Cate: Today we're kicking off the Halloween fun with Lex Valentine. Lex, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
Lex: I’m a crazy woman. ;) I work full-time at a cemetery. I’ve actually been there more than 11 years. I was born on Halloween. And I write about paranormal creatures like vampires, werewolves, and dragons. I write in other genres and sub genres as well, but that answer always seems to work best on Halloween. :)
I’m also a native Californian from the central coast area although I’ve lived in SoCal nearly 20 years. I’ve been with my younger man for 12 years this month. I have a 21 year old daughter who attends the Art Institute. I love hot wings, dark chocolate, crème brulee, Mexican food, strong, dark coffee blends, and whipped cream. I’ve played an online horse racing sim game for almost 10 years now. And I stole my pen name from a character I used to write in an online serial story.
Cate: I love cemeteries. :) What do you love most about Halloween?Lex: Other than the fact that it’s my birthday, I love all the pumpkins and jack o lanterns. And I love the Skulls and Bones candies!
Cate: How cool is that to have a Halloween birthday? Do you have a favorite memory of a Halloween past?
Lex: When I was pregnant with Nikki, I was going through a really rough time with her biological father. One of our roommates was six foot tall blonde woman who drove a tractor-trailer rig for a local agriculture company. She came home on Halloween and found me alone, reading. She decided that since it was my birthday, I needed to do something special. So she pulled two sheets out of our other roommate’s closet and cut eye holes in both of them. Mind you, these were FLOWERED sheets! Then she put one on and put the other one on me and made me go trick or treating with her. The people whose doors we knocked on were so astonished to see this 6 foot tall woman in a flowered sheet with eye holes, trying to look like a ghost that they would call other people in their house to come and see us. This happened at every house we went to in a 5 block radius from where we lived. I ended up with 5 pounds of candy and memories of some pretty shocked faces.
Cate: What a fun birthday! And a great friend. Have you ever had an unusual experience you couldn’t explain?
Lex: Not really, although some of my co-workers at the cemetery have. If there is supernatural phenomena out there, I’m sure they wouldn’t show themselves to a non-believer like myself.
Cate: What frightens you the most?
Lex: Being homeless and broke. Dying. They are both about equal.
Cate: Ever gone on a ghost tour? Or ghost hunting on your own?
Lex: I’ve been with my daughter and her boyfriend on Halloween in the cemetery where I work. They were ghost hunting, but I’m just a skeptic.
Cate: Any favorite Halloween recipes you’d care to share?
Lex: You know, it’s funny but I never cook or bake on Halloween. Probably because it is my birthday. We always go out or order in. My favorite Halloween food is hot wings. Of course, hot wings are my favorite food ALL the time. LOL The other thing I love on my birthday is getting a bucket of garlic wings from Wings N Things in Huntington Beach. And I prefer to have pie not cake for my birthday. I don’t really have a favorite pie. It just depends on my mood, but key lime, coconut cream, German chocolate…all three are top of my pie list.
Cate: I wouldn't cook if it were my birthday either, lol. Tell us about your release, and where readers can find it online.
Lex: My newest release is Sunstroked. It’s the 6th book in the Tales of the Darkworld series. It’s a M/M story about a wildling and a werewolf who meet in a cemetery. They hookup but the werewolf’s in the closet and scared so he runs out on the fae. Almost two years later they meet again and the werewolf’s now out but the wildling isn’t anything like how he remembers him. But the two are mates so heat flares between them. The story is about what they each need to do to end up together.
Sunstroked and all the Tales books can be found at Pink Petal Books.
Cate: Care to share a blurb or excerpt?
Lex: Here's a blurb:
When wildling Corey Green discovers his mate is Seth Dylan, a tough as nails, dour werewolf from the McCallan clan, he thinks his life is set. However, Seth’s not out and doesn’t know if he wants to be. A pivotal sexual encounter between the men has Seth running scared and leaves Corey broken hearted. The men meet again nearly two years later and this time Seth’s out but Corey’s dark depression is about to send him behind the Veil of the Jewel Box to the fae world. Seth’s determined to make up for running out on Corey, but the wildling’s sunny disposition has gone so dark it may be too late for them to build a life together. With love on his side, Seth sets out return the sunshine to Corey’s soul.Warning: Contains two hot gay men who love sunshine, sex that makes the plants and trees grow, and a big bad wolf who will do anything to win the man he loves.
Excerpt:
Corey Green had to be the most beautiful man Seth had ever seen. And his looks weren’t even half his appeal. If the man hadn’t been so incredibly nice on top of his sexiness, Seth wouldn’t have even considered losing his virginity to the guy. But he knew, just as he knew his own innate sexuality, that being with Corey was right. His sense of destiny galloped headlong toward Corey’s bedroom, carrying Seth toward something he wanted with a fierceness that made every muscle in his body tremble.
He wanted what was to come, needed it. The darkness he’d lived in his entire life had brightened the moment Corey had spoken to him, and Seth didn’t want to go back to the dark. He wanted to walk in the sun for the first time, maybe the only time, in his life. Corey represented happiness and pleasure and freedom, all things that had been in short supply throughout Seth’s life. Tomorrow he’d think about whether he should continue to deny his sexuality. Tomorrow he’d figure out what to do for the rest of his life. Tonight, all he wanted was pleasure. The pleasure he and his lover would give each other…
“You’re thinking too much,” Corey murmured and wrapped one hand around the back of Seth’s head, drawing him closer. “You just need to feel. Feel and enjoy.”
Seth let Corey pull him close. His heart pounded so hard he wondered if Corey could hear it. As the wildling’s mouth came down on his, Seth had the sense that the sun had emerged from behind a cloud. Searing heat flushed his body as if the sun beat down on his skin. With a sigh, Seth surrendered to the teasing lick of Corey’s tongue, opening his mouth to invite his lover inside. Their tongues twined and joy shot through Seth. A simple kiss had never felt so good.
When Corey broke off the kiss, Seth moaned in protest. With a chuckle, Corey threaded his fingers with Seth’s and led the way upstairs. The bedroom stood in shadow, the setting sun slanting only a few faint rays through the open window. Corey flicked on the bedside lamp and the room filled with a golden light.
“Tell me what you want.”
Corey’s voice held a softness and caring that sent a shudder through Seth. So few people in his life had cared about him. For this man whom he’d just met to openly show he cared about Seth’s feelings, wants, and desires, sent a wave of nameless emotion through him. Although they’d not done much yet, Seth already teetered on overload. Yet, he welcomed it. His past would be set aside from this moment onward. He would look to the future and look inside himself for the answers, and not look to his pack or his family to supply the blueprint for his life.
“I want it all.”
His stark words were met with a glorious smile. The curving of Corey’s generous, sexy lips made Seth’s mouth water.
“Well, of course you do,” Corey said, brushing his fingers through Seth’s unruly hair. “And I’m perfectly willing to be a sexual smorgasbord, but where do you want to start? What do you want to do first?”
Seth reached up and locked his fingers around Corey’s wrist, feeling the thrum of the wildling’s blood beneath his fingertips. “Have you ever had a virgin before?” he asked, his heart suddenly aching to know where he stood with Corey.
Two hands cupped his face for a brief moment, a fleeting caress meant to soothe.
“No, I haven’t. But you’re special. I sensed it immediately,” Corey replied honestly, his steel blue eyes serious. “I want to show you how wonderful this can be. I want to show you what you feel is not wrong. How can pleasure be wrong? It is no one’s place to sit in judgment on another especially with regard to acts of pleasure between two consenting adults. You’re not a freak, Seth. You’re just a man with healthy desires. Other men will want to be with you. I want to be with you. And there is nothing wrong with that. Let me show you how good it can be.”
Seth pondered Corey’s words for a moment, recognizing the truth in them. The darkness within him lightened. He stretched out a hand and laid it on Corey’s hip.
“I want to touch and be touched.”
Cate: Whew! It suddenly got hot in here. :)
Anything else you’d like to share?
Lex: I have a few other releases coming before the year is out, a military story from MLR Press, a contemporary novella from Ellora’s Cave, and the continuation of my Christmas Cowboys series at Pink Petal Books, only this year…it’s a cowgirl story called Christmas Wishes. It’s been another busy year for me and next year looks to be the same. I appreciate all the fans of the Tales series and readers of all my books. Without them, I wouldn’t be here. Thank you so much for having me here, Cate!
Cate: Thanks so much for being my guest, Lex! Hope you have a great birthday!
