Gladiator II And The Too Easy Solution
Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about Gladiator II, the long awaited sequel to Gladiator, a movie about…well…gladiators (grins) and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this half-naked-men-fighting-to-the-death-in-the-Colosseum movie, you might wish to skip this post.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched Gladiator II.
The first Gladiator was serious. It was well written. It was…well…not factual but it attempted to look historical.
This second Gladiator movie is silly. At one point, the Colosseum fighting ring is filled with water and stocked with very large great white sharks.
I often enjoy silly. Heck, I AM a bit silly. (grins) I wrote The Godrabbit. That’s a super silly concept.
But Gladiator II is also boring and predictable.
I knew this was a different movie when they once again killed off the hero’s wife.
When the wife or female love interest dies in a movie now, I brace myself for some lazy and uninspired storytelling.
And this proved to be true with Gladiator II.
They also killed the wife off for no good reason.
Because Gladiator II would have been a stronger, more interesting movie if she HADN’T died.
The wife was a warrior. She could have been a female gladiator. The hero might have faced her in the ring. Or fought alongside her. Or watched and worried while she fought and gained new urgency to free himself AND her.
THAT would have kicked a$$. And it would have been original, instead of striving to be a washed out copy of the first movie.
But, instead, the filmmakers reached for easy.
And they gave us boring.
If a solution in your story seems TOO easy, reconsider it. Interesting is rarely easy.
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Gladiator II And The Too Easy Solution
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Dark Flight is an enemies-to-lovers alien-like romance featuring a winged warrior hero!
I love Orol. He’s Kralj’s second-in-command and is, like the rest of modified humanoids, a little bit broken.
Rhea, his human heroine, is a bit broken also.
They are well matched, not that they believe this.
(grins)
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Dark Flight is an enemies-to-lovers alien-like romance featuring a claw-sporting winged warrior hero and a protective human heroine on a mission to save her beloved sister.
There are sexy times in the air, fights to the death on the ground, and a love to last all eternity…if they survive the next few planet rotations. (grins)
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/dark-flight/id1242494643
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/dark-flight-3
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/727350
Topics: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Dark Flight is currently the only romance I have published featuring a winged hero. Orol, a modified humanoid, is a being genetically engineered for battle and he resembles an angel. But he certainly doesn’t act like one. (grins)
Having wings changes the way he fights, the way he lives and the way he breeds.
Rhea, the human heroine, REALLY appreciates that. (laughs)
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.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: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
In Dark Thoughts, the first story in the Refuge/Dark Thoughts series, the hero, Kralj, is dark and ominous and he’s also scarred. He feels like he looks like the monster he is.
Orol, the hero of Dark Flight, in contrast, looks like an angel. He’s beautiful. He has wings. Beings are awed by how gorgeous he is.
But if Kralj is a monster, Orol is a monster also. He was created to kill and he enjoys it.
Which is fortunate for Rhea, the heroine of Dark Flight. She needs a skilled warrior.
In multiple ways. (grins)
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.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: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
I receive MANY requests for a follow up story to Dark Flight. These requests all mention three characters who haven’t yet received their own stories. (grins) If you’ve read Dark Flight and the rest of the series, you know the characters I’m referring to.
I DO plan to write their stories. I think I’ll write the Next Gen Cyborgs first and then another Modified Humanoid/Refuge-set set of stories.
Anyhoo… Orol, the hero of Dark Flight, is a winged hero. He looks like an angel. But he certainly doesn’t act like one. (laughs)
Which is great because Rhea, the heroine, needs a warrior who can walk on the dark side of life.
Orol is certainly that type of being!
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.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: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Orol, the hero of Dark Flight, is, I believe, the sole winged hero I have. Having flight as an option made the steamy scenes so much fun. Sex in the sky! (grins)
Rhea, the heroine, is a complete bada$$. She’s a bit of a mama bear about her younger sister, is extremely protective. And she loses her sh*t when that sister is abducted.
Stakes are high. As are the passions. Orol and Rhea set off sparks when they meet.
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.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: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Orol, the hero of Dark Flight, is the only winged hero I’ve written about…thus far. A certain winged Modified Humanoid who appeared in B Free might someday receive his own story.
Winged heroes mean fun times in the sky. (grins) Orol also sports talons, which hints at how very dangerous he is. He is exactly the type of male, Rhea, his heroine, needs.
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.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: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Orol, the hero of Dark Flight, is the most classically handsome of all the heroes in my story. And he is truly ‘classically’ handsome as he sports wings. (grins) He looks like an angel but he is SO not one. He’s Kralj’s second-in-command at the Refuge, is a fierce warrior, loves to fight.
Rhea, his heroine, is as strong as he is. She’s dedicated to her younger sister and would do anything, even team up with Orol, to protect her.
This story has a gladiator-in-space type feel to it. There are competitions, fights to the death. If you enjoy those types of stories, you might love Dark Flight.
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.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: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
The migratory birds have returned to my corner of the universe. They chirp happily all day and it is such a merry sound. They’re likely arguing or something like that. (grins) I don’t understand bird but I think they’re happy and I smile when I hear them.
Orol is the being I think of when the birds return. He’s the winged hero of Dark Flight, the second story in the Refuge/Dark Thoughts Series. This modified humanoid loves to fly.
Which means there are some steamy scenes with Rhea, his mate, in the air. Those were fun to write and I find them fun to read.
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/
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07124941B
Apple Books: https://books.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: Throwback Thursday | Comments Off on Throwback Thursday – Dark Flight
