Hi guys, we have Lex Chase stopping by with her upcoming re-release Chasing Sunrise, we have a fantastic guest post from Lex where she talks about hurricanes and there’s a fantastic giveaway so I hand over to Lex as she takes control *it nearly killed me but she did, honest* and makes this her very own Chasing Sunrise blog tour post! p.s. remember to leave a comment and click on Lex’s graphic to enter the giveaway <3 ~Pixie~

Chasing Sunrise

Lex Chase

The once glorious aisa kingdom of Darkmore lies in ruins, and King Sevon Maraté is trapped. Sevon endures unrelenting abuse and is used as a scapegoat by Lord Dominic Ravensgrove, who rules Darkmore from the shadows. Coping by dressing in gowns and jewels, the effeminate king relishes the scraps of freedom he is given to be himself.

As a verkolai, Sevon possesses the ability to part the Veil separating his world from hundreds of others. His gift provides a chance for escape, but Dominic refuses to relinquish his tool for power. When Dominic forges an ambitious plan to invade the prosperous shifter land of Priagust, he manipulates Sevon’s desperation for his people’s survival. Out of options, Sevon has no choice but to cooperate.

On their foray into Priagust, Dominic’s men abduct a shifter named Jack. Despite being tortured for information, Jack’s loyalty to his kind never wavers. But Jack’s knowledge about Darkmore’s history unsettles Sevon, and a curious bond begins to form. Despite Sevon’s mistrust, Jack is determined to tame the beautiful king’s wild heart and perhaps earn his freedom.

As war looms, Sevon fears Jack’s kindness is another trap. Conflicted, Sevon wonders if he should risk chasing the sunrise or remain Dominic’s compliant prisoner.

1st Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, 2014.
Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal Length: Novel Publisher: DSP Publications ISBN: 978-1-63476-355-4

Hello, hello! I’m Lex Chase and I want to give a big thank you to the crew at MM Good Book Reviews for hosting me today on the Chasing Sunrise Blog Tour!

Chasing Sunrise is a paranormal, high fantasy, horror featuring the cannibalistic aisa, Ancient Roman windigo, torture, war, genocide, and a love story that causes irrevocable consequences. It’s definitely not your standard fluffy paranormal. It’s dark, and leads readers to places that they never thought capable. There are characters you pray they will make it out, hopefully not mangled too badly. Then there are ones that will make you wish swift and immediate death upon them. And then there are characters you can only run from, and if you can’t, you call on all that is holy you will survive when you likely won’t.

That character? She isn’t a character at all in a sentient humanoid sense, but she is the wind itself. In the prologue, the kingdom of Darkmore is forever changed when Category 5 Hurricane Gert makes landfall just off the Coastal Bend of Texas and the Capitol city is right in its path. Darkmore is not only all but leveled in the storm, but it sets into motion our plot of betrayal and revenge.

It is a writing sin to open on descriptions of weather. Why? Because it typically is interesting as toast is tasty.

“It was a bright, sunny day…”

“It was a dark and stormy night…”

Blech!

How about: “And the wind was raging.” Oh hey, that’s cool. And there’s something insanely intriguing on using a conjunction right at the start.

I’ve lived on the Florida Gulf Coast since I was a small child, I’ve seen my share of nasty storms, floods, and hurricanes. Upon the first week of moving here all those years ago, I discovered lightning. And I said I wanted to go home back to California. Lightning in the distance is interesting to watch. But when it strikes right in your yard and fries your cable modem? That’s not so interesting. It’s terrifying. The crackle, the white-violet flash, the scent of ozone, your skin tingling with static. Now, talking about it? That’s interesting.

I’ve been through Hurricane Ivan. My town “dodged a bullet” as we say with Hurricane Katrina when she turned at the last possible second. We would have survived Katrina. It’s a tragedy what became of New Orleans, and years later much of it still isn’t rebuilt, and some homes haven’t even been entered since. I even wrote a scene addressing Katrina in Bayou Fairy Tale, the second Screw-Up Princess and Skillful Huntsman book for Dreamspinner Press.

Part what I jokingly call my “Hollywood Blockbuster” writing style, is I want to engage the reader’s senses. Three of the senses that I really work on punching up is smell, taste, and sound. You can’t hear a book.

When I set out writing about Hurricane Gert, I wanted readers to hear her grinding roars of churning clouds. I want readers to hear her clawed fingers scratch and scrabble against the Darkmore palace walls. Hear the shiver in the limestone as the palace trembles. The groaning creak as roof timbers bend and then the sharp snap of breaking.

I wanted readers to cower in the face of Gert’s monstrous ways. They should understand, like any storm, people often underestimate how bad it will be, only to be caught off guard that they had tragically underestimated themselves. That by claiming we can conquer even nature we find ourselves victims of hubris. Trying to cast the image that while tragic plot based things are going on and we learn the bad guys from the good guys, it’s the true evil that is bearing down on them.

So when people tell you, “Oh, for the love of god don’t open on weather!” Screw that! Just skip the clichés. Dig deeper. Make it a plot element.

“I will always remember my charred blisters when the second sun ignited the sky in Hiroshima.”

“The snowflakes refused to fall, frozen in time. He wouldn’t dare show his soldiers his deep purple fingers of frostbite. They had a new world to conquer.”

How will your characters survive the elements? As James Taylor croons, “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain…” What can you bend that into? An elementary school burning to the ground? A tsunami swallowing an unsuspecting village?

And there…. There is where the story begins.

My question to you! What’s your favorite kind of weather and why? Do you love the rain or the sun or what else? Do you have a favorite memory tied to it?

Come follow me on Facebook and Twitter for Blog Tour Updates! Join me on April 4th as I drop by Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Tea House!

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I’m giving away a super awesome $25 USD Amazon Gift Card! What do you have to do? Leave a comment down below and click the giveaway graphic to follow me on Twitter and Facebook or Share, Tweet, or Hashtag! So many ways to enter!

(Ends 16th April 2016)

What’s your favorite kind of weather and why? Do you love the rain or the sun or what else? Do you have a favorite memory tied to it?

Come follow me on Facebook and Twitter for Blog Tour Updates! Join me on April 4th as I drop by Charlie Cochet’s Purple Rose Tea House!

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About the Author:

Lex Chase once heard Stephen King say in a commercial, “We’re all going to die, I’m just trying to make it a little more interesting.” Now, she’s on a mission to make the world a hell of a lot more interesting.

Weaving tales of cinematic, sweeping adventure—and depending on how she feels that day—Lex sprinkles in high-speed chases, shower scenes, and more explosions than a Hollywood blockbuster. Her pride is in telling stories of men who kiss as much as they kick ass. If you’re going to march into the depths of hell, it better be beside the one you love.

Lex is a pop culture diva, her DVR is constantly backlogged, and unapologetically loved the ending of Lost. She wouldn’t last five minutes without technology in the event of the apocalypse and has nightmares about refusing to leave her cats behind.

You can find in the Intarwebz here:

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