We are so excited here at the blog because today we have a very VERY special guest, ALEXANDRA IVY!!! From her website we borrowed her bio to get things started and to allow everyone get to know ALEXANDRA just a little bit.

I’m not exactly sure when I fell in love with books. Probably on my mother’s knee listening to her read Dr. Seuss to me. I do remember that I was barely old enough to cross the street by myself when I discovered the delights of the local library.
Could anything be more wonderful than spending summer days surrounded by stacks of Nancy Drew mysteries? Over the years I fell in love with Victoria Holt, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and J.R.R. Tolkien just to name a few. I read poetry, essays, biographies, and plays. In fact, I read anything I could get my hands on. Years later (no, I’m not admitting how many) I’m still an avid reader, and my tastes are still as varied as they were in my youth, which I suppose helps to explain why I enjoy writing regency historicals under the name of Deborah Raleigh, as well as my contemporary paranormals as Alexandra Ivy. For now that is enough to keep me busy, but who knows what the future might hold! I do have a few other loves in my life besides reading and writing, the most important being my unbelievably patient husband, David, and my two sons, Chance and Alexander. Without their constant support and belief in me, I never could have been able to follow my dreams. They are truly my heroes.

1. Fear the Darkness, Caine’s story came out Sept. 1st. Would you tell us about? - I’m (Wendy) very excited about this book, for a long while I was not sure that Caine could or would come out on the right side. To me he teetered back and forth between both sides- good and evil- Was it hard to write about him redeeming himself or did he jump feet first into the goodness??
It was really, really hard to decide what to do with Caine. He wasn’t evil, but he was a very bad boy. :)  It took me awhile to convince myself he could be redeemed and that he would be worthy of Cassandra.

(Wendy) Levet-- No question here just wanted to state that I LOVE Levet, he’s my favorite little gargoyle ever!

Oh, thank you!! I’ve had soooo much fun writing his character!

2. Ok now a Levet question- will Levet’s short story be in print or e-book format? Either way I am definitely buying it.
Right now it’s scheduled to be ebook only, but I hope my publisher will think about putting it in print for those readers who don’t like ebooks. I also hope everyone will enjoy it. It’s sort of a ‘coming into his own’ story.

3. Your Immortal Rogues trilogy has a new book coming out in December, who are the main characters in this book and can you tell us a little about it?
The heroine is Jocelyn Kingly, a young woman who survived a shameful scandal with her pride intact. She’s dedicated her life to helping the less fortunate. Lucien Valin is the hero. Rakish and self-indulgent, Lucien is exactly the sort of man Jocelyn detests, even though her overwhelming attraction proves impossible to deny. But when the local brothels are terrorized by a plague of vicious murders, Jocelyn discovers that there is more to Lucien than she ever imagined—and that a mysterious amulet in her possession is at the core of their dark, unearthly secrets.

4. Do you know how many books you will write for the Guardians of Eternity series? I love how you bring in characters from the past books; will we continue to see them as the series continues?

There is a conclusion to some story lines in Fear the Darkness. It felt like it was time for big showdown. But I promise that the Guardians will continue with Santiago and Nefri’s story up next!
I haven’t really thought about an end to the stories. Right now I’m still enjoying the world and with each book I discover new characters, so I hope I can keep them going until the readers tell me they’re finished!

5. You have a new series- Sentinels coming out next year, can you tell us a little about it?
The books are tentatively titled the ‘Sentinels’ and will start off in a short story collection coming May 2013. These will be different from my Guardians, with the stories revolving around people who are ‘gifted’ with special abilities. They’re known as high-bloods and will include witches and psychics and necromancers, as well as the Sentinels. The Sentinels are men and women who are trained warriors who protect the high-bloods when they travel away from their safe-house called Valhalla, or track those high-bloods who are a danger to the mortal population.
In the short story you’ll meet Angela Brown, a young graduate student who is a genius in genetics and Niko, the guardian who is sent to protect her from a high-blood who is convinced that Angela can rid her of her mutations. I hope you’ll enjoy the Sentinels, they’ve been such a pleasure to create!!

6. I’m sure you’ve been asked this question 100 times already – so sorry- How did you come up with the storyline for the Guardians of Eternity, they have everything a paranormal junkie like myself could possibly want, i.e. vampires, werewolves, witches, imps, gargoyles, fae, and angels.
It all started with a daydream about a clan of vampires in Chicago,
From there it was just a matter of letting my imagination roam. My editor was so wonderful to let me explore and expand my world. It would have been easy for him to try to get me to stay in a certain mold that was working for other authors, but instead he embraced my whacky sense of humor and the characters like Levet!

7. Under the name Deborah Raleigh, you have over 30 historical romance books. How did this switch take place, not only the a new name, but a different genre?
When I wrote WHEN DARKNESS COMES it really was for my own pleasure. I was busy with my historical career and the paranormal world was just starting. Then, really on a lark, I sent the book to my agent who sent it to my editor. It took a while to hear back. Not really surprising since all the books out there were dark and broody while mine...wasn’t :) But deciding to take a chance on the series, my publisher gave me a three book contract, a new name so my current readers would realize this was something completely different, and the rest is history.

8. Through the years of writing, I’m sure you have seen lots of changes in the book market with time (like style, boldness, trends that fade and become popular, language,... the list goes on and on). What do you feel have been the most dramatic or important changes that authors need to keep constant pace with?
The biggest change is the shakeup is in the genres. When I started writing the rules were set in granite. Every book had to follow a formula. We were told over and over the readers had certain expectations and they couldn’t be changed.
Then paranormals exploded onto the scene and writers realized that a good story was a good story. Suddenly Abe Lincoln was a vampire hunter and Victorian England had ray guns. It was fantastic!!

9. One of your biggest supporters is your husband David. Put him in the spotlight for this answer and tell us about this special guy in your life that has helped you so much. How did you meet? How did he help you thought the first few years before your books started being published?

David has always been there for me. Not just as a cheerleader (although that’s great) but long before I ever sold, he treated my writing as a job. He never once complained if he came home from work and I was scribbling away instead of cooking dinner or mentioned that our bedroom was being consumed by books on How to Get Published :) He believed long before I believed, and for that I will be eternally grateful!



Thanks so very much for this opportunity to speak with my readers! I never forget without them I wouldn’t be allowed to share my stories!!

Web page - http://www.alexandraivy.com/index.htm
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandra-Ivy/137660032930010
Twitter - http://twitter.com/AlexandraIvy

A giveaway by Alexandra will allow a blog follower to pick one of her new books, and also receive some yummy swag to boot! Leave a comment or question along with you email address to be entered. This giveaway is open internationally.