Read Romantic Suspense? Come on over to meet Alexa Bourne!

Alexa Bourne

Romantic Suspense

      This week's post will appeal to all the Anglophiles out there. What a treat! We're at the Cuan MacDougall Pub in the center of Glenhlish, Scotland with Alexa ready to enjoy a few liquid refreshments. It’s a main scene location in Lexie's story and the two that are coming after it. The pub is owned by all three MacDougall siblings, Jamie (the hero of this book) and his wife, Meggie (the heroine of the next contracted book) and Ewan (the hero of the story she's submitted to her e-publisher for consideration).
     Alexa is giving away an e-book to one lucky commenter who can choose any book from her back list! She'll be around all week to chat with you so do leave her a comment or question!

Reader’s Haven: Lexie, we all love the inside of the authentic pub! Thank you for inviting us to experience part of your story. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Lexie:  I’m a teacher by day and a romance writer by nights, weekends, and all school holidays. I also teach online classes for writers throughout the year. I write romantic suspense and contemporary romance and am thrilled to have the chance to share my love of Great Britain with readers everywhere. When I’m not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and exploring new cultures, I spend my time reading, watching brainless TV and thinking about exercising.

Reader’s Haven: LOL I think many of us can relate to 'thinking about exercising'! What made you want to become a writer?

Lexie: I’m not really sure. I’ve been writing stories for as long as I can remember. I didn’t actually consider it as a job possibility until I was in college and my best friend suggested I focus on getting published. 

Reader’s Haven: Please share a bit about your new release Carry Me Home without giving away any spoilers.

Lexie: After six months in the city, Mary MacDougall returns to the Scottish Highlands to finalize her divorce. Because of a past tragedy, she doubts her husband Jamie can possibly love her with the same unbridled passion as before and insists ending the marriage is best for both of them. But Jamie has other ideas….

     Jamie MacDougall has no intention of letting his bonnie lass go. At least not without a fight. Aye, they’ve suffered heartache, and she may be ready to call it quits, but he refuses to throw away the partnership they’ve built since they were children. Instead, he’ll remind her they were meant to be together, forever.

     Can this marriage survive pride and grief to allow love to carry them home?
 

Reader’s Haven: Sounds like a good beginning for our readers. Do you write under a pen name?

Lexie:  I do. I’m an educator and some people aren’t so thrilled to hear their child’s teacher is a romance writer.  

Reader’s Haven:  Totally understandable. What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Lexie:  I like flawed characters who rise above their own fears and insecurities to become heroes and heroines for the people around them.

Reader’s Haven: Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Lexie: I don’t really think there is a “typical” day. LOL! What I need to work on, whether brainstorming, revising, or promoting, depends on the day, and what I get done depends on what’s happening in my “real world”.

Reader’s Haven:  Unfortunately, the real world interrupts our stories too often. Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Lexie: That’s a tough question! I think my books revolve around characters who lose confidence in themselves for different reasons and must find a way to believe in themselves again before they can accept the love before them.

Reader’s Haven: How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Lexie: For a novella, it usually takes me about a month to 6 weeks, depending on the story. For a full-length novel, I like to take 3-6 months.
 

Reader’s Haven: Do you have to be alone to write?

Lexie: I prefer to be alone when I’m writing so I can concentrate on the story. I usually listen to music too. BUT I can write in crowds too.
 

Reader’s Haven: How do you go about naming characters?

Lexie:  I don’t name them. They “tell” me their names. I have a baby name book that I use and when I find the right name I just know. Sometimes, after using it for a while, I don’t like a name I’ve chosen for a character, but if I try to change it, the character stops talking to me and I go into a writer’s block until I accept the name they choose.

Reader’s Haven: That's interesting. Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Lexie:  I have to have my stories cast before I can begin. In my head I have to know which actor, musician, sports figure or model plays each character so I can see the scene clearly in my head.
 

Reader’s Haven: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Lexie:  I like to choose locations I’m familiar with. I’ve spent a lot of time in the UK, and I love it there, so it felt natural for me to set my contracted stories there. I have several other manuscripts in various stages of completion and they are set in places I’ve either lived or visited, such as New England, Thailand and Mexico.

Excerpt:

     “What do you want, Jamie?” She’d not get caught up in his soulful amber eyes. No, she would not.

     “You’ve had your bit of fun, but I want you to come home.” He tilted his head to one side and drifted his fingertips along her bare arm.

     She yanked away. “I’ve come to get my papers from you, to say good-bye to those I love, and to move on with my life.” She stepped around him and continued down the path to the center of Glenhalish. “I’ll be at the Kierlain House until Sunday. Please bring the forms and leave them with the front office.”

     “I don’t have them.” He nearly shouted with glee. “I tossed them out.”

     “I thought you might say that.” Smiling on the heels of another small victory, she fished through her handbag and pulled out another copy of the divorce papers. She’d come armed with a half-dozen copies just in case he chose to be difficult. She strode back to him with her chin held high and slapped the papers against his chest. “Here.”

     Jamie stared at the lass’s fine arse strutting away from him. Her hair had been cut, straightened and the summer dress with the flowery print accentuated all the curves he’d fallen for so many years ago, the curves he knew so intimately. And those heels, for the love of St. Bridget, Mary hadn’t worn high heels like that since she left school. They’d brought her closer to his height, yet she still only reached his shoulders.

     She’d left Glenhalish in January, a cold, distant housewife, and come back this alluring woman. For a moment, panic set inside his gut. He’d intended to convince her to come home so they could face their grief and move on together, but seeing how much happier, sexier, and sophisticated she was, perhaps Edinburgh was good for her, better than he could be.

     But he wanted her back, wanted to get through this rough patch they’d strayed onto after the lad’s death, and return to the partnership they’d shared since primary school. They had too many years left. She couldn’t leave him. He wouldn’t survive without her.

     The lass may have plans to leave him forever, but Jamie MacDougall wouldn’t give her up without a fight.

Reader's Haven: mmmm...we're liking the sounds of that excerpt!

  

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CONTEST: Lexie is giving away an e-book to one lucky commenter who can choose any book from her back list! She will pick one winner on Saturday the 15th. Be sure to leave your email addy and the e-format you need if you win!

Thank you all for stopping by!