A Chat with Alicia Dean

I’m sitting out on my deck with good friend Alicia Dean. It’s a gorgeous Michigan morning, sunny and low 70s. I’ve got a cup of caramel cream coffee (love my Keurig) and Alicia has a cup of Dark Magic with just a touch of cream. So pull up a chair and join our conversation. Oh, would you like something to drink first?

Now that we’re settled, Alicia, what have you been up to?

What haven’t I been up to? I normally juggle multiple projects at a time. Lately, those multiple projects seem to have multiplied. I have some really exciting news…that I can’t share. J I was recently offered an opportunity with Amazon Publishing that I’m thrilled about. I should be able to share details later this Spring. I’ve been under pressing deadlines with them, and now that the deadlines have passed, I am trying to catch up on some editing. I am also working on a sequel to Liberty Awakened.

That’s great about the sequel. I can’t wait to hear more about your mysterious opportunity with Amazon. I love your books, by the way. The first one I read was Death Notice: The Northland Crime Chronicles, a great romantic suspense. Then I read Soul Seducer and Liberty Awakened (Isle of Fangs) with Grim Reapers and vampires respectively and found them very intriguing. What inspired you to write paranormal?

Thank you so much, Diane. I love your books as well, and I’m honored that you enjoy my writing. I normally write suspense, but I like to change things up, and paranormal is my second love. I find it fascinating to create entirely new worlds where there really are no rules other than the ones you, the writer, create. I am a huge fan of Vampire Diaries and True Blood, and watching those shows inspires me to try to create a supernatural world with really, really hot vampires and various other creatures. I’m afraid I could never invent characters as sexy as Damon and Klaus from Vampire Diaries or Eric from True Blood. But they definitely ‘inspire’ me. In many ways. ;)

Whew. I think the temperature went up. Those guys are hot!

You and several other authors are writing Tales of the Scrimshaw Doll. How did that come about?

I wanted to give my fellow chapter mates an opportunity to get their feet wet in the publishing industry and The Wild Rose Press is always looking to add short stories to their catalogue. I thought it would be fun to write some stories with my author friends that had a shared theme. We brainstormed ideas and came up with a cursed Scrimshaw doll. Each story features the doll, in either a small or big way, and they cover all genres from Historical to Suspense to Contemporary. It’s been loads of fun. We’ve had 9 or 10 accepted so far and still have others in the works.  

That’s fascinating. How generous of you to give your chapter mates this opportunity. Why do you think paranormal romances appeal to so many people?

One of the reasons is that I think most people are fascinated by magic. Paranormal romances are, at their core, stories about magic. Also, the fact that the heroes and heroines can be a little less than perfect, even a bit evil at times, and we feel justified in rooting for them because they can’t help their dirty deeds since they’re ‘monsters’ by nature. And readers love escaping to different worlds where anything is possible. Mainly, though, I think Paranormal romances appeal because there is something really sexy about the brooding, bad boy, animalistic, passionate heroes whether they’re werewolves, vampires, or grim reapers.

I’d like to pose the same question to our readers…what do you love about Paranormal Romance? And what is your favorite supernatural creature to read—or write about?

And are you fascinated by magic? Have you ever had any ‘supernatural’ experiences?

When I was a child I was obsessed with Bewitched and I used to go out in the back yard and search the skies for Witches and Warlocks and wiggle my nose to see if maybe I was a witch and just didn’t know it. In case anyone is wondering, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer…it didn’t work.

LOL But it’s always great to imagine. It’s been great chatting with you this morning. I know you have to get back to your project with— Uh, Alicia, come back. You forgot your purse. Wait one more minute. I know a shortcut back to Oklahoma. Just step over there. Okay, Scottie, beam her to Edmond.

Now that she’s gone we can talk about her. LOL In case this is your first meeting with Alicia Dean, here’s her bio.

Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma and is the mother of three grown children. Alicia loves creating spine-chilling stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats. She's a huge Elvis Presley fan, and loves MLB and the NFL. If you look closely, you'll see a reference to one or all three in pretty much everything she writes. If she could, she would divide all her time between writing, watching her favorite television shows-such as Dexter, Vampire Diaries, Justified, and True Blood-and reading her favorite authors...Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lee Child, and Lisa Gardner to name a few.

About Liberty Awakened (Isle of Fangs):

Evil lurks beneath the surface in the beauty of the tropics…

After graduation from her small, Oklahoma high school, Liberty Delacort is looking forward to a fun-filled summer before college. But when the people she trusts the most betray her, and a letter arrives claiming her deceased father is still alive, she jumps at the chance to travel to an exotic island to meet him.

But her excitement is short-lived. Her father is dying, and he doesn’t want her around. And, in spite of its outward tranquility, the island is filled with danger and ominous secrets. The secrets soon begin to unravel, and she discovers she is a descendant of Van Helsing, the vampire hunter.

The one up side is her budding romance with the sweet and sexy Ryan Kelly. But even that is threatened when—in spite of her fear of him—she finds herself attracted to an insolent, formidable vampire. Her plan to stay away from him fails when she learns he is the only one with the ability to train her to fulfill her destiny—to save humans from a faction of vicious vampires.

Will her inexperience lead to her death—and the death of others—or will she rise to the challenge and realize her full potential as a Hunter?

Liberty Awakened is available at Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00B3N6PMA