Taste of Cyn

Writing A Serial

By Cynthia Sax on July 29, 2014

I receive quite a few questions on writing serials.
Jane Leopold Quinn kindly offered to host my comments.

http://janeleopoldquinn.blogspot.ca/2014/07/welcome-to-cynthia-sax-and-her-article.html

This is a discussion. If you have questions or an alternate view on writing serials, please chime in!

Here’s a snippet…
“The easiest definition of a serial is that it is a larger story sliced into parts. But this definition always makes me cringe. That’s like saying a TV show is a movie sliced into parts. A great serial is written as a serial. It usually can only be written in this format because the pause between the installments serves an important purpose.”

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Writing A Serial

FREE Bonus Scene For Sinful Rewards

By Cynthia Sax on July 28, 2014

One of the fun features of our Goodreads group, https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/139616-a-year-of-sizzling-hot-sax-read-along, is that reading buddies can request extra scenes. I LOVE this because it allows me to live in this sexy world for a little bit longer.

A reading buddy asked for a scorching hot scene on a motorcycle.

Here’s a snippet…

Hawke and I are riding through Happydale, the small town where I grew up. My arms are wrapped around his waist, my fingers linked over his T-shirt-clad stomach, his muscles rippling under the soft cotton. My naked body is pressed against him, the sun’s rays warming my shoulders and the wind lifting my hair.

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on FREE Bonus Scene For Sinful Rewards

How Current Should A Contemporary Romance Be?

By Cynthia Sax on July 25, 2014

There are two schools of thought with writing contemporary romances.

Make Your Story Timeless

One school advises us to make contemporary romances as timeless as possible. Try to avoid references to clothing, to technology, to popular culture (TV shows, movies, music, etc). Avoid slang. Only use brand names that might exist fifty years from now.

The reasoning behind this advice is ten years from now, we want our stories to remain ‘contemporary.’ We want readers to continue reading our stories. We want our stories to remain relevant.

This can be a great policy to follow if you wish to write for print first publishers. Print first publishers often have long lead times. There could be years between writing a story and seeing the story on shelves. Slang or styles or culture will likely evolve in this time, making your contemporary romance dated.

Make Your Story A Snapshot In Time

The other school recommends writing a contemporary romance completely anchored in this moment of time. We use brand names, slang, cultural references when we speak and who isn’t attached to their phones or tablets? All of this is part of living in the modern world.

The thinking of this school is that any story, no matter how hard we try, will be dated. Will a phone be called a phone two years from now? I don’t know. Will we be eating the same food, cooking it the same way? Will jobs change with technology?

This is a great policy to follow if you’re targeting digital first publishers. Digital first publishers normally have short lead times. Trends will likely still be relevant in two or three months. EBooks can also be updated more easily than print books. Five years from now, we can change the dated references and make the story contemporary once more.

My Thoughts

In Sinful Rewards, Bee receives sexy challenges via text so you can likely guess which school I belong to. (grins) I’ll make a not-so-wild prediction and state that texting won’t exist ten years from now. The entire premise of the story will fall apart.

And I’m okay with that. I don’t mind that my stories will be seen as semi-historical in a decade. They’ll be a sizzling hot time capsule of 2014. My characters age with us. Twenty years from now, I hope to tell their kids’ stories.

Which school do you belong to (as a reader or a writer)?

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on How Current Should A Contemporary Romance Be?

Facial Hair On Heroes – Yes Or No?

By Cynthia Sax on July 24, 2014

Adrian Grenier

Thanks to the popularity of Duck Dynasty, the beard is back! I’ve yet to write a bearded hero. My heroes are normally cleanly shaven as they tend to be businessmen. I’ve seen bearded men in suits but this is still less common.

Nicolas, the billionaire hero of Sinful Rewards, is cleanly shaven. He’s a beautiful sophisticated man. He reminds me a bit of Adrian Grenier, the star of Entourage, when I saw him a few years ago. In this photo, he has a hint of stubble, but his chin is normally bare (his thick dark wavy hair is identical to Nicolas’ – I want to run my fingers through it).

Houston Alexander aka The Assassin

Hawke, the other hero in Sinful Rewards, has perma stubble. Yes, he’s bad ass, a manly man, a primitive beast, not caring about his appearance, but there’s also a practical reason for his stubble. His face is crisscrossed with scars. The dips and grooves of his scars make it very difficult (and slightly dangerous) to get a close perfect shave. It is much easier for him to simply skim over the surface with an electronic razor.

Seth Green

Will Bee choose the clean-shaven Nicolas or the stubble-covered Hawke? We’ll find out in Sinful Rewards.

What type of facial hair do you love on romance heroes?

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Guest Post | 2 Comments »

Sinful Rewards Reviewed At Fresh Fiction

By Cynthia Sax on July 23, 2014

Sinful Rewards 1 was reviewed at Fresh Fiction!

http://freshfiction.com/review.php?id=45007

“In SINFUL REWARDS the author is at the top of her form and it’s a joy to read from page one. The cliff-hangers are part of the deal, I expect them, and it’s fine that way, because I’ll be looking forward to at least one very special treat each month for a year!”

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Reviews | Comments Off on Sinful Rewards Reviewed At Fresh Fiction

Interviewed At Reading Between The Wines

By Cynthia Sax on July 23, 2014

I was interviewed at Reading Between The Wines!

http://www.readingbetweenthewinesbookclub.com/2014/07/the-seen-trilogy-by-cynthia-sax.html

Here is a snippet…

Lexi: We have your favorite white wine chilled and ready Cynthia! But unlike when we were talking about Flashes of Me we won’t give you too many difficult questions. And speaking of Flashes of Me, we have you here to talk about the trilogy set in the same world. Your Seen Trilogy includes: He Watches Me, He Touches Me, and He Claims Me. Has it been hard to leave this world and write in others?

Cynthia Sax: (sips her wine) It was very difficult to leave The Seen Trilogy world (Flashes of Me and Breaking All The Rules are also part of this world). That’s why Blaine, the hero of The Seen Trilogy, makes a brief appearance in Sinful Rewards, my sizzling hot 12 novella serial. The billionaire club in the US is fairly small (a little over 400 known billionaires) so it made sense that Blaine from The Seen Trilogy and Nicolas from Sinful Rewards would know each other.

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Interviewed At Reading Between The Wines

WIP It Up Wednesday – Sinful Rewards

By Cynthia Sax on July 22, 2014

I’m participating in WIP It Up Wednesdays ( http://wipitupwednesday.blogspot.ca/ ) today, contributing a scene from Sinful Rewards 1!

Voices murmur outside the condo’s door, the sound piercing my delightful daydream. I swing the telescope upward, not wanting to be caught using it. The snippets of conversation drift away.

I don’t relax. If the telescope isn’t in the same spot as it was positioned last night, Cyndi will realize I’ve been using it. She’ll tease me about being a fellow pervert, sharing the story, embellished for more dramatic effect, with her stern serious dad or, worse, with Angel, that snobby friend of hers.

I’ll die. It’ll be worse than being the butt of jokes in high school because that ridicule had been about my clothes and this will center around the part of my soul I’ve always kept hidden. It’ll also be the truth and I won’t be able to deny it. I am a pervert.

I have to return the telescope to where it was positioned. This is the only acceptable solution. I tap the metal tube.

Last night, my man-crazy roommate had been giggling over the new guy in three eleven north. The previous occupant had been a gray-haired, bowtie-wearing tax auditor, his luxurious accommodations supplied by Nicolas. The most exciting thing he ever did was drink his tea on the balcony.

According to Cyndi, the new occupant is a delicious piece of man candy, tattooed, buff, and head-to-toe lickable. He’d been completing arm curls outside and she’d enthusiastically counted his reps, oohing and aahing over his bulging biceps, calling to me to take a look.

I’d resisted that temptation, focusing on making macaroni and cheese for the two of us, the recipe snagged from the diner my mom works in. After we scarfed down dinner with Cyndi licking her plate clean, she left for the club and hasn’t returned.

Three eleven north is the mirror condo to ours. I straighten the telescope. That position looks about right but then, the imitation UGGS I bought in second year college looked about right also. The first time I wore the boots in the rain, the sheepskin fell apart, leaving me barefoot in Economics 201.

Unwilling to risk Cyndi’s friendship on about right, I gaze through the eyepiece. The view consists of rippling golden planes, almost like…

Tanned skin pulled over defined abs.

I blink. It can’t be. I take another look. A perfect pearl of perspiration clings to a puckered scar. The drop elongates more and more, stretching, snapping. It trickles downward, navigating the swells and valleys of a man’s honed torso.

No. I straighten. This is wrong. I shouldn’t watch our sexy neighbor as he stands on his balcony. If anyone catches me…

I glance behind me. There’s no one here to catch me. Cyndi won’t know I looked. The hunk in three eleven north won’t know I looked. I’m not harming anyone.

I bend over and take another peek.

The sunlight casts interesting shadows across his stomach, accentuating the ridges of muscle, the dip of his navel. I dart my tongue over my suddenly dry lips. His skin is marred with silver scars, some round, some slashes, this proof of hard living, of survival, arousing me, tightening my nipples and moistening my pussy.

I shouldn’t lust after him. He’s the wrong kind of man, the leaving kind, too virile and feral to stay in one place for long. I can tell this from his stance, from his brazen exhibitionism. He wants me to look at him, to care for him. I tilt the telescope downward. His hips are slim. More scars are etched along the bones. Fine brown hair trails from his navel to…

My mouth drops open. He’s completely naked.

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Please visit the other participants!

Topics: Guest Post | 7 Comments »

Sinful Rewards Reviewed-Books Like Breathing

By Cynthia Sax on July 21, 2014

I love this review from Books Like Breathing, especially the analysis of Bee, Nicolas and Hawke.

http://bookslikebreathing.blogspot.ca/2014/07/review-and-giveaway-sinful-rewards-1-by.html

“I am salivating for the next part of this series. I need to know what happens. I very rarely have this happen to me. I am usually not one to get excited about a series. I can forget about it until the next book comes out. But not this one. I have a definite preference for endgame and I can’t wait to see if I’m right.”

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Reviews | Comments Off on Sinful Rewards Reviewed-Books Like Breathing

Sinful Rewards Revew-Crystal Blogs Books

By Cynthia Sax on July 21, 2014

Crystal Blogs Books has reviewed Sinful Rewards 1!

http://crystalblogsbooks.blogspot.ca/2014/07/review-of-sinful-rewards-1-billionaries.html

Here’s a snippet…

“I love the fact that things are not always as they seem. Readers will find themselves looking deeper into the words and actions of every character. How will it end? We’ll see in a year, but I am anticipating one hell of a ride.”

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Reviews | Comments Off on Sinful Rewards Revew-Crystal Blogs Books

Talking Sinful Rewards With Sabrina York

By Cynthia Sax on July 21, 2014

I’m at Sabrina York ‘s online home today, talking about all kinds of Sinful Rewards

(wicked grin)

http://sabrinayork.com/cynthia-sax-talks-sinful-rewards/

Here’s a snippet…

At the end of a long day, I love to reward myself with a sizzling erotic romance. I’ve worked hard. I deserve a treat and erotic romances are guilt free indulgences. They’re sinful rewards.

That is the title of my latest contemporary erotic romance serial. In Sinful Rewards, Bee, the heroine, receives naughty challenges from a mysterious texter. Every time she accepts one of these toe-curling challenges, she’s given a luxurious reward, a pricey item she covets yet can’t afford on her small salary.

She doesn’t know what the reward will be when she’s given the challenge. It could be a new pair of shoes or a night at a club or breakfast in Paris. Bee has to weigh the difficulty of her erotic mission against the possible rewards. If she doesn’t complete a challenge, what will she give up? Will she ever find out? Yes, her texter is devious. Not knowing would drive me crazy also.

Sinful Rewards 1

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

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards1-1560586-237.html

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-1-cynthia-sax/1119055390

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_1?id=g08ZAwAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-1/id814148703?mt=11

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Talking Sinful Rewards With Sabrina York