Meteor Showers And Inspiration
The Perseid meteor shower is happening right now (the peak days for North America are Tuesday and Wednesday this week). Earth is passing through the debris left by the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
I LOVE meteor showers. The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I once flew through one and it looked like one of those scenes in Star Wars when the Millennium Falcon travels through hyperspace. It was one of the (many) highlights of my life and I will never forget it.
This week, we will definitely be dousing ourselves with bug spray (the mosquitoes have been fierce this year), grabbing a comfy blanket and spending some romantic dates outside in the dark. (grins)
I suspect the writing will be super inspired this week!
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Testing Truth
A fun-loving cyborg gets serious about love.
***
Truth lives each moment as though it were his last. The cyborg warrior rushes into danger, teases beings he shouldn’t provoke, accepts every call of adventure he encounters.
When a prissy little human princess floats into the Rebel structure Truth is occupying, seeking a mercenary to assist her and her unusual entourage, he volunteers to be her warrior. She claims their assignment is dangerous, warns him he might not survive the task.
That is exactly the type of fun he has been seeking.
Princess Nanette of the planet Royaume must rescue her estranged brother from an enemy prison ship. That is her duty, and she has been trained to always place the needs of her planet and her subjects before her own. Nancy doesn’t have the freedom to indulge her passions for a certain dark-haired, gray-skinned cyborg. Not permanently and not publicly.
But she is unable to resist the warrior. Truth, with his laughing eyes, smiling lips, and rough hands, tempts her as no one else ever has. He could be her one fleeting act of rebellion before she’s matched with the powerful ruler her planet requires.
If they survive their current mission.
Their love is doomed. Their lifespans are at risk. This cyborg and his princess will need the help of every ally they have if they wish to see another sunrise.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08BTYN7TT
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/testing-truth/id1520415369
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/testing-truth-cynthia-sax/1137237855
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/testing-truth
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1029497
Topics: General SciFi Romance | Comments Off on Meteor Showers And Inspiration
Mary Shelley – The Movie – Writing Insights
Spoiler Warning: This post will contain some spoilers for the movie – Mary Shelley. If you haven’t watched this movie, you might wish to stop reading now.
Mary Shelley is, of course, a movie about Mary Shelley, the writer of Frankenstein, the book that started the science fiction genre. She was a teenager when she wrote that book and that’s the part of her life the movie dwells on.
This is NOT a documentary. Some artistic liberties have been taken as should be expected with any movie based on real people/events.
I tend to dread movies about writers because, if they’re realistic, they’re deadly boring (staring at blank pages isn’t very exciting – grins), and, if they’re fantasy, they make writing far more action-packed than it is.
This movie, however, gets so much right; I had no choice but love it.
One of the first moments that got my attention was how Mary’s father criticized her writing for being derivative. She was copying other writers’ voices, as many of us do when we first start writing. Her father tells her to find her own voice, to write stories in a way only she can.
It took me quite a while to find my own voice. Like Mary, I copied other writers’ voices. But that feels like wearing someone else’s clothes. It is awkward and unsustainable. Once I found my own voice, writing became much easier and more natural.
I now tell stories only I can. Even if another writer followed the same plot, her story would be different than mine because our voices are different.
I loved how we’re shown how Mary gathered the inspiration for Frankenstein. It isn’t a flash of genius as many movies depict it to be. She picks up bits and pieces throughout her life.
Mary’s mother died soon after childbirth. That prompts a fascination with death, with science, with medical knowledge, with the human body.
Mary is an outcast. She doesn’t fit into society. Frankenstein’s monster is an outcast also. He doesn’t fit into society. The situation might be fictional but the emotions are real. They are Mary’s emotions.
Dr. Frankenstein brings his monster to life. Mary gives birth to a daughter. She creates life.
Mary attends a demonstration showing how electricity can ‘reanimate’ a dead frog. That was the missing piece, the ‘science’ she needed for her story.
She collects bits of her story from her experiences and from the world around her. And then all of those pieces fall into place to create Frankenstein.
Once she has written the story, she hands it to her first critic—her husband. He reads it, praises it, and then asks her to change the story to one that is more ‘hopeful.’ What if the being Dr. Frankenstein created was an angel, a perfect being, and not a monster?
Oh my goodness. I think every writer has received critiques like that, critiques from people who might be talented but who don’t understand what we’re trying to achieve, the story we want to tell. Mary, to her credit, doesn’t take this terrible advice and leaves the being as the monster he was meant to be.
This movie covers other female and writer-related issues. Before she is published, for example, she struggles with her identity as a writer. Can she call herself a writer if she hasn’t published anything? After she has written Frankenstein, she receives rejection after rejection after rejection. People (i.e. male publishers) question that a young woman could write a story like Frankenstein.
I enjoyed Mary Shelley. I wished I had seen it in the theater, surrounded by other writers. That would have been an awesome experience.
***
Subscribe To My Monthly Newsletter: http://tasteofcyn.com/2014/05/28/newsletter/
Doc’s Orders
She wants both sides of her cyborg—the medic AND the beast.
A fully functional cyborg is balanced. His machine half and his organic half work together to produce the perfect warrior.
Doc isn’t fully functional.
The G Model operates at the two extremes. When his machine is in complete control, he’s the logic-driven medic, saving lifespans. Once his organics take charge, he becomes the savage beast…and beings die.
Both sides of Doc want to be the first to claim his female.
Allinen is one of the few beings in her small settlement who wasn’t born with a fated mate. Determined to belong somewhere, she has crafted a plan to leave the planet.
That plan doesn’t involve a huge stormy-eyed male who alternates between cool seduction and out-of-control ravishment. Doc isn’t her fated mate. Allinen knows that. But his dual nature and forbidden embraces tempt her to forget forever and indulge in more immediate delights.
Neither side of Doc views their relationship as being temporary. Her conflicted cyborg is prepared to battle her family, her planet and death itself to keep her.
Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Docs-Orders-Cyborg-Space-Exploration-ebook/dp/B07RML2WG1
Apple/iTunes:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/docs-orders/id1463105812
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/docs-orders-cynthia-sax/1131529760
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/doc-s-orders
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/938342
Topics: Movie Reviews | Comments Off on Mary Shelley – The Movie – Writing Insights
