Tuesday Teaser with Lux Zakari

Today I have author Lux Zakari with me on Believing is Seeing. Welcome!

SS: As an author, what makes a book great in your eyes?

LZ: I enjoy writing that’s sexy, funny and real, with brief descriptions of situations and sights phrased in original ways. I definitely try to incorporate all those elements into my own work.

SS: Tell us a little about what you are working on.

LZ: This year has been insanely busy for me, but when things start to wind down this fall, I have a really fun idea for a story that I’d like to write. It involves the concept of fan fiction, which I’m excited to explore. I am also in the midst of subbing a new novel and have plans to publish another book completely on my own.

SS: Interesting! Let’s talk about the book you’d like to promote today. How did you come up with the title and where can we find it?

LZ: I forever struggle with titles. I either have a title and no story or a story and no title. However, I’ve been practicing, and I’m starting to get a little creative and whip up titles that consist of more than one word! Finale is the last of the one-word titles for awhile, and I thought it best suited the nature of the story, which is about a music legend who dies before his time and leaves his three children in the care of his ex-lover, a hedonistic songwriter who has even never been able to keep a houseplant alive. The book was released August 15, 2011, by Whiskey Creek Press and can be found/bought at http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=601&zenid=6682f72a0e56c6d5ef87b6d88e427d51, as well as on Amazon.com.

SS: Sounds like a cool story! What was your first reaction when you got a glimpse of your cover art?

LZ: I was beyond thrilled. I must’ve stared at it for about a half hour in a state of bliss. The cover artist, Kendra Egert, did a fantastic job—so fantastic, I had the cover as my computer’s Desktop for about two weeks and would sigh with happiness every time I looked upon it.

SS: It is really nice. What is the hardest scene you had to write in this piece?

LZ: I’m not sure any scene was truly difficult, although writing the entirety of Finale definitely required a stretch of the imagination; all the characters’ lives are so far removed from my own—I’ve never been a parent, a celebrity in the 1980s, rich and/or famous and so on. Still, I think I’m good at being able to slip into people’s flip flops and identify with what they’re going through, and I feel that’s just as—if not more—important than having actually been through an experience, although that certainly doesn’t hurt anything!

Conversely, the scene that seemed easiest to write was the one in 1986, where the male and female protagonists spend their last night together. The dialogue just flowed so naturally and writing it was very organic. I enjoy how the characters’ dynamic really took over then.

SS: Awesome! Please give us a blurb and excerpt!

LZ: Aye, aye, m’lady! The premise:

When music legend Jonathan Levant dies in a motorcycle accident, no one is more stunned than his former lover Olivia Gray, a hedonistic ex-celebrity who learns she’s been inexplicably named the guardian of his children. Olivia’s reluctant acceptance of the new parental role obliterates her hope of resurrecting her songwriting career as she faces sarcastic teenagers, suicide attempts and séances. The upset to her self-indulgent life forces Olivia to finally face the truth about the cruel decisions of her wild past, her now uncertain future and her secret, turbulent relationship with a man who, even in death, continues to upend her world.

An excerpt:

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Jonathan’s laughter faded, though his eyes continued to glow with nervous excitement. “You know, this may sound weird, but I find you unreasonably beautiful.”

“Liar. ‘Unreasonable’ implies something is without reason, and of course there’s a reason I’m beautiful. I was born this way.” I gave him a wink, hoping to mask the sudden, strange prickling in my chest.
“Whatever you say. I just really want to kiss you right now.”

My heart leaped to my throat, and I fumbled for the wine, hoping to wash it down. I wasn’t used to such sweetly unguarded interest. It felt too innocent, too natural. “Of course you do. At your age, a hard-on is practically a sneeze away.”

Jonathan sat back in his chair, shaking his hair out of his face. “Right, my age. I’m such a child compared to you, right?”

“Do you really want to know the answer to that?” I took a swig of wine, but still my every nerve felt on fire with the anticipation of things to come. I set the bottle down, knowing the situation could go several ways.

He reached for the arm of my chair and dragged me closer to him, the legs of the metal seat screeching on floor. When I was close enough, he captured my wrist and leaned toward me. “I just told you what I really want.”

Then his mouth was on mine, forceful yet gentle. I couldn’t tell whether it was the wine or if I was too high in the atmosphere, but I felt lightheaded, too weak to break away. I didn’t want to think Jonathan was the result of my lack of resistance, even though my entire body reacted to his kisses in proof that it was.

All my senses switched on as he put one of his hands on the back of my head, drawing me closer, the armrest digging into my ribcage. He tugged one of my arms around his neck with his free hand, and before I could protest, his tongue flicked inside my mouth. Pleasure flashed throughout me, and I let out an involuntary groan.

My brain screamed at me to stop, to put an end to this, but when Jonathan’s lips trailed down my neck and he murmured something about going back to his place, the only answer I knew was yes.

# # #

SS: Very intriguing! Now for the fun stuff. Do you have any guilty pleasures?

LZ: Everything I enjoy is a guilty pleasure. I think I am a guilty pleasure!

SS: LOL Name one thing readers would be surprised to know about you.

LZ: I plan to conquer the hula hoop.

SS: If you didn’t have to worry about counting calories or fat, what’s the first food you’d reach for?

LZ: I already have the diet of a little kid, so I will say everything that I currently consume, only with zero moderation!

SS: Since you write romance, fess up. Have you ever read the “Grande Dames” of the genre like Jane Austen, Barbara Cartland, Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts? What do you really think of their books?

LZ: Maybe not the work of those four authors exactly, but growing up, I was into similar types of stories—although I had little interest in any semblance of plot. When I was a kid, I would go to my grandmother’s house and skim her collection of over-the-top romance novels, looking for the juicy bits, even though I didn’t have a true, complete understanding of what was happening. I remember in one book, the sex was described so painfully and used so many euphemisms that I could not comprehend what was happening at all, but whatever it was, it came across as horrific. I wonder what book that was, and if I read the same scene today if it’d be totally hot. While we’re on the subject, I would like to thank Jackie Collins for teaching me sex ed with her textbook, American Star.

SS: Life’s funny, isn’t it? LOL If someone hasn’t read any of your work, what book would you recommend they start with and why?

LZ: I can’t decide! My work differs slightly with every book, so it’s completely up to the reader and what he/she is looking to read. Finale is my second book, and I would recommend it to those who are into the 1980s and glitz and looking for a humorous, erotic, unconventional love story. Coercion, my first novel, takes place in the mid 1970s and has far more emphasis on sex. The characters are also younger and the ending has left a few readers aghast, so I classify the story as smart erotica for people who don’t mind a little realism amidst all the doin’ it. I explain Coercion’s “resolution” more in depth on my website at the post “Why, Lux, Why? The Ending to Coercion” (http://luxzakari.com/2011/07/25/why-lux-why-the-ending-for-coercion/).

SS: Thanks for spending a bit of time with Believing is Seeing! Best wishes for your continued success. Where can readers find you on the Web?

LZ: Thanks for dishing with me and asking thought-provoking questions! I can be found on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads, as well as my own corner of the web, www.luxzakari.com.