65, Dinosaur Planets And Small Casts Of Characters
Spoiler Alert – This post will discuss the movie 65 and might have some (mild) spoilers. You might wish to skip this post if you haven’t yet watched this movie.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I recently watched 65. Of course, we watched it. (grins) A SciFi movie set on a dinosaur planet? I’m all in!
It was…okay. I think maybe my expectations of this movie were too high and that messed with my enjoyment of it.
But one of the things it did well was limit the number of characters. Other than some flashbacks and the planet itself being a character, it was solely the two of them. They were alone on the planet.
This focused our attention on them. It increased our probability of caring about them. And it is a trick many Romance Writers use. We get the love interests alone so readers can focus on them and their relationship.
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Strive For Forever
This cyborg seeks to vanquish an ancient entity and save his curvy human female.
Euryale made a terrible mistake. She opened a container she shouldn’t have touched and released one of the oldest lifeforms in existence. That all-powerful entity is now utilizing her as its host body and is slowly draining her energy.
Soon, she’ll die.
Euryale has accepted this fate and is determined to use her remaining moments in the universe to save as many lives as she can.
Her plans do NOT include a smoldering-hot, poetry-wielding cyborg willing to decimate entire planets to save her.
While under the control of the Humanoid Alliance, Strive, a K Model cyborg, disobeyed direct orders and refused to kill on their behalf. If he hadn’t escaped their cruel clutches, his defiance would have led to his death.
The male knowingly risked that fate to save the lifespans of complete strangers.
There is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect Euryale. The curvy human female is his genetic match, the one being he is destined to defend.
And she is in danger.
Strive would break every vow, cross every boundary, risk absolutely everything to keep her from harm.
Including battle a deity no one has ever defeated.
***
Strive For Forever is Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features an inspired cyborg, a joke-cracking scientist, and an all-powerful deity with plans of his own.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Strive-Forever-SciFi-Cyborg-Romance-ebook/dp/B0BSMXYHPC
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/strive-for-forever/id6445480449
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/strive-for-forever-cynthia-sax/1142963331
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/strive-for-forever
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1322272
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on 65, Dinosaur Planets And Small Casts Of Characters
Promising Young Woman And The Right Ending For A Story
Spoiler Alert: This post will contain spoilers about Promising Young Woman. If you haven’t yet watched this wonderful yet so-NOT-a-romance-ending movie, consider skipping this post.
The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I watched Promising Young Woman and we both enjoyed it. It was clear why it had won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. The writing was tight and fresh and the heroine’s character arc was well-formed.
Promising Young Woman deals with rape. If you have any sort of triggers around that type of violence, avoid this movie.
Despite the dark topic and a strong social message, it contained humor and was extremely entertaining. I couldn’t stop watching it and I loved the ending, which is unusual for me because…
This movie does NOT have a Romance Novel ending.
At all.
Normally, I want happy endings in the books I read and the movies I watch. But with Promising Young Woman, a happy ending would have been a cheat. It wouldn’t have fit with the story and with the reality of any female-facing person watching the movie. We wouldn’t have believed it.
There IS justice, however. And that was extremely satisfying to see.
A high price was paid for that justice. That aligns with what female-facing people expect also. The heroine was fighting a society and systems that favor male-facing people. Heavily. We know, from the beginning, it will be a struggle for the lead character in Promising Young Woman to get any sort of closure.
It happens but with great sacrifice.
Was a happy ending possible for the heroine?
Of course, it was. She deserved happiness and love. Everyone deserves happiness and love. But she couldn’t have obtained that happy ending without giving up her main goal. And that would have destroyed the movie.
Not every heroic character is destined for a happy ever after.
Before writing a new story, I always ask myself, “Can this character achieve their primary goal AND also have a romantic happy ever after?”
Sometimes, I can’t figure out a way to accomplish this. If that is the situation, I park the story idea to the side and work on something else. I only write Romance and romantic happy ever afters or happy for nows are a must in this wonderful genre. I’ll return to the story when or if I can secure that ending.
***
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Baring Grudge
No one in the universe is more determined than a cyborg warrior tracking his female.
***
Grudge, a C Model cyborg, has been assigned a mission – safeguard a Humanoid Alliance space station for his kind. Honor was once all he had, and he is determined to fulfill his duty.
That resolve is tested when a tiny human female enters the space station and sets the prettiest little explosives the warrior has ever seen. She is Grudge’s genetic match, the one being manufactured for him. He wants to touch her, kiss her, claim her in all ways, but first he has to stop her from blasting him into the next galaxy.
Taelyn has a self-appointed mission—to destroy every battle robot the Humanoid Alliance has ever manufactured. A huge gray-skinned, blue-eyed cyborg warrior with mismatched arms won’t prevent her from achieving her goal. She’ll escape him, leaving destruction in her wake.
Before she departs, she’ll experience one toe-curling moment of hatred-edged passion with her handsome foe. She’ll show him how skilled with detonations she truly is. He will have his universe rocked.
Then she’ll disappear.
Her cyborg, however, has no intention of ever letting her go.
***
Baring Grudge is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a determined, damaged warrior, an equally resolute human female, and an explosive game of predator and prey played across galaxies.
Baring Grudge is the third of five core stories in the Rebel Cyborgs Series.
Book 1: Containing Malice
Book 2: Under Strain
Book 3: Baring Grudge
Book 4: B Free
Book 5: Seizing Power
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/baring-grudge/id1559566673
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baring-grudge-cynthia-sax/1139086727
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/baring-grudge
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1075600
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Promising Young Woman And The Right Ending For A Story
Godzilla vs. Kong And Communicating Without Dialogue
Spoiler Alert: This post might contain spoilers around the 2021 movie Godzilla vs. Kong. If you haven’t yet watched this movie, you might wish to skip the post.
I LOVE Godzilla. I also love Kong. I was super stoked to finally watch this movie.
Godzilla vs. Kong has its issues. You might wish to suspend all logic and knowledge of basic science while watching this movie. I went into the viewing merely expecting a good time and some awesome monster fight scenes and I was happy.
Godzilla vs. Kong is also set in the MonsterVerse (the same series as Skull Island) and it is helpful (yet not essential) to have watched the previous movies. Many of the characters (including Kong and Godzilla, of course) return.
One of the things I REALLY love about this movie is how the two main stars – Godzilla and Kong – communicate without speaking. They don’t rely on dialogue to express their thoughts and feelings. Kong works a little harder to communicate with the humans but when the two monsters are together, their expressions and body language are sufficient.
There is a scene at the end of the movie where the two monsters are facing each other. We scan to Godzilla, then to Kong, and back again and we know exactly what they’re thinking from their eyes (and their brows) and their stances. They move from “I’m going to beat you into the pavement” (fists clenched, bodies rigid and tilted forward, brows lowered) to “Would that effort be worth it?” (leaning slightly backward, raised brows, released fingers) to “I can’t be bothered to fight you at this time” (slumped shoulders, relaxed stance, brows at normal placement).
It is a scene I’ll study, dissect and learn from. I’ll use that knowledge in my future stories to reinforce the dialogue or perhaps to replace it completely.
***
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Baring Grudge
No one in the universe is more determined than a cyborg warrior tracking his female.
***
Grudge, a C Model cyborg, has been assigned a mission – safeguard a Humanoid Alliance space station for his kind. Honor was once all he had, and he is determined to fulfill his duty.
That resolve is tested when a tiny human female enters the space station and sets the prettiest little explosives the warrior has ever seen. She is Grudge’s genetic match, the one being manufactured for him. He wants to touch her, kiss her, claim her in all ways, but first he has to stop her from blasting him into the next galaxy.
Taelyn has a self-appointed mission—to destroy every battle robot the Humanoid Alliance has ever manufactured. A huge gray-skinned, blue-eyed cyborg warrior with mismatched arms won’t prevent her from achieving her goal. She’ll escape him, leaving destruction in her wake.
Before she departs, she’ll experience one toe-curling moment of hatred-edged passion with her handsome foe. She’ll show him how skilled with detonations she truly is. He will have his universe rocked.
Then she’ll disappear.
Her cyborg, however, has no intention of ever letting her go.
***
Baring Grudge is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a determined, damaged warrior, an equally resolute human female, and an explosive game of predator and prey played across galaxies.
Baring Grudge is the third of five core stories in the Rebel Cyborgs Series.
Book 1: Containing Malice
Book 2: Under Strain
Book 3: Baring Grudge
Book 4: B Free
Book 5: Seizing Power
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/baring-grudge/id1559566673
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baring-grudge-cynthia-sax/1139086727
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/baring-grudge
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1075600
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Godzilla vs. Kong And Communicating Without Dialogue
The Quiet Place Part II And Saving The Cat
Please Note: I’ve tried very hard not to share any spoilers for this movie. The scene that I mention happens right at the beginning of the movie and doesn’t give major plot points away. But you still might wish to read this post AFTER you’ve seen the movie.
I also recommend you rewatch the first movie (The Quiet Place) before watching the second movie. The Quiet Place Part II assumes you remember everything about that movie. The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I had watched the first movie when it first came out, hadn’t rewatched it and we were a bit lost at the beginning.
Creating sympathy for major characters is key to crafting stories readers love, especially in romance. Readers continue reading about characters they care about.
There’s a technique we often use to accomplish this, especially for more challenging to like characters.
The name of this technique is Save The Cat.
We show the harder-to-like character doing something heroic or nice at the beginning of the story. The gruff assassin saves the cat (or, in the case of Léon: The Professional, fusses over his beloved plant). The seemingly hard-hearted businesswoman buys a bagel and coffee and stealthily gives those treats to the homeless woman in the alleyway.
These actions hint that the otherwise unlikable character is secretly nice. She or he is worth saving, worth caring about.
The Quiet Place Part II does this simply and brilliantly. Emmett (played by Cillian Murphy) is a curt-talking, tough-looking male. He has seen sh*t, been through some battles, and he would be hard for viewers to like.
Except he takes a moment at the beginning of the movie to learn how to relay a word in sign language to his friend’s deaf daughter.
This is a generous act. It is done solely to make Regan (played by Millicent Simmonds), the daughter, feel loved and accepted…though Emmett would likely never say that.
I went from not trusting this character to adoring him in that one moment.
This moment is magical in other ways. It ensures we all know Regan is deaf, which is key to the movie working. It hints at a future (don’t worry it isn’t romantic) bond between Regan and Emmett. The word Emmett learns is important to the plot. And it adds a touch of humor.
It does all this with three or four sentences of dialogue. That’s great writing.
***
Subscribe To My Newsletter: http://cynthiasax.com/newsletter/
Baring Grudge
No one in the universe is more determined than a cyborg warrior tracking his female.
***
Grudge, a C Model cyborg, has been assigned a mission – safeguard a Humanoid Alliance space station for his kind. Honor was once all he had, and he is determined to fulfill his duty.
That resolve is tested when a tiny human female enters the space station and sets the prettiest little explosives the warrior has ever seen. She is Grudge’s genetic match, the one being manufactured for him. He wants to touch her, kiss her, claim her in all ways, but first he has to stop her from blasting him into the next galaxy.
Taelyn has a self-appointed mission—to destroy every battle robot the Humanoid Alliance has ever manufactured. A huge gray-skinned, blue-eyed cyborg warrior with mismatched arms won’t prevent her from achieving her goal. She’ll escape him, leaving destruction in her wake.
Before she departs, she’ll experience one toe-curling moment of hatred-edged passion with her handsome foe. She’ll show him how skilled with detonations she truly is. He will have his universe rocked.
Then she’ll disappear.
Her cyborg, however, has no intention of ever letting her go.
***
Baring Grudge is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features a determined, damaged warrior, an equally resolute human female, and an explosive game of predator and prey played across galaxies.
Baring Grudge is the third of five core stories in the Rebel Cyborgs Series.
Book 1: Containing Malice
Book 2: Under Strain
Book 3: Baring Grudge
Book 4: B Free
Book 5: Seizing Power
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08ZL2D986
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/baring-grudge/id1559566673
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baring-grudge-cynthia-sax/1139086727
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/baring-grudge
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1075600
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on The Quiet Place Part II And Saving The Cat
27 Dresses
Recently, I rewatched 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl as Jane and James Marsden as Kevin. The reason I find this movie interesting is the exact same reason it doesn’t work for me as a romance (or romantic comedy).
Everyone portrayed in this movie lies. Jane lies to all of her friends and family, pretending she isn’t in love with her boss. Tess, her sister, lies to Jane’s boss, making him believe she’s his dream woman. Kevin lies to Jane, trying to get his story. None of the characters are true to themselves or to others. They pretend to be people they’re not.
Liars make interesting characters. Will they be found out? What will happen when they are outed? Will the revelation force the characters to change, to become better people? There’s a lot of room for delicious tension and for growth.
Liars make terrible spouses however. Jane falls in love with the man Kevin pretends to be. She values the traits his feigned persona has, not the traits he truly has. The man she kissed, slept with, cared for didn’t exist. Their entire relationship was built on nothing.
And how could she possibly trust anything that comes out of his mouth? He lied to get what he wanted. She had no clue that he’s selling her a load of bull. When he lies in the future (and I suspect he will – why wouldn’t he? Lying in the past is how he got what he desired.), she’ll, once again, be clueless.
This is why the romance part doesn’t work. There’s no indication (except the word of a liar) that Kevin truly has changed. Jane can’t keep him honest. She has no ability to read him.
I’ve had liars as heroines or heroes. Bee from Sinful Rewards isn’t completely honest. But their love interests always call them on their bullsh*t. Both Nicolas and Hawke are skilled at separating truth from lies. Bee might lie but she knows she’s not fooling either of them.
A relationship CAN be built on lies if both parties know they’re lies.
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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
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on 27 Dresses
Life As We Know It (Or All Things Josh Duhamel)
I recently watched Life As We Know It, the rather unusual romantic comedy with Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel . There were clear challenges with this movie but I thought it was worth watching for two things.
1. A Brave Premise
The premise is that a couple dies (yes, ouch) and leaves their baby to be raised by their two best friends. The two best friends aren’t a couple. They tried dating once but it didn’t work out.
I’m all for trying different things (why I write about green alien heroes and voyeuristic billionaires) and, in a business dominated by sequels and me-toos, this was definitely a different premise.
I also liked that the two best friends didn’t immediately embrace their guardian status. They tried to find someone, anyone else who could do the job.
2. The Hero Is A Real Guy
Often in romantic comedies, the guy is a stereotype. He’s the perfect man or he’s the slob or he’s the always slick lothario. He doesn’t seem real or different or fresh.
Messer, Josh Duhamel’s character, acts like a real guy. He runs around in his underwear (and looks mighty fine doing so). He drinks milk from the carton. He looks at other women before he becomes involved with the heroine. He treats the baby as a small adult, using the same lines on her as he’d use on other women.
He is fresh and different and unpredictable. That made the movie fresh and different and unpredictable also.
Did you watch Life As We Know It? What did you like about this movie?
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
Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Life As We Know It (Or All Things Josh Duhamel)
