Taste of Cyn

Warlord’s Return And Finishing A First Draft

By Cynthia Sax on July 17, 2020

I finished the first draft of Warlord’s Return (releasing in November) yesterday. Woot!

It is a steaming piece of sh*t as all of my first drafts are but the bones of the story are solid, the couple (Ariq and a heroine you haven’t yet met) is magical together, and I believe you’ll really like this 6^th and final installment of the Chamele Barbarian Warlords series. We return to the Refuge, the home of Kralj, so we interact not only with the Chameles but also with the modified humanoids (the flying triplets are physically grown and are causing chaos).

Completing a first draft is a time for celebration in the Sax household. Heck, any win at all is a time for celebration and completing a first draft is a HUGE win. As Jodi Picoult says, “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” And as my awesome editor once told me, I have to write the first draft. She can’t help me with that. She CAN help me with everything else.

Even if the first draft sucks big hairy donkey balls, it is an achievement. It gives writers and editors something to work with and that is a very good place to be. Celebrate those first drafts.

If my schedule allows it (laughs semi-hysterically), I set aside a first draft for a day or two, give myself some space, some distance from it, before rolling into the extremely intense second draft. I tend to continue thinking about the story and jot down ideas, solutions to plot holes, etc to include when I pick it back up again.

The timing of this completed first draft is great because Testing Truth (releasing in September) has returned from my awesome editor. I’ll work on that today and this weekend.

Then on Monday, I’ll start the second draft.

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Other Chameles view him as the enemy.

She sees the warrior hero he never believed he could be.

* * *

Tolui is a Warlord in search of a planet to rule. He has been leading his fellow clones in a stealth battle, fighting for both control of the Chamele sector and the right to exist. The brave warriors he commands warrant respect, and they deserve the best.

That best isn’t the barren, dangerous terrain on Chamele 4. When Tolui crashes on that planet’s surface, he’s determined to leave it as soon as possible. The tiny human female rescuing him might be as beautiful and as wild as the land she inhabits, but her flowing words, trusting gaze, and enthralling submission won’t stop him from rejoining the war.

After many solar cycles of living alone, Lea is overjoyed when a tall, scarred, muscular warrior falls from the sky. Her savage stranger is strong and severe, and he makes her feel safe, an emotion she hasn’t experienced in a long, long time.

He also insists they must part. Before they do, she’ll show him the splendor of her home, and she’ll enjoy his big form, collecting passionate moments she can revisit when she’s solitary once more.

Every additional moment Lea and Tolui spend together increases the chance they’ll both die. Lea is being chased by female-hating fiends. Tolui is being hunted by the best bounty hunters in the universe. War will soon arrive on their threshold, and the blood spilled might be their own.

* * *

Warlord’s Mercy is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.

It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance featuring a villain turned hero and a brave, chatty heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

Warlord’s Mercy is the fifth of six core stories in the Chamele Barbarian Warlord series.

Book 1: Warlord Sky

Book 2: Warlord’s Bounty

Book 3: Warlord Unarmed

Book 4: Warlord Reunited

Book 5: Warlord’s Mercy

Book 6: Warlord’s Return

Buy Now:

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0886K65F9

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0886K65F9

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0886K65F9

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/warlords-mercy/id1511995733