The Interrogation Room with Alexandrea Weis

Another special guest this week... not only a fellow author but an animal rescuer too! Please give a cold dead welcome to Alexandrea Weis!

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Were you good at English?

I was in honors English throughout high school and college. I also AP’d out of my first two years of college English and received a scholarship offer, but never pursued it. I wanted to study science, not English.

What are your ambitions for your writing career?

To reach a wider audience and to entertain people with my tales of New Orleans. Having someone tell you how much they loved your books, is the greatest feeling.

So, what have you written?

I have published 24 novels and written over 40. My newest release Blackwell, through Vesuvian Media, and Her Dark Past, Book 4 in the Corde Noire series, hit in January.

* To My Senses, 2007

* Recovery, 2011

* Sacrifice, 2011

* Broken Wings, 2012

* The Secret Brokers, World Castle Publishing, 2012, to be rerelease through Vesuvian Media in 2017-first book in the series

* Diary of a One-Night Stand, 2012

* Acadian Waltz, 2013

* The Satyr's Curse, 2013

* The Ghosts of Rue Dumaine, 2013

* Cover to Covers, 2014

* The Riding Master, 2014

* The Bondage Club, 2014

* The Satyr's Curse II: The Reckoning, 2014

* That Night with You, 2014

* Behind the Door, with M. Clarke 2015

* Taming Me, 2015

* Rival Seduction, 2015

* The Art of Sin, 2015

* Dark Perception, 2016

* Dark Attraction, 2016

* His Dark Canvas, 2016

* The Satyr's Curse III: Redemption, 2016

Where can we buy or see them?

All my books are 99 cents on Amazon. I am on Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords and B&N.

What genre are your books? I consider myself a paranormal erotic writer, but some of my books are contemporary romance and romantic suspense.

What draws you to this genre?

I love paranormal the best. I guess being from New Orleans and growing up in the French Quarter, paranormal was a way of life. It just becomes normal after a certain time. Ghosts, voodoo, family secrets, I love twisting it all into a compelling tale.

When did you decide to become a writer?

I began writing at eight. I am not sure I ever decided, it was more or a go to career. It was always in the back of my head, the dream job to stay at home and write. It wasn’t until later in my life that such a career became feasible.

Why do you write?

I only feel I use my whole brain when I write, as compared to using half of it for other functions. It has always been the most satisfying endeavour for me. Nothing else has ever compared.

Where do your ideas come from? Anywhere. I can be driving to Wal Mart and come up with a new book. A lien form a movie, a few words from a friend; ideas are everywhere to me.

Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?

I have an idea for a storyline in my head and make notes, but never detailed outlines. I always just write and see where the story goes. There have been many times I have surprised myself as to the twists and turns. I could never plot out half the things I write.

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

I believe writing is like a muscle you have to continually work with and build to evolve as a writer. I am always learning and growing as a writer. I think the best we can hope for it so achieve our best, but the perfect manuscript is always an idea and never a reality. That is what makes us continue to write; we want to see what we come up with next.

What is the hardest thing about writing?

The actual process of writing is hard. I love having written a book, but sitting down and banging it out is tough. I juggle life around our stories and often find the voices of my characters yelling louder to be heard than my husband or animals. It’s a tenuous tightrope to walk because when you are half in the world of the living, and half in your imagination. The funny thing is, as a writer I never questions the insanity. For me, it is the gift that makes me a writer and tuning off the voices in my heads would be akin to death.

What was the hardest thing about writing your latest book?

It was YA and I had to write about high school teenagers which I have never done. Had to go back to my high school days to search for the characters and found myself doing a lot of remembering. It was a long time ago, but I think the people never change. The characters I knew in high school are still their today. It’s just how people are.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Two weeks for an 80,000 word book.