The Success File For Writers
This wonderful career can be challenging. I published my stories for years without breaking even financially. Some stories I spent months crafting were enjoyed by less than 10 readers. There are rejections at every stage of writing and this doesn’t stop after finding ‘success.’ Big names still get rejections and bad reviews and nasty messages.
This is why I believe it is VERY important to celebrate our successes.
Celebrate Everything
Finished a chapter? Celebrate that! Finished a first draft? Celebrate! Finished edits? DEFINITELY a reason for celebration (and heavy drinking). Sold a book? Celebrate! Every step is worthy of celebration. It is bringing us closer to our goals (whatever those goals are).
I like to post my ‘successes’ on Facebook. Writing it down makes it feel more real for me. Many of my friends have stood by my side for years. They know how important these benchmarks are and they’re happy for me.
Sure, sometimes someone will post something grumpy. I tend to respond with, “You’re my friend. I know you’re happy for me.” (This immediately makes ME feel better about the grumpy comment.) True friends will feel happy for us. We might be also envious of your success but that envy is about us, not about you and your success. We’re thrilled for you.
Seeing other writers’ successes pushes me to reach my own benchmarks. I always write faster when I hear someone else has had a great writing day. So these posts don’t just benefit you. They benefit others.
Create A Success File
I also have a success file or a kudos file or whatever you wish to call it. Every time I receive positive feedback or an awesome review or anything that makes me feel great about my stories and my writing, I copy the information and put it in a Word file.
When the dark days full of doubt come (and they WILL come), this file is what keeps me writing. I peruse it and I get that passion back. This file is what pushed me forward when I was losing money year after year. If it weren’t for this file, I wouldn’t have made it through that disastrous fifth year, the year everything that could possibly go wrong did.
Think you don’t have anything to celebrate? Well, you made it to the end of this blog post, didn’t you? That means today you read a post about writing. You have one more tool in your toolbox. Congrats! That’s worthy of a celebration!
Enjoy this wonderful career as much as possible. Celebrate and revisit your successes!
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.
Buy 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 The Success File For Writers
Talking Cyborgs With Shelley Munro
The always awesome Shelley Munro has interviewed me!
Here’s a snippet…
“Shelley Munro – If a reader visits your Facebook page they soon learn you have a great sense of humor and a sense of fun (plus an awesome hubby!) yet your writing is quite dark. How do you explain that and what attracts you over to the dark side?
Cynthia Sax – I am fascinated with military history (if we don’t learn from history, we tend to repeat it) and I really wanted to tell the story of the cyborgs starting when they rebelled against their manufacturers. The cyborgs were created to fight wars. Any rebellion would happen during wartime and be quite violent. To make this series light in tone wouldn’t be true to the setting and would diminish what today’s warriors are experiencing.
But there IS humor and, of course, happy endings (for main characters and for past couples – everyone else is at risk). Humor is a survival tactic we see employed even during our darkest times. It is one of our great strengths.”
Read the full interview here: https://shelleymunro.com/blog/2017/08/19/interview-with-cynthia-sax-scifi-cyborgs-cynthiasax/
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.
Buy 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 Cyborgs With Shelley Munro
Collateral Beauty And Money As Motivation
Note: There will be spoilers of this wonderful movie in this post. Please don’t read it if you haven’t watched Collateral Beauty.
The wealthy hero and the struggling heroine trope has dipped in popularity recently but it will never disappear. These stories have been told long before Pride And Prejudice was published and will outlast all of us, even the cyborgs.
The key to writing this trope well is the motivation for the struggling heroine. That appears easy. It’s money, right?
Nope. It’s not money.
In one of the first stories I wrote, the heroine and hero went on a treasure hunt. The prize was… well… treasure—gold coins. I entered that story in a writing contest ( http://torontoromancewriters.com/enter/contest/ ) and I received, in return, a brilliant piece of writing (and life) advice well worth the entry fee.
Money isn’t ever the true motivation for our characters. Their motivation is what they believe the money will bring them.
I rewrote the story with the prize being a house both of the characters considered to be theirs and the story was MUCH stronger. Two people were competing for the same home.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched Collateral Beauty last night. This was a beautiful, emotional movie. I cried hard and was thoroughly (and surprisingly) entertained. I loved it.
One of the things this movie did wonderfully well was give each character strong motivation for their actions.
At first, the three business partners appeared to be taking extreme action because they wanted cash. I rolled my eyes at this. The greedy business man or woman is such a cliché. It is lazy writing, the characters cardboard and predictable.
But then the characters revealed they had three very different, very strong, very emotional reasons for wanting that money.
One partner’s ex-wife is dating a wealthy new boyfriend. This boyfriend is showering the partner’s daughter with expensive gifts. The partner thinks his relationship with his daughter is strained because he can’t match these gifts. He believes money will fix their problems.
Another partner wants a baby. She doesn’t have a love interest and would be having this baby on her own. That requires money—money for the medical procedures and money to allow her to take the time off work.
The third partner is dying. He has a wife he loves and a family he wants to take care of. The money will be his last and hopefully a lasting gift to them, a not-so-little thing this otherwise powerless character can do for the people he loves.
Bam! These are three powerful motivations for wanting money. The characters went from being cold and flat to being living, breathing people we can care about and cheer for.
Do this in a wealthy hero and struggling heroine romance and I’d happily read this trope over and over again. I’d love it.
Money isn’t ever the true motivation behind an action. Delve deeper.
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.
Buy 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 Collateral Beauty And Money As Motivation
What Happened To A And B Model Cyborgs?
A reading buddy (tackle hugs Lisa) asked me, “What happened to all the A & B models? Have they all been destroyed…?”
When the Humanoid Alliance started manufacturing cyborgs, they viewed them as merely war machines. What these cyborgs looked like was low on the priority list. There was also fear in the general public that these cyborgs would infiltrate human populations and gradually take over.
So the Humanoid Alliance designed them to be clearly cyborg. The first mass produced units (A Models) were big and bulky, more robotic than human. Their eyes resembled lights. Their skin was grey.
There weren’t many A Models produced. The Humanoid Alliance wanted to test the warriors before manufacturing vast quantities of them. The A Models were also huge so more room was needed on space-scarce ships to store them.
B Models were a little bit smaller but, again, storage was an issue. Being early Models, their processors were slow and their fine motor skills were weak.
What happened to them?
They were replaced by the smaller, faster, more adept C Models. As far as I currently know, the A and B Model warriors who weren’t killed in battle were decommissioned to free space on ships for the C Models.
I suspect, however, there might be one or two of them on more primitive non-Humanoid Alliance worlds.
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.
Buy 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 What Happened To A And B Model Cyborgs?
Leave A Magical Moment Alone
Yes, I’m singing Billy Joel’s ‘Leave A Tender Moment Alone.’ (laughs)
I recently received the second round of edits for Seeking Vector, my October release, from my awesome editor ELF ( https://musingsbyelf.wordpress.com/ ). ELF loved the epilogue, told me it made her cry (which is a rare thing for editors). I immediately skipped to that chapter and re-read it. The temptation to tweak it was strong but I resisted that impulse.
Why did I stop myself from ‘improving’ the epilogue?
Because magical moments in our books are rare. They’re special, fragile, damn easy to destroy. One changed word can make them disappear. One added comma can throw off the pacing (and pacing is key for emotion).
I will correct spelling but, if a scene is magical, I’m very cautious about making other changes.
What is a magical scene?
I consider a magical scene to be one that makes the reader feel deeply in the way I intended them to feel. Clearly a reader laughing where she should be crying isn’t a great thing. I’ve done that. (sheepish grin) But if she laughs where I want her to laugh and cries where I want her to cry, THAT is wonderful.
That is also difficult to accomplish, which is why I leave those scenes alone.
That leads me to the next point.
You CAN over revise a story.
You know your routine better than anyone else and every writer is different but it IS possible to revise the magic right out of a story. I’ve added words and smoothed out sentences until all of the emotion was gone. Those stories are currently hidden under my bed and will never see the light of day.
This is why advice about the ‘right’ number of books to write in a year is so dangerous. If I wrote a story in two months and then spent ten more months revising it, that story would suck great hairy donkey balls. It might be perfect craft-wise but it would be emotionally flat.
That routine might work for another writer. It doesn’t work for me. It also doesn’t signify quality. Sometimes a scene is magical in the first hastily written draft. Sometimes a scene is magical after six rounds of editing. This is writing and there are no rules (and there is no logic to it either – grins).
If you’ve created a magical moment in your story, celebrate.
And leave that freakin’ scene alone.
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.
Buy 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 Leave A Magical Moment Alone
Is There A Market For This Book?
I’ve seen quite a few posts lately from writers deep in the depths of despair because they want to write a certain type of story but have been told there is no market (i.e. readership) for it.
I want to set a romance in Thailand but I was told there’s no market for it.
I want to write a romance with an Irish heroine and a Chinese hero but I was told there’s no market for it.
I want to write a romance with a heroine who competes in marathons but I was told there’s no market for it.
I agree that having a market for a story is important. Very few of us want to spend months or years working on a story and have that story read by only three people. We want as many readers as possible for our beloved stories.
But our stories are more than the setting or the characters’ racial background or the characters’ jobs. We have our choice of what to focus on while marketing our stories.
Let’s look at our imaginary romance set in Thailand.
He’s a Navy SEAL, battered and scarred in a past mission, looking for redemption. She’s a virgin with a secret. (I’d say secret baby but she’s a virgin so…). There’s danger and an awesome baddie and hot scorching sex.
Why would we focus on the Thailand setting when promoting the story (to publishers or to reading buddies)? A romance with a Navy SEAL hero has a much bigger market. So does a romance with a virgin heroine. Sure, setting the story in Thailand makes the story special but hit folks with the things they already know they like first, and THEN mention the unique setting.
But-But-But my story doesn’t have any other marketable elements, you say.
Dig deeper because I suspect it does.
You wrote a romance. Is it love at first sight? A reunion love? Friends to lovers? Enemies to lovers? A workplace romance? Wrong bed (i.e mistaken identity)? A rebound relationship?
EVERY type of romantic hook up has a market. Almost every hero personality type has a market also (manwhore hero, geek hero, virgin hero, beast hero, iceman hero, etc). Tone has a market (comedy, sweet, sexy, dark, etc). If you study your story, you will likely find dozens of markets.
Note that I haven’t said ‘Rewrite your story.’ Whenever the topic of finding a market comes up, some writers push back and say their creativity can’t be constricted to a market. They don’t want to write generic cookie-cutter books.
Okay. Generic cookie-cutter books don’t sell. They’re boring and I don’t know any writer who writes these. And we’re talking marketing/promotion, not about the actual story. Write your non-traditional romance but consider marketing it first to readers who love non-traditional romances and second to readers who like heroines with gluten-free diets.
Which market should you focus on?
I look first and foremost at whether or not my story will make readers in my chosen markets happy. Does the story meet the readers’ expectations? Maybe my hero isn’t beastly enough to make the beast hero readers happy. But hey, he’s very much a virgin. He’ll make those readers ecstatic.
Then I look at the size of the market. Bigger doesn’t always mean better. If the market is too big, my story might get lost in it. On the other hand, if the market consists of two people, then I should directly contact those two people and forget the marketing. (grins) I like a happy medium.
I also consider the reading buddies I already know and love. Will this angle interest them? Clearly, if it is a cyborg romance, I will mention that first. Many of my reading buddies love cyborg romances.
This last point meshes with writer branding. If I want to be known as a writer of virgin heroines, for example, (whispers – I don’t) I will mention virgin heroines early in my marketing.
Having the right market for our stories doesn’t guarantee they will sell but it certainly does increase the odds. And hey, in this business, we need the best odds possible. (grins)
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.
Buy 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 Is There A Market For This Book?
How To Ask For Writing Advice
Almost all of us are struggling with at least one writing related problem right now. (I know I am.) Thankfully, there’s at least one writer in Romanceland who has tackled that exact problem successfully. All we have to do is find her and ask her for advice. (This could be a him also but writing her/him all the time is tiring so let’s assume the writer is female. – grins)
The Question To Ask
I start with the question I want to ask. I make it as narrow as possible. Asking a writer how to write a book is a question that will take her ten years to answer. Asking a writer how to write a great first line for a cyborg romance is a question she can answer in an email.
I only ask questions I truly want answered. If I have already decided to write SciFi Romance, asking her if I should write Paranormal, Fantasy or SciFi Romance is wasting her time and will likely frustrate her (as she will know I’m not truly listening to her answer).
How To Find My Expert
Once I have figured out my question, I investigate whom I should ask.
It makes no sense to ask a contemporary romance writer how to write SciFi Romance. It also doesn’t make sense to ask a midlist writer how to break out of the midlist. Or a trad published writer how to self-publish.
If I want a range of answers, I might ask that question on a Yahoo or Facebook group relevant to my question. There are groups for every writer niche.
If I want a specific writer’s answer, I’ll reach out to her.
Should I Ask This Question Publicly Or Privately?
The more public the answer, the more generic and safe it usually is.
If I ask how much money writers make on their SciFi Romance releases in a group that is open to everyone, readers and writers, I will likely receive very vague answers. “I break even” or “I lose money on every release.” If I ask in a SciFi Romance writer-only group, I will likely receive more detailed answers. “My sales are between X and Y.” If I ask one specific writer in a private message, I will likely receive an even more detailed answer. “On release B, I earned Z sales.”
Note: If a writer tells me something in private, I do NOT share it with anyone unless I have her permission. That writer WILL find out I shared the information and that will be the end of that relationship. I try to be a writer other writers can trust.
Receiving Advice
I always thank the writer for taking the time to respond to my question, even if that response was “I’d rather not say.” If I ask in a group, I individually thank every writer who responds. Picking and choosing whom to reply to sends a message that the other writers’ feedback isn’t valued. I do NOT want to do that.
If the answer to my question is “I’d rather not say”, I try to think of a different way to approach the problem I have. Or I simply share the key problem. Maybe I don’t truly need to know how many sales the writer has. Maybe what I truly need to know is if my release will cover the XX costs of producing that release.
This Doesn’t Apply To Me
Sometimes my first reaction is ‘This advice doesn’t apply to me. I’m different.’ Sometimes (rarely) this is true. Often it isn’t.
When I first started writing, I was advised by a gazillion writers to stick to one niche, to become known for a certain type of story. I dismissed that advice because my muse had to be free. It couldn’t be locked down to one niche.
I was a dumb ass. (laughs) Every writer who gave me that advice had struggled with that same issue. They had merely figured out ways to work with their flighty muses. (I don’t publish every story I write, for example.) If I had followed up on their responses with “How do you handle the urge to write in other niches?”, I would have saved myself years of struggle.
Should I Apply This Advice?
Every writer is different and what works for one writer might not work for another (this applies to ALL of my advice in this and other posts).
If the advice isn’t something I feel comfortable doing, I don’t act on it. If I like the advice but I’m worried it might not work (because this business changes so quickly), I might test it. If the advice feels right to me, is logical, is applicable to today’s publishing world, I might act on it with everything I have.
I don’t argue with the writer about her advice. That doesn’t accomplish anything. I simply thank her and move on. I don’t broadcast that I’m asking others the same question (unless I mentioned that when I asked her the question). That can be interpreted as saying her advice wasn’t good enough.
Any writer who takes the time to respond to a question cares about the person asking the question. She is spending precious writing time trying to help me out. She still might give bad-for-me advice. That’s entirely possible. But her heart is in the right place.
This is how I tackle asking for advice. How do you tackle it?
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.
Buy 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 How To Ask For Writing Advice
Passengers And Character Motivation
Note: If you haven’t watched the movie, Passengers, please don’t read this post. It WILL contain spoilers!
On Sunday, the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I finally watched Passengers, the space travel movie with Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. It’s a beautiful movie. There are some gorgeous views of space. And I enjoyed the premise – A passenger on a 120-year-long voyage to a distant planet wakes up from his hibernation pod 90 years too soon. What does he do? The action was solid, the pacing was great, and there were explosions (which I always enjoy).
Chris Pratt’s character, Jim, does some heroic things. He also does some romantic things. He’s NO romance hero, however, and that is the one thing that bothers me about this movie.
Why isn’t he a romance hero?
Jim wakes his future love interest simply because he’s lonely.
He doesn’t know Jennifer Lawrence’s character Aurora. At all. He doesn’t know why she is undertaking the voyage or what her goals are. He doesn’t know if she sexually likes men. She has no skills that might help him return to his hibernation pod or, heck, survive at all in space.
There are over five thousand passengers on board. I’m certain there are engineers on the passenger list. He didn’t wake any of those folks. He didn’t even look over the manifest. For all he knows, one of the passengers on board helped design the hibernation pods. That passenger could have been super hot also. Women CAN be attractive AND intelligent. <--extreme sarcasm Jim simply sees Aurora, thinks she’s pretty, listens to her interview, and decides to wake her up, dooming her to a life spent with him alone. Yep, he forces that harsh future on a complete stranger merely because she’s good looking, not caring about her feelings or desires. Stronger motivation would have made this action much more romance hero worthy. How to do that? Make the heroine more than arm candy. Have Aurora work for the space travel company. Jim doesn’t know she is merely an accountant when he wakes her but she DID overhear some things that will eventually help both of them. Or Make her skilled with technology. Want that fancy coffee? She can hack the system and get it for him. Or Have her be okay with solitude. She has lived for years in isolation. Unbeknownst to Jim, that was because she was infamous on Earth, hounded by the media, and she hopes to move to the new planet and be able to mix with people again, but he thinks she can be happy on her own (the movie shows us the opposite – Aurora was extremely social before her trip). Or Give her a connection to the problem. Her family owns the space travel company so she shares a bit of the blame for the malfunction. Or Give Jim any one of gazillion other motivations for his action that could explain why he targeted her to wake up. But the writers didn’t do this. Aurora being pretty was enough for them. It wouldn’t have been enough for a romance reader or writer. We expect more.
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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.
Buy 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 Passengers And Character Motivation
Ghost Of A Machine – One of the Best SciFi Stories Of 2017
Woot!
Ghost Of A Machine has been named one of the Best SciFi stories of 2017 (thus far – grins).
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.
Buy 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: Awards | Comments Off on Ghost Of A Machine – One of the Best SciFi Stories Of 2017
I Made Anny Cook’s Series List!
Woot!
I made Anny Cook’s series list!
To see other writers/series on the list, click here: http://annycook.blogspot.ca/2017/07/series-bingeing.html
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.
Buy 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: Reviews | Comments Off on I Made Anny Cook’s Series List!
