Welcome special guest: author Alexandra O’Hurley @alexohurley @evernightpub

Today we have Alexandra O’Hurley visiting! Alex loves to write paranormal erotic romance, but has also dabbled in historical and futuristic romances as well.  A single mom to a 16 year old kiddo, she works full-time, goes to school part-time, and writes whenever she can find the time.

* So, Alex, what inspired you to become a writer?
A wall-banger!  Seriously, I read a book that was sooooooo bad that I told myself I could even do better than that.  I had written all my life, mostly poetry and short stories, but figured I’d put up or shut up.  Thankfully, I put up.
* When did you attempt your first story? What length was it? What's become of it?
I wrote my first novel soon after the wall-banger incident, about five years ago.  It was about 50,000 words and after being rejected twice, was accepted and published in early 2010.  Abduction has done fairly well, and subsequently spawned a second in the series.  I have an idea for a third, but we shall see if that ever comes to fruition.
* How many stories did you complete before you sold your first?
I had my second novel about 25% done when I sold the first.
* What genre(s) do you write in? What drew you to write in it/them? What’s your favorite genre of all to write in?
I am a little all over the place.  I’ve written Sci-Fi, Futuristic, Paranormal, Shifter, and Historical.  Technically, the Sci-Fi/Futuristic/Shifter can all be lumped in with Paranormal, depending on who you are talking to.  I love the Paranormal twists a story can have, and it allows me to put interesting spins on my manuscripts.
* What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?
Hmmmm.  Interesting question.  I’d have to say that nothing has ever been bad, as advice is subjective.  What works for one author may not for another.  Shared experiences, negative or positive, can help formulate your decision making process, so even though a particular piece of advice may not fit me personally, it is filed away.
* How do you celebrate/deal with acceptance/rejection letters?
First acceptance letter, I couldn’t vocalize at all.  Except for screams.  My family said I looked like Tigger bouncing through the house.  As for now, a dinner out to celebrate a new contract is standard operating procedure around here.  Rejections?  I’m fortunate to say I have had very few of those thus far.  ((Knocking on wood with every available appendage.))
* In regard to the book you’re promoting, which actor and actress do you envision playing the roles of your hero and heroine? If there’s a villain or other characters who are pertinent to the story, who would play those parts?
My heroes are twins and I envisioned them looking a tad bit like Jessie Pavelka (my crush…sigh).  My heroine, well, she would be tougher.  I would have to go with a Titanic Era Kate Winslet.  My villain would be an old boss of mine. :)
* The book you’re promoting, is it a stand-alone story or part of a series? If it’s part of a series, please list the order the books need to be read in for maximum reading enjoyment.
Night of the Dragon is the first book in the Berserker Mate’s Series.  There are a total of three novellas planned, and they are hence unnamed, but the next story will be Joran and Jakob’s.  Jakob does star in a short called Going Berserk in the Midnight Seduction Anthology out in October 2011 from Evernight Publishing, but a reader will not have to read the short to follow along with the series.
   I also have two more new releases coming in September.  All’s Fair in Love and Lust will come out from Siren Publishing on September 28^th, a paranormal ménage, and Being Improper, my first historical novella, will come out sometime during the month from Evernight Publishing.

*** Now for some fun info… ***
* What’s your favorite color?
Baltimore Raven’s Purple
* Are you a cat, dog or both kind of person?
DOG.  I am not competing with an animal that has more attitude than I do, so cats aren’t my thing.  But then again, I own a female Chihuahua, who personally is as close to a cat as a dog can ever be.  My loveable Daschund/Golden mix is picked on way too much, poor guy.
* Are you a morning person or night owl?
Night Owl, without a doubt.

*** About the book/series… ***

I stumbled across an Old Norse myth one night and fell in love with the legend of the Berserkers.  I knew I had to write a story starring them, and like any strong alpha, they took over and drove the story.  Berserkers were believed to be men who could shift into any form, but preferred the wolf or bear, and shifted before battle.  They were found in literature as far back as an old 9^th century Norse poem, and both respected and feared for their power and virility.  Scholars today believe they were only men cloaked themselves in animal pelts who took some form of hallucinatory drug before battle, which gave them their wild, frenzied, violent natures.  Their name is the history and the meaning behind the word “berserk”.  I like to believe today’s scholars are wrong, and Berserkers were real.  It could happen, right?

BUY HERE

Night of the Dragon ~ A Berserker Mate's Story, 1
Ryden and Rayne are Berserkers, immortal warriors wrought of Odin’s lightning. They are cursed to walk the Earth for one thousand years without finding love. And then they smell her...

Karli is a manager for an amusement park, and during her daily tour, she runs across the most incredible men she has ever laid eyes on. The erotic visions swirling in her head push her to the edge, and she cannot ignore the two virile men.
But can anything develop between the Berserkers and their mate with a hunter sworn to keep them apart on their trail?
Be Warned: menage a trois romance, menage sex, anal sex, bondage.

~ Excerpt ~
     If Karli gave in to their kind of play, she was afraid she would walk away broken.
     But no matter what she told her head, her body could not reject the heated combination of the two. Both virile, desirable men who seemed to stalk her equally, and innately she knew if she succumbed to one, she would also the other. What was crazier than the fact she knew it, was the fact her oversexed mind was running images of being sandwiched between both of their naked bodies. Of having them both possess her at once.
     Karli was an independent, driven woman, who worked so much she rarely had time to date, let alone swoon over some random men she crossed in the park. She hadn’t had a date in, well, forever. Her career was her main concern. Once she got that in place, everything else could happen for her, marriage, babies, the little white house, with its matching little white picket fence. She was as boring and white bread as they came. And she wasn’t the type to go around fantasizing about screwing two men at the same time.
     Hell, this was past fantasizing. It seemed it could become her reality if she wanted it and was willing to succumb to them and the images running through her head.
     Regardless, the two fired something inside her, something she had never felt before. Her heart beat a staccato within her body, and she felt pulsing in places she wished she didn’t. Especially when she needed to focus on work and the safety of those inside the park. All around her the sounds of Scream Town began filtering back into her ears and she slowed her breathing down. She needed to get a hold of herself.
     Straightening and taking one last long deep breath, she exited the dark passageway, and stood on the fringes of the sea of bodies milling around. This week was always the busiest, as Halloween was a few days away. Karli scanned the crowd, trying to ensure the men were not there. Relieved that she could again focus on her job, she walked the area, but kept looking over her shoulder.
     Entering the Zoo compound, Karli passed the wolf enclosure and a glow of silver. Not able to ignore it, she moved towards the fence and realized the glow came from Giza, the female gray wolf that was one of their most popular animal attractions. Moving up to the fence, Karli watched the beautiful animal working with her trainers on the last animal show of the day.
     A course of heat ran through her again. I need to see a doctor; I am much too young for hot flashes. Perhaps a psychiatrist too, to figure out my compulsion to fuck random strangers.
     “Shame those beautiful beasts are caged here. They should roam free.”
     Looking to her left, all she saw was an enormous bicep. Her eyes drifted up, and her gaze was met with a silver one. A shiver of yearning ran down her spine.
     Karli moved her mouth a second or two before her voice caught up with her. “All…all of the animals here…are rescues. They were either hurt, or taken from people keeping them as pets. We give them…all the care…they need to heal...and then a safe home….if returning them to the wild…is impossible.”
     Nice job, Stuttering Sue. I’m sure he thinks you are a moron now.
     “Where they are put on parade throughout the day for stupid, fat humans to ogle instead of roaming the forests hunting like their natures demand.”
     Stupid, fat…humans? “If we had not intervened, they would have…died.”
     “And living in a cage is better than death? I wouldn’t want to live that way, would you? Just look at her eyes.”
     Karli didn’t want to admit that she had often stopped here through her park tours and thought that the animals reflected sadness in their eyes. “We give them…the best care we can.”
     “The best care would have been releasing them to the wild.”
     “Giza was too badly hurt to go back. Plus, it’s too late for that now, regardless.” Unable to stop the words, the ones no one in the park was supposed to utter aloud. “They have been here so long that they would die if we released them.”
     “You know this, yet you keep them anyway.”
     “I’m not the one in charge of the animals.” Karli backed up a step as he drew nearer. A large hand moved to her face, one finger extended. His touch was feather light, as he stroked it along her cheek.
     “No. No, you just work here. Another one of their caged beasts. Perhaps I need to set you free?”
     “And how do you suppose you can do that?” A wave of desire spread through her, starting at the barely there touch upon her cheek. The finger moved under her chin, lifting her face to his.
     “Like this.” Dropping down, he pressed soft lips to hers in a kiss that was a whisper of what it could be. A name whispered through her mind as his kiss ended…Ryden.
     “Ryden?”
     His brows furrowed as he stood back to his full height. “How do you know my name?”
     “I…don’t…know.”
     The corner of his lips hinted at a smile as his eyes bored a hole deep within her. The man inhaled, deeply, lowering his head until it was level with her own. She felt his hot breath on her neck, and she arched her back slightly, her traitorous body demanding more of his touch.
     Which never came.
     Opening the eyes she hadn’t even realized she had closed, she looked up into his hooded gaze, the one that screamed an arousal that equaled her own. Tapping his finger on her nametag, the tugging blossomed into a full smile. “Well, Karli of Scream Town, I will be seeing you soon. Very soon.”

***Find Alex here***
Web:  www.alexandraohurley.com
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/alexandraohurleyerotica
Twitter: http://twitter.com/alexohurley
Blog:  http://alexohurley.blogspot.com/

Thank you for joining us here today, Alex! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your work.

Alex is giving away a PDF copy of Night of the Dragon! To enter you must post what crazy thing(s) you have done in an amusement park.  Craziest post wins.  Please leave your first name, last initial and an email in the comment so if you win you can be contacted. A winner will be picked a week from the date of this interview and posted on Alex’s blog.