<>

Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Second Chances Can Be Lethal - The Ex File by Alexis D. Craig

18+ "Alexis D. Craig writes vivid characters and great storyline. There is a wonderful balance of action both in and out of the sheets. This book pulls you in, and you don't want to put it down [...] wonderful primary and secondary characters,[...]" - Goodreads

Description:

Cover Artist: Laura Hidalgo of BookFabulous Designs
Date of Publication: February 7th, 2015

Second Chances Can Be Lethal

Narcotics Officer, Sean O’Leary is bitter after a messy divorce that has reinforced his solitary nature, leaving him only with his dog and a sword collection. He could never imagine that his former best friend may be the only woman to bring happiness into his lonely life.

Ellie Gardner knows loss; especially after she was banished from her best friend/crush's life by his jealous wife. Although the regret of walking away from the love of her life still stung, a chance encounter with Sean may change everything.

When Ellie and Sean reconnect, they could never expect it'd be in such an explosive way, leaving them both to gain the fulfillment of their 'what if's.

Finding love is hard enough without the past breathing down their necks, especially when said past has no intention of letting go. When Sean's ex, Pia Mastriani returns, Ellie must face her nemesis' relentless tactics to get Sean back, including eliminating Ellie if necessary.

Sean and Ellie’s relationship is put to the test but will they fare well while they go rummaging through The Ex File?

GUEST POST
Writing Erotica

Writing erotica and suspense function in the much the same way engines do. They both rely on fuel for input, which goes through numerous moving parts until they're converted into the power of words. To stretch the metaphor a bit further, combining the two is like installing a turbo charger, taking the stories further, faster.

I approach it in the same way I would an episode of CSI: Infinite Incarnations. There's a cold open, i.e., the introduction of the victim and the discovery of said body. In the erotic field, it would be the introduction of one half of the romantic pairing, with a brief shot of the circumstances surrounding and pervading their existence, up until the introduction of the other protagonist. The idea is to invest you in their story just enough to get you to stick around past the theme song and perhaps your trip to the fridge.

Next up is the insertion of the crime fighter, or other half of the pairing. They're there, doing their own thing in their lives, and together, the two establish themselves as the alphas and the general centers around which everything else revolves. It can be a group (as it is with the CSI franchise), or just two (Sherlock). A lot of hot fanfic gets its roots in this section, simply overlaying romantic elements to an already fully functional pairing and taking it from there.

Then you start poking around the crime, or conflict. Who would have done the crime or why can't the two protags get together? Establish all the players, including the dead one(s), and start pinning down timelines and motivations. Understanding the connection and conflict between all the players involved is vital to putting together the theory of the case, or a decent and plausible foundation for a relationship.

Everyone has skeletons in their closets they'd prefer not see the light of day, but over the course of the episode, each is exposed to sunlight and rendered into dust. Fighting crime is a destructive business. Same with romance, where each character is made vulnerable to the other by virtue of their feelings for the other. Getting them to admit to, and give in to, these emotions is one of my favorite things to do.

While they're poking around in the darker recesses of people's personal lives, the crime fighters find more than one person had reason to commit the offense. For the romantics, there can be more than one locus of conflict. The best characters are the ones with pasts and maybe those pasts down mesh so well with one another's presents. Only by interviewing and examining (and resolving) the context surrounding each suspect and aspect of conflict is the real criminal revealed and the relationship solidified with a fair amount of realism, usually at the end of 60 minutes (give or take 15 minutes of commercials or so) or 200-300 pages.

Erotica's major difference from crime drama is the focus on the relationship, with an emphasis on its physical manifestations, as it relates to the plot as opposed to the crime. Getting all the beats right takes practice and amazing beta readers. The key to making all of these moving parts co-mingle and integrate is to carefully weave them in such a way that the erotica is a natural and palpable undertone, like a ULF (ultra low frequency) hum that is there, even when the characters are separated, and tunes up almost into the audible range upon them being put together. Use it as an extension of the plot instead of a wholly separate storyline

About the author:
Alexis is a writer with a couple of day jobs. Working for two different police agencies, it's a juggling act to find time to write.

She is also an aunt, godmother, avid cyclist, serial hobbyist, ghost hunter, and collector of stray animals. Her husband is a loving, patient man.

The author of Imminent Danger, Undercover Seduction, and Give Me Shelter with Lachesis Press, and she has three more novels coming out in 2015, The Ex File on February 7th, Dead and Disorderly on May 23rd, and Bulletproof Princess on August 8th from Hot Ink Press.


Author's Giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

4 comments:

Joseph Hawkshaw said...

Love the cover right up my ally nice job.

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Piper said...

Hi. I like the cover. Sounds good.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the giveaway