This sculpture in Taipei, Taiwan is…technically…a pile of (beautiful and unique) bricks.

(smiles)

It is how these bricks are ARRANGED that makes it a beautiful work of art.

Our stories are technically a collection of words. It is how we arrange them that makes them wonderful, that creates a story.

And we can arrange the words a gazillion different ways. This arrangement is what makes our stories unique, stories only we can tell.

Have fun, fellow word arrangers!

(grins)

This week, I got…distracted. What? Don’t look at me like that, my friends! (laughs) It is prime gardening season and the season is dang short where I live. I have to enjoy it while it’s here.

I’m midway through writing the first draft of the sixth installment of the Super Secret Project. I’ll work on this fun long story mostly during rainy days for the next little bit.

Have a wonderful week, my friends. (big hugs) Enjoy the season where you live also. Go outside over your lunch hour if you can. Eat vegetables and fruits that are in season and produced by local farmers/gardeners. On sunny days, dress sunnily in yellows and oranges and happy colors. Have fun with this life we’ve been given!

Cyborg Sizzle Escape Omnibus

Half Man. Half Machine. All Theirs.
* * *
While these cyborg warriors battle to escape their cruel manufacturers, they find the human females they are destined to love for all eternity.
This omnibus includes the first seven stories in the Cyborg Sizzle series: Releasing Rage, Breathing Vapor, Being Green, Crash And Burn, Defying Death, Chasing Mayhem and Jumping Barrel.
All of these Cyborg Romances are set in a dark, gritty, often violent universe.

Releasing Rage

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.

Breathing Vapor

Vapor is the most advanced cyborg the Humanoid Alliance has ever developed. He’s a finely honed weapon, a warrior without parallel, half man and half machine. No lock can contain him. No being can stop him. Whatever he wants, he takes.
He wants Mira Breazeal, the Designer’s daughter.

Being Green

Green, a cyborg warrior, cares for one being—his plant Windy. When Windy becomes sick, he’ll do anything to heal her, even venture across the universe to visit a worlds-renowned plant doctor.
He doesn’t expect to find love.

Crash And Burn

Crash was manufactured to be one of the best warriors in the universe. The cyborg has spent many human lifespans fighting the enemy. But, unlike his battle-loving brethren, he doesn’t enjoy killing. When he escapes the Humanoid Alliance, he vows to never end another life.
Then he meets Safyre, an infuriating human female, and he considers breaking his vow.

Defying Death

Cyborgs don’t show emotion. Death learned that lesson early in his long lifespan. To survive, he hides his fierce passions behind a stoic wall. He calls no warrior friend. He never admits to caring for any being.
Even the human female he’s destined to love.

Chasing Mayhem

Mayhem has spent his lengthy lifespan obeying the Humanoid Alliance’s rules. Finally free from their cruel control, the cyborg warrior plans to cause chaos. He infiltrates a remote settlement, provokes the savage locals until they want him dead, and allows himself to be captured by the sexiest little Retriever he has ever laid his mechanically-enhanced eyes on.

Jumping Barrel

Barrel requires an Expert for the Tau Cetian orphans. He’s looking for a female who is willing to commit to a lifespan-long role, who is comfortable with moving off planet, and who, preferably, has the ability to speak the offsprings’ first language.
His female, however, is looking for a hero.

Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Cyborg-Sizzle-Escape-Omnibus-Continuum-ebook/dp/B081VFHF1S

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyborg-Sizzle-Escape-Omnibus-Continuum-ebook/dp/B081VFHF1S

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Cyborg-Sizzle-Escape-Omnibus-Continuum-ebook/dp/B081VFHF1S

Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Cyborg-Sizzle-Escape-Omnibus-Continuum-ebook/dp/B081VFHF1S

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/cyborg-sizzle-escape-omnibus/id1488934271

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cyborg-sizzle-escape-omnibus

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/992060

A lot of what we see online, especially from professional influencers, is staged. The gardens are staged. The homes are staged. The vacation photos are staged.

They are the best possible scenario.

Some gardening influencers stick plants obtained from garden centers into the ground right before filming. They pull the dead or dying or diseased plants. They weed the garden. They show the best angles, the best spots.

There ARE influencers who are pushing back on this. They ARE showing some dying or diseased plants. They DO talk about their failures.

But they are rare.

And even these influencers don’t show us a lot of their failures.

That’s understandable.

Many people watch them BECAUSE they are a success. These people don’t want to see failures or imperfections. It makes them doubt the influencer’s credibility.

Remember this when you look at photos and videos. Very few people show their failures but I can guarantee with 100% certainty they are experiencing them.

Because even professionals have failures.

Even professionals make mistakes. They aren’t first year newbie mistakes. They are no one could have predicted or stopped this mistakes. Or they are I was too busy/tired when I made this decision mistakes. Or they are I tried something new because I’m always trying to improve and it didn’t work out mistakes.

You could be the best gardener in the world, for example, and an unexpected hail storm will still take out much of your outdoor garden (and we won’t even talk about the constant battle against slugs – grins).

Professionals have failures. Influentials have failures. You and I shouldn’t be surprised when we have failures also.

Failures are part of this wonderful journey.

(smiles)

I LOVED Predator: Badlands and yes, I have enjoyed ALL of the Predator movies (my favorite being the first Alien vs Predator movie, which I would consider to be a romance if the hero’s fate wasn’t what it was – dang it).

But Predator: Badlands is special.

Because the alien world it is set in is absolutely amazing. It is worth viewing for this alone.

There are magical little details like the razor grass, which could very well have ancestors in common with our Earth vegetation. Grass cuts on our planet are extremely painful (they are similar to deep paper cuts, yet with the increased possibility of infection). And there are plants that are silver in color.

Every plant and/or creature in this alien world has possible relatives here on Earth. As someone who loves world building AND evolutionary biology, this level of care is impressive.

Another reason to watch Predator: Badlands is the big baddie.

The unkillable creature the Predator is hunting has earned its place at the top of this hostile planet’s extensive food chain.

One of my pet peeves are dumb big baddies. Yes, underlings can be idiots. That is highly likely. (grins) And yes, villains can make mistakes (one common human mistake is overconfidence).

But you don’t get to the top by being dumb (So NEVER dismiss a real life big baddie because you feel they lack intelligence. They don’t. You’re underestimating them.).

In Predator: Badlands, we are shown that the Big Baddie, the alien creature the Predator is hunting, can learn. Quickly. It can communicate. It can problem solve.

It is formidable opponent.

And that makes this already action-packed movie even more thrilling. And interesting.

If you loved Releasing Rage (tackle hugs), you will likely enjoy Containing Malice. They are very similar stories.

Because Malice has been locked in an underground laboratory for years. He has been experimented on, tortured, tested, and he doesn’t realize many of his brethren are free. He doesn’t realize cyborgs have genetic matches, beings they are destined to love and protect, and that there’s a possibility for offspring.

He doesn’t have hope.

All he has is a desire for vengeance.

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

(This is a stock photo. Our water storage system isn’t as pretty. – grins)

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I have a goal to be self-sufficient with our gardening.

Eventually.

If there’s ever a time when we can’t buy or otherwise obtain soil, fertilizer, water, containers and other gardening necessities from others, we want to still be able to grow vegetables and berries.

I hope that day never comes but we’re preparing for it. Just in case.

This preparation takes time. And resources. And expertise.

It isn’t an overnight, install it and be done process.

Making leaf mold, for example, takes at the minimum two years.

My first attempt was a disaster. I didn’t add enough water. The leaves didn’t break down.

I’m trying again and that will take at least another two years.

Putting together a rain water retention system, as another example, takes expertise and money. We’re building this system over time, adding rain barrels and storage containers to it every year.

Building a base of perennial vegetables and berries involves a GREAT deal of learning and babying the plants those first few years and money to buy the seeds/starts. I find we can only add a couple perennials every year to our garden successfully.

Self-sufficiency with gardening isn’t an easy overnight type of thing.

But then gardening isn’t an easy overnight type of thing.

(grins)

We can do this!

I REALLY like the slow and steady build.

Many writers want the huge influx of readers. They want to be discovered and blow up big overnight.

I want the slow gradual build. I can get to know readers this way. I can better balance writing and reader interactions. I feel less pressure.

Gardening is also about the slow and steady build.

It is advisable that we only add around 3 new-to-us plants to our gardens every year (due to the steep learning curve for each plant). At that pace, it takes about a decade to fill out a garden half-decently.

Plus soil takes decades to build properly.

Most of the world is about fast actions, fast returns. But know that it is okay to have a slow and steady build.

Do things at your own pace, my friends, the pace that makes YOU happy.

(big hugs)

These beautiful barriers were erected around an often visited historical site in Kuala Lumpur.

They communicate a few things.

The first and foremost, it IS a barrier. That means unauthorized people should keep out of the site. That’s the primary communication of a barrier or a fence.

The barriers also tell us the site managers KNOW it is a tourist destination. They KNOW visitors to the city will be disappointed that it is under construction. They KNOW these visitors will still want to be take photos.

And they value visitors to the site and to the city.

The pretty barriers relay pride in the site. The site managers care enough about the site to make it pretty.

The images are drawings, not photographs. That relays the site managers care about the arts. They didn’t send a construction worker out to take photos. They employed an artist to sketch it.

And these barriers tell everyone this construction will be happening for a while. It isn’t an overnight closure. The site will be closed for weeks, maybe months, maybe years.

The type of fence or a barrier in a story is important. It communicates much more than ‘Stay out.’ Make your choice of fence or barrier intentional.

I continue to craft the first draft of the sixth installment of the Super Secret Project. I went a little backwards this week as I uncovered an awesome way to add much excitement to some scenes I’d already written.

Going backward, deleting and re-writing words is okay! It is part of the process and part of crafting a story we can be proud of!

(smiles)

Have a wonderful week, my friends. (big hugs)

I suspect you have something you’d like to redo also. This could be refolding the towels in the linen closet. Or repotting a beloved plant. Or rereading a scene in a book.

Redo it! Don’t be afraid of going backward.

Sometimes we have to make things ‘right’ before we can go forward.

Cyborg Sizzle Escape Omnibus

Half Man. Half Machine. All Theirs.
* * *
While these cyborg warriors battle to escape their cruel manufacturers, they find the human females they are destined to love for all eternity.
This omnibus includes the first seven stories in the Cyborg Sizzle series: Releasing Rage, Breathing Vapor, Being Green, Crash And Burn, Defying Death, Chasing Mayhem and Jumping Barrel.
All of these Cyborg Romances are set in a dark, gritty, often violent universe.

Releasing Rage

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.

Breathing Vapor

Vapor is the most advanced cyborg the Humanoid Alliance has ever developed. He’s a finely honed weapon, a warrior without parallel, half man and half machine. No lock can contain him. No being can stop him. Whatever he wants, he takes.
He wants Mira Breazeal, the Designer’s daughter.

Being Green

Green, a cyborg warrior, cares for one being—his plant Windy. When Windy becomes sick, he’ll do anything to heal her, even venture across the universe to visit a worlds-renowned plant doctor.
He doesn’t expect to find love.

Crash And Burn

Crash was manufactured to be one of the best warriors in the universe. The cyborg has spent many human lifespans fighting the enemy. But, unlike his battle-loving brethren, he doesn’t enjoy killing. When he escapes the Humanoid Alliance, he vows to never end another life.
Then he meets Safyre, an infuriating human female, and he considers breaking his vow.

Defying Death

Cyborgs don’t show emotion. Death learned that lesson early in his long lifespan. To survive, he hides his fierce passions behind a stoic wall. He calls no warrior friend. He never admits to caring for any being.
Even the human female he’s destined to love.

Chasing Mayhem

Mayhem has spent his lengthy lifespan obeying the Humanoid Alliance’s rules. Finally free from their cruel control, the cyborg warrior plans to cause chaos. He infiltrates a remote settlement, provokes the savage locals until they want him dead, and allows himself to be captured by the sexiest little Retriever he has ever laid his mechanically-enhanced eyes on.

Jumping Barrel

Barrel requires an Expert for the Tau Cetian orphans. He’s looking for a female who is willing to commit to a lifespan-long role, who is comfortable with moving off planet, and who, preferably, has the ability to speak the offsprings’ first language.
His female, however, is looking for a hero.

Buy Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Cyborg-Sizzle-Escape-Omnibus-Continuum-ebook/dp/B081VFHF1S

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyborg-Sizzle-Escape-Omnibus-Continuum-ebook/dp/B081VFHF1S

Amazon AUS:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Cyborg-Sizzle-Escape-Omnibus-Continuum-ebook/dp/B081VFHF1S

Amazon Canada:
https://www.amazon.ca/Cyborg-Sizzle-Escape-Omnibus-Continuum-ebook/dp/B081VFHF1S

Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/cyborg-sizzle-escape-omnibus/id1488934271

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/cyborg-sizzle-escape-omnibus

Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/992060

(This is a photo the Dear Wonderful Hubby took while we were in Taiwan.)

There is a theory in business called The Red Car Theory.

Once you notice a red car, you tend to see red cars everywhere.

This applies to everything.

If you look for something, you’ll start to ‘see’ it, to notice it everywhere.

So look for joy. Look for smiles.

Look for beauty.

And you’ll then see it everywhere. You’ll see it in the curve of a g on a printed page. You’ll see it in the dew clinging to a blade of green grass. You’ll see it in the spark of gold in a friend’s brown eyes.

You deserve beautiful moments, my friend.

Give them to yourself.