Breaking All The Rules – This book is hot!
Woot! Kick Back & Review loved Breaking All The Rules!
http://kickbackandreview.blogspot.ca/2015/02/breaking-all-rules-by-cynthia-sax.html
Here’s a snippet…
“This book is hot! It has a little bit of a different twist in it than most books. It made me like it that much more because of it. (You’ll need to read the book to find the twist out.)”
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
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Breaking All The Rules – Best Of 2014 Erotic Romance
Woot!
Mel at SM Book Obsessions has named Breaking All The Rules one of the best erotic romances in 2014 (that’s of ALL erotic romances, long, short, contemporary, historical, paranormal, etc)!
“This is a super fun dirty quickie that I have already re-read this year.”
Read the full list here
http://smbookobsessions.com/mels-best-worst-2014/
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
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Breaking All The Rules – Best of Erotic Short Stories and Novellas
OMG!!! Breaking All The Rules was named Best of Erotic Short Stories and Novellas !!!
http://www.romanceatrandom.com/lists/dirty-shorts-best-of-erotic-short-stories-and-novellas/
“Quality writing, quirky heroine, hot stuff. Erotic done right.”
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
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The Pantster’s Guide To Writing A Series
I’m a pantser, a writer who writes by the seat of her pants. Before starting a story, I usually know my characters, (maybe) have a glimpse at a first scene, know it will be an erotic romance, and that’s it. Yes, I can feel my plotter buddies twitching. It is chaos, I tell you, chaos! But I can’t write any other way.
I also write series, three or more stories set in the same world with characters who know each other. Sometimes there’s an overreaching story arc (defeating the big baddie or finding a man for Camille – grins). Sometimes it is a sexy brother type of series (there are three friends and I want them all to find love).
How do I write series when I don’t even know what the next scene in a story is?
It is similar to how I write a single story. With a single story, I know the ending. The two (or more) characters will find lasting love and be together. I don’t know how they’ll get there but I know that’s where the story is heading.
With a series, I have additional goals or destinations for my first (or second or third story). Yes, the two (or more) characters will be together but, in the case of the sexy brother series, at least one of the other characters will also be introduced.
In He Watches Me/He Touches Me/He Claims Me, Anna and Blaine end up together and are gloriously happy (well, as happy as our rather serious billionaire can be) but Camille, the heroine of Breaking All The Rules, is also introduced.
A story in a series with an overreaching story arc will have a third goal. At the end of the story, the two (or more) characters will be together, the main character in the next story will be introduced, AND there will be progression in the bigger mission.
How much progression?
It depends on how many stories I wish to have in the series. In the Warlord four story series, I knew I wanted all three brothers to find love. This meant at least a three part series. I also eventually wanted one of the Warlord brothers to face Tolui (the brother was supposed to kill him in the third story but Tolui refused to die). I chopped up this big end goal into smaller goals, progressively escalating the conflict and the stakes.
And this escalation is important. We’ve all read a toe curling first book in a series and wondered “How will the writer top THIS?” That’s what readers expect. If you blow up the Death Star in the first installment, you should do something even bigger or more shocking (like, say, announce that the big baddie the hero is trying to kill is dear ol’ dad) in the second installment. The conflict in the third story will be even BIGGER.
I’m a fan of circular story telling so often when crafting the final story in a series, I give a nod to the first story. Maybe I’ll mirror a scene or refer back to the first story. I also like to bring back or mention the previous couples (or more), giving readers some updates on them. This usually isn’t planned though. It is part of the pantsing magic.
Do you have some tips on writing series? What do you like about reading stories in a series?
Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on The Pantster’s Guide To Writing A Series
The Future Of Blaine Technologies
My first five contemporary erotic romance releases (He Watches Me, He Touches Me, He Claims Me, Flashes Of Me, and Breaking All The Rules) were all set in Gabriel Blaine’s LA based company, Blaine Technologies.
There are many more interesting people living in this world and I’ve received some wonderful emails from reading buddies asking me if Michael or Miss Yen or other characters will receive stories also. Will we see Blaine and Anna again?
The answer is…
I don’t know.
Yeah, that’s a terrible answer, isn’t it? (sheepish grin)
I don’t have any immediate plans to write more stories set at Blaine Technologies. Sinful Rewards, my 12 novella serial releasing from Avon (the first story releases July 15th), is set in Chicago. I’ve already written the 8th story in this serial and Blaine hasn’t yet made an appearance.
This doesn’t mean he won’t show up. As my SciFi readers know, my worlds and series tend to collide (as they do in real life). I also have no control over my characters. If I tell a hero not to show up somewhere, that’s usually where he insists on going.
Blaine, being a billionaire, completes business all over the planet, including in Chicago. The world of the extremely wealthy is very small. Blaine definitely knows Nicolas, the billionaire in Sinful Rewards.
If there is an uber-wealthy function or event in Sinful Rewards, Blaine and Anna could be guests. (Man, oh, man, that would be awesome! I’d LOVE to listen to a conversation between Blaine and Nicolas.) But I can’t guarantee that there will be such an occasion.
I DO believe that lovers of the Blaine Technologies stories will enjoy Sinful Rewards.
Sinful Rewards 1
Cynthia Sax
Belinda “Bee” Carter is a good girl; at least, that’s what she tells herself. And a good girl deserves a nice guy—just like the gorgeous and moody billionaire Nicolas Rainer. He is everything she wants in a man.
Or so she thinks, until she takes a look through her telescope and sees a naked, tattooed man on the balcony across the courtyard. Hawke is mysterious, the bad boy she knows will bring only heartbreak. He has been watching her, and that makes him all the more enticing.
But when a mysterious and anonymous text message dares her to do something bad, she must decide if she is really the good girl she has always claimed to be, or if she’s willing to risk everything for her secret fantasy of being watched.
Is her mystery man the reclusive billionaire with a wild side or the darkly dangerous bad boy?
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-1-Cynthia-Sax-ebook/dp/B00I7V89H0
Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390
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Are Billionaire Heroes Cliché?
I write about billionaire heroes in my contemporary erotic romances and I’m often asked if billionaires are becoming cliché. Are you tiring of them?
In my humble opinion, billionaire heroes will become cliché when writers write clichéd billionaires. I view billionaire as being a short form for successful, a man at the top of his game, the alpha of the business world. I doubt we’ll ever tire of these types of heroes. We want our heroes to be successful.
My billionaires (or multimillionaires in the cases of Henley from Flashes Of Me and Nate from Breaking All The Rules) aren’t Christian Grey. E. L. James has fully explored her intriguing Fifty Shades Of Grey hero. There’s no reason for me to write about a similar billionaire. Heck, I doubt E.L. James would want to write about a similar billionaire!
My billionaire heroes are all different, with different issues, different problems, different likes and dislikes. They hold different jobs, see their roles in the world very differently.
A billionaire financier is nothing like a billionaire hacker or a billionaire security professional. A billionaire raised by a single mom isn’t the same man as a billionaire orphaned at a young age. A billionaire who has gone to prison will have a different view on the world than a billionaire who has never been in trouble with the law.
These billionaires are as unique as you and I are.
This means I can’t predict how you will react to my heroes, if you’ll like Nate as much as Henley, Henley as much as Blaine. I’m chewing my fingernails to the nubs wondering if you’ll like Nicolas, the billionaire real estate developer in Sinful Rewards (Test reading buddies love him but what if these test reading buddies are the only ones? Yes, writers are a wee bit nuts. We worry about everything.).
But this is the risk writers take when we write any new character, even a sexy billionaire. In order to bring you fresh characters, characters who aren’t clichés, we risk bringing you a hero you might not love as much.
What type of billionaire hero would you like to see? A biker billionaire? An artist billionaire? A lottery billionaire?
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Guest Post | 2 Comments »
Food To Fall In Love With
Eating is one of the most sensuous activities we can engage in (besides sex – grins). It engages all of the senses. We smell, taste, feel, see, hear (chewing, slurping, crunching) food.
Eating is also an activity we often associate with love and company. We cook for the people we care about. First dates often involve a meal, perhaps at a fancy restaurant. Chocolate is one of the most common gifts men give the women they care about.
Food plays an important role in almost all of my stories.
In The Seen Trilogy (He Watches Me, He Touches Me, He Claims Me), Blaine, our billionaire hero, serves Anna, our heroine. He’s a wealthy successful man yet he’s telling her that she’s more important than he is. He’s communicating without words that he puts her first and he’ll take care of her.
This is even more symbolic for Anna as she hasn’t always had enough to eat. She envisions a future in which she won’t ever have that worry.
In Flashes Of Me, Kat convinces Henley to eat broccoli and other green vegetables, foods believed to reduce the possibility of cancer. This is how she tells him she worries about him and she wants him to remain healthy.
In one scene, Kat sends Henley beef and broccoli. He then sends her chocolate covered strawberries. She is telling him “I’ll take care of you” and his non-verbal reply is “I’ll take care of you also.”
In Breaking All The Rules, one of the ways Camille expresses her individualistic, rebel self, is by eating fragrant curry at work. A friend of her mom’s taught her how to make these curries so there’s also an emotional connection. The curries are a little taste of her quirky home.
Camille expects every man she meets to reject her curries and to reject her. Nate, the conservative, extremely non-ethic hero, is perhaps the last person on Earth anyone would expect to order curry yet he does… for Camille. He’s telling her that he embraces her rebellious nature, that he will change to make their unusual relationship work.
Do you use food to convey your feelings?
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Reviews | 1 Comment »
King Kong (2005)
Being a romance reader, I always look for the hero in every movie, whether or not that movie is a romance. In the 2005 version of King Kong, my favorite character, the man I think is the hero is Captain Englehorn, played by the hunky Thomas Kretschmann . I know, I know this sounds like a bizarre choice but just hear me out.
At first, the sexy Captain doesn’t seem like a hero at all. He’s taking the film crew out to sea for the money, to pay his bills (not just his bills, his crew’s bills). He resists being a hero at every turn. Carl Denham, Jack Black’s character, has to bribe him to leave port quickly. When he hears Carl is wanted by the police, the Captain decides to turn back. He threatens to leave Skull Island without the film crew when they go ashore without his permission.
But he doesn’t leave. He sends his own crew to save Ann Darrow, Naomi Watts’ character. His crew is extremely loyal to him. People aren’t loyal to a leader unless they believe that leader cares about them. The Captain has clearly earned their loyalty in the past. Yet he risks the people he cares about to save a woman he barely knows.
The Captain arms his crew with weapons he owns. He then figures out how to down Kong. Does he profit eventually from the venture? Yes. At least, I hope so (we don’t see this onscreen). He’s also a big game hunter and receives a personal pleasure from bagging this VERY big game.
That’s not why he aids in the rescuing of Miss Darrow though (without the Captain’s crew, Jack Driscoll, Adrien Brody’s character, has no chance at rescuing the heroine). He’s assisting in her rescue because he believes this is the right thing to do and, in my eyes, that’s heroic.
My favorite line from the movie is…
Carl Denham: I’ve risked everything I had on this film.
Captain Englehorn: No Denham, you risked everything I have.
Who do you think is the hero in King Kong?
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
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Favorite Real Life Mom – The Best Mom In The World
No discussion about mothers would be complete without mentioning my own dear wonderful mom. My mom is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. My father was a very bad man and she put her own life at risk numerous times trying to shield my five siblings and I from him.
When my father became completely unstable, she packed us up and left. My mom, due to her religious background, doesn’t believe in divorce. She made this decision, thinking it would doom her to purgatory. Yeah, she put her kids’ welfare before her immortal soul. That’s a huge sacrifice.
She also didn’t have any money. She’d never held a job outside the home. We had no place to stay, no food to eat. My heavily armed father wasn’t keen on letting us go. My mom must have been terrified but we didn’t know it. She made every ordeal an adventure and we survived, eventually thriving.
My mom wasn’t perfect and she knew her limitations. She paired us up with mentors, folks who could help us achieve our dreams. This must have been tough for her. I remember coming home and telling my mom that so-and-so was a better mom than she was. Yes, I was a little brat (and I regret it to this day). But my mom continued to send me to visit this ‘better mom’, putting my future before her feelings.
My mom made me the woman I am today. This is why I often dedicate stories to her or name characters after her (her name is Shirley). She doesn’t use computers and she doesn’t read erotic romances (not even mine) so these nods are more for me, than for her. They’re a reminder that I wouldn’t be here without her.
Why is YOUR mom the best mom in the world?
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
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Favorite Movie Mom – The Blind Side
The Blind Side is one of my favorite movies of all time, which surprises many people because I have absolutely NO interest in football (grins). I did, however, grow up very, VERY poor (we didn’t eat every day and we had no indoor plumbing) right here in North America and I felt the same despair, the same hopelessness Michael Oher did.
I was fortunate to have a great mom who hooked me up with mentors. These wonderful people helped me escape the vicious circle of poverty, giving me opportunities and teaching me skills that middle class and wealthy folks take for granted (this is one of the reasons I vigorously support libraries – a librarian was one of these generous people).
Many of my buddies didn’t have this same opportunity. They never broke out of poverty. They have now given up on their so-called wild fantasies of owning a home or of ever retiring. They no longer dream. They no longer hope.
So I know how very lucky Michael Oher was to meet Leigh Anne Tuohy (played brilliantly by Sandra Bullock ). I love that Leigh Anne mothers everyone. She has her own causes, her own projects, her own career, but it is clear that she puts her family (whether biological or not) emotionally first.
She’s a modern warrior, venturing into scary parts of town, dealing with scary characters to protect her newly obtained son, to ease his stress. She’s wealthy. It would have be easier for her to simply replace all of Michael’s things, rather than risk her safety to try to retrieve them, but she does this to make him happy.
I love that she’s respectful of Michael’s biological mom, seeking her out even though there was no legal need to. She doesn’t judge. She knows no one is perfect and she also realizes how tough being a mother is. ALL mothers make mistakes. Leigh Anne made mistakes with Michael. I thought her acceptance of Michael’s mother was absolutely awesome.
Who is your favorite movie mom?
Nathan Lawford, Blaine Technologies’ chief financial officer, is known as the Iceman. He conducts his personal and business affairs without emotion, never allowing himself to become involved with anyone. When Nate sees something or someone he wants, he negotiates, paying a simple, set monetary price.
Now he wants Camille, the company’s green-haired intern.
Camille Joplin Trent never expected to be paid to pleasure the man of her dreams. She can’t quite figure out why this is a bad thing. Nate is intelligent, handsome, sophisticated, everything she’s ever wanted in a lover and never thought she could have. Their contract is for a month, thirty lust-filled days of making every sexual fantasy they’ve ever had come true. At the end of this month, the rules state their relationship will end.
Of course, Camille has never been good at following rules.
Buy Now At Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-All-Rules-Erotic-Novella-ebook/dp/B00F2I2GXY
Buy Now At ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-breakingalltherules-1453084-149.html
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Favorite Movie Mom – The Blind Side
