LBF Books Week: Alexis D. Craig

1. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? It was never any kind of conscious decision on my part. I just wrote down things that came to my mind and told stories to my friends. I’ve been doing it since I was very young, so it has always been a natural thing for me to tell stories to other people.
2. Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants? I do a combination of both. I have a large outline of overall plotpoints I’d like to hit and then it’s an adventure getting to them.
3. What drew you to the subject of Imminent Danger? The job I have, as a police dispatcher is a strange and ever-changing one. We have the unique roll of helping both the public and the police officers, and do so in an environment rife with its own politics and intrigue. I’d been trying to write something about the job since I’d been hired, and this was my first successfully completed piece. Think Dangerous Liasons, with guns.
4. Did you encounter any obstacles in researching it? No. The wonderful thing about my job is the close relationship I’ve developed with the officers on my district. Several of them were more than happy to answer any and all questions about police work. There is a scene, toward the middle of the book, that was the product of a conversation between me and three of my officer friends in the middle of shift. They were happy to help, even if the question was completely off the wall and apropos of nothing. Friends will help you move, good friends will help you plot your novel.
5. What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Dark Flowers and Forever. Did you try to publish it? Good Lord, no. It was a 450 page Tolstoyan epic about vampires, demons, and the angst of a 14-year-old girl. It was written in the early 90’s, when I was, in fact, a 14-year-old girl, so the subject matter was very current for me. I’ve read it again, and while it has promise, the market is so full of vampire novels right now; I don’t think it would contribute meaningfully to the genre. I was ahead of the curve.
6. How many rejections have you received? Nine. Each one sucked, but you just have to press on and keep working and submitting. It teaches you to believe in yourself and to persevere. I was very grateful that Sinful Moments Press finally gave me a nod.
7. Tell me one thing about yourself that very few people know? I am 34 years old, and I have never made my bed.
8. If you have a day job, what is it? I’m a police dispatcher. I provide support to the officers on the street by completing their requests, researching their suspects, and contacting other agencies when the need arises.
9. Describe your book. My book is romance novel that doesn’t shy away from the grit of life. It’s a love story to my day job as it is between the hero and heroine. Love finds both of them when neither was particularly looking, and love has strange allies. In all, it’s a love story with the daily violence that pervades the life of a cop and his radio dispatcher.
10. What’s your favorite food? It goes through phases. Right now I’m kind of addicted to Caprese salad with basil, mozzarella, and tomatoes.

Author Bio:

Alexis lives in Indianapolis in the family home with her mother, stepfather, husband, three dogs and three cats. It’s a full house inside and out, with the varying wildlife that comes to visit. She has a ton of godchildren and two sisters.

She works in the communications division for a local law enforcement agency, and spends her free time reading and writing romance novels, feeding her closet addiction to ‘Masterpiece Classic’, and investigating reports of local haunted houses.

Book Blurb:

Dani had sworn off dating cops. Then during a bad week where she banged up her knee and almost got mugged, the officer on scene was one of the sexiest men she had ever laid eyes on.

Jacen’s nice, relatively low key existence left him unprepared to deal with the chaos that limped into his life. Instantly attracted, he tried, but couldn’t resist her great rack, a great right hook, and a great sense of humor.

Through their jobs, they share a life that was like two sides of the same coin. With work and circumstance repeatedly throwing them together, she has a hard time keeping her distance. As she begins to fall for him, things are complicated by a terrifying stalker, and Dani finds out quickly that her heart and sanity aren’t the only things in imminent danger.