Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris And Goals

By Cynthia Sax on April 21, 2023

Spoiler Alert – This post will discuss the movie Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris and might have some (mild) spoilers. You might wish to skip this post if you haven’t yet watched this movie.

I recently watched Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris and I very much enjoyed it.

It was an escape, truly an escape.

Mrs. Harris, the main character, has a dream of owning a couture dress.

Yep. That is the sole goal – to obtain a dress.

It sounds silly but stars, the makers of this movie made me care about Mrs. Harris and her dream. I was cheering for her. I cried during some scenes. I was thoroughly enthralled with this movie.

And yes, it has a happy ending. I felt…lighter after watching it, as though my heart and my soul had a little break from (waves at everything).

Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris is a reminder that our goals and our characters’ goals don’t have to be huge. They should be meaningful but they can be as simple as obtaining a beautiful dress.


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Raw Desires

His human female is attempting to kill him.
This cyborg finds that adorable.


Raw, a K model cyborg, is one of the lucky warriors who has located his genetic match. He hears his human female’s voice over the communication lines and immediately processes she is his.


Winning her affections will be a greater challenge. Battle has always been Raw’s focus. The rough-and-tough warrior has no idea how to engage anyone’s tender emotions.

Fortunately, he isn’t alone in the universe. His unmatched male friends help him craft a plan.

All Raw has to do is relay a few unsettlingly sweet words to his female and give her the thoroughly unfunctional wall decoration he has obtained. He projects she will then jump into his big, strong arms and beg him to claim her.

Taytu isn’t jumping anywhere. She has one mission—kill every cyborg in existence.

The huge, handsome male traveling to meet with her is her first target. His rough hands, firm lips, and sparkling, energy-infused eyes won’t save him from her vengeance. She has trained vigorously for this moment, and she won’t fail at her assigned task.

The cyborg will die.


Raw Desires is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Buy Today:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/raw-desires/id6443413750

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raw-desires-cynthia-sax/1142255510

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/raw-desires-2

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1166190

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris And Goals

Scream 5 And Requels

By Cynthia Sax on April 11, 2023

Please Note – I will be talking about Scream 5 in this post and there might be spoilers posted. If you haven’t yet watched Scream 5, you might want to skip this post.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched Scream 5 recently and we really enjoyed it. We haven’t watched all of the Scream movies but we have watched the first one and that was key to our enjoyment. Scream 5 assumes you’ve watched that movie (but it reminds you of the plot so there is no need to remember everything).

Scream 5 is a movie about requels and it is, ironically, a requel itself.

What is a requel?

As per Charles T. White, “My take on what a requel is when a new movie in a franchise/series is a sequel to the original movie but is also a remake at the same time.

Usually, requels ignore all the other movies in a franchise and just become a sequel to the original movie.

Also, the title of requels are usually just the original name (first name of the first movie in that series) and they bring new and legacy characters into the story.”

I LOVE requels. I didn’t know there was a name for it until Scream 5. But I have always loved them.

They give fans MUCH more content because the original is still…well…original.

They honor the past stories and the past characters. They give us updates on those characters.

Yet they modernize the franchises. There were clever treatments of technology in Scream 5 that they couldn’t do in the original Scream (phones are fraggin’ scary).

And they allow the creators to add twists and these twists are SO important to scary movies. We, viewers, don’t want to be able to predict when the baddie will jump out from the shadows.

I can’t yet envision how requels could be used in a Romance Novel series. Our books tend to be timeless. But I’m certain some writers will do this very well in the future. I look forward to reading their twists on requels!


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Raw Desires

His human female is attempting to kill him.
This cyborg finds that adorable.


Raw, a K model cyborg, is one of the lucky warriors who has located his genetic match. He hears his human female’s voice over the communication lines and immediately processes she is his.


Winning her affections will be a greater challenge. Battle has always been Raw’s focus. The rough-and-tough warrior has no idea how to engage anyone’s tender emotions.

Fortunately, he isn’t alone in the universe. His unmatched male friends help him craft a plan.

All Raw has to do is relay a few unsettlingly sweet words to his female and give her the thoroughly unfunctional wall decoration he has obtained. He projects she will then jump into his big, strong arms and beg him to claim her.

Taytu isn’t jumping anywhere. She has one mission—kill every cyborg in existence.

The huge, handsome male traveling to meet with her is her first target. His rough hands, firm lips, and sparkling, energy-infused eyes won’t save him from her vengeance. She has trained vigorously for this moment, and she won’t fail at her assigned task.

The cyborg will die.


Raw Desires is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Buy Today:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/raw-desires/id6443413750

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raw-desires-cynthia-sax/1142255510

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/raw-desires-2

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1166190

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Scream 5 And Requels

The Last Of Us, Realism In Entertainment And Food Insecurities

By Cynthia Sax on April 4, 2023

Spoiler Alert – This post will contain very mild spoilers for the limited TV series The Last Of Us. If you haven’t yet watched season one of this series, you might wish to skip this post.

It will also deal with food insecurities. If you are sensitive to this content, (big hugs), stars, do I understand a bit of what you’re enduring. You might wish to skip this post.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I REALLY enjoyed the first season of The Last Of Us. It was brilliant, brilliant storytelling. The character arcs were amazing.

And their handling of food insecurity wasn’t at all traumatic for me.

I grew up not eating every day and I struggle with the ghosts of that food insecurity every dang moment.

Our pantries are stocked with dried and canned food. Our dedicated freezer is crammed with frozen meat, milk, bread, veggies and juice.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I could feed ourselves for at least a year with the food we keep in reserves (and rotate to keep fresh).

Most post apocalyptic stories deal with food insecurities and The Last Of Us is no exception to this.

But The Last Of Us deals with it so brilliantly wrongly that it is a constant reminder it is a fictional story. And I suspect this was a deliberate choice by the creators.

For example, EVERYONE knows if ingredients are short, you make soup (not stew, soup). Soup kitchens exist for a reason. This is common knowledge.

On The Last Of Us, an entire pot of soup could have been made from just one of the pools of freshly spilled deer blood the characters spotted in the snow.

Yet these supposedly starving characters walked by numerous pools of blood, leaving that valuable resource in the snow.

And very little soup (if any) is made on the show at all. This was such a big omission it had to be intentional.

About that deer, some of the characters hunted deer. Hunting is energy intensive.

Yet they had an entire river or lake filled with fish waiting to be caught. Which the creators relayed to viewers again and again with their ‘river of death’ mentions and their screenshots of canoes.

The characters also had forests stocked with healthy pine trees (which the creators, again, brought our attention to).

As many Northern folks know, a tea/soup consisting of boiled pine needles contains massive amounts of vitamin C (and also vitamin A). That’s a food source right there!

All these ‘errors’ (which were so blatant they HAD to be deliberate) allowed me to enjoy The Last Of Us and not deal with my food insecurities.

Inaccuracies in entertainment can reinforce the escapism feel to it. And that can be a very good thing!


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Raw Desires

His human female is attempting to kill him.
This cyborg finds that adorable.


Raw, a K model cyborg, is one of the lucky warriors who has located his genetic match. He hears his human female’s voice over the communication lines and immediately processes she is his.


Winning her affections will be a greater challenge. Battle has always been Raw’s focus. The rough-and-tough warrior has no idea how to engage anyone’s tender emotions.

Fortunately, he isn’t alone in the universe. His unmatched male friends help him craft a plan.

All Raw has to do is relay a few unsettlingly sweet words to his female and give her the thoroughly unfunctional wall decoration he has obtained. He projects she will then jump into his big, strong arms and beg him to claim her.

Taytu isn’t jumping anywhere. She has one mission—kill every cyborg in existence.

The huge, handsome male traveling to meet with her is her first target. His rough hands, firm lips, and sparkling, energy-infused eyes won’t save him from her vengeance. She has trained vigorously for this moment, and she won’t fail at her assigned task.

The cyborg will die.


Raw Desires is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Buy Today:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/raw-desires/id6443413750

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raw-desires-cynthia-sax/1142255510

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/raw-desires-2

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1166190

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The Last Of Us, Realism In Entertainment And Food Insecurities

Death On The Nile And Guessing Twists

By Cynthia Sax on March 24, 2023

Spoiler Alert – This post will talk very generally about the movie Death On The Nile. If you haven’t yet watched this movie, you might wish to skip this post.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched Death On The Nile, the 2022 movie based on the Agatha Christie novel. Neither of us had read the book or watched any early versions of this story.

Yet we both guessed who killed the first victim a scene before the body was discovered.

That might have been the director’s expectation.

It might have been a romance novel situation.

In romance novels, we almost always immediately know who will end up happy, in love and in a relationship. Heck, the book description indirectly tells us that information! (grins) If the description talks about Raw and Taytu, Raw and Taytu will be in a happy, loving relationship in the last chapter of the story.

Maybe we were expected to know who did it early in the Death On The Nile movie. Maybe, as with romance novels, we were expected to enjoy the journey to that obvious conclusion.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I did enjoy the journey. The sets were amazing and we both love Egypt.


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Raw Desires

His human female is attempting to kill him.
This cyborg finds that adorable.


Raw, a K model cyborg, is one of the lucky warriors who has located his genetic match. He hears his human female’s voice over the communication lines and immediately processes she is his.


Winning her affections will be a greater challenge. Battle has always been Raw’s focus. The rough-and-tough warrior has no idea how to engage anyone’s tender emotions.

Fortunately, he isn’t alone in the universe. His unmatched male friends help him craft a plan.

All Raw has to do is relay a few unsettlingly sweet words to his female and give her the thoroughly unfunctional wall decoration he has obtained. He projects she will then jump into his big, strong arms and beg him to claim her.

Taytu isn’t jumping anywhere. She has one mission—kill every cyborg in existence.

The huge, handsome male traveling to meet with her is her first target. His rough hands, firm lips, and sparkling, energy-infused eyes won’t save him from her vengeance. She has trained vigorously for this moment, and she won’t fail at her assigned task.

The cyborg will die.


Raw Desires is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Buy Today:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/raw-desires/id6443413750

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raw-desires-cynthia-sax/1142255510

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/raw-desires-2

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1166190

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Death On The Nile And Guessing Twists

The White Lotus And Reading Books Out Of The Series Order

By Cynthia Sax on March 14, 2023

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I discovered The White Lotus TV series during season two.

We devoured that season, loving the show, laughing our fool heads off in parts and battling to solve the mystery. I don’t think we lost much by starting it in season two. All the characters, except for two, were different.

We’re now going back and watching the first season. Yes, we know how the two carryover characters end up. But the rest is a mystery (in all sense of the word – grins). We’re enjoying it very much.

I try to write the stories in my series that way – hoping reading buddie will enjoy the stories on their own and/or within the series.

I don’t always succeed with this. I think Strive For Forever, the fourth story in the Cyborg Unity series (releasing in July), is more enjoyable if you have read the other three stories. But I do try to make them all stand on their own.

Do you read stories out of the series order?


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Raw Desires

His human female is attempting to kill him.
This cyborg finds that adorable.


Raw, a K model cyborg, is one of the lucky warriors who has located his genetic match. He hears his human female’s voice over the communication lines and immediately processes she is his.


Winning her affections will be a greater challenge. Battle has always been Raw’s focus. The rough-and-tough warrior has no idea how to engage anyone’s tender emotions.

Fortunately, he isn’t alone in the universe. His unmatched male friends help him craft a plan.

All Raw has to do is relay a few unsettlingly sweet words to his female and give her the thoroughly unfunctional wall decoration he has obtained. He projects she will then jump into his big, strong arms and beg him to claim her.

Taytu isn’t jumping anywhere. She has one mission—kill every cyborg in existence.

The huge, handsome male traveling to meet with her is her first target. His rough hands, firm lips, and sparkling, energy-infused eyes won’t save him from her vengeance. She has trained vigorously for this moment, and she won’t fail at her assigned task.

The cyborg will die.


Raw Desires is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Buy Today:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/raw-desires/id6443413750

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raw-desires-cynthia-sax/1142255510

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/raw-desires-2

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1166190

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The White Lotus And Reading Books Out Of The Series Order

House Of The Dragon And Time Jumps

By Cynthia Sax on January 25, 2023

Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about House Of The Dragon and will contain spoilers. If you haven’t watched this show up to and including Episode 6, you might want to skip this.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I are watching House Of The Dragon, the Game of Thrones prequel.

It takes me about 3 episodes to get into a show. By episode 6 of House Of The Dragon, I still wasn’t captured but the Dear Wonderful Hubby was.

We decided to finish the season.

Then…episode 6 happened.

Episode 6 involves a 10 year time jump. Time jumps are jarring for both viewers and readers. We, writers, risk losing readers whenever we do time jumps.

But this time jump was even more jarring because they had recast many of the lead actors.

They not only recast them but they changed their personalities. Many of the characters became harsher. Their innocence and their hope were obliterated.

As the Dear Wonderful Hubby pointed out, it was like watching a brand new show.

We’re debating whether or not to watch this brand new show. Do we care enough to figure out who everyone is, what they want, what their plans and hopes and dreams are?

We haven’t yet made this decision.

THIS is the danger of shifts in time.


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Raw Desires

(This description is VERY much unedited. My Awesome Editor, if she saw I was sharing it with you, would probably have an emotional meltdown.)

His human female is attempting to kill him.
This cyborg finds that adorable.

***

Raw, a K model cyborg, is one of the lucky warriors to have located his genetic match. He hears his human female’s voice over the communication lines and immediately processes she is his.

Winning her affections will be a greater challenge. Battle has always been Raw’s focus. The rough and tough warrior has no idea how to engage anyone’s tender emotions.

Fortunately, he isn’t alone in the universe. His unmatched male friends help him craft a plan.

All Raw has to do is relay a few unsettlingly sweet words to his female and give her the thoroughly unfunctional wall decoration he has obtained. He projects she will then jump into his big, strong arms and beg him to claim her.

Taytu isn’t jumping anywhere. She has one mission—kill every cyborg in existence.

The huge, handsome male traveling to meet with her is her first target. His rough hands, firm lips and sparkling, energy-infused eyes won’t save him from her vengeance. She has trained vigorously for this moment and she won’t fail at her assigned task.

The cyborg will die.

***

Raw Desires is an enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Pre-order Today:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0BFG8W5JM

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/raw-desires/id6443413750

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/raw-desires-cynthia-sax/1142255510

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/raw-desires-2

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1166190

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on House Of The Dragon And Time Jumps

The School For Good And Evil And Expectations

By Cynthia Sax on December 2, 2022

Warning – I’m talking about the Netflix movie – The School For Good And Evil – in this post. There will be some (mild) spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this movie, you might wish to skip this discussion.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched The School For Good And Evil on Netflix. This fairy tale magical academy movie was based on the book by Soman Chainani and we quite enjoyed it. It was light and fun and had a girl power message.

It also does a brilliant job at using our expectations to create plot twists.

Sophie and Agatha are best friends. But they seem more different than similar.

Agatha wears all black. She loves her cat and her potion-creating mom. She has all the makings of the stereotypical witch in the fairy tales.

Sophie dresses in bright, happy colors. She’s a gifted seamstress and she dreams of being the princess she resembles.

When they’re transported to the School for Good and Evil, we assume Sophie will be placed in the good school and Agatha (whom I LOVE) will be placed in the evil school.

But the exact opposite happens. They are placed, they believe, in the ‘wrong’ schools, becoming instant and obvious outcasts.

I thought this was superbly done and I was extremely inspired by it.

***

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Grin And Bare Him

This cyborg will be the warrior his female requires.


Cyborgs are designed to fight. That is their primary purpose and 98.2356 percent of the manufactured warriors enjoy battle. Tremendously.

Grin, a K model, is one of the rare exceptions. When he escaped his cruel creators, he set down his sword and allocated his processors to less violent pursuits. He projects he’s left his war-waging planet rotations behind him forever.

Then he meets his beautiful, beguiling female, the one being he’s destined to protect, to claim, to love for all eternity, and his plans for peace are completely decimated.

Mohini needs a ship.

She has a dangerous mission to complete and the first step in that assignment is arranging transport to an enemy-controlled planet. The vessel she has set her sights on is guarded by the sexiest cyborg she’s ever seen.

To gain access to his ship, Mohini is prepared to kiss, caress, seduce the muscular male. The mission is her focus. The pleasure she experiences will merely be a bonus.

A female has to do what a female has to do to save the universe.


Grin And Bare Him is a Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a humanoid female undertaking a dangerous mission, a cyborg intent on keeping her alive, and an enemy with enough firepower to blow up an entire sector.

Buy Now:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/grin-and-bare-him/id1622100495

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grin-and-bare-him-cynthia-sax/1141413965

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/grin-and-bare-him

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1145153

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The School For Good And Evil And Expectations

Rosaline And Shrewish Characters

By Cynthia Sax on November 12, 2022

Note: This post will talk about the Enemies-to-Lovers Romance movie Rosaline. If you haven’t yet watched this fun, light-hearted, HEA film, you might want to skip this post.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched Rosaline, a YA movie based on the book When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle. This story covers some of the scenes in Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet but from Rosaline’s POV.

We both really enjoyed this movie. It was light and fun and had the expected Romance ending. The soundtrack was awesome. The two main characters had delicious chemistry. And their romance had layers. I could see how they would grow together as a couple.

One of the (many) things it did well is give us a likable ‘shrew’ heroine and that’s very difficult to do. Often shrew characters are so harsh they’re mean. Or they are so soft they’re not truly shrew characters.

Rosaline balances this well. She will list everything she hates but then she’ll admit she does likes something. She’ll tell her hero off and then she’ll ask if he’s coming with her or not. She’ll say something harsh and then immediately and visibly regret it.

I liked her as a heroine. And I understood why her hero falls in love with her.

***

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Grin And Bare Him

This cyborg will be the warrior his female requires.


Cyborgs are designed to fight. That is their primary purpose and 98.2356 percent of the manufactured warriors enjoy battle. Tremendously.

Grin, a K model, is one of the rare exceptions. When he escaped his cruel creators, he set down his sword and allocated his processors to less violent pursuits. He projects he’s left his war-waging planet rotations behind him forever.

Then he meets his beautiful, beguiling female, the one being he’s destined to protect, to claim, to love for all eternity, and his plans for peace are completely decimated.

Mohini needs a ship.

She has a dangerous mission to complete and the first step in that assignment is arranging transport to an enemy-controlled planet. The vessel she has set her sights on is guarded by the sexiest cyborg she’s ever seen.

To gain access to his ship, Mohini is prepared to kiss, caress, seduce the muscular male. The mission is her focus. The pleasure she experiences will merely be a bonus.

A female has to do what a female has to do to save the universe.


Grin And Bare Him is a Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a humanoid female undertaking a dangerous mission, a cyborg intent on keeping her alive, and an enemy with enough firepower to blow up an entire sector.

Pre-order Now:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09ZCWMSDV

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/grin-and-bare-him/id1622100495

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grin-and-bare-him-cynthia-sax/1141413965

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/grin-and-bare-him

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1145153

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Rosaline And Shrewish Characters

The Lost City And Series Fatigue

By Cynthia Sax on September 24, 2022

Warning: This post will talk about The Lost City, an awesome movie starring Sandra Bullock as a Romance Writer and Channing Tatum as a Cover Model. The spoilers will be very light but you might wish to read this post after you’ve watched the movie.

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I finally watched The Lost City and stars, we enjoyed it so very much. It was funny and had unexpected twists and a great Romance Novel ending.

Which is appropriate as Loretta Sage, the heroine, writes Romance Novels and Dash, the hero, is a Romance Novel Cover Model.

I loved this movie also because it discusses a very real issue Romance Writers sometimes face – series fatigue.

Loretta has series fatigue. She has been writing about the same couple for multiple books and can’t think up a new interesting adventure for the two characters to embark on.

She sees only one solution – she has to end the series.

Except no one else wants her to do that. Her readers, Dash, her publisher, etc., all want more books in the series.

The cure she takes for series fatigue has been effective for many writers, including myself.

Loretta is forced out of the writing cave and spends time in the greater world, having adventures and interacting with non-writing folks and surrounding herself with inspiration.

I force myself to leave the writing cave every so often also. I take a break. The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I usually travel.

All that greater world stimulation propels my muse into hyperdrive. Ideas and words flow. I return to the writing cave eager to write the next story. It is very exciting.

This solution doesn’t work for everything but it is well worth a try!

***

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Provoking Odium

A Beautiful Cyborg

While accompanying his leader on a mission, Odium, an E Model cyborg, hears a distress call over the communication lines. The voice on that message makes his circuits surge with energy and all his systems light up. He has to respond to the mysterious female, would risk his lifespan and the lifespans of everyone on board their ship to protect her.

A Human Female Others Call Beast

Briella gained her nickname due to her flying abilities, her fearlessness, and her scarred countenance. Her verbal-only relationship with the sexy cyborg who answers her distress call is a steamy yet short-lived fantasy. His kind is physically perfect, and she is…not. He will uncover that truth when…if they survive the attack upon her freighter.


Provoking Odium is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It features a human female intent on remaining mysterious, a cyborg warrior determined to uncover her identity, and an enemy seeking to destroy them both before they have the opportunity to meet.

Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/provoking-odium/id1605490349

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/provoking-odium-cynthia-sax/1140894003

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/provoking-odium

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1127119

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The Lost City And Series Fatigue

The Sandman And Beginning As You Mean To Continue

By Cynthia Sax on August 31, 2022

Warning: This post will talk about the Netflix series – The Sandman – and it will contain spoilers. Don’t read this post if you haven’t watched at least the first episode.

I’ve been watching The Sandman, a series on Netflix based on the Neil Gaiman’s works. The Dear Wonderful Hubby watched episode 1 with me and stopped there.

The violent death of a beloved animal in that episode really bothered him. He deemed it too sad to watch, especially for entertainment.

I, on the other hand, have been enjoying it. I’ve finished episode three thus far and yes, it is sad. I cry and/or am horrified during every installment. But I like that purge of emotions. It allows me to cope with reality.

And I’m glad the Dear Wonderful Hubby stopped watching because the first episode is representative of the next two. The tone is the same. The sadness is the same. The senseless or random acts of hurting are the same.

I try to ensure my first stories in a series are representative of the other stories also. I also try to ensure first chapters are representative of the entire story. If it is a dark story, the first chapter shouldn’t be all giggles and sunshine. There should be a hint of that darkness.

Like having the main character dress all in black. (grins) The Sandman offers us plenty of warnings.

***

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Provoking Odium

A Beautiful Cyborg

While accompanying his leader on a mission, Odium, an E Model cyborg, hears a distress call over the communication lines. The voice on that message makes his circuits surge with energy and all his systems light up. He has to respond to the mysterious female, would risk his lifespan and the lifespans of everyone on board their ship to protect her.

A Human Female Others Call Beast

Briella gained her nickname due to her flying abilities, her fearlessness, and her scarred countenance. Her verbal-only relationship with the sexy cyborg who answers her distress call is a steamy yet short-lived fantasy. His kind is physically perfect, and she is…not. He will uncover that truth when…if they survive the attack upon her freighter.


Provoking Odium is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It features a human female intent on remaining mysterious, a cyborg warrior determined to uncover her identity, and an enemy seeking to destroy them both before they have the opportunity to meet.

Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B09NRXGLFW

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/provoking-odium/id1605490349

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/provoking-odium-cynthia-sax/1140894003

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/provoking-odium

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1127119

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The Sandman And Beginning As You Mean To Continue

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