Sharon: Welcome to I Smell Sheep! You are a busy person…you’ve written so many books and we’ll get to the book stuff in a sec. Cause the question everyone here wants to know is…
how is Rodney?!
Alexandrea: LOL! Thank you for asking! Rodney is great. He’s sitting at my office door as I type this, laying on his back and looking at me, begging for a tummy rub. Yeah, he gets lots of those.
Sharon: Okay, we can now move on to your latest release, Bound (A Magnus Blackwell Novel #2). For our readers that haven’t heard of your series, what is it about?
Alexandrea: It is a supernatural suspense series about Magnus Blackwell who lives a dastardly life in Victorian-era New England, and after his death, he must redeem the sins he committed by helping a young woman named Lexie Arden with a very special gift—she can speak with the dead. Magnus become her spiritual guide to help her navigate the waters of the world of voodoo, where she will be considered a mambo, or high priestess. But there are many who want to see her fail, and book 2, Bound, is the beginning of Lexie’s journey into the darker aspects of voodoo and the voodoo gods who can control her fate, and the fate of her ghost. But because of who Magnus is, his past plays a pivotal role in Lexie’s future.
Sharon: LOL! You said “dastardly”! As a fan of the Victorian era, do you use slang or words from that era? Just in casual conversation? Or when cursing? (I know dastardly is actually from the 16th century but I associate with regency romances <G>
Alexandrea: I try to be authentic to the time without losing the reader. When I write historical pieces I do tons of research, and even on modern pieces if its a subject I am not familiar with, but slag from the time, yes. It sets the mood.
Sharon: Magnus Blackwell seems like an interesting man…what is his greatest strength/weakness?
Alexandrea: His greatest strength is his unabashed confidence. Nothing phases him, and he enters every situation knowing he will come out on top. His weakness is his ego. It is boundless, and because of his ego, he is a ghost helping Lexie and hoping to right the wrongs of his past.
Sharon: How many books do you have planned for the Blackwell series?
Alexandrea: There is another, book 3 Torn, will probably come out next year. I am sure there will be more after that, I never know until I write a book where it will go.
Sharon: You are a certified/permitted wildlife rehabber with the La. Wildlife and Fisheries. What was the most unusual animal you’ve had to rehab? What animal is the most comm
only in need of rehab?
Alexandrea: Most commonly in need of rehab—squirrels. We get tons of babies every year, all year round. After that, it is possums and then raccoons. The most unusual animal I have rehabbed was a baby black bear. They require special facilities but the little guy was brought to me by a hunter and had to spend a few days getting him rehydrated and healthy enough to travel. OMG, the purring. Adorable creature. Bonded with that baby so much. Cried when I had to give him up.
Sharon: Do you find your Ph.D. in Nursing handy when writing? Do you have a pet peeve when watching or reading medical shows/books?
Alexandrea: My doctorate taught me about research, how to do it, and how to break it down. Something that has been very handy when writing my novels, especially my historical ones. Being a former nursing instructor, I can’t read medical novels by non-medical people. Infuriating. As far as TV shows and movies, they are good for a laugh. But my motto is do it right and teach people something they do not know, instead of winging it and adding more false information out there.
Sharon: If you could own any piece of art in the world, what would it be?
Alexandrea: The Dying Gaul. An ancient Roman marble copy of a lost Hellenistic sculpture. The piece exudes so much emotion, so much depth. I’ve loved it since high school.
Sharon: Do you hoard collect anything?
Alexandrea: Animals. If it has fur, fins, or feathers, it will end up at my house.
Sharon: If you were a tree which one would you be?
Alexandrea: I love oaks. I could see me as an oak.
Rapid Fire (pew-pew)
Sharon: Breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast?
Alexandrea: Breakfast for dinner. I don’t eat breakfast.
Sharon: Coke or Pepsi?
Alexandrea: COKE!!!
Sharon: And here I thought we were going to be friends…smh…
Katie: *pushes Sharon aside* I’ll be your friend! *Hands Alexandrea a Coke*
Sharon: Ride in a submarine or space shuttle?
Alexandrea: Submarine because I could see creatures under the sea.
Sharon: Do you have a favorite sea creature?
Alexandrea: Yes, seahorses. Have loved them since I was little.
Sharon: pizza delivery or Chinese takeout?
Alexandrea: Chinese takeout.
Sharon: Truth or Dare?
Alexandrea: Dare.
Sharon: Take a pic of your big toe and send it to me.
Alexandrea: Rodney’s toes are better looking than mine! ;/
by Alexandrea Weis with Lucas Astor
April 17, 2018
Genre: Paranormal Suspense/Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Vesuvian Books
ISBN: 978-1944109615
ASIN: B079L1Q1KM
Number of pages: 313
Word Count: 93,000
Cover Artist: Sam Shearon
You can’t escape the darkness
Magnus Blackwell’s past is about to catch up with him.
An evil force has seized New Orleans. Pestilence, suffering, and darkness cloak the city. The citizens are scared and need their mambo to guide them, but Lexie Arden can’t help anyone. A diabolical presence has taken Lexie’s power and severed her ties with the other side.
Magnus Blackwell is fighting demons of his own. Torn between his devotion to Lexie and a spirit from his past, Magnus’s loyalty is put to the test. He must revisit his sins to uncover the key to the hatred ripping the city apart. If he doesn’t, Lexie’s reign as mambo will end.
Their search for answers leads them deep into the darker realms of voodoo—until a desperate Lexie does the unthinkable, and Magnus can do nothing to spare her from her fate.
Excerpt
Magnus waited outside the cottage, anxious for Lexie. Vulnerable because he was cut off from her. Something had changed between them. The thoughts, emotions, and even the actions of the living left impressions in his head. In the beginning, he’d only connected with Lexie; now it appeared as if every person he encountered touched him in some beguiling way.
Confounded by what was happening, he went to the green water at the swamps’ edge along the side of the house. Raindrops created ripples on the stagnant water. Their concentric circles grew, intersecting in swells, releasing voices in their wake.
Magnus waited at the slimy green bank, attempting to make sense of the strange sounds. The cries of men, women, and children rose up and overwhelmed him.
“Save us!” a woman shrieked.
“Please, help me. I want to be free,” a man’s husky voice entreated.
“Take me away from this hell,” a high-pitched wail begged.
The voices built around him, crowding his ears, imploring him to rescue their tormented souls. He had never heard such noises from anyone.
A vision of his Frannie hurtling over the cliff’s edge at Altmover Manor replayed in his head. The sound she made as she toppled to the rocks below resembled the pitiful cries of the spirits around him. Magnus closed his eyes, disgusted by the memory.
When his eyes opened, he scampered backward. In the boggy water, hundreds of bodies floated in various stages of decomposition. Arms, hands, legs, and torsos bobbed on the surface. The woman in black he’d seen with Lexie stood at the water’s edge, calling to the dead to wake from their soggy tombs.
Horrified by the agony he saw on their contorted faces, Magnus wanted to obliterate the vision by returning to his shadowy realm, but he couldn’t tear himself away. The images of body parts and broken souls held him captive as bitter waves of anger and anguish rolled off the water.
“Your master’s in danger.”
Magnus spun around.
A little girl in a long white nightgown trimmed in yellow ribbon stood next to him. Down the front, a stain of burnt red went all the way to her bare feet. She held a dirty teddy bear in her arms, but when she peered up at him, a gaping wound across her throat exposed the bone underneath.
Magnus didn’t know if he could believe the phantom before him. Spirits had never reached out to him before. This was Lexie’s realm. Why did he suddenly have her gift?
“Are you real?”
“Yes, sir. Very real, just like you.”
He knelt down beside the child. “What is your name?”
“Mattie. I died in the swamp when I was six. The mistress has enslaved my soul to do her bidding.”
He touched the nose of the teddy bear in her arms. His fingers passed through the toy. “What mistress?”
“The Lady La Fay. The one who called your master to her side.”
Magnus examined her gray skin and sunken eyes. “I don’t have a master.”
She pointed to the porch steps of the cottage. “You’re bound to the woman who went inside. She’s your master and the one who controls your fate. We are all bound to those who work the dark realm. You’ll see.”
Magnus was about to question the child when her eyes went black and rolled back into her head.
Her mouth opened, and her lips stretched, expanding painfully beyond her chin and cheeks. The gaping, black hole spread and almost split her face in two. It covered her entire face, leaving only her flowing brown hair untouched.
Alarmed, he stood up. Then the child dropped the teddy bear and held her arms out to her sides.
He searched the swamps for an escape. He found the souls in the water, their dismembered bodies rising from the surface, coming toward him. A parade of legs, arms, torsos, and heads covered with algae and muck approached his spot on the shore.
He faced the girl, her toes floating above the boggy ground.
A soulless, wretched cackle came from the blackness covering her face.
“Welcome, Magnus Blackwell,” a woman’s whiny voice echoed from the darkness. “Welcome to my world.”
About the Author:
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Born and raised in New Orleans, Alexandrea Weis grew up in the motion picture industry and began writing at the age of eight. After finishing her Ph.D. in Nursing, Alexandrea decided to pick up the pen again. She has published a number of award-winning novels, and won countless national awards for fiction. A certified/permitted wildlife rehabber with the La. Wildlife and Fisheries, when not writing, Alexandrea rescues orphaned and injured wildlife. She and her husband live in New Orleans.
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