In less than two years, R.G. Alexander has gained a reputation as an extraordinary talent, picking up five star reviews and recommended reads for many of her books. A prolific and lifelong reader, R.G. first began publishing romance in 2007, and now writes for Samhain and Ellora’s Cave. I am delighted to have her as this month's featured author here at sierradafoe.com!
Sierra Dafoe: R.G., thanks for joining us! First, tell us a bit about Piercing the Veil, Book Two in your Temptation Unveiled series at Ellora’s Cave.
R.G. Alexander: Thank you so much for having me! Well Piercing continues the storyline begun in Lifting the Veil, where the men of the Fianna are fighting to protect Earth from the darkness attempting return through the veil once more. I love this story for a few reasons. Val and Hawk, my Viking twins, are under a pretty unique curse, and their relationship, as well as the one they have with Linnea, was fascinating to watch unfold. I also hold a special place in my heart for Linnea. She has no powers, she isn’t a chosen one or anything, just a mother trying to protect her child and a woman trying to protect her heart. And yet, she ended up, to me, being one of the most powerful characters, even surrounded as she was by beings straight out of mythology.
Sierra: Many of your stories involve fantasy and paranormal elements. Do you think studying mythology and anthropology in college added to your ability to build these wonderfully rich, layered worlds?
R.G.: Well, this is a chicken or the egg question. I studied in college because mythology and spirituality and the paranormal have fascinated me for as long as I can recall, and I was always looking for the truth in the story, even if the story sounded impossible. I remember being very young when my gateway drug, Greek mythology, crossed my path. I guess I never stopped doodling unicorns in my binder and imagining a world where anything was possible. And getting to write my daydreams down for others to read has really been a dream come true.
Sierra: Unlike many writers, you haven’t been writing since you were a kid, I understand. What made you decide to pursue writing sensual romance, and what was it like, getting that first manuscript accepted?
R.G.: I haven’t, its true. I’ve been writing poetry and song lyrics since I was eight years old, and my creative outlet of choice had always been singing. But I’ve been reading romance since I was eleven, and daydreaming even longer than that. I just never believed I could actually finish a story. (I had a lot of crumpled piles of paper on the floor to prove that)
It was actually my husband who finally convinced me to write Lifting the Veil, to combine my love of mythology and actually write a novel. It took nearly a year in submission with Ellora’s Cave before it was accepted, and it was an amazing feeling. I had already made friends at romancedivas.com, and the Romantic Times Convention was in my state, so I went to celebrate at a faery ball. It was a day I will never forget.
Sierra: I’m fascinated by your vampire/werewolf world in your Children of the Goddess series. Can you tell us a bit about where the idea for the Shadow Wolves, the Unborn, and the Truebloods came from?
R.G.: Honestly, it started with a distracting game online. My writer’s forum got into it for a while, and it was a battle between Werewolves and Vampires. As writerly homework, I had to create a character, with an avatar and a theme song, as well as a backstory of how she was bitten. I created Regina. And the song was She’s Only Happy in the Sun by Ben Harper. The game, for me, lasted a week. But Regina wouldn’t go away. I kept listening to the song and then one night, I dreamt the first chapter of Regina in the Sun.
This was actually a case of inventing a mythology, and The characters, humans, Weres and Truebloods-all fighting against each other even as they worship the same Mother-is an age old issue that I didn’t realize was being addressed until it happened.
Sierra: That series began with Regina in the Sun, followed by Lux in Shadow (both available from Samhain). Do you have plans for more books in the Children of the Goddess series?
R.G.: Absolutely! I have at least three more stories in the series, as soon as I get a chance to write them down. But Kit the Sariel guard, and Hannah, and one or two others are still calling to me to write their stories.
Sierra: And what else do you have coming up?
R.G.: Surrender Dorothy, the sequel to my short Not In Kansas, is coming out in March. I’ve had to take a little break for personal reasons, and now all the characters are banging on the door fighting for me to tell their stories first. So there will definitely be several out in 2009.
Sierra: In your view, what really makes an erotic romance come alive? Both as a reader and a writer -- what makes a story really sing for you?
R.G.: The characters. I love rich worlds, sci-fi, paranormal…but they could be in an office filing paperwork, as long as the characters come alive for me-I’m hooked.
Sierra: And where can readers find out more about you and your books?
Linnea lingered in a sensual fog between dreaming and wakefulness. The cotton sheet was cool against her sleep-warmed skin, the velvet coverlet caressing her breasts.
Her mind kept playing and replaying her recent encounter with Hawk. How passionate he was. How out of control. And then, afterward, the tender way he’d taken care of her. She’d never been so pampered. If she’d been a cat, she would have purred. It was wonderful.
He was such a contradiction. So vulnerable and yet so sexually dominant. The dichotomy was compelling. And unbelievably attractive.
The way he took charge, the way he showed her, told her what he wanted. For someone who’d always been the one in control, the one who organized and planned and made lists and took care of people, especially in relationships, it was appealing.
She wrinkled her nose, feeling a strange tickling sensation. She reached to scratch the itching appendage, opening her eyes in shock when she realized that her wrists were tied together above her head.
She saw her reflection in the mirrored ceiling. Some of the red silk that had climbed the wall was partially undone, connected to her wrists with snug knots.
For a moment, fear invaded her limbs, but then she saw him. The tousled, dark blond mane that settled on his broad shoulders as he watched her. The hand that was currently dragging down the sheets and covers, baring her body inch by inch. Hawk.
"I was wondering when you were going to wake up."
She glanced at the Elvis clock beside the bed, realizing it had only been a few hours since they’d cuddled together. She’d been so happily exhausted that she’d passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She gazed up sleepily, smiling in question. Rich chocolate brown eyes.
His alert gaze took in the surprise in her expression, his smile dimming for a heartbeat.
He stood quickly, she had only a moment to take in his already impressive arousal as he leaned over her, working the knots that connected her wrists to the wall.
"I was imagining all the things I could do to you as you were lying here, but then I remembered that." He nodded toward the far wall behind him.
She lowered her still bound arms to her chest as he lifted her easily off the bed. When she noticed what he was heading toward, she tensed in his arms. It was the swing she’d noticed earlier. Not an average swing, she realized as they got closer.
A chain from the ceiling attached to a triangular metal bar which held strips of nylon covered in leopard print cloth. Constructed of two holes to slide her legs through and one thick swath of material to support her back. Voila, a swing.
She’d heard about these contraptions, but she’d never seen one up close before.
The chest on the floor beside it had been opened and several plastic packages littered the floor beside it. He had been busy while she slept, she thought with not a little trepidation. He turned her in his arms and helped her slide her legs through the two openings.
"Wait, shouldn’t I—" She thought the strap was supposed to go across her back.
"Don’t worry, baby, I know exactly what I’m doing." As he tied the loose cord of silk dangling from her wrists to the iron bar with swift, efficient movements, she couldn’t doubt it.
She tugged at her bonds a bit. They didn’t give, but they didn’t hurt at all. The slight sway of the swing, the gentle pull of the harness, seemed as if it were encouraging her to spread her legs in invitation, heightening her excitement.
The soft cloth of the swing’s strap landed just beneath her breasts, pushing the tiny mounds up like an offering. He walked in a slow circle around her, the carnal glitter in his eyes, the confidence and catlike grace of his movements utterly arousing. And...different. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was, but it was more than the color of his eyes.
"Now. We play." He stepped up to Linnea, spreading her legs with his own.
His fingers gripped her chin and she raised her eyes to his, amazed to feel herself trembling. He lowered his mouth, holding her gaze as he pressed his lips to hers, gently.
As if they had all the time in the world, he sipped at her lips. Nibbling here, pressing there. He kept the pressure light, his fingers caressing her jaw with feather light strokes.
She found herself leaning forward, opening her mouth against his and teasing the seam of his lips with her tongue. But he held back, never giving in to her silent pleas for more.
"Kiss me, Hawk."
He pulled back sharply, looking down at her with narrowed eyes, his expression hard. She could see the desire on his darkly flushed cheeks, feel it in the rigid erection pressing against her belly.
Why did he look so angry?
"What is it?"
He took a step back, his gaze never leaving hers as he bent to pick something up. He stepped between her thighs once more, his hand still out of sight. "You’re a beautiful woman, Linnea. Sexy and smart and curious."
Something cool and firm rubbed along her inner thigh. She tried to look down, but he gripped her chin once more, keeping her eyes on him.
"For the last few days, you have seen things that would drive most people mad. Sauros and Dark Fae—even a dragon."
It was slightly cone shaped, with a jelly-like flexibility. She could feel it as he rolled it against the folds of her sex, lubricating the object with her arousal before dragging it down her other thigh.
"You’ve accepted that beings exist just beyond a dimensional portal, beings with capabilities and technology far more advanced than any you know. That your own daughter is a part of an ancient druid prophecy. That my boss is a Lycan."
The object stilled on her leg.
"Did you never wonder, sweet Linnea, with all of these unusual people around you, what I might be?"
In less than two years, R.G. Alexander has gained a reputation as an extraordinary talent, picking up five star reviews and recommended reads for many of her books. A prolific and lifelong reader, R.G. first began publishing romance in 2007, and now writes for Samhain and Ellora’s Cave. I am delighted to have her as this month's featured author here at sierradafoe.com!
