Taste of Cyn

Sinful Rewards 7 – Interviewed!

By Cynthia Sax on January 23, 2015

I’ve been interviewed at Paola’s Bookshelf.

http://paolasbookshelf.blogspot.ca/2015/01/tour-sinful-rewards-7-by-cynthia-sax.html

Here’s a snippet…

If you could sit down face to face with one of your characters, who would you choose and why?

If I thought he’d actually talk to me, I’d choose Nicolas, the jelly bean loving billionaire from Sinful Rewards, but it has taken Bee six installments to have him open up at all to her. He keeps his secrets close.

I’d love to have a beer with Hawke, our bad boy biker, at The Road Gator, the bar he frequents. He’s always surrounded by a group of sexy hot motorcycle men, all former military.

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Bee Carter has been offered everything she has ever dreamed of—a caring, lasting relationship with a handsome, often charming billionaire; the permanent home she’s never had but has always craved; and wealth to buy the designer fashions she loves, support her hard-working mother, and ensure her acceptance by Chicago’s elite.

To obtain what she’s desired for so long, she has to do only two things: Walk away from her best friend, a woman who is destined to betray her … and end her passionate nightly encounters with a certain tattooed biker, a former Marine who can never give her what she needs.

Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards7-1718231-237.html

Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Sinful Rewards 7 – Interviewed!

Writing Erotic Romance – Why Do You Write Erotic Romance?

By Cynthia Sax on January 22, 2015

In my humble opinion, this is THE most important question any writer can ask herself. The second most important question, which we’ll also cover in this post, is ‘Why do you want your stories published?’ These questions are very different and they might have different answers, yet they’ll craft your career, directing you toward YOUR personal definition of success.

Note: The answers to these questions will likely change over time. The reason I’m sending my stories to publishers today is not the same reason I sent my stories to be published two years ago.

Why Do You Write Erotic Romance?

There are many, MANY answers to this question. None of them are wrong or right, better or worse. Agents or publishers or fellow writers don’t need to know your answer. This is YOUR truth.
Here are merely a few of the possibilities

– writing helps you sort out your thoughts or emotions
– you need to see your fantasies in print to fully enjoy them
– it’s fun, an outlet for your creativity
– writing fictional stories reveals real life issues you might be grappling with
– you’re writing erotic romances you can’t find in Romanceland
– you read an erotic romance, didn’t like the ending, so you’re changing it
– you see writing as a possible career or a way to become wealthy
– writing gives you a task to complete while you’re home, caring for your kids
– you want to enter your bookstore and see your name on a book cover
– your mom thinks you should write a book
– you were dared by a buddy to write an erotic romance
– you’ve always written. It is part of you
– writing is a way to vent your emotions
– you love the craft of writing, the manipulation of words
– it’s a way to use the research you love collecting
– your hubby is stationed overseas and loves receiving hot stories from you
– you see writing as a way to become famous

For a long time, I didn’t write for anyone else. I wrote only for myself, simply for the joy of putting my fantasies on paper (I’m a visual person. I have to see something to fully enjoy it). I didn’t need to be published or edited or see my story in a bookstore to be happy… so I didn’t do these things.

I still write primarily for myself. Yes, writing is now my career but I know if I ever agree to write a story I’m not excited about, I’ll be unhappy. I would rather not be published than write a story I’m not thrilled about. Some writers would call that unprofessional and unrealistic. (shrugs) Maybe it is but it’s my truth. It is what I need to be happy.

Just because you’re a writer doesn’t mean you need to be published writer. Ever. Being a published writer doesn’t automatically increase every writer’s joy of writing. For example: If you write to sort out your thoughts or feelings, you might not want anyone else to read your stories. Showing these innermost thoughts to others could erase all of your joy of writing.

Why Do You Want Your Stories Published?

Before you self-publish your first story or send it to an agent or publisher, ask yourself WHY you’re doing this. Again, there are no right or wrong answers.

Here are some possible answers

– working with an editor will improve your writing skills
– you want to widen the diversity of erotic romances in Romanceland
– you need the possible income/it is a way to possibly become wealthy
– you want to enter your bookstore and see your name on a book cover
– your mom wants to show your book to her friends
– you have a message in your stories that you wish to share with the world
– you wish to give back to Romanceland, to contribute to the industry
– you want to introduce yourself as a published writer
– you’re curious as to whether or not your story is good and want a professional’s opinion
– you want to be famous

Your answer to this question changes your options. If you want to see your story in a bookstore, you would only submit your story to publishers that have presences in bookstores. If you need income ASAP, you might look at publishers with short publishing lead times or publishers offering advances. If you want to see your name on a cover of a book, you likely wouldn’t use a pen name. If you want to become famous, you might promote your books by attending conferences or hosting book signings.

Are there some possible answers that I haven’t listed? (I’m certain there are zillions I’ve missed)

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards7-1718231-237.html

Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006

Topics: Writing Tips | Comments Off on Writing Erotic Romance – Why Do You Write Erotic Romance?

Sinful Rewards 7 – Secrets

By Cynthia Sax on January 22, 2015

I’m talking about secrets on Ramblings From This Chick.

http://ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.ca/2015/01/guest-post-with-author-cynthia-sax-and.html

Here’s a snippet…

“Part of the fun for me, as a writer, is hearing readers’ guesses about certain secrets. Who is Friendly? Whom will Bee end up with—Nicolas, the jellybean loving billionaire, or Hawke, the bad boy biker or is there a third option? What are Lona’s plans for Bee? What happened between Cole and Cyndi? Why does Cyndi never like to sleep alone?”

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards7-1718231-237.html

Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Sinful Rewards 7 – Secrets

Sinful Rewards 7 – 10 out of 10

By Cynthia Sax on January 22, 2015

Yay!

We have another great review for Sinful Rewards 7!

Brit Nanny Reads shares

“So this book of deliciousness in wrapped up in 9 chapters of perfect writing and storytelling. I say every month that I couldn’t love this series anymore, but every month I am proved to be a liar and become even more obsessed with Bee and her life in Chicago, I am going to have one serious book hangover when this series is completed.”

The Bikes Of The Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

By Cynthia Sax on January 21, 2015

The Consumer Electronics Show, being a boy’s paradise, also had pimped out cars and motorcycles.

(Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

This bike wins the award for cutest bike of the show. Look at that expression! “You want to WHAT with my engine?”

I picture Hawke’s bike in Sinful Rewards as looking something like this one. VERY sexy!

Here are some more boy toys.

And, of course, not every bike was on the exhibit floor. Vegas’ finest was controlling traffic on the strip with their bikes.

Yes, this nice policeman posed for me. (grins)

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards7-1718231-237.html

Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on The Bikes Of The Consumer Electronics Show (CES)

Biker Names

By Cynthia Sax on January 20, 2015

I’m talking about nicknames, biker names and military handles on A Fortress Of Books

http://www.afortressofbooks.com/2015/01/19/guest-post-author-cynthia-sax-giveaway/

Here’s a snippet…

Do you have a nickname or a biker name or a military handle? I bet there’s a story behind it, one that I’d love to hear. While our legal names are usually given at birth, our nicknames reflect our true personalities, who we are once our characters have been set.

One of my favorite nicknames is Broadzilla.

(click on the link to read more and find out why I was called this)

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards7-1718231-237.html

Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Biker Names

A Year Of Sizzling Hot Sax – Sinful Rewards 7 Read Along

By Cynthia Sax on January 20, 2015

Woot! Sinful Rewards 7, the seventh novella in Sinful Rewards, my hot, hot, HOT 12 novella contemporary erotic romance serial, releases today! A secret is shared in Sinful Rewards 7 that will change the way readers think about the first six stories. I had to reread the stories. Will you?

(We’ll be discussing these in more details on our Goodreads group – https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/139616-a-year-of-sizzling-hot-sax-read-along ).

Nicolas And His Ultimatum

Nicolas issues an ultimatum to Bee in Sinful Rewards 7. Your first impression might be “What a controlling a$$hole” but Nicolas DOES have his reasons. He’s thinking of Bee and wants to protect her. Why doesn’t he tell her this? Well, if he voices his suspicions of what or whom he thinks he’s protecting her from, he might hurt her even more.

Mack And The Other Motorcycle Club Members

In Sinful Rewards 7, we meet some of the men Hawke hangs out with in the Organization and at The Road Gator. We’ve already met Dawg (in Sinful Rewards 3) and Eighty Proof, the bartender (though we didn’t find out his name in that installment). In Sinful Rewards 7, we meet Mack and Prick.

I love these two men, especially Mack. They will play increasingly large roles in the story. In this installment, that Prick is clueless about women hints to Bee that Hawke’s men might need her, something that’s very important to our heroine.
Hawke and Rock

Speaking of Hawke’s buddies, we find out more about Rock, the buddy he lost in the war. Sinful Rewards 7 is very much about friendship, the good, the bad, and the silly. Can a friendship survive a betrayal? Can we be truly happy if a good friend is unhappy (or, in Rock’s case, dead)?

***

For more discussions about Sinful Rewards 7, please join us on our Goodreads group!

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/139616-a-year-of-sizzling-hot-sax-read-along

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards7-1718231-237.html

Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on A Year Of Sizzling Hot Sax – Sinful Rewards 7 Read Along

Sinful Rewards 7 – Had Me Thinking, Crying, As Well As Cheering Wildly

By Cynthia Sax on January 19, 2015

Yay!

We have the first review for Sinful Rewards 7!

Monique at Fresh Fiction shares

“SINFUL REWARDS 7 is a book to be experienced: the story moves along very quickly, the level of sensuality and sexuality reaches stratospheric levels. Ms. Sax writes with such intentional precision that, at times, the choice of a particular word or the use of singular or plural makes all the difference in the context.”

Diversity In (My) Erotic Romances

By Cynthia Sax on January 19, 2015

My dear wonderful hubby and I have an interracial, interfaith marriage. We were born on different continents. We came from different cultures. When I first met his family, I couldn’t figure out what they were saying because I wasn’t accustomed to the accent. (grins) We now live in a city where every possible country of origin is represented.

This is MY reality and I reflect that reality in my erotic romances. I don’t announce racial differences. I never say that Miss Yen from the Blaine Technologies series (He Claims Me, Flashes Of Me, Breaking All The Rules) is Chinese, that Nikhil Baagh from Tiger Byte was born in India, that many of my tall, dark and handsome heroes (such as Prince Reiter from Night Rides) are truly tall, DARK and handsome. Why? Because race is a tiny part of what makes these characters special.

I also don’t promote these stories as being interracial. An editor whom I respect and trust explained to me once that an interracial romance has race as its main conflict. The plot revolves around this issue. Race is what keeps the couple apart or brings them together. My stories don’t qualify under this definition. That Nikhil is a tiger shifter is a bigger issue than where he was born (though India’s caste system does play a factor in the story).

My characters are diverse in other ways also. I have curvaceous heroines (Gale in Warlord Unarmed is one of my favorites), gay heroes (Sarge in Speed Demon), bisexual characters (Furu and Xan in Menage Lost are two of my favorites), ugly heroes (Henley in Flashes Of Me), and characters with all sorts of occupations (on both sides of the law). Again, this single trait doesn’t define any of these characters.

Do I suggest that all writers have this wide range of diversity in their characters?

No, of course not. The only ‘has-to’ in erotic romance is a happy ever after or happy for now. Many M/M readers only read M/M stories. When they find out that Speed Demon is my solitary M/M story, they become frustrated. My ménage reading buddies continue to campaign to make Sinful Rewards a ménage (with Bee, Nicolas and Hawke getting together) and not a love triangle.

But I DO feel it is important that there are writers writing diverse characters, that not all of us are writing the same characters in our erotic romances. I love that when a reader tells me “I’m looking for an erotic romance with a XYZ character”, I can point her toward a book with an XYZ character.

Have you spotted any diverse characters in the erotic romances you’ve recently read?

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards7-1718231-237.html

Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Diversity In (My) Erotic Romances

Talking Technology On Dear Author

By Cynthia Sax on January 18, 2015

I’m talking about some of the technologies I loved at the CES on Dear Author today

http://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/guest-post-the-best-of-the-consumer-electronics-show-from-a-readers-perspective-cynthia-sax/

Here is a snippet…

“I had the good fortune of attending the Consumer Electronics Show ( http://www.cesweb.org/about-us ) in Las Vegas. This celebration of emerging technology has over 3,600 exhibitors and 2.2 million net square feet of display space, with innovations ranging from life-sized androids to Girl Scouts promoting their cookie app, from automatic-ordering refrigerators to virtual reality everything.”

***

Subscribe To My Release Day Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/

Her answer should be clear, but the heart has a way of complicating even the most straightforward decisions.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sinful-Rewards-Billionaires-Bikers-Novella-ebook/dp/B00JZOVYQG

ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-sinfulrewards7-1718231-237.html

Avon: http://www.avonromance.com/book/cynthia-sax-sinful-rewards-7

Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sinful-rewards-7-cynthia-sax/1119919841

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Cynthia_Sax_Sinful_Rewards_7?id=CGsOBAAAQBAJ

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/sinful-rewards-7/id870582006

Topics: Guest Post | Comments Off on Talking Technology On Dear Author

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