Fabulous Author Friday ~ Alexandra O'Hurley

I just want to say how excited I am to host Alexandra O'Hurley today on my blog.

Without further ado.........

Tell us a little about yourself, Alexandra.

Single mom, full-time employee, part-time writer and student, year-round Ravens fan and goofball…I wear a lot of hats, but who doesn’t these days?  I live in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, but I was born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  Fortunately, my mother broke me free from redneck hell when I was seven.  The twang comes back when liquor is applied in liberal amounts.

Tell us a little about your book.

Which one?  I’m coming down off the high of my double release day in the end of February of parts 1.5 and 2 of my Berserker Series.  Part 1.5 was a free read offered on the Evernight site (as well as Bookstrand and All Romance Ebooks) called Going Berserk.  Part 2 was Beauty and Her Beasts.  Both books are paranormal shifter stories focused on a pack of Nordic hunks.

(Mmmmm, Going Berserk was a very tasty treat!  It was actually what caught my eye first.  Then I had to go look for the rest of your stories.  I've always enjoyed a sexy Norseman *giggle*)

I also have a Naughty Fairy Tale coming out April 17^th.  It’s a retelling of a classic, titled The Virgin Who Cried Wolf.  Hopefully you can guess what it’s modeled after.  In my tale, our hapless virgin likes spinning tall tales and when one sounds too close to home, the two big bad wolves feel the need to teach her a few lessons.

Excerpt – The Virgin Who Cried Wolf

©Alexandra O’Hurley, 2012

“Why can’t I just have my braies back?”

“Because a lady doesn’t wear trousers.”

“I can’t ride a horse in a gown.”

“You won’t be riding a horse tonight.”  Perhaps riding something else, but definitely not a horse.  His cock began to swell once more as the thought of pressing into her welcoming heat.

“I don’t like gowns.”

“Your clothes smelled of horse.  Wear the gown or go naked.  Either will be fine with me.” 

Her eyes finally found his again as she seemed to weigh if he were serious or not.  “Fine, give me the gown.”

He lifted his arm and remained where he was, forcing her to come retrieve the thing from his hands.  Thessa rolled her eyes to heaven and sighed, clearly affronted by his act.  She stomped toward him and snatched the fabric from him.  Once she’d donned the gown, he turned her and began to dry her long hair.

She reached behind her and fought him, pulling her hair so she could braid to once more.  “It’ll dry just fine like this.”

He snatched it back from her and released the half-worked braid, pulling the long strands out and around her face.  His mother’s silver brush was on the stand beside the tub.  She eyed it warily as he lifted it around to her head.  The bristled worked through the coppery strands on her head and he gently worked through a few knots as gently as he could.

There was something incredibly erotic in doing these intimate actions for her.  The brush slid through her soft hair like walking through summer wheat, and smelled as fresh.  His cock had been hard the entire time he’d dried her and brushed her hair.  He knew she’d felt the head swipe across her lower back from time to time as he brushed, as her body had stiffened with each one.  Instinct demanded that he press her to the cold stone floor and claim her.  But he reigned in the call yet again.

His beast was restless.  But he wasn’t giving in to his instinct and so the beast was becoming wild.  He felt the change forcing its way through his limbs and he was on the edge of control to keep the animal at bay.  A long, hard run through the woods would have to follow dinner if she were to keep her virginity till the morning.  Envisioning her running at his side, playing a deliciously decadent game of cat and mouse was enough to make him growl low in his chest. 

She looked over her shoulder tentatively, her hazel eyes shifting between desire and fear.  But there was also a mischievous glint.  He was quite sure thoughts of running from him were swirling through her mind yet again.  And he hadn’t truly punished her for the last time.

The silver brush still rested in his hand.  Swatting her ass with the metal, she gasped.  He leaned into her ear, licking the lobe. 

“That was for running from me.”

He raised the brush again, the light from the lantern hitting the back and glittering across the room.  The impact struck her other cheek.  The scent of her arousal flooded the room and garnered another low growl in response.  His claws burst from his fingers as he fought to cage his beast.

Raynd picked the best, and worst, moment to peek into the door.  “Dinner will be ready shortly, you need to dress, Caelan.”

Caelan glowered at Raynd who immediately picked up the scent in the room and looked over the both of them.  Thessa’s head dropped in shame, and that shame blackened Caelan to the core.  She’d wanted his touch, burned for him.  Her eyes had pleaded for his caresses.  Disgusted, he threw the brush on the stand and stalked from the room.

When did you start writing and when did you finish your first book?

I’ve written on and off my whole life.  I wrote a lot of poetry as a child.  I was once accused of cheating on an essay on a test because it sounded too good for a 5^th grader to have written.  And no, I hadn’t cheated.  It was then I knew words held power.

I wrote my first novel in reaction to a wallbanger.  It was horrid.  No real storyline, just pure sex, page, after page.  Now, sex isn’t a bad thing, I write a lot of it in, but there needs to be a reason behind it.  I was so bothered by the book, I told myself, “I can do better than that.”  Instead of talking trash, I sat my butt down in front of the computer and did it.  Two weeks later, I had my first manuscript.  That was about five years ago.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Everywhere and anywhere.  Dreams.  A hot guy walking out of a convenience store.  A hot guy driving past me on I95.  A hot male stripper.  Notice how ‘hot guy’ seems to be the core ideal here.  I’m so shallow.  But really, anything can spur on an idea, especially when you surround yourself with like-minded people who are super creative and talented as well. 

Do you plot and outline or do you just write?  Plotter or Pantser?

I’d have to say a little of both.  My first couple were totally plotted.  Now, I waiver in between.  I may jot down a few core points I want to hit so I don’t lose focus, but what happens between point A and point B is totally on a wing and a prayer.

Can you tell us a little about the process of getting your first book published?

I sent it off to a traditional book pub and got a letter back with thanks, but no thanks.  I was crushed.  My MS sat for a year before I had the nerve to send it out again.  But eventually I did, and got my foot in the door with a fairly large e-pub.  They said I had potential and put me in queue.  Where I sat for a year.  Then I got the dreaded, you just aren’t what we’re looking for.  One more shot, and I got my first yes.  I did the Tigger dance all over my house.  Now, that first novel has run its course with the contract and I’ve decided to re-write and edit it to re-submit and I see why they said no!  It was god-awful!

Rate your story on a Heat level of 1-6?

That rating is so subjective.  What may make one woman’s cheeks burn and her hail mary come out may not even be a blip on someone else’s radar.  But, according to my pubs, I typically fall in the four to five range.  I’ve had a couple threes.

Do you have another book in the works?

Always!  Park and Ride is a short I have coming May 2^nd to Evernight Publishing.  I’m also working on the third and final installment of the Berserker Series, a new paranormal series, as well as, a new contemporary piece.  Edits to my first novel will also be soon complete so I can re-publish that.

(Yay!  Can't wait!)

What advice would you give new authors?

Treat it like a profession, not a hobby.  Touch your work every single day, even if you only have time to edit a paragraph, create the writing habit.  Take true, constructive criticism with great appreciation, but also with a grain of salt – meaning that you should remember to keep your voice in there.    Lastly, grow really, really thick skin.  Haters gonna hate.  But don’t let it get you down.

Boxers or Briefs?

I don’t know about anyone else, but I wear bikinis!  ;P  But on a sexy man, I like a good pair of boxer briefs.  Very sexy.  Or neither – let him go commando!

Where to find Alexandra?

No stalking, unless you bring candy with you.  And by candy I mean hot men.  Deal?

Sounds like a deal to me.  

Thank you so much for coming over and sharing with us today, Alexandra.  It was such a pleasure to get to know you better.  

Alexandra has promised an e-copy of her brand new book, The Virgin Who Cried Wolf, that releases in a few short days!  Please be sure to let us know you stopped by with a comment to enter in the drawing.  

And be sure to visit Alexandra @

Website – www.alexandraohurley.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/alexandraohurleyerotica

Blog – http://alexohurley.blogspot.com

Twitter – alexohurley