Friday, June 3, 2011

Meet debut author, Katie Alexander

Please give a warm welcome to my friend and new author, Katie Alexandre. She, along with her writing partner, Kelli Lee Mosley, created a wonderful story called Another Chance. Let's get to know Katie and see who the person is behind the author name.

Katie, welcome to Dawn's Reading Nook Blog. Please take a seat and let Sinn and Damon pamper you.

Why don't you start us off by telling us how you discovered/decided you wanted to become a writer?
I think it started when I was a kid and my grandma would call me a day dreamer.  Maybe I was just thinking of stories I wanted to write someday.

Do you have a favorite TV show you can't miss?
I don’t watch that much TV anymore but if I did the show I couldn’t miss would have to have been Dirty Jobs or Deadliest Catch. I used to watch them religiously.

What is your writing process? Do you outline, fly by the seat of your pants or a combination of both?
I think that it might be a combination of both.  In the beginning I tried to write everything in order but my characters didn’t want to work that way. Instead I write what they tell me and when.  Plus, having a writing partner meant that we could work on certain areas of the book that each of us excelled in.

So what is your latest or upcoming book about? Give us all the details behind this masterpiece.
Masterpiece, huh?  I hope so. Lol Our latest release which is also our very first is about a woman named Megan that dreamt of having a family but her husband saw things differently and the marriage ended.  Now she is home again trying to heal and get on with her life but life being life, it sends her a curve ball aka Grayson. Love him!

What are your thoughts on love scenes in romance novels, do you find them difficult to write? Considering that my first ever love scene was in this book, I would have to say it was hard at first.  That was the one thing that kept me at a loss.  I finally bit the bullet and wrote the first one but ended up editing it a few times but it did get easier.  I think that love scenes are really important in romance because that is the point where your two main characters are truly connecting on not just a physical level but also on a spiritual level.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and if we were to visit your home, what books would we find on your bookshelf, end table, floor or e-reader?
My taste in stories and authors is very eclectic to say the least. I like Susan Elizabeth Phillips and her football series, Cherise Sinclair and her Shadowlands series. I am reading Cherise Sinclair’s latest right now. My bookshelf is crammed of books that I still need to read that range from sweet romance to erotica.  I like them both and everything in between.  I think it just depends on what kind of mood I am in. *Gasp* books are never found on the floor here.

If you could date any character from any book, who would it be and why?
Is this from my book or any other book? If it is mine that would be an easy answer, Grayson. I love love him and would grab him in a heartbeat. Lol If it is from another book than it would have to be Kyrian from the Dark Hunters series. He is sexy, wears leather, drives fast cars and has fangs.  What’s not to love?

Could you tell us about any work-in-progress, current projects, what we can expect from you in the future?
Kelli and I are trying to work on book two that follows Another Chance.  Dylan has his turn in this book and to say it is interesting is an understatement. I am also working on something on my own but it is on pause right now. It will be a paranormal romance when I finish my hero keeps arguing with me on what he should be.

A biography has been written about you. What do you think the title would be?
Well, it’s about time…

Have you ever found that you didn’t like your Hero or your Heroine? If so, what did you do to change that?
Well, that would be a BIG yes. Grayson kept coming up either too stalkerish (if that is a word) or was a wus.  It was hard to get that combination right.  I think I finally did with him and Kelli finally liked him and stopped telling me to give him a set.

What do you do to unwind and relax?  
I like to unwind with a book after the kids are in bed. I also like beading now. I have made a few pieces of earrings and necklaces and have really enjoyed it. You can just shut everything off while you adding beads to a piece of string. 


 Is there a genre you haven’t done that you would like to explore in the future?
I love paranormal so that is my next genre to try. I have something in the works but the hero isn’t cooperating.  I hope I can do it justice.

W
hat was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
It surprised me to find out how much went into making the actual book. You don’t think of edits and the cover when you are writing it.  You just think of the characters and nothing more.  We were lucky that we found a great publisher that took care of us and walked us through. 

What is your favorite candy bar?
Snickers

When you looked in the mirror this morning, what was the first thing you thought?
Should I color my roots?

What is your favorite pizza?
I like pizza with everything.

What genres and authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing?
I like all types of genres but it has to be in romance at least. My taste in authors varies also and I am always trying new ones or getting recommendations from my friends and family.

If I was a first time reader of your books, which one would you recommend I start with and why?
Another Chance because it is my one and only. lol

What else would you like readers to know about you or your work?
That I am just a girl who had a dream of writing and made it come true with a little help from a great friend.

 Another Chance
Katie Alexander and Kelli  Lee Mosley
Rebel Ink Press

Megan Mason had a fabulous family, a wonderful husband, amazing friends, a great job and a beautiful home. All she needed was a baby to make her life complete. Little did she know, however, that asking her husband for a child would end her marriage. Suffering the ultimate betrayal, Megan returns to her childhood home to rebuild her life.

Grayson Burke had it all. His family’s construction company was financially sound business was booming. He loved his job and better yet, he worked with two of his best friends.  To an outsider looking in, Grayson's life probably seemed perfect.  But in reality, Grayson's dream woman wasn't only married to someone else, she was his buddies little sister which meant she was untouchable in every sense of the word. 

When Grayson learns that Megan is headed home, everything in his world seems to flip upside down.  There's no way he could ever approach a woman whose life has been destroyed.  Right?  And besides, his friends would kill him.  Wouldn't they?
PG-13 excerpt:  
Megan closed the last of the suitcases she'd strewn every which way all over the bedroom floor.  Looking around the empty room, it was easy to remember what once had been.  The bed sat on the right facing the French doors, and curtains in the same matching sage and purple hues as the bedding dressed the doors and the windows.  On her dresser, a collection of perfume bottles sat upon  a silver framed mirror along with a matching hairbrush and comb.  Everything in the room had been perfect.  Now everything Megan owned was in boxes, all of which were on their way to their new home.   Most of the bedroom furniture belonged to her Megan's grandmother.  After the older woman passed, her furniture, along with many other sentimental belongings in the house in Idaho, were left to Megan.  Things that meant so little to anyone else meant the world to Megan.  Her ex husband, Alan, certainly never liked any of them and he never bothered to keep his opinions about it to himself either.  He was always saying her old things were never as good as anything brand new and why would she want that old crap anyway.  Calling Megan's sentimental mementos crap upset her greatly, but what could she do?  Alan was her husband.  She tried to understand that he wanted to create a new life and her antique family treasures weren't part of the image he wanted for himself or his wife.
Megan walked to the French doors and stepped out onto the patio.  The impatients and roses that lined the iron balcony were still there and their petals were almost too bright in the morning sun.  Pinks, purples and yellows bloomed all around her and the fragrance in the air made her breathe in deeply.  The smell would always remind her of working in the garden with her grandmother. Since the flowers wouldn't make the trip across the country, Megan decided to leave them behind.  Looking out at the backyard one more time, Megan felt a bit lost.  The garden is where she's always found peace.  It was where she hid from her problems.  And Lord knew her marriage seemed to be littered with more problems than she could've escaped in a lifetime. Megan's grandma always said that if you needed to think out a problem, it was better to do it elbow deep in dirt.  Maybe that was why the garden always looked so good.  Getting dirty didn't solve everything, but it gave her an escape from reality through the troubled years.  When the tears threatened to fall, she turned and went back inside.  Megan closed the doors and turned the lock.  Too bad there wasn't a way to lock the memories away too.
It was easy to think that back then life was solid and calm.  But who was she kidding?  Life then had been hell and Megan needed to keep reminding herself of that each time she felt like giving up.  If she didn't, she'd never follow through with her plans to start over.
Megan's marriage had been rocky from the beginning.  She'd just finished college in Boise when she had met Alan Mason.  The man was too beautiful--blond hair and baby blue eyes that had the power to mesmerize Megan.  He was tall and had a lean runner's body.  He was sophisticated and knew exactly what to say to Megan to get her to drop her guard. It didn't even take him a week to get her into bed.  That alone should have been a red flag but Megan ignored it along with all the other signs that seem to point to the fact that trouble seemed to follow Alan Mason.
 
Want to know more about Katie...find her at the following places:



Twitter ~ @katie1alexander





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