Love Bytes says welcome to out next Feautured author for GRL 2016, Lex Chase!
Lex Tals to us about her GRL experience , answers the question asked by Morticia Knight and brought with her a Fantastic Giveaway!
Welcome Lex š
Hello, Internet! Iām Lex Chase and Iām here as a part of the Featured GRL 2016 Blog Tour! Woohoo!
Iām going as a featured author this year for the second time and Iām pretty excited.
And pretty freaking terrified.
No worries! I go through this every year.
In GRL Chicago, I had performed my first reading in front of a live audience. And feeling like a deer in the headlights doesnāt even cover it. Iāve done YouTube readings before. Theyāre actually harder because youāre talking to a blinking camera light and not to a person.
This year Iām reading from my latest release Urban Fairy Tale, the final book in the Screw-Up Princess and Skillful Huntsman Trilogy. In twenty-five words or less, itās about a fuck-up dude fairy tale princess Taylor Hatfield and his true love the snarky huntsman Corentin Devereaux and their epic road trip quest to save the world from Taylorās brother, Atticus Hatfield aka the corrupt Snow White.
I know right?
If you know anything about me (and if you donāt, welcome to the party!) my books arenāt exactly romances. Sure boys kiss and have fun naked times, but my books are about explosions, fists to faces, a healthy dose of violence, and a helluva lot of saving the world.
Iām an action-adventure writer first, romance second.
What does this to do with reading?
Well.
For GRL Chicago, I read a fight scene from the first book of the series Americana Fairy Tale. In context I thought it was sexy enough because Corentin was teaching Taylor how to throw a proper punch. So it was all writhing and huffing and puffing and groping and near kissing. You knowā¦ sexual tension.
It went well. I think anyway. But I noticed other readings featured the trappings of romance and tender touches and sexy rendezvous.
I realized, okay. This is GRL. Gay Romance Literature. So this year, I need to read something sexy and romantic.
But. Urban Fairy Tale doesnāt have much in sexy romance. It does but it requires too much set up. Or too much cutting down and all context is lost. I put it out to my readers for a vote.
And by unanimous decision they pickedā¦
A fight scene.
From the villain, Atticus Hatfieldās, POV.
Well. Okay, then.
Iām an action-adventure writer and Iām gonna own it.
Morticia McKnight asked me: Stunt car driver, Mt. Everest guide, or Golden Gate Bridge painter and why.
Mt. Everest guide is right out. Have you seen the film Everest? The trailer was terrifying! Enough for me to say nopenopenopenope!
How about a stunt car driver cast in a movie as a Golden Gate Bridge painter?
Can you see it? The movie is about a giant monster invasion when a humble Golden Gate Bridge painter becomes an unexpected savior.
When a giant squid snaps the Golden Gate support cables, the painter is in a fight against time to get off the bridge or be squid chow. But hanging precariously on the teetering bridge is an SUV with gasp a baby! The SUV tilts ever so slightly toward the frigid murky water of San Francisco Bay!
The painter uses her former skills as an American Ninja Warrior contestant and scrambles up the bridge scaffolding. She arrives at the SUV then dives inside. She throws the thing into reverse and hits the gas! But the bridge buckles! The SUV falls forward, off the pavement, toward the squidās slobbering gaping maw.
And the painter says āFuck. That.ā
Putting the pedal to the floor, and throwing the wheel into a hard left, our painter and her baby sidekick in tow plant the wheels against the squidās slick tapered head. The wheels catch traction, and the SUV skids off the skin, zooming down the length of a flailing tentacle.
āWhere weāre going, we donāt need roads,ā the painter gives her horrendous dialogue. But hey. Gotta pay rent.
She speeds down the length of a broad tentacle, going airborne, and landing on another flopping appendage. The squid screams in fury from the tires digging into itās flesh. Zigging, zagging, ducking, dodging, and weaving the SUV through this nightmarish living spaghetti junction.
The squid flails! The car flies! Flipping end over end over endā¦.
And wham sticks the landing on dry land then speeds off for help.
ā¦ā¦ā¦anyway!
Question for Bru Baker:
A man in a business suit gives you a briefcase with ten million dollars inside. He gives the instructions that you cannot keep any of the money for yourself or your family. You must pay it forward.
Where do you spend the money?
Lex Chase once heard Stephen King say in a commercial, āWeāre all going to die, Iām just trying to make it a little more interesting.ā Now sheās on a mission to make the world a hell of a lot more interesting.
Weaving tales of sweeping cinematic adventureādepending on how she feels that dayāLex sprinkles in high-speed chases, shower scenes, and more explosions than a Hollywood blockbuster. Her pride is in telling stories of men who kiss as much as they kick ass. If youāre going to march into the depths of hell, it better be beside the one you love.
Lex is a pop culture diva, her DVR is constantly backlogged, she has intense emotions about Hannibalās Hannigram, and she unapologetically loved the ending of Lost. She wouldnāt last five minutes without technology in the event of the apocalypse and has nightmares about refusing to leave her cats behind.
Dreamspinner: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/authors/lex-chase-537
DSP Publications: https://www.dsppublications.com/authors/lex-chase-33
Instagram: http://instagram.com/lexachase
Facebook: http://facebook.com/LXChase
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Lex_Chase
Tumblr: http://lexiconofkittens.tumblr.com
Book Blurb:
Screw-up Princess and Skillful Huntsman Trilogy: Book Three Ā
A Fairy Tales of the Open Road Novel
Modern-day fairy-tale princess Taylor Hatfield has problems. One, heās a guy. Two, heās an insomniac Sleeping Beauty. Three, his practically perfect brother, Atticus Hatfield, this generationās Snow White, has been irrevocably corrupted by the Witchking. The Library, a clandestine organization, seeks to write āThe Endā on Atticus, and Taylor is given the impossible task when his own parents endorse his brotherās demise. With his true love, the huntsman Corentin Devereaux, at his side, they once again set out to find Atticus, but Atticus wonāt go down without a fight.
The quest ends how it began. But instead of the quirky, corkscrewing Americana road trip, Taylor and Corentin must contend with the dangers of the urban jungle. With an unexpected ally at their side, theyāre forced to question all they know about the legacy of Snow White.
As the world of the Enchants and the mundane hang in the balance, Taylor knows what he must do: go pick an apple.
Ā
Buy:
Not going to GRL? Never fear! Lex Chase is on the case!
One lucky US resident will score a GRL swag pack filled with all kinds of goodies!
Not living in the US? No worries! One lucky international resident will receive any eBook copy off my backlist.
For both winners? You also score a Skype date with yours truly as we chat about what you think of the goodies or book! Iāll even perform my reading just for you. š
Winner to be announced mid-October! Physical goodies to be delivered Mid-November (Iāll be on vacation immediately following GRL and hope to include some extra exclusive swag!)
What do you need to do? Just leave a comment below telling me about your favorite fairy tale and why! Brothers Grimm? Disney? Once Upon A Time? Grimm? Disney Princesses? Into the Woods? Itās all fair game! Letās chat!
I love Beauty and the Beast. I think beauty is more than skin deep and you should always get to know someone before you judge them.
I was in 2 productions of “Into The Woods” in college. The first time I was the Baker’s Wife, the second time I was Cinderella. I love that show because it crosses many fairy tales to one moment in time. They intersect and intertwine and create a whole new story.
Aw hell, wish I could be there to hear the fight scene!
My favourite fairy tale? Of course, Sleeping Beauty. That girl just had to be there sleeping and looking good… Talk about a peachy job!
i always loved beauty and the beast..it make me smile everytime and shows true love always wins in the end
I’ve always enjoyed Beauty and the Beast =)
Congrats on you’re being a GRL feature. For fairy tale, I’ll go with Peter Pan, if you think that would qualify (if not, Jack in the Bean Stalk). I like the guy being the hero in that one, and the pirates, the idea of Neverland, and some of the messages. I like how a number of authors of m/m turn some of those fairy tales on end when it comes to gender and sexual orientation.