Chasing Mayhem Nominated For Best SciFi Book Of 2016
Chasing Mayhem has been nominated as one of the Best SciFi Books of 2016!
He requires an Expert. She needs a hero.
Barrel requires an Expert for the Tau Cetian orphans. He’s looking for a female who is willing to commit to a lifespan-long role, who is comfortable with moving off planet, and who, preferably, has the ability to speak the offsprings’ first language.
Nola wants the role Barrel is offering so badly she bends a few truths. Yes, she was born off planet but she has lived almost all of her lifespan in sheltered Academies. Yes, she has learned Tau Cetian but she has never spoken with a local. Yes, she plans to follow the rules but his deep, sexy voice tempts her to rebel.
When a fact-morphing human academic meets her battle-worn cyborg warrior, deceptions are revealed, passions flare, and circuits sizzle. Wrong seems right. Lies turn into truth. The candidate least qualified for the role becomes the one candidate Barrel can’t let go.
Jumping Barrel is a short companion story in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is meant to be read after Releasing Rage, Breathing Vapor and Crash And Burn.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Coming For FREE In December 2016
Note: Amazon doesn’t allow me to list stories for free. I have to list Jumping Barrel for 99 cents and then ask them to price match it to other booksellers. This story was written as a gift for you. Please wait until the price is reduced to ZERO i.e. FREE before ‘buying’ it. Save your dollar for my next release (in February).
Topics: Awards | Comments Off on Chasing Mayhem Nominated For Best SciFi Book Of 2016
Vulpeculae, Home Of Nola, Jumping Barrel’s Heroine
Nola, the heroine of Jumping Barrel, lives on Vulpeculae 5. The planet’s name is a nod to Vulpeculae, the constellation. This constellation is associated with some playful imagery, which makes it perfect for our light, fun December short story.
Vulpeculae is Latin for ‘little fox.’ Its commonly referred to as the fox. Alpha Vulpeculae, its brightest star, is known as Anser, the goose. Yes, the fox is holding a goose in its jaws. (grins)
Anser is a red giant and an optical binary (a double star). I thought that was appropriate for Jumping Barrel, a romance between a cyborg warrior and a human expert.
Vulpeculae is also noted for HD 189733 b. Water vapor was detected in the atmosphere of that planet. Other highlights of the constellation are the Dumbbell Nebula, a large, bright planetary nebula, NGC 7052, a spiral galaxy, and the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, a galaxy filament.
The Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall is the largest structure in the universe. It is 10 billion light-years long, 7.2 billion light-years wide, and almost 1 billion light-years thick. To put that in perspective, the Earth is a mere 0.000016 light-years from the Sun. Yeah, the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall is HUGE.
He requires an Expert. She needs a hero.
Barrel requires an Expert for the Tau Cetian orphans. He’s looking for a female who is willing to commit to a lifespan-long role, who is comfortable with moving off planet, and who, preferably, has the ability to speak the offsprings’ first language.
Nola wants the role Barrel is offering so badly she bends a few truths. Yes, she was born off planet but she has lived almost all of her lifespan in sheltered Academies. Yes, she has learned Tau Cetian but she has never spoken with a local. Yes, she plans to follow the rules but his deep, sexy voice tempts her to rebel.
When a fact-morphing human academic meets her battle-worn cyborg warrior, deceptions are revealed, passions flare, and circuits sizzle. Wrong seems right. Lies turn into truth. The candidate least qualified for the role becomes the one candidate Barrel can’t let go.
Jumping Barrel is a short companion story in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is meant to be read after Releasing Rage, Breathing Vapor and Crash And Burn.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Coming For FREE In December 2016
Note: Amazon doesn’t allow me to list stories for free. I have to list Jumping Barrel for 99 cents and then ask them to price match it to other booksellers. This story was written as a gift for you. Please wait until the price is reduced to ZERO i.e. FREE before ‘buying’ it. Save your dollar for my next release (in February).
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Vulpeculae, Home Of Nola, Jumping Barrel’s Heroine
Do NOT Pay 99 Cents For Jumping Barrel
Jumping Barrel, my December cyborg short story, is being listed at booksellers this week. This story will be FREE. This is my gift to you, my wonderful readers, for being so freakin’ awesome. (tackle hugs)
The issue is… Amazon doesn’t allow books to be listed for FREE. We have to list books for 99 cents and then ask Amazon to price match to other booksellers (iBooks, B&N, ARe, etc). This often takes a couple of days (especially for UK readers).
Please WAIT. It will hurt my heart if you pay for a story I meant to give you as a gift. If you can’t wait, you must read it NOW (I hear you – I’m that way with some of my favorite writers), and the price hasn’t yet been changed, email me ( CynthiaSax (at) YMail (dot) com ) and I’ll send you a copy in Kindle/Amazon format.
Friends don’t let friends pay for their own gifts. (grins)
He requires an Expert. She needs a hero.
Barrel requires an Expert for the Tau Cetian orphans. He’s looking for a female who is willing to commit to a lifespan-long role, who is comfortable with moving off planet, and who, preferably, has the ability to speak the offsprings’ first language.
Nola wants the role Barrel is offering so badly she bends a few truths. Yes, she was born off planet but she has lived almost all of her lifespan in sheltered Academies. Yes, she has learned Tau Cetian but she has never spoken with a local. Yes, she plans to follow the rules but his deep, sexy voice tempts her to rebel.
When a fact-morphing human academic meets her battle-worn cyborg warrior, deceptions are revealed, passions flare, and circuits sizzle. Wrong seems right. Lies turn into truth. The candidate least qualified for the role becomes the one candidate Barrel can’t let go.
Jumping Barrel is a short companion story in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is meant to be read after Releasing Rage, Breathing Vapor and Crash And Burn.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Coming For FREE In December 2016
Note: Amazon doesn’t allow me to list stories for free. I have to list Jumping Barrel for 99 cents and then ask them to price match it to other booksellers. This story was written as a gift for you. Please wait until the price is reduced to ZERO i.e. FREE before ‘buying’ it. Save your dollar for my next release (in February).
Topics: Coming Soon | 1 Comment »
Do You Have To Publish Every Story You Write?
I don’t publish every story I write. Yes. I heard that gasp. There’s a myth in the writing world that professional writers, writers who earn or try to earn a living through their stories, HAVE to publish every story they write.
Why write stories if they won’t be read by readers?
There are numerous reasons why writers would and perhaps should write stories readers will never read. The stories I write only for myself are normally not at all marketable. They are ideas that are so far out there; I’m likely the only person who would find them interesting.
I write them quickly, briefly to get them out of my mind and to satisfy my creative urges. Because they will never be published, there’s no need to complete the dozen or so drafts to get them to submission level. There’s no need to send them to my editor, to pay for that awesome editor, to spend more time on two or three additional drafts. I don’t have to worry about formatting or covers or blurbs or marketing. These stories are for my eyes only, written purely for the joy of writing them.
When we talk about branding in the writing world, about sticking to one niche and publishing stories only in that niche, many writers push back, saying they couldn’t write only in one niche. It would stifle their creativity. They don’t realize that publishing in one niche and writing in one niche are two very different things.
Write in a variety of niches. Publish only the stories in one of those niches. Bam. You’re known for a niche. You’ll build a brand and a readership around it. Yet you have total creative freedom.
Writers might be under contract with publishers and restricted as to which stories they can write (this usually ties into branding). XXX Publisher has first dibs on the writer’s next YYY stories and that publisher only wants contemporary romances or they only want the axe murderer series or they only want heroines with blue eyes and brown hair. Writing other stories for our personal enjoyment makes that contract creatively bearable.
It also prevents series burnout, which is a VERY real thing for writers. I LOVE my cyborg series. I plan to concentrate on it in 2017. It is very important to me to bring readers of this series fresh, interesting stories. Sometimes the best way to do that is to take a creative vacation from the series. I spend a week writing something completely different, something strange, something weird. Then I come back, excited, enthused, my brain brimming with different ways to approach the next story.
Sometimes I’ll write a story merely to test a technique or a style or a type of character/setting/tone. Do I feel comfortable writing this? Do I enjoy writing this? Does it work in a story? I might test a number of things in one story. That story will be a mess but I’ll often discover something I can use in a more marketable story.
Sometimes the exact opposite thing happens—we end up with a new story or series. Releasing Rage was written only for me. No one was interested in publishing it. I wrote it anyway. I believed in it and I decided to self-publish it. If I hadn’t given myself permission to write a story only for my own enjoyment, it wouldn’t have been written.
You don’t have to publish every story you write.
He requires an Expert. She needs a hero.
Barrel requires an Expert for the Tau Cetian orphans. He’s looking for a female who is willing to commit to a lifespan-long role, who is comfortable with moving off planet, and who, preferably, has the ability to speak the offsprings’ first language.
Nola wants the role Barrel is offering so badly she bends a few truths. Yes, she was born off planet but she has lived almost all of her lifespan in sheltered Academies. Yes, she has learned Tau Cetian but she has never spoken with a local. Yes, she plans to follow the rules but his deep, sexy voice tempts her to rebel.
When a fact-morphing human academic meets her battle-worn cyborg warrior, deceptions are revealed, passions flare, and circuits sizzle. Wrong seems right. Lies turn into truth. The candidate least qualified for the role becomes the one candidate Barrel can’t let go.
Jumping Barrel is a short companion story in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is meant to be read after Releasing Rage, Breathing Vapor and Crash And Burn.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Coming For FREE In December 2016
Note: Amazon doesn’t allow me to list stories for free. I have to list Jumping Barrel for 99 cents and then ask them to price match it to other booksellers. This story was written as a gift for you. Please wait until the price is reduced to ZERO i.e. FREE before ‘buying’ it. Save your dollar for my next release (in February).
Topics: Writing Tips | 3 Comments »
Interview With Cara Bristol
I sat down (virtually) with Cara Bristol for a short interview. Her latest release is Body Talk, a compilation of sexy excerpts from multiple erotic romance subgenres!
Cynthia Sax: What makes your heroes sexy?
Cara Bristol: They care for the heroine. Even in the BDSM romances, the hero is interested in her as a person. While a character may be conflicted about the relationship, he respects her as well as desires her. I create heroes who are worthy of the heroine’s love—although there may trauma in their past that makes them believe they’re not worthy of love. That’s something they have to overcome in the story.
Cynthia Sax: Where did you get the idea for Body Talk?
Cara Bristol: I’ve been a lifelong romance reader. As a teenager I used to reread the sexy parts over and over. I thought why not produce a book that was all sexy parts? Body Talk contains full chapter excerpts of eleven of my sexiest sex scenes! My current readers can reread some of their favorite passages—and readers new to me can be introduced to a sampling of my work. All for only 99 cents (or free with Kindle Unlimited). They’ll be introduced to some of my sci-fi romance, romantic comedy, paranormal, and BDSM (light).
Cynthia Sax: Where do your stories start?
Cara Bristol: Each excerpt begins with a lead-in to a sexy scene. In some cases, the characters intend to have sex; in others, but in others, they haven’t realized it themselves yet. What I’m trying to say is that it’s not a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am. There is pursuit and seduction. Love and affection. Readers will get to know the characters, their motivations and bit of their stories. Each scene is complete; there isn’t a cliffhanger.
Cynthia Sax: What advice would you give new writers?
Cara Bristol: Don’t give up. Pace yourself. Realize that there is no sprint to success. It’s a marathon you have to run every day. Being an author is my dream job, but it is work. If you don’t love writing, you probably won’t have the discipline to see it through to success.
Cynthia Sax: Thank you, Cara Bristol, for joining us today!
Cara Bristol’s Website: http://www.carabristol.com
*****************************************************************************
Remember when your favorite paperback books used to naturally open to the scenes you’d read over and over, the ones that made you laugh, tugged your heart or got you hot and bothered? In Body Talk, USA Today bestselling author Cara Bristol has compiled full-chapter excerpts of the sexiest scenes from her most popular and favorite erotic romances. These story excerpts will tug at your heart, captivate your imagination, and stir your senses. You’ll visit the familiar…and escape to the unexpected in a variety of subgenres including: contemporary romance, BDSM/spanking romance, science fiction romance, romantic comedy, and even a historical romance selection.
Buy Now:
On Amazon: http://hyperurl.co/BodyTalkAmz
Topics: Author Interviews | 1 Comment »
Cynthia Sax’s Upcoming Releases
December 2016 – Jumping Barrel – Barrel and Nola’s Story – FREE Cyborg Short Story
Jumping Barrel will be this year’s freebie short story, a thank you from me for supporting the cyborg series. It will be released, as readers requested, at all booksellers. Because it is a short story and it is set on Earth Minor, home of Vapor, Mira, Green, Shelby and the war orphans, it is best enjoyed if you’ve read the series up to and including Crash And Burn.
He requires an Expert. She needs a hero.
Barrel requires an Expert for the Tau Cetian orphans. He’s looking for a female who is willing to commit to a lifespan-long role, who is comfortable with moving off planet, and who, preferably, has the ability to speak the offsprings’ first language.
Nola wants the role Barrel is offering so badly she bends a few truths. Yes, she was born off planet but she has lived almost all of her lifespan in sheltered Academies. Yes, she has learned Tau Cetian but she has never spoken with a local. Yes, she plans to follow the rules but his deep, sexy voice tempts her to rebel.
When a fact-morphing human academic meets her battle-worn cyborg warrior, deceptions are revealed, passions flare, and circuits sizzle. Wrong seems right. Lies turn into truth. The candidate least qualified for the role becomes the one candidate Barrel can’t let go.
Jumping Barrel is a short companion story in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is meant to be read after Releasing Rage, Breathing Vapor and Crash And Burn.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Coming For FREE In December 2016
Note: Amazon doesn’t allow me to list stories for free. I have to list Jumping Barrel for 99 cents and then ask them to price match it to other booksellers. This story was written as a gift for you. Please wait until the price is reduced to ZERO i.e. FREE before ‘buying’ it. Save your dollar for my next release (in February).
February 2017 – Hers To Command – Ace, Thrasher And The Rebel Commander’s Story – Cyborg Romance
Hers To Command, the romance between Ace, Thrasher and a Rebel Commander (MMF), will release in February. This story will feature quite a few returning characters. However, it won’t feature Rage and Joan. They WILL be returning in the next cyborg story (Ghost’s story).
My goal for the cyborg series in 2017 is to release a story every three months.
March 2017 – Dark Thoughts – Kralj’s Story – SciFi Romance
Dark Thoughts is the first story in the 4 story spinoff of the cyborg series. All of these stories will be able to be read on their own. Dark Thoughts features Kralj, the scarred mind-reading male we first met in Chasing Mayhem.
May 2017 – Title To Be Determined – Ghost’s Story – Cyborg Romance
Ghost is the cyborg who saved Joan, the heroine of Releasing Rage, so yes, expect to see Rage and Joan in this story. I can’t say too much more about Ghost’s story except this is one extremely damaged hero.
August 2017 – Title To Be Determined – An Undecided Cyborg’s Story – Cyborg Romance
The next two longer stories in the series will happen during the same time period (during the mass rebellion). I haven’t yet decided which story to tell first.
December 2017 – Knowing Zip – Zip’s Story – Cyborg Romance
This will be the third freebie short story. Zip’s buddies, Green and Barrel, have found their females. Now it is Zip’s turn.
Other Releases
I will be receiving the rights back for many SciFi Romance stories on January 1st, 2017. I will be expanding many of these stories (to tell these stories the way I originally envisioned them) and re-releasing them.
Why You Should Consider Signing Up For My Newsletter
On non-release months, I plan to continue giving you exclusive updates on the cyborgs. At the beginning of the year, I’m focusing on Menace and Ada-971, his clone female.
Topics: Coming Soon | 1 Comment »
Jumping Barrel, Sisters And Teachers
Jumping Barrel, a freebie cyborg short story, will be releasing in December. Nola, the heroine of Jumping Barrel, is an Expert. That is what the Humanoid Alliance calls teachers.
This story is a nod to my two sisters. Both of them are teachers and they often talk about the conflict between giving students individual attention that would help them learn easier and faster vs using the recommended general method of teaching to reach as many students as efficiently as possible.
If you’re a reader of the cyborg series, you can probably guess that the Humanoid Alliance doesn’t approve of giving students individual attention. They’re interested in teaching compliance and hold the stance that either beings fit into the system or they’re to be eliminated from it. Permanently.
Nola, in contrast, leans more toward giving students individual attention. She wants to tweak her methods to best benefit each student. This puts her in conflict with the Humanoid Alliance, her employer. When she meets Barrel, our cyborg hero, she has been fired from three teaching positions and is desperate for work.
What is the cyborgs’ stance on education? Cyborgs are half machine. Transferring knowledge for them is as simple as transferring a file. The warriors train merely to perfect more practical skills like fighting. Any knowledge one cyborg gains is shared with all of them. (This is why the cyborgs evolve with each story.) As soon as they are manufactured, they ‘know’ everything.
The issue is Mira and Vapor have been adopting war orphans. These little humanoids don’t have the ability to transfer knowledge. They have to be taught. Barrel takes responsibility for their education and he doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing. (grins)
He decides the best solution is to hire an Expert. He finds Nola.
He requires an Expert. She needs a hero.
Barrel requires an Expert for the Tau Cetian orphans. He’s looking for a female who is willing to commit to a lifespan-long role, who is comfortable with moving off planet, and who, preferably, has the ability to speak the offsprings’ first language.
Nola wants the role Barrel is offering so badly she bends a few truths. Yes, she was born off planet but she has lived almost all of her lifespan in sheltered Academies. Yes, she has learned Tau Cetian but she has never spoken with a local. Yes, she plans to follow the rules but his deep, sexy voice tempts her to rebel.
When a fact-morphing human academic meets her battle-worn cyborg warrior, deceptions are revealed, passions flare, and circuits sizzle. Wrong seems right. Lies turn into truth. The candidate least qualified for the role becomes the one candidate Barrel can’t let go.
Jumping Barrel is a short companion story in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is meant to be read after Releasing Rage, Breathing Vapor and Crash And Burn.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Coming For FREE In December 2016
Note: Amazon doesn’t allow me to list stories for free. I have to list Jumping Barrel for 99 cents and then ask them to price match it to other booksellers. This story was written as a gift for you. Please wait until the price is reduced to ZERO i.e. FREE before ‘buying’ it. Save your dollar for my next release (in February).
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Jumping Barrel, Sisters And Teachers
Interview With Ace And Thrasher And The Cover Reveal For Hers To Command
My buddy Jolie Mason is revealing the cover for Hers To Command, my February cyborg release.
See the cover here: https://joliemasonblog.com/2016/11/04/interview-with-a-cyborg-um-two-cyborgs/
She also interviewed Ace and Thrasher, the two heroes/
Here is a snippet…
Jolie: She sounds perfect.
Thrasher: (nods) She is.
Ace: She won’t process us that way. We’re not perfect. (exchanges a glance with Thrasher) And our Commander seeks vengeance against all cyborgs. They killed her beloved daughter.
Jolie: She believes cyborgs killed her daughter?
Ace: They did kill her daughter. That fact can’t be disputed.
Jolie: Yet she likes you?
Ace: She likes us at this moment. (looks glum)
Thrasher: She doesn’t yet know we’re cyborgs. She might jettison us into space when she finds that out.
Ace: That probability is high.
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Wild. Free. Hers.
Mayhem has spent his lengthy lifespan obeying the Humanoid Alliance’s rules. Finally free from their cruel control, the cyborg warrior plans to cause chaos. He infiltrates a remote settlement, provokes the savage locals until they want him dead, and allows himself to be captured by the sexiest little Retriever he has ever laid his mechanically-enhanced eyes on.
Imee’s sole mission in life is to keep her family alive. To do this, she must hunt rebels, returning them to the Humanoid Alliance’s evil clutches where they will be executed. She doesn’t allow herself to feel anything for her targets…until she meets a tall, muscular cyborg with wild hair and even wilder eyes.
With his sure hands, laughing lips and erotic holds, Mayhem makes Imee’s body sizzle and her resistance melt. Their love is doomed. She must deliver the warrior to his death or she’ll place her family’s safety at risk. But she can’t resist him.
Imee soon discovers that Mayhem, life, and love are never predictable.
Chasing Mayhem is Book 6 in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is a STANDALONE story.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Buy Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Mayhem-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B01IRPO9WY#nav-subnav
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chasing-Mayhem-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B01IRPO9WY/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/chasing-mayhem/id1136333685
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-chasingmayhem-2077430-340.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chasing-mayhem-cynthia-sax/1124139998
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/chasing-mayhem
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Interview With Ace And Thrasher And The Cover Reveal For Hers To Command
Westworld, The Power Of Unanswered Questions And Sagging Middles
I LOVE HBO’s Westworld (androids in a wild west world? Sign me up!). It is my newest addiction. But this week’s episode left me feeling a bit dissatisfied. It took me some time to figure out why.
There are too many unanswered questions.
Unanswered questions are a powerful writing tool. It is why readers turn pages—to find out the answers. An awesome first page or first paragraph or first line raises a question in the reader’s mind.
The first line to Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight is “I’d never given much thought to how I would die–though I’d had reason enough in the last few months-but, even if I had, I would have never imagined it like this.”
How is the heroine going to die? Why is the heroine dying? I HAVE to continue reading to find out the answers. Once I have these answers, I’ll stop reading.
UNLESS there are more questions I want answers to. Then I will continue reading to find out THOSE answers.
The biggest questions at the beginning of a story are around backstory. Why is the heroine doing what she’s doing? What makes her think this way? Why does she have X as a goal?
This is one of the reasons why many editors don’t like prologues or early story backstory dumps. They could eliminate this huge incentive for readers to continue reading. If I’m told on page one how Bella is going to die and why she’s dying, I have no reason to read page two. It is a waste of an absolutely wonderful first line.
In Romance, the big question readers are seeking the answer to is ‘Is the couple (or more) going to achieve their happy ever after or happy for now?’ This is why often the couple (or more) doesn’t exchange ‘I love you’s until the end of the story.
If they DO say that phrase earlier in the story, a skilled writer will ensure readers know the happiness won’t last. Maybe one of them still has a relationship-destroying secret or the killer is lurking outside their bedroom or they love each other but there’s no way for them to be together.
So you’re likely wondering… If unanswered questions are powerful, why am I dissatisfied with Westworld’s gazillion unanswered questions?
Because I can’t keep track of them. My mind can only handle so many unanswered questions before I get frustrated. My rule of thumb is… if I lose track of my own unanswered questions while writing a story, I have way too many of them.
This doesn’t mean we can only raise the same 3 or 4 unanswered questions throughout a 100,000 word/400 page story. That would be challenging and a bit boring.
What we CAN do is answer some of those questions and then ask different questions.
At the beginning of Releasing Rage, while writing this story, I asked myself if Joan, our heroine, would ever be assigned to a cyborg. (question raised) She was. (question answered) Why was she assigned to a cyborg? (another question raised) The last human assigned to the cyborg was killed. (question answered) Would she survive being assigned to this cyborg? (another question raised – this question remains for almost all of the story)
One of the things Game of Thrones (the show) does quite well and quite brutally is answer unanswered questions. When the storylines become too complicated, they kill everyone off in a storyline and simply eliminate it. Then they raise more questions.
We don’t have to be that bloodthirsty. We can simply answer the damn question. We can give the heroine the job she thinks will solve all of her problems but then ensure that job causes her MORE problems. We can allow the hero to escape one mess to step knee deep into another bigger mess. I really like it when the answer to the question makes the situation worse, not better. That’s a lot of fun to write and to read.
Giving readers answers to questions throughout the story creates a sense of movement and a feeling of satisfaction. Shit is getting done. (grins) Often when readers comment that ‘nothing happened’ in a story, they are truly saying that no answers are given and no new questions are raised (mid story or at all).
When we, writers, face a sagging middle, it can mean the same thing-we need to answer questions and raise new ones. This is often the reason for mid story boredom. If you, as a writer, find you can’t finish stories, look at your unanswered questions. Do you have any? Do you have too many? Do you lack answers? Talk to other writing buddies (like myself) and brainstorm both answers AND questions.
Unanswered questions are powerful. Use them wisely.
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Wild. Free. Hers.
Mayhem has spent his lengthy lifespan obeying the Humanoid Alliance’s rules. Finally free from their cruel control, the cyborg warrior plans to cause chaos. He infiltrates a remote settlement, provokes the savage locals until they want him dead, and allows himself to be captured by the sexiest little Retriever he has ever laid his mechanically-enhanced eyes on.
Imee’s sole mission in life is to keep her family alive. To do this, she must hunt rebels, returning them to the Humanoid Alliance’s evil clutches where they will be executed. She doesn’t allow herself to feel anything for her targets…until she meets a tall, muscular cyborg with wild hair and even wilder eyes.
With his sure hands, laughing lips and erotic holds, Mayhem makes Imee’s body sizzle and her resistance melt. Their love is doomed. She must deliver the warrior to his death or she’ll place her family’s safety at risk. But she can’t resist him.
Imee soon discovers that Mayhem, life, and love are never predictable.
Chasing Mayhem is Book 6 in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is a STANDALONE story.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Buy Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Mayhem-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B01IRPO9WY#nav-subnav
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chasing-Mayhem-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B01IRPO9WY/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/chasing-mayhem/id1136333685
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-chasingmayhem-2077430-340.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chasing-mayhem-cynthia-sax/1124139998
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/chasing-mayhem
Topics: Writing Tips | 1 Comment »
Interview With J.K. Coi
I sat down (virtually) with J.K. Coi for a short interview. J.K. Coi’s latest release is Loving Lord Spy, an absolutely delicious WWII romance included in Once Upon a Christmas: A Wynter Family Saga, a Historical and Contemporary Holiday Romance Anthology.
Cynthia Sax: I know you were super excited about contributing to Once Upon a Christmas. What makes this anthology special?
J.K. Coi: I love this anthology for a lot of reasons. The first is because the four of us have been good friends for a long time, and we’ve been hoping for an opportunity to collaborate, but since our styles and genres are pretty different across the board, we didn’t have a chance until the idea of doing this family saga spanning different time periods came to us.
I also love the stories because they’re all so wonderfully written, full of hope and the Christmas spirit. They just feel good to read.
Cynthia Sax: Where did you get the idea for Loving Lord Spy?
J.K. Coi: I LOVE LOVE LOVE the movie An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. It’s one of my all-time favorites, and so when I was thinking about how to put together the novella for this anthology, it immediately came to mind maybe because of the time period I would be writing in. So I took a little bit of Cinderella, and a little bit of this movie, and came up with Loving Lord Spy.
Cynthia Sax: Where is Loving Lord Spy set?
J.K. Coi: This anthology is exciting because it tells stories of the Wynter family through a couple of different time periods. My novella takes place at the end of WWII, and I hadn’t written in this genre before. I love a challenge and I realized while writing this that I would like to write more stories in this time period.
Cynthia Sax: Having read your story, I would LOVE if you wrote more stories in that time period. It really fascinates me.
What creates problems between David and Winnie?
J.K. Coi: The conflict between David and Winnie comes from their responsibilities. They don’t have a lot of time together. They fall in love hard and fast without knowing a lot about one another, and they’ve both made commitments to the war, so until that’s over, they can’t possibly think about a future together. Then again, so much can happen between now and then… and while they’re separated, both of them learn things that challenge what they thought they knew about the other.
Cynthia Sax: Thank you for joining us today, J.K.!
J.K. Coi’s Website: http://www.jkcoi.com
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The holidays are a time for family, celebration—and the Dukes of Ravenglass to fall in love. Spend the Christmas season with the Wynter family, as the Dukes of Ravenglass find their happily-ever-afters in this delightful, heartfelt collection that spans from the Regency era to the present day.
In A Price Above Rubies by Maggie Robinson, set in the Regency era, paid companion Helen Lowe doesn’t know the man she shares her first-ever dance—and first-ever kiss—is Gabriel Wynter, a reclusive, notorious duke. When Helen flees after being exposed, she leaves behind something of far greater value than a glass slipper. Can Gabriel find her, return it, and finally open his heart?
In the Victorian-era set, Never Have I Ever Fallen in Love with a Duke by Tiffany Clare, Alexander Wynter has a problem—his best friend’s younger sister grew up. When he agreed to help Emily MacCallon make her debut, he didn’t expect the beautiful, alluring woman before him—or for her to lead him on such a merry chase. Alexander knows one thing: the only man she’ll be kissing forever and ever is him.
In the World War II-set, Loving Lord Spy by J.K. Coi, Winnie Jenkins, a combat nurse, and Lord David Wynter, an injured British spy, fall in love at the worst possible time. Each of them owes a duty to their country and must go their separate ways. They promise that when the war is finally over, they’ll meet in Hyde Park on Christmas morning…but agree that if one of them doesn’t make it, the other won’t seek out the reason why. Can they keep their appointment? Or will secrets, lies, and the perils of war keep them apart?
A missed connection gets a second chance in the present-day contemporary romance, Saved by the Belle by Elyssa Patrick. Seven years ago, Kit Wynter met the woman of his dreams. Even after all this time, he’s never been able to forget the American girl who captured his heart. When Belle Sweeney answers his ad—for she, too, never forgot him—it feels like there’s something still there. Spending the holiday at Ravenglass Abbey is the perfect opportunity to figure out if this is love.
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Topics: Author Interviews | Comments Off on Interview With J.K. Coi
