Interview and Giveaway with Lexxie Couper

Continuing our Burning Up July we would like to welcome, on Fourth of July, a wonderful Aussie erotica author, Lexxie Couper.  Her novels are fun and flirty, with great stories, great writing, and a lot of sexy.  Helps us welcome her to UTC today!

Can you give us a peek into the day of a writer? Do you write every day? If so, for how long? 

I do write every day. Monday-Wednesday it's a 9-3 job (school and preschool hours *grin*) and I write every night from about 10pm - 1am(ish). I aim for 2k minimum a day. Sometimes those 2k are like pulling hens' teeth, other times I can't stop the words from pouring out. I tend to drink about 5 cups of tea during writing bouts (and sometimes eat way too many Tim Tams. Waaaaaay too many). The moment I can write, I hit play on the appropriate playlist (I make new ones for each new book), boil the kettle and crack my knuckles. Okay, I don't really crack my knuckles, but you get the idea.

What does your writing workspace look like? Clean and orderly? Scattered with notes? Any visual would be nice. 

I'd love to say clean and orderly, but alas, that kind of state seems to be beyond me. *sigh* So yeah, scattered with notes it is. My pin board is very important to me. Sometimes it's covered with images of my characters, sometimes - like now - it's covered with images that have no relation to my work at all but make me feel happy to look at it (and yes, there are numerous Lego Darleks on my desk. I am a geek at heart)

TWISTER is the third book in the Party Games series. What can you tell us about it? 

It's very naughty, has the most Alpha hero I've ever written and the makers of Twister would probably have a meltdown if they knew what their game does to my hero and heroine. But it's also lots of fun and I think, really explores the notion of lust vs love and how the two are so intrinsically entwined. (Oh and I based a minor character on Rupert Murdoch. How many romance authors can say that? Hee hee hee)

You recently released MISPLACED PRINCESS, which is the first book in a new series you are co-writing with Mari Carr. For readers that haven't heard of it, what is this series about? 

Foreign Affairs is a four book series which sees Aussie cowboys from the Outback find true love with some very American women...and a very Aussie heroine find herself in the arms of a very sexy man from Chicago. Mari and I have had an absolute blast writing the first two books together and can't wait to start the next two. MISPLACED PRINCESS, about American Annie Prince's journey to the Outback was released on the 17th June and MISPLACED COWBOY, which sees Aussie stockman Dylan Sullivan lost in New York is available on pre-order now for an August 15th release. MISPLACED LESSONS and MISPLACED HANDS will be available late this year. If ever there were books that do wonders for the American/Australian global relationship, it's these ones *grin*

Is the writing process a lot more complex and stressful when working with another author? 

;) Not at all. Writing with Mari was a dream. In fact, I think it was easier because rather than arguing with the voices in my head about the words, I just listened to Mari. She's funny and so easy to work with. She American-afied the stuff I had written like an Aussie and I turned her American phrases and places into Australian. And we just bounce ideas off each other so well. I'd start a sentence and Mari would say, "Oh yes. And then they could..." and I'd say "Exactly! And then they could..." and it would gone on like that. I loved every word and sentence writing with her and can't wait to start the next two books.

TROPICAL DESIRES the first anthology of Bandicoot Cove stories recently released in print. Yay! You have another anthology in this series coming out. When will those be available and what will your story be about? 

The next three Bandicoot Cove books are available September 4 and I'm so excited. Sunset Heat was a different book for me to write, in that it's a love triangle. And I was writing my first ever British hero. Here's the official blurb:

A photographer, a firefighter, a rake. Let the debauchery begin!

Bandicoot Cove: The Wedding, Book 2

When Kennedy bolted after a mind-blowing one-night stand with a sexy Australian firefighter, she never expected to be standing in front of him four months later on a tropical island resort. Naked, thanks to her phobia of butterflies.

Trouble is, she’s equally turned on by Luke and his hunky British cousin. Not exactly how she’d intended to spend her first day as Bandicoot Cove’s official photographer.

Luke never planned on falling for the feisty, flirty American he met at a New York bar. Now that he’s face to face with her again, he has two questions. Why did she run? And why can’t he stop thinking about sharing the woman of his dreams with his cousin?

Addison invited himself along on his cousin’s trip for a weekend of no-strings-attached sex. But he wants to get to know Kennedy on all levels. Seriously, this is no way for a rake to behave. And how the hell is he going to tell his cousin he’s interested in the very woman Luke can’t get out of his mind?

Product Warnings

The setting sun isn’t the only thing heating up Bandicoot Cove, because when the word “threesome” gets thrown into the mix, it’s seduction on a global scale. (Note: No butterflies were scorched during scenes of burning passion.) 

It was so much fun working with Jess Dee again and Sami Lee is the most devious, sarcastic person I know so you never ever knew what she was going to type. For those that have already been to Bandicoot Cove, coming back will be lots of smoldering fun. For those who haven't visited the lush tropical island resort before, now is the perfect time *grin*

Who can resist a hot rockstar? What's your favorite thing about Nick Blackthorne from Love's Rhythm? 

Oh, Nick. Nick took on a life of his own. He first made an appearance in Tropical Sin (my first Bandicoot Cove book) but he was only meant to be a "bit player". Nick however, wouldn't have any of that. He demanded more time, more presence as only a sexy, arrogant rock star could. And I couldn't refuse. My favourite thing about Nick? He listens to the music of his heart and follows the words of the song there. Oh, and he'll gladly admit to f*cking up his life to the one person who truly matters.

If we were unforgivably rude and pulled at random five things from your hand bag, what would we find? 

LOL Lets do it, shall we. Ready? Okay. My iPhone (aka my iBrain, complete with TARDIS cover), a tube of paw paw ointment (for keeping my lips soft), a small note book (almost full of notes about my latest WIP, along with some drawings from my daughters by the looks of it. Hmmm, when did they do that?), a packet of spearmint Extra chewing gum (which is 5 months out of date!) and my glasses case (in which are my reading glasses, which would explain why I've been squinting while typing this so far. Ahh, that's better).

I know you already live in beautiful Australia, but if you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? 

San Francisco. Or New York. I've spent time at both and for some reason San Francisco reminds me of Newcastle (where I live Down Under) and countless Tom Hank's movies have told me New York is the most glorious place to exist. Having said that, it would take a lot to drag me away from Oz. I love the sounds of the kookaburras every morning, and the smell of the eucalyptus trees after rain too much to leave I think.

Do you have a favorite drink recipe you'd like to share with our readers? 

I do. Ready? :)

Tim Tam Express Cocktail 

• 30ml Frangelico
• 30ml Grand Marnier
• 1 Tim Tam biscuit
• 45ml milk

Instructions

Blend all ingredients with small scoop of ice. Pour into chilled martini glass. Ganish; strawberry (whole) with a drop of Frangelico or Grand Marnier. After a sec, the drink will separate, leaving liquid underneath & a biscuit crust on top.

Now we leave you with an excerpt from Twister

Lachlan scowled, sliding his attention back to the stunning, irksome threat to his sanity. She regarded him with an unreadable focus, the smoky-grey eye shadow and thick black lashes making her pale blue eyes all the more striking in the light. His balls grew hard and his cock twitched in his jeans. Curse the bloody woman. Turning back to Mac, he shook his head. “No, it isn’t.”

Mackenzie swung his stare to Lachlan, shocked disbelief flashing across his face. “Bullshit.” Mac shook his own head. “It’s Kole. I stared at her poster in your room every time I crashed at your house when we were at school. I think I jerked off to it more than once. The model graced the cover of every single women’s magazine your father owned more than once, as well as some that had nothing to do with women. It’s Kole.”

Lachlan refused to look at the woman in question. He couldn’t. She’d already come close to undoing him once tonight, to destroying his control. If he looked at her now, saw who Mac insisted she was, the woman of his stupid adolescent fantasies, the star of every wet dream he’d ever had, he didn’t know what he would do.

Run up those three stairs and kiss her senseless. Crush those lips of hers with yours and plunder her mouth with your tongue.

His cock jerked in his jeans and he ground his teeth.

“I asked her, Harris,” he spoke slowly, not for Mac’s benefit but for his own. Control was slipping from him. His balls throbbed with a need far too dangerous to consider. “She said she wasn’t.”

“Then she’s lying,” Mac shot back. “Look at her bone structure. Look at her lips. No one on the planet has lips like that. I’ll bet my M5 for your Merc that she is.”

Lachlan ground his teeth tighter. “Deal.”

Mac laughed. “Bloody hell, McDermott. That’s the first stupid deal I’ve ever known you to make. But I’m not going to argue. Even with the ridiculous salary you pay me I’d never afford a car like that. I thank you in advance.”

 

Lachlan slid his stare to the sexual torment on the third stair. “I’m not going to lose, Mac.”

He climbed the stairs in three strides, stopping only when he was on the woman’s rise, his thighs brushing hers, his stare locked on her eyes. She gazed up at him, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. And yet, a tiny pulse beat at the base of her long, smooth throat. Wild and fast. He could see it. It made his cock stiffen and his balls throb. “So,” her voice slipped past her glossed lips on a husky breath, “you are ready to play a game with me?”

He stared hard into her eyes. Every nerve ending in his body thrummed. Every muscle coiled. “Are you the model Kole?”

The smile at the corners of her mouth grew cheeky. “If I say I am, will you kiss m—”

He claimed her mouth with his and invaded it with his tongue.

She stiffened. For a second. A heartbeat. Just one, and then slid her tongue over his, battled it. Mated with it.

Charged electricity poured through Lachlan. He growled into her mouth, captured her tongue and sucked it with demanding greed. She moaned in return, her hands finding his shoulders, his hair. Her nails raked against his scalp, her hips pushing forward until their lower bodies were together. Stomach to stomach, thighs to thighs.

Lachlan drove his tongue back into her mouth, the wild taste of her kiss too intoxicating to deny. He grabbed her hips, holding her still, holding her to his erection as he deepened his hungry exploration of her mouth, her lips. They were so soft, so full under his and he groaned, his cock flooding with fresh desire. God save him, he hadn’t planned on kissing her. He hadn’t. But it was her lips…lips made to be ravished, worshipped. Lips created for kissing and fucking and biting.

He did just that, catching her bottom lip with his teeth and giving a not-so-gentle nip.

A shiver raced over her and she thrust her hips harder to his, rolling the warm curve of her sex—trapped behind the leather of her mini—to his cock. The pressure was unbearable. Exquisite. He raked his hands down over her arse cheeks, grabbed each one and hauled her closer to his dick.

She whimpered, dragging her nails up his back, over his shoulders. She clung to him as she ground the junction of her thighs to his rigid, denim-imprisoned length and swiped her tongue over his.

Lachlan’s head swam. His blood roared in his ears, pumped through his cock. He kneaded her buttocks—twin curves of toned perfection—and plundered her mouth until nothing existed but the sound of his heart slamming in his chest and the hitching moans of the woman in his arms.

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Ms. Couper is graciously giving away winners choice from her backlist!  Awesome opportunity!!

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