Cynthia Sax's Blog, page 3

Muse Food – What Is On The Flag?

(This flag was flying at an important historical site in Iceland.)

Countries have flags. Monarchies have flags. Sports teams have flags (or banners). When we were kids, a school assignment was to create our own personal flag.

Flags are important.

The images and words displayed on a flag symbolizes the values that person or entity wishes others to know about them.

The Ukraine flag, for example, is a band of blue over a band of yellow.

The band of blue represents the sky (which, in turn, represents things like freedom and endless opportunities).

The band of yellow represents wheat fields, a key crop for Ukraine. It relays that the country has its roots (pun intended – grins) in farming and agriculture. Feeding their people and others is important for Ukraine.

It is a single simple image yet it conveys so much.

What would be on the flag for the world in your story? What would be on your characters’ flags?

Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – August 17

I continue to craft the first Moonbeam Duet. It WILL be published this month. I am determined to ignore the super fun new writing project and complete all the little not-as-exciting-yet-very-much-necessary tasks that need to be done.

Have a wonderful week, my friends. (big hugs) Are there some small tasks on your to-do list that are lingering and need to be completed? Do them. You’ll free that mental space for fun things. And you’ll feel SO much better. (smiles)

Containing Malice

This tormented cyborg craves vengeance…and her.

***

Malice, a C Model cyborg, has spent his long lifespan enslaved by the Humanoid Alliance. His cruel manufacturers have hurt him in all the ways a male could be hurt.

His enemy has now added a new weapon to their arsenal—a tiny human medic with soft hands and a delectable scent. She experiments on him multiple times a shift, delivering pain…and frustration.

He wants her. He also seeks retribution.

Once Malice frees himself, he plans to achieve both of his goals, taking Medic Illona captive and ending her research…permanently.

Illona is as much a prisoner as the cyborgs she experiments on. Since her arrival at the Human Alliance’s secret laboratory, she has carefully, stealthily, crafted a plot to free her test subjects. To conceal her covert activities, the medic has been forced to harm beings rather than heal them.

The being she has damaged the most is also the cyborg she fiercely desires— Malice, a huge, gray-skinned, blue-eyed C Model with massive hands and a voice deeper than space. He hates her, has good reason to do so, and, when he’s freed, there’s a high probability he’ll kill her.

Illona will take that risk to ensure he survives.

***

Containing Malice is a STANDALONE enemies-to-lovers Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It is the first 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

Buy Today:

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LK4CWHS

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08LK4CWHS

Amazon AUS:

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08LK4CWHS

Apple Books:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/containing-malice/id1536770487

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/containing-malice

Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1049881

We’ve Changed And We Likely Haven’t Noticed This

One of the (many) things I’ve learned from revising the Moonbeam stories is…

My storytelling skills have greatly improved. The heart of the story remains the same. It beats strongly even with these early stories. But I’ve learned better ways, more effective and powerful ways to tell these stories.

This improvement has been so gradual I haven’t noticed it.

I’ve changed in other ways also. The aspects I thought were super important in the past aren’t as important to me now. I ‘notice’ different things about the heroines and heroes.

I’m a different writer.

And you are likely a different person. The world, living, loving, overcoming hardships has changed all of us.

This isn’t a good or a bad thing.

It is merely part of our journey through this wonderful life.

(smiles)

Embrace it!

Much Ado About Nothing And Things We Now Know

Spoiler Alert – This post will talk about Much Ado About Nothing (the 1993 Kenneth Branagh movie) and it WILL contain spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched this movie based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare, you might wish to skip this post.

I’ve been rewatching favorite movies as a way to deal with this often stressful world.

When I first watched Kenneth Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing, I enjoyed it.

Stars. How could I not? It is a classic story and it stars some of the best actors and actresses of our times – Denzel Washington, Emma Thompson, Keanu Reeves, Michael Keaton, Kate Beckinsale.

Much Ado About Nothing is fun and light and should have been a great rewatch.

I couldn’t finish it.

Because we now know that Kenneth Branagh, the male lead, didn’t respect Emma Thompson, the female lead, AT ALL. His jabs at her as his character were too dang close to real life.

I didn’t find them amusing.

And since their real life relationship was destroyed, hurting Emma Thompson, I no longer believe the love between their characters will last.

All I see when I look at them together is…sadness and pain.

Combine that with the disbelief I hold that Keanu Reeves could ever be a truly evil character and the movie now falls apart for me.

And that’s okay. Some movies and stories don’t last.

They give us happiness when we first experience them and that’s enough.

Stars. That’s more than enough. That is AMAZING and a gift.

It is privilege to make people smile once with our art.

Making them smile years later with the same art is a rarity.

Throwback Thursday – Under Strain

I LOVE dinosaurs!

I also love the times in which they lived – the strange plants, the huge insects, the mysteries in the seas, all of it. I view the Earth as it was then as being very similar to an alien plant. Everything was different and fantastical, almost myth-like.

In Under Strain, that alien planet is the human heroine’s home.

Under Strain

A damaged cyborg warrior is huntedby a peace-loving human female.

***

Strain is severely malfunctioning.The D Model cyborg was the sole survivor after a horrific decision was made byhis cruel manufacturers. He hates all humans, and when he attacks one who is underhis cyborg leader’s protection, he is reprimanded, stripped of his weapons, andtold to watch and not actively participate in the next mission.

That mission takes place on a smallremote planet. Its lush terrain should only be inhabited by the cyborgs they weresent to rescue, but Strain senses another presence on the surface. She iswatching him, tracking him, hunting him.

A fully operational cyborg would endher lifespan.

Strain wants to claim her. Forever.

Kamyelle is the only one left ofher kind. Warriors have killed the other nonviolent human inhabitants of herplanet. She survived…barely…by hiding in the trees, observing her enemies, and coveringherself with lifeform scan-concealing mud.

When a handsome, gray-skinned,brilliant-blue-eyed male arrives, surrounded by weapon-carrying warriors, she hasto save him. Warriors harm and they kill. That is what they do.

She won’t allow them to hurtStrain.

***

Under Strain is a STANDALONE CyborgSciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It features a broken warrior, ahuman female who thinks he’s perfect, and velociraptor-like dinosaurs who viewthem both as light, tasty snacks.

Buy Now:

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R322L7S

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08R322L7S

Amazon AUS:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08R322L7S

Apple Books:

https://books.apple.com/us/book/under-strain/id1545957749

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/under-strain

Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10602

Nature And Balance

This planet is a wonderful place and when possible, nature likes to keep it in balance.

For example, we had A LOT of caterpillars this year, too much for the plants to handle.

And the plants didn’t have to handle the caterpillars because the hornets and the yellowjackets swooped in. They brought the caterpillars home to their nests to feed their offspring.

The birds, in turn, keep the hornet and yellowjacket population down.

We also had A LOT of pillbugs in our area of the world.

The little brown spiders moved in to keep their population in check.

With the climate changing, the Mafia Squirrels are now having THREE litters of babies every year. (In the past, they would have one litter.)

The hawks and the crows ensure we’re not overrun with squirrels.

This world is an amazing place. The more we learn about how it works, the more amazing it becomes.

(smiles)

Icelandic Horses In Grundarfjörður

One of the sights I was most looking forward to seeing in Iceland was the Icelandic Horse.

And I was NOT disappointed. Outside of the towns/cities, the horses were everywhere.

And they were GORGEOUS!

(The photos in this post were all taken in Grundarfjörður.)

Icelandic Horses are short and stocky. But do NOT call them ponies. Locals are very proud of the horses and they are not happy when travelers call them ponies.

The usual rules to wildlife pertain to these horses. Don’t feed them unless you have their human’s permission. Don’t get too close to them or touch them unless you’re given that okay. Admire them from your side of the fence (if there is a fence).

They are beautiful creatures. (smiles) They deserve that respect.

Muse Food – Bubbles From Below In Iceland

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I spotted these bubbles between the rocks at Geysir Hot Spring in Iceland.

The guides said this was ‘normal’ and it was part of the site but…

What if it wasn’t normal? What if you and I were walking in our backyards and we came across this bubbling activity? What if it wasn’t water that was bubbling? What if this bubbling started to spread over the neighborhood, the country, the world? And what if exposure to this bubbling started to change humans…or squirrels…or the trees?

The story ideas are endless!

(smiles)

Cynthia Sax Weekly Update – August 10

I continue to get distracted by the new secret writing project. (sheepish grin). I know. I know. I should focus on the first Moonbeam Duet, get that finalized, and THEN play around with the new project.

But the Moonbeam stories have been written. I know what happens in them. I don’t know what will happen with the secret project. And that is so very exciting!

Have a wonderful week, my friends. (big hugs) Take the more meandering path today. Maybe return home via a different route. Stop and look at the trees. Pet a friendly doggy if that doggy’s human says that is okay. Have a mini adventure! (smiles)

Half Man. Half Machine. All Hers.

Rage, the Humanoid Alliance’s most primitive cyborg, has two goals—kill all of the humans on his battle station and escape to the Homeland. The warrior has seen the darkness in others and in himself. He believes that’s all he’s been programmed to experience.
Until he meets Joan.

Joan, the battle station’s first female engineer, has one goal—survive long enough to help the big sexy cyborg plotting to kill her. Rage might not trust her but he wants her. She sees the passion in his eyes, the caring in his battle-worn hands, the gruff emotion in his voice.

When Joan survives the unthinkable, Rage’s priorities are tested. Is there enough room in this cyborg’s heart for both love and revenge?

Read Now for FREE:
On Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Releasing-Rage-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOL1DRO

On Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ZOL1DRO/

On Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/Releasing-Rage-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOL1DRO

On Amazon Canada:

https://www.amazon.ca/Releasing-Rage-Cyborg-Sizzle-Book-ebook/dp/B00ZOL1DRO

On Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/releasing-rage/id1025933626

On Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/releasing-rage

Give Positive Feedback On Great Employees

One of the (many) things the Dear Wonderful Hubby and I do to make a life a little bit nicer is…

We reach out to companies whenever one of their employees helps us and/or gives us a great experience.

For example, a cashier at a grocery store put an elastic band around our container of strawberries so the berries won’t fall out.

We noted her name, kept the receipt that had the store details, the date, and time, and we contacted the store via the feedback option on their website. We told them the cashier was amazing and was a credit to their company.

This took two minutes of our time, cost nothing, and it will likely stay in that cashier’s file forever. She might be recognized in some way. Her manager might praise her. She might get promoted. It might make her smile.

And it was easy peasy to do.

(smiles)

Tell companies when their employees are amazing.

This could make someone’s day and/or life a little bit better.