Reading by Deb: INTERVIEW with ALEXIA CHASE

I want to thank Alexia Chase for taking the time for this interview!

Bio:

Alexia Chase is a steamy contemporary romance author who specializes in visual stories set in an interconnected world.

If you love stepping into a place that feels like home where familiar people, places, and things welcome you with open arms, then you’re in the right place.

Ms. Chase pens everything from short stories to novels with heroes from bartenders to billionaires.

What can you find between the pages? Heavy doses of snark, sinful fun, smut, and happily ever afters.

Come inside. They’re waiting for you.

Where can you find Ms. Chase when she’s not writing? Ms. Chase lives in a small community outside of Kansas City, Missouri. She spends her free time with her husband, three children, and two dogs and loves to spin stories in her head. She’s an avid learner and never far from her computer. Just ask her children. They have plenty to say about her excessive computer usage.

When and how did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always had stories in my head and wrote my first book when I was in first grade. It was a story about Strawberry Shortcake and Blueberry Muffin.

I would replay my favorite parts of books over and over again in my head and change them up if I didn’t like how something happened. So that was a natural thing.

As an introvert, it has always been easier for me to articulate my thoughts and feelings in the written word over expressing myself verbally. But becoming a romance author was much later.

Then, one time, I watched a movie and decided I could have written it better. Or written it better to resonate with me and started writing. That was nearly 20 years ago, but I didn’t start publishing until 2018.

Did you have any influencing writers growing up?

My favorite book series as a child was Nancy Drew. I read most of the older books.

In my teen years, I enjoyed Sweet Valley High, but quickly moved to my aunt’s Harlequin romances and would read up to four in a day in the summer or on the weekend.

As an early adult, my go-to authors were Nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, and later Sherrilyn Kenyon and Suzanne Brockmann.

Are any of your characters based on people in real life?

No, but there are lots of scenarios that have happened to me or friends, or something I heard on the news.

Where do you draw your book inspirations from?

Everywhere. I’m a magpie. I’m constantly on the lookout for shiny things.

I take inspiration from things I see on social media, stories from the news, book descriptions, movies, songs, personal experiences, personal experiences from my friends, basically just about anywhere.

Then, I mash it all up in a blender and make it work for the personalities of the characters.

Do you use have a basic outline when starting a new story or do you let the characters lead the way?

I start by writing at least a page about both the hero and heroine exploring and getting to know them. Then, I spend a day thinking about them as characters and the general theme of how they would get together. At that point, I’ve spent enough time with them that something will click and the story flows from there. That’s when I outline.

Generally before the book is done, they’ve done some things that were not in the outline and I don’t fight against those shifts in storyline.

When you are picturing the characters in your book, do you have a cheater photo for inspiration?

No. I don’t have a clear image of the characters, and only about 5% of the time do I have the cover image picked until after the book is complete. But….99% of my heroes are tall, dark, and handsome. I have a type. 😊

Many people read as a form of escape and relaxation. What is your favorite way to sit back and relax?

I’m obsessed with reading book descriptions and reader reviews. I love it.

I think I got my first kindle in 2010 and have obsessively read blurbs and reviews ever since. It’s like mini shots of dopamine.

Who are your favorite current authors to read?

Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, Corrine Michaels, K. Bromberg, Chelle Bliss, Hope Ford, Murphy Wallace, N. Isabelle Blanco, Nicole Sanchez, Susanna Mohel, and Juniper Michaels.

I wish I had time to read others, but with working a full-time day job, a full-time author job, and raising three kids, I barely have time to proofread my own books.

What are your favorite books by others?

Stuck-Up Suit by Vi and Penelope and Chelle Bliss’s Men of Inked Series.

Do the locations in the stories have any meaning to you?

Almost every one of my books is written in Kansas City, Missouri. It is near where I live and is big enough that I could develop an entire world of characters and have it be realistic.

Although, I’m plotting a small-town series that’s fifteen to twenty minutes outside of Kansas City so I can lean into that small-town vibe for part of my world.

Do you write in single or multiple POV?

I write in dual POV for most of my books.

I do have a handful of short stories and novellas that are single POV.

And I have a trilogy planned that will finish my billionaire series that may include multiple POVs.

What do you find to be your best research tool?

Life. Taking little things that I see or hear and creating a scene or a book around those events.

Do you write under a pen name? Also, do you write under more than one name?

Yes. Alexia Chase is a pen name and the only one I currently write under.

What genre do you write and why is this your preference?

Contemporary romance is the genre that I write under.

Inside that genre, I write insta-love, rom-com, sports, billionaires, forbidden, and suspense.

Tell me something about yourself outside of writing. Jobs, accomplishments, family, quirky trait...what led to you being you?

I’m an 80’s girl with three adopted children, making me an old mom. My three adopted children range in age from 9-13.

And I’ve worked for the same company for 27 years.

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

Read, write, and write some more. Writing and creating a world is a thrill ride.

And every time I prepare to write a scene, I believe there is no way I’ll ever write again. And then I sit down and write.

How do you deal and process negative book reviews?

I’m getting better at it. I try to remember that not every author or book works for each person, and most of the time the negative review is because the trope wasn’t one that the reader enjoys.