Why I Take Writing Workshops
I’m currently taking Marie Force’s online workshop on series ( http://marieforce.com/workshops/ ). It’s so brilliant; I posted about it on Facebook. I then received quite a few messages from readers and writers asking me why, at my stage of my career, I’m continuing to take writing courses. I clearly know how to write a story. What is left to learn?
Oh boy. What ISN’T left to learn?
Every Story Is Different
Before I took my writing semi-seriously, I thought all I had to do was learn how to write ONE story and every future story would be easy to write. I’d merely apply what I’ve learned.
Yeah, no. That’s not how it works. (laughs hysterically at new writer me) EVERY story is different, which means EVERY story presents its own set of writing challenges. If I’m pushing myself as a writer, I haven’t yet faced these challenges.
But another writer might have.
Because this writer has already faced these new-to-me challenges, she will have tools in her writing toolbox that I don’t have (I first heard the toolbox reference in Stephen King’s awesome writing book – On Writing). During courses she hosts, she’ll share those tools with her students.
One New Tool Can Make The Difference
When I first started writing, I’d leave writing workshops overwhelmed, my brain uncomfortably full of new ideas, new writing tools. My toolbox was empty. Every point made by the host writer added another tool.
My toolbox is now fairly full. I have many of the tools the host writer offers. What I’m looking for is that one new tool, that one angle or trick or insight that could make a difference in my current story or in my future stories.
The Power Of Questions
I always come into a workshop with at least one question I’d like answered. Asking this question ensures I add one tool, at the minimum, to my toolbox.
Whenever I feel shy about asking my questions, about admitting that I don’t know everything, I think of the very first in person workshop I attended. I was seated near a HUGE name in writing. During a break, I asked her why she was taking a writing workshop. Didn’t she know everything? She smiled and said she didn’t. There was always more to learn. She owed it to herself and to her readers to be the best writer she could possibly be.
If this HUGE writer doesn’t know everything, it would be foolish to think I do.
Do you HAVE to take writing workshops? Of course not. This is writing. There is nothing you HAVE to do. But this is why I take writing workshops.
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Why I Take Writing Workshops
Second Scene From Dark Flight
Dark Flight is releasing on July 11th (it is available for pre-order today). I’m sharing the first chapter.
Read the first scene here: http://tasteofcyn.com/2017/06/19/first-scene-from-dark-flight/
This is the second scene.
The merchant ship broke into the planet’s troposphere. The warship fired on them. Rhea swerved the vessel to the right. The missiles hit the side of a mountain.
Their merchant ship skimmed over a chunk of rock, scratching the metal underbelly of their vessel. The warship followed them.
Paloma continued to mutter about making peace and explanations, threatening to hail their Humanoid Alliance attackers. Rhea said nothing, her focus on their survival, on extracting themselves from their current precarious situation.
Sweat trickled down her spine underneath her gray flight suit. She lowered their ship, flying it close to the surface, hoping the size differential between their vessel and the warship would give them an advantage. The white sand underneath them parted, waves on an ocean of land.
More missiles arced toward them. She steered their ship, dodging one, two. The third one clipped the left side of their vessel, taking out one of their thrusters, jolting them.
Paloma screamed. Their ship’s wing dragged against the ground, sparks flying from the points of contact. Rhea pressed her lips together and compensated for the reduced power, leveling the vessel.
“We’re going to die.” Her sister gripped her chair’s armrests, her knuckles whitening.
“Not if I can help it.” Rhea would take care of Paloma, keep the only being in the universe she cared about safe, transporting them both to the Refuge.
“How can you be so calm?” Her highly emotional sister verged on the edge of hysterics. “They’re shooting at us.”
Rhea had spent all of her twenty-two solar cycles knowing that one wrong word could result in death, that the smallest physical reaction—an intake of breath, a trembling finger, a higher pitch in her voice—could give her parents’ activities away, dooming them all. She had learned long ago to conceal her emotions, hide her thoughts.
It irked her that her sister, the being who should know her the best, didn’t realize Rhea’s calm façade was exactly that—a façade.
The warship was gaining on them. The missiles were becoming more difficult to avoid. Rhea glanced at the viewscreen embedded in her console. The Refuge remained far away. “We won’t make it.” Her voice was flat.
Paloma whimpered. “Don’t say that.”
“There’s an escape pod.” There was only one. It was small, could hold a single being. “Get into it. Press Eject.”
“Noooo.” Her sister wailed. “I’m staying with you.”
“We’ll only be parted for mere moments.” Rhea hoped that was the truth. There was a possibility she wouldn’t survive. “There are containers of beverage, nourishment bars in the pod. Remain inside it. I’ll find you.”
“I didn’t mean what I said last planet rotation, about wanting my own life, about—”
“I know you didn’t.” They didn’t have time for that conversation. “Get in the escape pod, Paloma. Now.”
Her sister gulped, unfastened the straps around her body. “You’ll find me?”
“I promise.” Rhea didn’t have to say more. She had never broken a promise to her sister. Paloma knew that.
Her sister stood, took three steps toward the door. Then she paused, as though changing her mind.
That was typical Paloma, always fighting her on every decision. Rhea’s patience was at the breaking point. She opened her mouth to snap at her sister.
Paloma flung herself against her, hugging her tight. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Rhea fought to get those few strangled words out, emotion swelling inside her.
Paloma squeezed her once more and hurried out the door without saying another word. That was how scared her normally talkative sister was.
Rhea would keep her safe. She flew the ship with grim determination, veering it to the left, to the right, between boulders larger than multi-level domiciles. Missiles exploded around them, flumes of fire spiraling upward, sand spraying like shrapnel against their vessel’s panels.
The bridge without her sister was quiet, eerie, lonely. Paloma wasn’t the easiest company. She was in that awkward stage between being a child and a fully grown female. But they were sisters and Rhea loved her with everything she had.
Without her sister, Rhea had nothing and no one.
The system indicated Paloma had entered the escape pod. Rhea lowered the landing gear, increasing the cloud of sand behind her ship, hoping that would conceal her sister’s exit.
The escape pod detached.
The warship behind her didn’t slow.
Rhea exhaled, relief washing over her. The Humanoid Alliance hadn’t detected the escape pod. Her sister should be safe.
Missiles arced from the ground, the assault from a direction she hadn’t expected. Shit. Rhea steered to the right. She was fighting multiple enemies. The locals were shooting at her also. The few inhabitants of this planet were hostile.
Most of the beings were Rebels. Their hatred was especially strong for the Humanoid Alliance and that was whom they focused on.
The locals pummeled the warship pursuing her vessel with missiles, hammering them from all sides. The warship shot at her ship, intent on downing it, on killing anyone on board.
Rhea jutted her jaw and did her best to avoid being hit. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Tension pulled tight across her shoulders. If she could outlast the warship—
A missile blasted the remaining thruster on the left side. Fuck. The ship spun. Its nose and tail ground against the rock around her. Fighting for control, she knew her efforts would be futile.
An explosion rocked her ship from the rear. That must have been the warship. It had been the only object behind her. But its destruction had come too late.
Her ship was going down.
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Second Scene From Dark Flight
Dark Flight And The Cutest Critter In The Universe
The countdown to Dark Flight’s release is on!
Puffkers are mentioned in this story.
What are puffkers?
Well, they look very similar to this doggy.
Yes, basically, they’re puffballs with legs.
(grins)
They’re adorable and a certain giant green gatekeeper has a soft spot for them.
Here’s a snippet of a scene…
“She won’t be alone.” Balvan entered the chamber. “I’ll stay with your sister. She remembers me, won’t be scared to see me here. Especially as I’ll have this with me.”
He turned his wrists and opened his big fists. A white ball of fluff with dark eyes purred happily in one of his palms. One of its barely visible legs had gauze wrapped around it.
“Awww…” Rhea’s face softened. “Is that a puffker? They’re impossible to find on our home planet.” She made kissy noises at it. “Because you’re so cute and everyone wants you. Don’t they? Oh, yes, they do.”
The tiny creature had reduced Orol’s warrior female to goo.
“Her name is Sparkles.” Orol scooped his mate into his arms and stood, eager to put those lips of hers to better use.
Balvan scowled. “That’s not the creature’s name.”
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on Dark Flight And The Cutest Critter In The Universe
First Scene From Dark Flight
Dark Flight is releasing on July 11th (it is available for pre-order today). I thought I’d share the first chapter over the next couple of weeks.
This is the first scene.
Rhea trusted no one.
She loved Paloma, would protect her sister with her life, but she couldn’t trust her. Her sister was young and gullible. She told everyone everything and believed only what she wanted to believe.
Even now, the sixteen-solar cycle old girl chattered beside her on the bridge of the merchant ship, sharing every thought passing through her brain. She didn’t care that the Humanoid Alliance was hunting them, confident her sister would safeguard her as she always had.
Rhea, having six more solar cycles, had been responsible for her sister all of Paloma’s lifespan. Their parents had been spies, busy with their larger cause, relaying information from their Humanoid Alliance neighbors to the Rebels they secretly supported. Their children, beings Rhea often suspected had been conceived as part of their parents’ cover, were an afterthought.
She had sheltered Paloma as best as she could, striving to give her the semi-normal upbringing she never had. Her sister had known nothing about their parents’ activities.
It was safer that way. Paloma couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.
When their parents were finally apprehended and executed, Paloma had refused to believe they were guilty of espionage, wouldn’t accept that they were dead.
Rhea, having seen their deaths with her own eyes, was alone in her grief and alone in her worry. Their mother, before being captured, had told Rhea to go to the Refuge, a settlement on Carinae E.
That destination was their sole hope. The Humanoid Alliance had tracked them to every stop they’d made en route. They’d been saved once during their journey by strangers. They’d been betrayed by numerous others. Luck, careful observation, and Rhea’s skills with a gun had kept them alive.
Rhea flicked her gaze between the main viewscreen of the merchant ship and the personal viewscreen embedded in the console. There were no signs of any other ships and that made her nervous.
The Humanoid Alliance wouldn’t give up so easily.
She didn’t know why warriors were pursuing them. It might have something to do with the blueprints her mother asked her to study two planet rotations before the Humanoid Alliance had knocked on their domicile’s door.
If that was the case, the Humanoid Alliance need not be concerned. She could remember very little of the vessel’s design.
“Is that our new home?” Paloma leaned forward, her beautiful face lighting up. “It’s…it’s…” Her enthusiasm immediately dimmed. “It’s very blah.”
Rhea was very blah. A slender, tanned, brown-eyed brunette, she was plain compared to her sister, a voluptuous, blue-eyed, pink-skinned blonde.
Males preferred Paloma. Rhea wasn’t emotional about that. It was simply a fact, like the universe being large and stars being bright. She was shocked when Marowit claimed Rhea was his preference.
But that had been yet another lie, a trick to gain her trust.
“Carinae E is a desert planet.” Rhea tapped on the personal viewscreen, refreshing the image. The monitoring system indicated no vessels. “This is the Refuge.” She marked the location on the main viewscreen with an X.
“Why are we deviating so far to the left?” Paloma wrinkled her nose.
“The wind currents around the settlement make it impossible to approach from above.” The wind currents weren’t natural, beings had told her. Kralj, the Ruler of the settlement, had special powers.
Was that why her mother had sent them here? Would those special powers protect them?
Rhea didn’t know.
The main viewscreen flashed red. An unfamiliar ship had entered the monitored space.
“Strap yourself in,” Rhea advised, her voice flat. A lifespan spent hiding her parents’ activities had taught her to conceal all emotion.
“They could be friends.” Paloma’s bottom lip curled but she did as she was told.
Her sister thought everyone was a friend. Rhea fastened her harness. “It’s a Humanoid Alliance warship.” She increased the merchant ship’s speed, heading for the planet.
The engines groaned and the panels rattled.
“Captain Lethe and Officer Ghost flew a Humanoid Alliance warship.” Paloma pointed out.
“That’s not their warship.” The human captain and her cyborg had been the strangers who helped Rhea and Paloma at the beginning of their journey, saving them from a Humanoid Alliance attack.
Theirs had been the last friendly faces Rhea and Paloma had seen. The two of them were on their own.
“We could hail the beings in the warship and explain.” Paloma continued to fuss. “Father and Mother aren’t spies. This is all a big misunderstanding.”
“We’re not hailing them.” And it hadn’t been a misunderstanding. Their parents had been spies. But even if it had been a mistake, the Humanoid Alliance wasn’t known for open-mindedness. When in doubt, they killed all the beings in question.
The ship shook as they entered Carinae E’s atmosphere.
“This is why you don’t have any close friends.” Paloma pouted. “You don’t trust anyone.”
Rhea gritted her teeth as she steered their ship. She didn’t have any close friends because her entire life was a lie. It was better not to talk to anyone than to fabricate stories she would have to remember.
And she had trusted someone—Marowit. Guilt coiled low in her gut. Flattered by his attentions, she’d allowed the handsome, charismatic male to woo her, spend time with her, fuck her.
Rhea hadn’t completely let down her guard. She’d been hiding her true self for too long. She didn’t know if total honesty was possible with anyone. But she had shared what she’d thought had been small, unimportant details about her planet rotations.
That mistake led to her parents being captured and executed. She’d killed their mother and father by trusting the wrong being.
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on First Scene From Dark Flight
Ghost’s Father’s Day Announcement
Tomorrow is Father’s Day in North America.
The cyborgs will be celebrating, especially a certain very new and very proud daddy.
Ghost, the hero of Ghost of a Machine, wanted to share this with all of you
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Fragile. Stubborn. His.
Ghost, a C Model cyborg, has disconnected his machine from his human side. Severely damaged, he knows two things—the curvy human female on his ship belongs to him and he must keep her safe. He’ll stop at nothing to protect her, claim her, make her his.
Primitive. Damaged. Hers.
Lethe has seen the savage side of beings. The courageous Rebel captain has never met a male like Ghost. Overpoweringly dominant, he appeals to her on a primal level, filling her mind with thoughts of sweet surrender, hard kisses, and body-heating encounters against the warship’s walls.
They are two broken beings, one determined to protect, the other intent on flying into danger. Can love heal them both before they face their common enemy?
Ghost Of A Machine is Book 9 in the Cyborg Sizzle series and is a STAND-ALONE story.
It is also a BBW Cyborg SciFi Romance.
Order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Machine-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B06XR6M6GG/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghost-Machine-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B06XR6M6GG/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/ghost-of-a-machine/id1218969448
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ghost-of-a-machine-cynthia-sax/1126040142
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ghost-of-a-machine
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/713288
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Ghost’s Father’s Day Announcement
Talking Dark Flight and Dark Worlds With Delilah Devlin
I’m talking about Dark Flight and Dark Worlds with Delilah Devlin!
http://www.delilahdevlin.com/blog/2017/06/14/cynthia-sax-dark-flight-and-dark-worlds/
Here’s a snippet…
Recently, some writing buddies and I were talking about whether or not there’s a place for romances with dark tones or themes in a world that seems to have become darker. During uncertain times, will readers continue to read dark toned romances?
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Talking Dark Flight and Dark Worlds With Delilah Devlin
Answering Questions About The Hero Of Dark Flight
I’m answering questions about Orol, the hero of Dark Flight, on Romance Lives Forever today.
https://rlfblog.com/cynthia-sax-0617/
Here’s a snippet…
Question – This hero attempts to rescue someone and realizes that he is in over his head. The odds are against him and there is no way out. He is going to get his butt handed to him. What does he do?
Answer – Orol calls Balvan or one of his other brethren for help. If help doesn’t come, well, he’s a warrior. All warriors eventually die in battle. He has accepted that.
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Guest Post | 1 Comment »
Talking Dark Flight Dark Flight and the Thrill of the Chase with Kate Hill
I’m talking about Dark Flight and the Thrill of the Chase with Kate Hill today.
http://kate-hill.com/blog/?p=7006
Here’s a snippet…
Then there are the chases that start as the life and death kind and end as the sexy kind. I consider those the best of both worlds. The hero is chasing the heroine but she doesn’t yet know he’s her hero. He might be the enemy. He might kill her when he catches her. She fears him, perhaps hates him. He grabs her, turns her to face him and…. Bam, super steamy gazes, perhaps a scorching hot kiss.
THAT is the type of chase Orol and Rhea, the hero and heroine of Dark Flight, have when they first meet. She is being hunted by the Humanoid Alliance, the bad guys, and she believes he is one of them. She thinks he plans to kill her. But she is his destined mate. He has very different plans for her.
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Talking Dark Flight Dark Flight and the Thrill of the Chase with Kate Hill
Talking Dark Flight and Heroines In Peril with Liza O’Connor
I’m talking about Dark Flight and heroines requiring a rescue on the always awesome Liza O’Connor’s blog today.
https://multiuniversesoflizao.blogspot.ca/2017/06/dark-flight-heroine-requiring-rescueby.html
Here’s a snippet…
“Romance writers are often told to create strong heroines, heroines who could rescue themselves. Mary and Rhea are definitely heroines like that. But even the strongest of beings require help from time to time.
In Rhea’s case, she’s injured. She’s alone on a strange planet, not knowing the customs or the geography. Humanoid Alliance baddies are after her. She has to find and protect her sister, the one being in the universe she cares about, and she’s running out of time.
Accepting help wouldn’t make her weak. It would make her smart.”
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Talking Dark Flight and Heroines In Peril with Liza O’Connor
Luck And Book Sales
Many writers have been talking about Written Word’s article What Makes a $100k Author: 8 Findings Every Author Should Know ( https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2017/06/07/100k-author/ ). This is a great article. I agree with most of the points.
However, there is one huge factor missing
Luck.
Why Writers Care About Sales
Some reading buddies are reading this post so I wanted to explain why writers care about sales. We’re often told we should be writing for the love of it.
And we do. We WRITE for the love of it. I wrote for many decades before sending my stories to be published. I’ll write until I’m dead, whether I sell one copy or a gazillion copies.
PUBLISHING, however, is a completely different situation. I only publish the stories I think reading buddies will want to read. Why? Because publishing is much more than simply writing. There’s editing, distribution, marketing, so much marketing, and various other not-very-much-fun-for-me non-writing activities.
It also costs money. I have to sell at least 500 copies of each book to simply break even with the production costs alone (cover, editing, formatting). That might not sound like much but the average book sells 250 copies ( https://www.quora.com/How-many-copies-does-the-average-book-sell ). That’s AVERAGE. J.K. Rowling is selling millions of copies. Jill Emerging Author is selling 10 copies if she hustles and markets her butt off.
Luck
One of the factors that divides a J.K. Rowling from a Jill Emerging Author is luck. Of course, the other factors play a part in it. It is easier to get lucky if we’ve written 30 stories, if we have a great cover, great editing, a great story, a wonderful marketing campaign. All of these things increase the odds of getting lucky.
But we still need that luck.
Releasing Rage is the story of mine that has sold the most copies. Yes, I marketed it heavily for months. Yes, my cover artist created a wonderful cover. Yes, it was the best story I had ever written (as I become a better writer with each story).
I still got lucky.
When I published Releasing Rage, for example, Laurann Dohner, one of the big names in cyborg romance, was taking a break from her super successful series. Eve Langlais had wrapped up her extremely successful cyborg series. This created a gap in the market, a stroke of luck for Releasing Rage.
There was also demand for darker romances that wasn’t being met in cyborg romance. I didn’t write Releasing Rage because of this demand. I didn’t know it would be there at the time. I wrote the story and when I published it, the demand for darker romance existed (as though by magic). It could have easily not been there. I got lucky.
There were many other instances of luck with Releasing Rage. A big blogger saw my cover, liked it and decided to read the story. Some reading buddies chanced upon the story, loved it and recommended it to their friends. Some writing buddies read it and mentioned it to their reading buddies.
Did I work hard promoting Releasing Rage? Of course, I did. But I had over 150 previous releases and had worked hard in the past promoting them. I didn’t ‘get lucky’ with any of them.
Luck is a required component.
Why The Luck Factor Is Exciting
The reason I’m writing this post is I’ve read comments from writing buddies talking about how they can’t satisfy all of the eight findings or how they can’t produce 8 books a year or how they can’t spend 10 hours a day marketing because they have a rent-paying day job or a family or other factors.
These writing buddies are despairing because they don’t think they’ll ever sell more than 10 copies a release. They’re asking, “Should I quit? Are my efforts being wasted? Should I spend Saturday nights with friends rather than staring at a blank screen until my brain explodes?”
We all have to make these decisions for ourselves but please keep in mind that, although the odds of getting lucky increase with these other factors, luck can be random. We could sell 10 copies with release 2 and 10,000 copies with release 3. We could sell 10,000 copies with release 1. We could sell 10 copies with releases 1 through 300 and 10,000 copies with release 301. We simply don’t know.
No one does and if someone says they do, they’re lying. If the luck component was predictable, publishers, entities with many years of experience in the book selling business, would only produce best-selling novels. They don’t. They’re often as mystified as we are when one of their books does surprisingly well.
I find this exciting because it means the next story we write and publish might change our lives, our careers. It could be the ONE, that coveted break out hit.
Never discount luck.
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Dark Flight
His mission. His challenge. His forever.
Orol, the Refuge’s second-in-command, has been given what he believes is a simple mission—escort two human females to the settlement. The winged warrior arrives at the meeting site to find one of the females missing and the other aiming a gun at his head. To rescue the first, he must capture the second. Once he has Rhea in his talons, however, he realizes he never wants to let her go.
Her enemy. Her captor. Her everything.
Rhea doesn’t trust anyone. She certainly doesn’t follow commands issued by a gorgeous flying male with glittering eyes, a beautiful face, and a seductive touch. Orol is dominant, edged with darkness, and determined to find her sister. Rhea will do anything to prevent that, even if it means playing sensual games of submission with her powerful enemy, seducing him into forgetting everything except her.
Dark Flight is a STAND-ALONE SciFi Romance set in a gritty, dark world.
You Can Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Flight-Refuge-Book-2-ebook/dp/B07124941B/
Apple/iBooks/iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-flight-cynthia-sax/1126484675
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Writing Tips | 2 Comments »
