New Release, Contest, and Book Giveaway - welcome, Randi Alexander!!

Welcome, Randi! Looking forward to chatting with you today and thanks so much for hosting a contest and giveaway. Let's start the interview and get to the all-important giveaway! :)

Thank you, Rachel, for interviewing me today. I'm Randi Alexander and I write cowboy erotic romance. I'm published with The Wild Rose Press' Cowboy Kink line. My second Cowboy Kink, Her Cowboy Stud, was released March 23.

1) When and why did you decide you wanted to be a published author?

I started writing Regency historical romances about fifteen years ago because I loved reading them and wanted to create my own world. I finished two, both about pirates, and actually had an editor read one. She gave me some great suggestions, but then with everything going on in my life, I packed the manuscripts away and they're still under my bed! I picked up writing again in 2008 when friends encouraged me to follow my hibernating dream of becoming a published author.

2) What is the best and worst thing you have learned from an editor/agent?

I have a wonderful editor at The Wild Rose Press. She's taught me how to look at a sentence, a paragraph, and a scene and infuse more emotion, more sensuality into it. Her suggestions have given my writing new life. It brings readers deeper into the story and involves them more intimately with the characters.

3) Favourite author/s?

There are so many, it's difficult to name them all. I love Linda Lael Miller. Her cowboy stories are so well written and have such strong messages, they always inspire me. I adore the Black Dagger Brotherhood series from J.R. Ward. For historical romances, I always reach for Lisa Kleypas.

4) What is your typical day?

After feeding the family and hustling them out the door, I spend time checking e-mails, Facebook, favorite blogs, etc. Then I write; whether it's blog posts, reviews, or pages of my manuscript, I try to get in at least five hours of writing each day. Most afternoons include a nap, which is my way of restoring energy. Then it's supper, family time, and I try to get in at least an hour of social networking or writing after the house quiets down.

5) Share your blurb or short excerpt from your latest release with us

I'd love to!

Trace McGonagall’s quiet life on his Houston stud ranch is shaken up when gorgeous Macy Veralta arrives to claim an inheritance left to her in his uncle’s will. Trace sees her as just another gold digger, but he also can’t resist her curvy body. When she hints at being the perfect submissive to his Dom, he has to have her.

Macy wouldn’t have been three months late to claim her inheritance if she’d known Trace was sin in jeans. The cowboy’s dominant bearing and the smoldering glint in his eyes send shivers to her toes and stirs images of being bound in his bed and disciplined at his hand. But could Trace’s perfect seduction be part of his plan to reclaim her inheritance?

You can read the first chapter on my website.

6) Who would you cast to play your hero & heroine in a movie?

Since Trace is a Dom, I imagine him played by Alex O'Loughlin (from Hawaii 5-0.) I think he'd be a hot and sexy cowboy. Macy is a strong, confident woman, and I could see Reese Witherspoon playing her in a movie.

7) Did you plan this book? Or write it as it came?

I outlined the book and wrote it as a short story. When I submitted it to my editor at The Wild Rose Press, she suggested I add a little BDSM and some more adventurous bedroom play, and that's how the book made it into the Cowboy Kink line.

8) What surprised you the most when you became a published author?

Definitely the wonderful support I receive from other authors. I'd imagined it would be a cutthroat world of business where every author jealously guarded their readers and shared nothing with newly published writers. It's absolutely just the opposite!

I'm also amazed at the connections I have with readers. I love to hear from readers, whether it's praise for my writing or suggestions for my next cowboy hero. I've made many friends, and I hope to hear from many others.

9) Do you have a dedicated writing space? What does it look like?

I write in a bar. Our spare bedroom was converted into a bar with a small, private patio attached. My LazyGirl chair is in there, and that's where I usually write. I posted pictures of it at Wild and Wicked Cowboys Blog if you'd care to see them.

10) What’s next for you?

I'm writing a space opera. It's like a soap opera, but it takes place in outer space in the near future. There's an alien, a cowboy, and a beautiful heroine. I'll let your imagination take it from there…

To celebrate the release of Her Cowboy Stud, I'm giving away, to one lucky *commenter, an e-copy of my new erotic romance short story anthology, Cowboy Bad Boys. Just leave a comment today and we'll choose a winner tomorrow. *Commenter must be 18 years of age or older to win.

I'm also giving away a custom-made messenger bag and a $50 gift certificate to Pureromance to one subscriber to my newsletter. For more details, and to sign up for this contest, please go to my website, RandiAlexander.com

Good luck, and thank you!

Randi

"Rode Hard and Put Up Satisfied"

RandiAlexander.com

WildAndWickedCowboysBlog

Her Cowboy Stud available at The Wild Rose Press Wilder Roses

Kindle version is available at Amazon.com