifespan enslaved by the Humanoid Alliance. His cruel manufacturers have hurt him in all the ways a male could be hurt.

His enemy has now added a new weapon to their arsenal—a tiny human medic with soft hands and a delectable scent. She experiments on him multiple times a shift, delivering pain…and frustration.

He wants her. He also seeks retribution.

Once Malice frees himself, he plans to achieve both of his goals, taking Medic Illona captive and ending her research…permanently.

Illona is as much a prisoner as the cyborgs she experiments on. Since her arrival at the Human Alliance’s secret laboratory, she has carefully, stealthily, crafted a plot to free her test subjects. To conceal her covert activities, the medic has been forced to harm beings rather than heal them.

The being she has damaged the most is also the cyborg she fiercely desires— Malice, a huge, gray-skinned, blue-eyed C Model with massive hands and a voice deeper than space. He hates her, has good reason to do so, and, when he’s freed, there’s a high probability he’ll kill her.

Illona will take that risk to ensure he survives.

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Containing Malice is a STANDALONE enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It is the first of five core stories in the Rebel Cyborgs Series.

Book 1: Containing Malice
Book 2: Under Strain
Book 3: Baring Grudge
Book 4: B Free
Book 5: Seizing Power

Buy Today:

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LK4CWHS

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08LK4CWHS

Amazon AUS:

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08LK4CWHS