Taste of Cyn

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

Lucifer And Knowing Your Audience/Readership

By Cynthia Sax on September 25, 2021

Watching the TV show Lucifer has been one of my joys over the past year. I have been re-watching earlier episodes with my Dear Wonderful Hubby. We enjoy the humor and we love that it is so very different.

One of the reasons Lucifer is so very different is because the show’s creators know who their audience is.

Anyone watching a TV show starring the Devil is likely to be tolerant and accepting of a variety of relationship constructs, sexual orientations, adult situations, etc. Having a bisexual character, for example, won’t shock that viewer.

The people involved with Lucifer have known this was their audience since day one and they produce the episodes specifically for this audience. They did this when Lucifer originally played on Fox, a network whose target audience is NOT known for tolerance. They did this after Fox cancelled Lucifer and Netflix picked it up. They stayed true to serving their unique audience and, as a member of this audience, I love this.

I think it is important for writers to know who they’re writing their stories for also. Someone who reads dark romance, for example, is unlikely to have issues with violence on the page. Someone who reads cyborg romance will likely embrace unusual settings.

Knowing our story’s readership frees us to be brave in our choices and that’s super exciting.

***

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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 Lucifer And Knowing Your Audience/Readership

Lucifer And Having Fun

By Cynthia Sax on June 21, 2021

I talked the Dear Wonderful Hubby into watching the first few episodes of Lucifer (available on Netflix in my corner of the universe) and he is now addicted to the TV show (which is based on characters crafted by Neil Gaiman). We’re watching it from the beginning.

There are a number of reasons why I love Lucifer. Tom Ellis, who plays Lucifer, is super hot. (grins) I also find D.B. Woodside, who plays Amenadiel, extremely attractive. There’s tremendous girl power in the show. The female characters often have bonding and supportive moments. There are demons and angels and, of course, the devil. I really enjoy the casually delivered quips and insults. They make me laugh.

But, most of all, I love how the cast always seems to be having fun. They have glints in their eyes when they are on screen, like they’re sharing a private joke. I feel the joy, the love in even the darkest episodes.

Joy is important for writers also. I think readers can feel when a writer is having fun, is loving a story. When I re-read a story, sometimes for the fifteenth time, I note if it makes me smile.

If the story makes me smile, I hope it will make you smile.

***

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Under Strain

A damaged cyborg warrior is hunted by a peace-loving human female.

***

Strain is severely malfunctioning. The D Model cyborg was the sole survivor after a horrific decision was made by his cruel manufacturers. He hates all humans, and when he attacks one who is under his cyborg leader’s protection, he is reprimanded, stripped of his weapons, and told to watch and not actively participate in the next mission.

That mission takes place on a small remote planet. Its lush terrain should only be inhabited by the cyborgs they were sent to rescue, but Strain senses another presence on the surface. She is watching him, tracking him, hunting him.

A fully operational cyborg would end her lifespan.

Strain wants to claim her. Forever.

Kamyelle is the only one left of her kind. Warriors have killed the other nonviolent human inhabitants of her planet. She survived…barely…by hiding in the trees, observing her enemies, and covering herself with lifeform scan-concealing mud.

When a handsome, gray-skinned, brilliant-blue-eyed male arrives, surrounded by weapon-carrying warriors, she has to save him. Warriors harm and they kill. That is what they do.

She won’t allow them to hurt Strain.

***

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

It features a broken warrior, a human female who thinks he’s perfect, and velociraptor-like dinosaurs who view them both as light, tasty snacks.

Buy Now:

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R322L7S

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08R322L7S

Amazon AUS:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08R322L7S

Apple Books: