· What is the hardest part of writing these books?
The hardest
part about writing Jacqui is turning him off! I write in the mornings before I
trundle off to the day job, and tearing myself away from the keyboard when
Jacqui is in the middle of telling me something important is always a
challenge. He and Cat keep on chattering during the whole 20 minute drive to
work and sometimes right up to the door of my office. I often have to sit and
my desk and write notes before I can possibly turn my mind to other things.
This is actually a pretty fun problem to have.
·
Who did your covers, and what was
the design process like?
Robin Ludwig
Design Inc. This is actually my first
real foray into indie publishing and although scary and a huge amount of work,
the ability to have final say over my covers is a true blessing. While I did
like the covers from my previous publisher, Loose Id, they never quite captured
the character or the essence of the book like I imagined (we writers spend a
lot of time imagining our covers, let me tell you). So I did some research,
discovered Robin and liked what I saw. She was great to work with, listened to
my half-baked ideas, worked with the cover models that I found through hours of
painstaking research (spending hours staring at photos of gorgeous guys is one
of the many sacrifices I’ve had to make) and created covers that I love. It
really helps with the whole marketing experience when you love the look of your
books. Thanks, Robin!
· Are there darks secrets in your
character’s past? Can you tell us about one of them?
Oh, lots and
lots of secrets. Prowl, Book 1, is essentially an introduction to Jacqui and
Cat, and Wyatt, of course. It’s short and sweet and hopefully enough of a taste
to get readers interested in Jacqui’s situation and the budding romance between
him and his sexy neighbor. The arc of
Jacqui’s life and story is much greater in scope than I could fit in one, or
even four books. I already have book 5 planned, and over the course of the next
"set" of four, we learn a lot more about the world of shifters and
Jacqui’s place (or lack thereof) among them. So I don’t want to reveal any big
secrets, but I can tell you that Jacqui, in his quest to remain hidden from the
world, has left behind a lot of wreckage that will return to bite him in the
ass. And then there’s Wyatt, who at first glance seems like a rather
straight-forward, easy-going fellow. Well, that’s not entirely true. Wyatt’s
family history is also interesting and will play a role as the story develops.
· Did a character cause trouble
because you weren’t listening and missed something important about them?
I wouldn’t
say he caused me trouble, but I had one character who I was trying to get to
act one way, and it just didn’t work and felt a little off. Casey, the cute vet, who I thought would make
a nice rival for Jacqui to worry about, turned out to be a lot more complicated
and interesting than either Jacqui or I first suspected. He surprised me and
made me rethink the way the plot of Roam, Book 3, developed. And then in Wild, he's back and we really get
to see what makes him tick.
·
What inspired you to write this
particular story? What were the challenges in bringing it to life?
As with most
of my books, there’s a sort of creative composting that goes on. As I move
through life, I gather threads of stories from here and there. In this case, I
live with six cats and spend more time than I should be wondering what’s going on
their demented little minds. As soon as I started thinking about what it would
be like to be half-cat, Jacqui sprang to life and started arguing with his
inner feline. The challenge with writing
Jacqui is to keep him real, and lovable, and deeply human. There’s a temptation
for both of us to go a little wild, but I want Jacqui to be very relatable. He
might be a cat shifter, but he’s also one of us; vulnerable, insecure, and
questing to find his place in the world, preferably in the hunky arms of a
gorgeous dude like Wyatt.
·
What secondary character would you
like to explore more? Tell me about him or her.
It’s
interesting that the question is phrased that way because Jacqui’s best friend
Zee is a classical musician who chooses not to gender identity. Zee leads an
exciting, globe-trotting sort of life, and is the only person who knows
anything about Jacqui’s past. I could
definitely write a book about the two of them, and I do have a story planned in
which Zee is being stalked by an overzealous fan. I was personally gender fluid
in my youth (didn’t have the words or the realization though) and would love
the opportunity to explore that reality through the eyes of one of my
characters.
Alexis Duran was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. At the University of Oregon, her fascination with people and relationships led her to major in Sociology, but her main love has always been creative writing. She has worked in museums, in fashion, in finance and film production. Her favorite job so far was Administrative Assistant in a haunted Victorian Mansion. She's had several short stories published in the mystery, horror and literary genres, and one contemporary fantasy novel. Her fiction has won several awards including the Rupert Hughes Award from the Maui Writers Conference. She's thrilled to enter the realm of erotic romance with the publication of her novels Touch of Salar, Blood of Salar and To Catch A Threeve. She's is currently working on the next in the Masters and Mages series and several other m/m erotic novellas.
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