Author Name: Lexi Ander
Book Name: Dreams of the Forgotten Series: Sumeria’s Sons Book: 3 Not
be read as a standalone
Release
Date: March 15, 2015
Blurb(s):
For Tristan and
Ushna, nothing comes easy and with each passing day the challenges grow
and the dangers multiply. The safe home they are building for their family
and tribe is threatened from all sides, and the peace they seek is being
torn apart by enemies and internal strife. Tristan dares not reveal his
condition to any but those closest to him, all the while he's plagued by
dreams he cannot remember upon waking...
And over all of
it hangs the knowledge that his time with Ushna is running out. Because
Ushna already has a Flame awaiting rebirth, and though Tristan would die
to protect that bond, he constantly struggles against his beast who
demands they bind Ushna to their side.
Pages or Words: 63,000
Categories: Fantasy, Gay, Paranormal,
Polyamory, Urban Fantasy
Excerpt:
Ushna's Lupe, the third form of half-man and
half-wolf that all Lycan warriors used for battle, pushed forward as his need
to protect took over. Short, fine, black hair burst through his skin under my
hands as his chest and arms thickened, his face elongated, and his mouth filled
with jagged teeth. Even with fingers tipped with razor-sharp claws, he was
careful as he delicately held me in his protective arms. He growled loud and
long in warning.
The light switched on, flooding the room with
blinding white light. I heard Gregori in the background yelling in anger,
followed by a hollow thumping noise, and wounded yells. I scented who'd invaded
our bedroom before I gazed over Ushna's shoulder.
Several weeks ago, Elder Koller had made a call to
pull childhood friends of ours, Stanley Kendall and Jory Swaine, from
California. The suggestion had been made after the Magi Triad had tried to
kidnap both Gregori and Ushna, and the elder knew these two were men I trusted.
We had been expecting them at any time, and I would've laughed at their antics
if I wasn't worried Ushna would eviscerate our friends.
Gregori, his red hair wild, clad only in blue sleep
pants, had a fistful of Stan's dark hair and a foot planted in the middle of
his back, bowing Stan over backward. Gregori wielded a shoe like it was a
Sumerian sword and beat Jory with it. Jory tried to defend himself against the
onslaught of the shoe and fight off the two guards who were attempting to
subdue him.
"You stupid idiots!" Gregori yelled at the
top of his lungs. "You could've hurt him, you oversized oafs! What's wrong
with knocking?!"
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
"Ushna is going to eat you and I should let
him! It would remind you to respect your alpha!"
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
"Senseless overgrown children!"
Half a dozen guards filed into the room, taking
charge of Stan and Jory, relieving a bedraggled Gregori. Scowling furiously at
our friends, Gregori gradually crawled onto the bed, talking soothingly to
Ushna, who hadn't stopped growling. I ran my hands down his fur-covered back to
soothe him.
"Everything is okay, Ushna," Gregori
cooed.
I cupped my hands around his face, gazing into his
ruby red eyes. "I'm okay," I whispered to him. "Come back to
me."
He released the Lupe, and Ushna the man emerged, the
harsh and horrific features melting away. His body shuddered, muscles clenched
and convulsed as his control returned.
It'd been years since I'd seen our two friends.
Where Stan was dark, Jory was light. Stanley Kendall had wavy dark brown hair
that roughly covered his brow, but didn't quite touch his collar. His eyes were
so brown they were virtually black. He sported a couple days of growth on his
chin and cheeks. The stubble looked good against his bronzed skin.
Jory Swaine, on the other hand, had short blond
hair, was clean shaven with bright turquoise eyes and golden skin. Stan was
broader through the chest with his athletic build while Jory was leaner. Both
wore leathers; Jory's pants where loose, hanging low on his hips and revealing
the waistband of his boxers, while Stan looked like he was poured into his.
Ushna turned a furious gaze on Stan and Jory, who
were standing in the farthest corner, appearing chastised and contrite.
"What in the hell were you thinking!" He roared at them. Gregori and
I made shushing noises, but Ushna continued to rumble.
"Ah… surprise?" Stan offered weakly,
slightly confused.
"Ushna, it's okay; they didn't know," I
said.
Ushna snapped his human teeth at our friends. I
swear if we'd been alone, I would've jumped and taken him right there.
"Xenres, are you injured?" Corey Bahar was
the first to swear a blood oath to me. He'd been Captain until this unexpected
growth of the tribe and now he was the newly appointed Arms Master of the Royal
Guard. In private, he was most adamant in the use of my title, Xenres, which
meant prince in our language. Corey didn't take his sable gaze off Stan and
Jory as he approached me. The man looked like he'd been up for hours with his
braided blond hair gleaming, clothes pressed and tucked. Did he ever sleep?
Jory chortled at Corey's words, which caused Gregori
to throw a shoe and bean Jory in the head.
A string of curse words exploded from Jory.
"Dammit, Gregori! What the hell was that for?" He rubbed the sore
spot.
Gregori didn't answer. Corey's question was all it
took to make Ushna start snarling again as he ran his hands over me, checking
for obvious injury. Gregori rubbed small circles on Ushna's back. I grabbed his
hands and craned my head around to get him to look me in the eye, to see me.
"Hey, hey! I'm okay. I'm not hurt." I
kissed his hands.
"I want Nathan to look at you." Ushna's
worried gaze continued to study me. Nathan Janick, my brother and the resident
doctor, had meticulously cared for me during my pregnancy so far.
"All right." I knew nothing less would
appease him.
Stan watched our exchange. The longer he listened,
the more confused he appeared. "What's the big deal?" He crossed his
arms, scowling hard. He and Jory had acted as they normally would around us,
with carefree roughhousing.
I grabbed Ushna's attention before he could bark
back a reply. We'd purposely kept my pregnancy within my inner circle. I hadn't
left the Clearwater area, which was my territory. When I needed to go to town,
I wore a ring Gregori had made for me, a ring
of illusion that had hid my
swollen stomach. I didn't meet with outsiders without it.
We hadn't told Stan and Jory. All communication had
gone through Elder Janus Koller, who'd recruited them to work for the Elder
Council in the Enforcement Division. Neither Ushna nor I had spoken to these
two before now. Needless to say, we hadn't anticipated their surprise.
"Master Corey," I calmly said, "we're
all right. I'm sorry we woke you." I needed privacy for the talk we were
going to have with our old friends.
Corey gave a slight bow. The expression on his face
let me know we would be revisiting the issue of posting guards outside the
bedroom. I had been successful at convincing Corey that the small group of
warriors staying in the house was enough security. We didn't need someone
standing on sentry duty in the hallway. To appease Corey, I had even agreed to
allow an armed detail to shadow me around the ranch when I left the house. This
stunt of Stan's and Jory's would make Cory feel vindicated in his original
assessment. I would have to talk quick at the next security meeting to keep the
arrangements the way they were now.
"It was no bother, Xenres." Corey shot
Jory a hard look when my friend snorted a laugh. He appeared to be gauging
whether Jory was being disrespectful to me or making fun of him. "I won't
be far if you need me," he said before closing the door behind him.
Jory tried to hide his smirk by rubbing a hand over
his face. I knew what was coming before he opened his mouth. "Damn, Tristan.
You've got people bowing and scraping to you. What've you been doing?"
Sales
Links: http://www.lessthanthreepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_bookx_info&cPath=116&products_id=876
About the
author:
Lexi has always been an avid reader, and
at a young age started reading (secretly) her mother’s romances (the ones she
was told not to touch). She was the only teenager she knew of who would be
grounded from reading. Later, with a pencil and a note book, she wrote her own
stories and shared them with friends because she loved to see their reactions.
A Texas transplant, Lexi now kicks her boots up in the Midwest with her Yankee
husband and her eighty-pound puppies named after vacuum cleaners.
Where to find the author:
Cover
Artist: London Burden
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And now for the interview. And let me say I'm a huge fan of Lexi's, lol!
A huge 'thank you' to
Decadent Delights for hosting me today!
What comes first, the plot or
characters?
It really depends. In Alpha Trine, I created the plot around the
character, Zeus. In Sumeria's Sons, I created the characters around the plot.
They both have their merits. If I have a plot already in mind, then I know,
essentially, where I want to take the story, but I have to create characters
who have the motivations to follow the plot that I've laid out. On the flip
side, creating a plot around a character is more of a touch and go because the
character drives the plot in the direction that they want, and I end up
changing direction with the character. In those instances, sometimes the ending
isn't the one in which I'd envisioned.
What is the hardest part about
writing for you?
The hardest part of writing is getting the thought and feeling from my
head onto paper. Sometimes the flow is awesome and I can't write fast enough to
keep up. But there are times that I stare at the screen, knowing on a emotional
level what I want to convey but the words just won't come. When I attempt to
describe or delve in the scene, nothing seems right and I'm unsatisfied. Typing
and deleting several times over until I get it right.
What is your most embarrassing
moment?
Dude. Back in 2000 I was flying out to see my cousin in Houston, and
then we were going to fly to Tuscan together. That was when your loved ones
could walk to the gate with you. Anyway. My husband and I arrived at the
airport really early, and I hopped to the bathroom before we grab something to
eat together. So I was standing in line and the lady at the counter to the left
was motioning and whispering. I couldn't hear her so I went closer and closer
until I was leaning over the counter to hear her say, "The back of your
sundress is tucked into your pantyhose." Y'all, my husband didn't even
notice I was walking around the airport with my butt hanging out. Mortified.
Honestly, I could have killed him and hid in the bathroom for the next week. Instead,
I pretended I wasn't fazed and that no one saw my hiney.
What are the best and worst
pieces of writing advice you ever received?
The worst piece of writing advice I have been given was to describe as
little as possible because it wasn't necessary, nobody wanted to read it. When
I followed the advice, readers and beta readers began asking if there was
something wrong. The stories seemed incomplete, half finished. Granted, there
is a certain point in which something can be overly descriptive, but something
to consider is there are readers who love it. I cannot tell you how many times
I've heard Robert Jordan criticized about his descriptions. My husband hated
it, I loved it. It's all about personal preference. So my advice to new authors
would be to find your own balance and style.
The best piece of advice, get rid of info dumps. I love information,
especially in fantasy/sci-fi. But when writing it, I can just drop the info in
one section instead of dolling it out where and when it was needed. I'm getting
better at this and I figure I will continue to struggle with it for a little
while since writing professionally is still new.
Do you listen to music while writing? If so what?
I love listening to music while writing because it can help to push the
flow and emotion of certain scenes. Each story gets their own play list but
there are some staple songs that usually make it on to each one.
One Thing – Eleven Finger
Hero – Skillet
This Is How A Heart Breaks – Rob Thomas
Serenity – Godsmack
Drive – Melissa Ferrick
Down and Out – Tantric
Burn – The Cure
The Pretender – Foo Fighters
Sometimes I only listen to game soundtracks because they are all
instrumental but still able to convey emotion, intention. Some of my favorites
are:
Halo 4 (although they all are great)
Songs of Skyrim
300 (Original Motion Picture)
Journey (The Original Soundtrack from the Video Game)
Mass Effect 3
Crysis
(Although not soundtracks, still excellent instrumental music)
Lindsey Sterling
Feather and Skull – Adrian von Ziegler
Do you have a favorite quote or saying?
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death
that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass
over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to
see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will
remain.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune
What draws me? Being able to imagine something different from the norm,
to work outside of the box creating a story/plot/characters that are in some
way different than what came before. For me, it's very freeing because it like
exploring an unknown landscape, drawing in my mind's eye of what I want to see,
and then putting what I see into words.
