Taste of Cyn

Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – October 31st

By Cynthia Sax on October 31, 2021

Woot! Happy Halloween to everyone who celebrates this day! Wishing you only the good type of scares and the friendliest of trick or treaters!

This week, I continued working on the first draft of Seizing Power, the fifth story in the Rebel Cyborgs series (releasing in February). I love Power and Cadet/Eirene Ours together. I think she is the only heroine who can truly appreciate and handle him. (grins) Power IS a lot. I suspect even he would admit to that (and likely be proud of it).

The edits for Needing Valor, this year’s free thank you short story (releasing in December), have been completed and I’ve sent the story to my awesome formatter (who is now the Dear Wonderful Hubby). It should be ready to go in December.

Have a terrific week, my friends. (tackle hugs) Treat yourself today, as well as the kiddies. I ensure this happens at House Sax by buying extra candy. (laughs) This isn’t my first Halloween, unicorns and dinosaurs. I know all the tricks.

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

When he intercepts a communication mentioning the existence of one of his kind, he has to investigate its source. The message could be a trap set by his enemies. He’ll take that risk if it secures him the companionship he requires to be fully functional.

What he finds is a daring brown-eyed female who activates all his systems. She proudly proclaims she’s a researcher, brandishing that information like a weapon before her. He wants to kiss the sass off her beautiful face, protect her from the dangers around them, claim her forever.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
It features the sole surviving B Model cyborg warrior, a courageous researcher seeking to uncover the past, and an unplanned visit to a settlement ruled by an extremely scary all-knowing, all-powerful being.

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097CJJ6B7

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B097CJJ6B7

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B097CJJ6B7

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/b-free/id1572709749

B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/b-free-cynthia-sax/1139701466

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/b-free

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1089821

Topics: Cynthia Sax Weekly Update | Comments Off on Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – October 31st

Halloween Decorations

By Cynthia Sax on October 30, 2021

We already have a pumpkin situated on our front step. I can’t really call it a jack o’lantern as we went the extremely lazy route and used markers instead of carving the face. It is a really small pumpkin. (grins) That is our excuse.

The big maple tree in the neighbor’s front yard has contributed to the decorating. Every morning, our driveway is covered with beautiful bright yellow leaves. It looks like a fantasy world. (smiles)

Our spiders have also stepped up their game. One of them has spun a huge spiderweb over our front door. It truly looks like we placed it there deliberately! Good work, spiders!

Are you decorating for Halloween?

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Halloween Decorations

Favorite Halloween Movies – Bram Stoker’s Dracula

By Cynthia Sax on October 29, 2021

There are two movies I watch around Halloween – Young Frankenstein (1974), a childhood favorite, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), one of my favorite vampire movies.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula isn’t a romance. There are no romantic happy ever afters for any of the characters. But it does have romantic elements.

And it has one of the most romantic lines I’ve ever encountered.

“I have crossed oceans of time to find you.”

(shivers) When Dracula says that to Mina, it captures me every time.

One of the (many) things Dracula does well is, exactly that, it crosses oceans of time. The action starts in 1462. Then it jumps to 1897.

Whenever there’s a change in time periods, there’s a risk of losing readers or, in this case, viewers. This doesn’t happen in Bram Stoker’s Dracula because the two time periods are closely linked by character (Dracula and the reincarnation of his wife) and by plot. Almost everything that happens in 1897 is tied back to the actions in 1462.

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Favorite Halloween Movies – Bram Stoker’s Dracula

B Free And Halloween Chocolate

By Cynthia Sax on October 27, 2021

Halloween is my all-time favorite special occasion. I love it more than my birthday, more than any other holiday.

One of the reasons for this great love is…

The tiny chocolate bars the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I give out to trick or treaters. (grins)

I eat some of these chocolate bars. I have to test them before I hand them to the kiddies. (laughs) And they always make me feel like a giant. They are so very small in my hands.

I suspect that is how B, the hero of B Free, the fifth story in the Rebel Cyborgs series (releasing in November), often feels. He is HUGE. C Models are extremely large. B Models are even bigger. The nourishment bars must look like bite-sized treats in his big hands.

When you eat one of those little chocolate bars, think of B. That is his reality every day.

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on B Free And Halloween Chocolate

Neck Decorations

By Cynthia Sax on October 26, 2021

Neck decorations are often mentioned in my stories. Bettina aka Bait in Choosing Chuckles crafts them in her spare time.

Beings here on Earth have been decorating their bodies since…well…since forever.

These Taino necklaces, displayed in the Altos de Chavon Regional Museum of Archaeology in La Romana, Dominican Republic, are examples of how humans beautifully decorated their forms with locally located materials.

This necklace was crafted using all the same shells. Look at the exquisite detailing on the crafted holes.

This necklace was crafted with stone and feathers. The colors are amazing.

These beads are so very tiny. The pattern with the different colored beads are as finely wrought.

I think it says something about us that we’ve always created art. We’ve always expressed ourselves creatively. It is a core part of who we are as beings. It feeds a need deep down in our souls.

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

Topics: Story Insights | Comments Off on Neck Decorations

B Free – Second Scene Of The First Chapter

By Cynthia Sax on October 25, 2021

I’m sharing scenes from the first chapter of B Free as we wait for its release on November 16th.

You can read the first scene from the first chapter of B Free here:

http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=8807

This week I’m sharing the second scene of that first chapter.

***

Unable to process he was the last of his kind, B had searched for beings like him. There had been mentions of his model type in messages. He’d investigated every occurrence.

100.0000 percent of them had been futile chases, ghosts of brethren long dead.

B projected an investigation into this planet rotation’s message would be a waste of resources also. Heze 478 was a sparsely populated Humanoid Alliance-controlled planet, a leisure site for high-credit and influential humans in their organization, a place where they could get away from the horrors they’d inflicted. It wasn’t rational that they would situate a secret laboratory there.

It would be true to their devious natures to set a trap in that location for someone they correctly perceived as an enemy. He blew out his breath. They could be seeking to capture him, wanting to continue his torment.

A fully operational warrior would ignore the communication.

He wasn’t that being. B straightened to his full height and moved forward. His mechanics creaked. His body throbbed with an ache that matched the one in his soul. The rays of Mercury Minor’s single sun warmed his shoulders.

One of the humanoid females looked up, up, up at him. Her head tilted back. Her eyes widened.

She screamed, the sound piercing the chatter around her.

The other females turned. Their eyes widened also.

The crescendo of screams grew louder.

Fraggin’ hole. B stepped backward, seeking to disappear once more into the shadows. He wouldn’t hurt the females. They were under his protection, as was everyone on the cyborg-claimed planet.

But the females didn’t process that. All they saw was his huge form, his primitive B Model design. They had never viewed another being like him. He was different, and, to their gazes, scary.

That damaged him. He navigated a maze of less-utilized pathways, staying to himself, sticking to the darkness. The screams faded.

His emotional damage remained.

He lumbered past a training ring positioned at the edge of the settlement. One set of warriors, all E Models, faced another set of warriors, all C Models.

If there was a B Model force, he’d be the only one on it.

“Join us, B.” Odium, the leader of the E Model faction, gestured at him. “The C Models need your skills.”

The C Models objected to that. Loudly.

They didn’t need him, and he didn’t belong on either side. He was a relic. His model type had been completely replaced. He was redundant.

B shook his head and continued walking.

Vegetation brushed against his garment-covered shins and knees. Insects hummed.

In the distance, Strain, a D Model, was perched on a limb of a tree. He was accompanied by his human female. Their dangling legs swung in unison. Their heads were bent over the same private viewscreen.

Envy curdled low in B’s stomach. Strain had been severely damaged also, in a different way, but he had found his genetic match, the one being fabricated for him, and she had partially repaired him.

B had no fix for his malfunctions, had little hope.

All I want is access to the B Model Cyborg. That message scrolled yet again through his processors.

He had to find company to distract him before he succumbed to desperation and did something lifespan-threatening…like hunting down the sender of that communication.

There was one being on Mercury Minor who, like him, didn’t have any beings similar to them. He shifted his route in the direction of the main cyborg retrieval team’s ship.

Cadet, their leader, was the only freeborn female cyborg in existence. She was fully functional, but she believed him to be the same way. And she wouldn’t scream when she viewed him.

***

Read the next scene (available November 1st) here:

http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=8812

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

Topics: Coming Soon | Comments Off on B Free – Second Scene Of The First Chapter

Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – October 24th

By Cynthia Sax on October 24, 2021

I’m still working on the first draft of Seizing Power, the fifth story in the Rebel Cyborgs series (releasing in February). It is progressing well. I already love this story and I think you will love it also!

The first round of edits for Needing Valor, this year’s thank you short story (releasing in December), has been completed. My Awesome Editor called this story ‘sweet’, which is exactly what I wanted this story to be. It is a challenging time of the year for many of us. We need some sweetness, a delicious piece of story chocolate to end 2021 with.

Have a wonderful week, my friends! (tackle hugs) Look in the mirror today and tell your awesome self one thing you love about you. Treat yourself to a romance novel. Give yourself that fantastic boost that comes with a romantic happy ever after. You deserve that joy!

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

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Cyborgs And Caring For The Dead

By Cynthia Sax on October 23, 2021

Since it is October, Halloween month, a time to celebrate all things spooky (grins), let’s talk a bit about how cyborgs commemorate their dead.

Every culture here on Earth has different ways of dealing with death and with the dearly departed. Some bury their dead. Some burn their dead. Some leave their dead where they died. Some transport their dead back to their ancient Homelands. There are as many variations on death rituals and customs as there are cultures.

In space, it’s the same way. Death is treated differently depending on the alien culture.

In the cyborgs’ case, their treatment of death is evolving.

When cyborgs were under Humanoid Alliance control, they had no say in what happened to their fallen brethren’s bodies. If cyborgs were decommissioned, the Humanoid Alliance raided their forms for parts and scrapped the rest of them. If cyborgs died in battle, their forms were left on the battlefields.

All cyborgs could control was their memories of their brethren. Thanks to their databases and organic brains, these memories were perfectly preserved and, as soon as they were capable of transmitting large batches of data, these memories were transferred to other cyborgs.

Now that cyborgs have been freed, they have the ability to commemorate their dead in other ways.

Astrid Ragnhild, the Buoir Berserker, Vengeance’s Warrior Female, for example, shared her kind’s custom of writing down the names of the dead. The cyborgs now engrave the names of their dead on the outside of their structures on the Homeland.

In The Cyborg’s Secret Baby, we uncover that some frames of the fallen have been buried, ensuring those warriors also reach the Homeland.

Quinn, the heroine of B Free (releasing in November), being a researcher, will likely share her knowledge of how different cultures deal with death.

I suspect the cyborgs will add rituals and customs regarding death in the future.

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

Topics: Story Insights | Comments Off on Cyborgs And Caring For The Dead

Lights

By Cynthia Sax on October 22, 2021

The Dear Wonderful Hubby took this awesome photo in OMNIA Nightclub in Vegas. I thought it was super cool and very inspiring. It could be a heated battle using lasers or a chamber heavily protected with sensors. And I love the raised fist in the midst of the chaos.

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today:

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Lights

Are You 100.0000% Human?

By Cynthia Sax on October 20, 2021

I was chatting with a buddy about how Quinn, the heroine of B Free (releasing in November), looks and acts human, resembles a human except she doesn’t track as human on lifeform scans and she has the gift of psychometry.

My buddy replied, “Some humans here on Earth claim to have the gift of psychometry. Does that mean THEY might not be humans?”

Maybe people here on Earth who have special gifts AREN’T completely human. Maybe a distant ancestor came from another planet, bringing with them these unique powers. That COULD be possible.

Heck, there’s an ongoing discussion about how octopus might have come from space. There’s so much we don’t understand about people, about our world, about the universe.

All I know is Quinn might pretend to be a human but she is truly a humanoid. And she might be the only humanoid left of her kind.

***

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B Free

B is the last remaining B Model cyborg. All of his brethren, the beings he trained with, fought with, cared deeply for, have perished.

Or so he believes.

Quinn is on a quest to locate the mechanics of an early-version cyborg. She believes the information captured within that frame will give her valuable insights into the past.

When her mission goes zombie-like beings levels of wrong, she comes face-to-face with a living, breathing B Model. He has big hands, a primitive countenance, and stern hard lips crafted for kissing.

She doesn’t trust him. And she doesn’t have time to indulge her desires.

Their shared enemies are chasing them, would kill to get their precious specimens back. One minor mistake could reduce B and Quinn to a mere line in the databases of history.

***

B Free is the fourth 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 Today: