Interview and Giveaway with Alexandra Ivy!

Hello all, I hope everyone is just as excited as I am to have the lovely New York Times Bestselling Author Alexandra Ivy with us this week. Her short story Darkness Eternal was just featured in the anthology Supernatural with Larissa Ione, G.A. Aiken and myself. She is best known for her Guardians of Eternity series and has a new anthology due out in November called The Real Werewives of Vampire County! So here she is the lady of the hour...Alexandra Ivy
1. If you could transform into any animal, what would you choose? Please tell us, as only an author can, why you would make this specific choice?
I would absolutely choose an eagle. Just imagine spending your days gliding above the world, swooping down to consume your prey before heading back toward the sky. It seems like the most basic form of freedom.

2. Please share with us your most embarrassing moment with a fan or another author.
I don’t really have an embarrassing moment with a fan or author, but during one of my early book signings I arrived to discover the manager had no idea I was supposed to be there. They at last set up a tiny tray in the corner of the store with a bottle of water I had to pay for and I spent the next hour directing customers to the bathroom…ugh.

3. Which do you prefer to write? The hero or the villain? And why?
The hero. I always fall in love with my heroes when I’m writing their stories and even though the villains can often be far more interesting and complex from a writer’s prospective, I still enjoy the thrill of creating that delicious man who makes my heart flutter and my palms sweat. I don’t think that will ever, ever get old!

4. Do you have someone in your life that you model your heroes after? What about those villains?
I usually combine bits and pieces of people I know into making a character along with a large dollop of make-believe. My heroes can have a variety of admirable qualities as well as flaws, but they all have an inherent kindness toward those weaker than themselves. My villains I try to make as complex as possible with a few hero qualities so they aren’t entirely evil. There’s nothing more boring than completely black or white characters.

5. I am a woman who is 43 years old and has a crush on her 25-year-old gardener, what naughty secret do you have to share?
I love watching Hoarders. I don’t know why, it makes me crazy (not to mention my family who are forced to help me in my cleaning frenzy after I watch it), but it’s like a train wreck…I can’t look away.

6. I’ll go easy on you this time. What is your sinful pleasure? I have two. Gluttony: where I eat to much Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio, and Sloth : where I laze in bed all day watching HGTV (Mike Holmes…mmm nummy!) or Farscape. Please be equally specific.
Envy: I detest those people who can eat whatever they want and keep skinny. I have to do hours of sweaty, hideous exercise every day to keep my butt from spreading. Vanity: I can lay around the house in pjs, but if the Fedex man pulls in the drive I slap on make-up and put on real clothes so he doesn’t run away screaming in fear.

7. Do you sing in the shower? What would Simon Cowell think of your performance? What is your favorite song choice?
I sing when I walk (thank gods I live in the country) and Simon Cowell would have me shot to put me and the wildlife out of our misery. Truly, I’m AWFUL. I love punk and classic rock and pop and…hey, just because I can’t sing doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy music ☺

8. If you could be any of your characters whom would you choose? Tell us why of course.
Levet. The tiny gargoyle is a true snark and he gets to say everything I wish I could. I tend to be a nice person and even when I’m dying to say that truly nasty comment hanging on the end of my tongue, I usually walk away. Levet is my release valve…

9. Who did it the best? Out of all of your favorite paranormal authors’ works, who wrote the BEST SCENE EVA? Explain.
I loved Nalini Singh’s Branded By Fire, the very first pages with Mercy and Riley starts out with an explosive sex scene. It’s amazingly hot and while I usually enjoy the sexual buildup of tension that comes before the actual sex as we get to know the characters, I think she pulled it off brilliantly.

10. You are now a published author, which some would say is the pinnacle for any writer. Now that you have achieved this goal, what is your new dream? What is it that you now aspire to do?
I’ve always wanted to finish my play and see it staged. I was a theatre major in college and I still miss seeing a story come alive on stage. Plus, I’ve harbored a secret dream for the red carpet before the Tony Awards FOREVER!!!
Be sure and pick of The Real Werewives of Vampire County! Out this November! I must say this is a great title and a spectacular cover, defiantly a must read!

















Bound by Darkness is the next installment in the Guardians of Eternity series is hitting shelves worldwide on December 6th,2011!
BE SURE AND LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW. Alexandra has been nice enough to give a copy of both The real Werewives of Vampire County and Bound by Darkness to two lucky commenters!
www.alexandraivy.com

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