Today, we welcome author Lyndi Alexander!

SGLSF: What attracts you to the romance genre, particularly SF/futuristic romance?

LYNDI: I grew up reading the old gothic romances—Dorothy Eden, Victoria Holt, all those. But I also have a strong grounding in sci-fi, my favorites being Anne McCaffrey and her dragon stories, as well as Heinlein. So when I began writing, I found this was a wonderful way to combine some of my favorite reading genres!

SGLSF: How do you get inspirations for your characters?

LYNDI: In the book I’ve brought you today, my husband and I belonged to an online science fiction/fantasy role playing game, which was run very loosely, and people could design and play their own characters. These characters featured in a particularly interesting story line that we wrote for the RPG, and I fell in love with them, especially the reptile shapeshifter Griff. He often was the most soft-hearted and loving character of all, more so than the humans. Other sci-fi and fantasy characters I’ve written came from many places, sometimes from pure imagination—a What if..? category—and others inspired by the usual space opera types. In my novel TRIAD, three very different women control an area of space, the power shifting among them as some become heroes and others villains. It was fun choosing quirks and secrets for each of them.

SGLSF: Do you remember the first book you read as a child?

LYNDI: Island of the Blue Dolphins. That was the first fiction I remember. Before that, I used to read Dr. Spock’s baby care book, and I would tell my mother I had all sort of illnesses that were described in there. After I decided I had diphtheria, that book suddenly disappeared. I guess she was tired of me self-diagnosing!

SGLSF: : What is your ideal writing environment?

LYNDI: I like to be at my desk working on an old-fashioned desktop computer. I have two pieces of music that really have inspired my writing, and now whenever they play, I’m already in the mood. One is the soundtrack for the TV show Firefly, and the other is the soundtrack for the mini-series by Stephen King, The Stand. That and a fresh cup of coffee.  Then I’m all set.

SGLSF: Please tell us a bit about your most recent project.

LYNDI: I’m so excited that Lyrical Press/Kensington decided to take a gamble on a love story that was a truly cold-blooded romance. Kylie Sanderson becomes involved in investigating a serial killer who leaves behind a trail of female corpses, all partially mutated into a reptile form. She finds a man who knows what’s happening, and discovers belatedly that he’s an alien reptile shapeshifter. As the story progresses, her human counterparts turn away from her, and she has only Griff to stand up for her. She finds herself depending on him, and eventually falling in love with him.

I purposely didn’t want to write the “furry love” story—werewolves, cats, other creatures that seem appealing and cuddly. Kylie and Griff’s story was a perfect avenue to explore something I hadn’t seen before. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity.

And some fun questions…

SGLSF: Would you rather be telepathic or telekinetic? Why?

LYNDI: I think I’d rather be telekinetic, especially now that I’ve been diagnosed with an autoimmune illness that makes it difficult to get around sometimes. LOL! I could magically send my groceries up the stairs to my apartment, no matter how heavy they were. Heck, I could send myself up the stairs. I could move furniture with a flick of a finger. I could load the dishwasher from the other room. I’m really liking this idea. Where do I sign up?

SGLSF: If you discovered someone close to you was a vampire, what would you do?

LYNDI: First, I would take them into the sun, to see if they sparkle.

Seriously.

Then I would do my best to make them like me, as a person, so they wouldn’t feel compelled to bite me for sustenance. There could be some real advantages to having an experienced, strong friend in your corner—why not take advantage of that?

Even the smallest degree of hope can spark love. 

Against her wealthy father’s demands, and the usual blockades of a male dominated profession, Kylie Sanderson proves worthy of her position as lead investigator of planet Andan’s Scientific and Investigative Research Taskforce. Someone is killing Andan’s women in an attempt to mutate them into reptiles. Kylie makes it her mission to discover who’s behind the murders and prevent more grotesque deaths. 

Shapeshifting lizard Griff comes to Andan to stop his brethren from mutating other planet’s women into mindless breeding stock. Overcoming Kylie’s suspicious and defensive nature proves difficult, but he must in order to help the SIRT team thwart his planet’s scientists. 

When Kylie is abducted and becomes the first human to survive the transformation, it’s up to Griff to rescue her so SIRT can restore her human form. On the run and desperate to unravel the mysteries of Kylie’s past to solve the crimes of their present, can she and Griff forge a future for themselves? 

Links: Amazon author page   The book is available for Kindle, Nook and in paperback.

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi6OBXl4V6U

Website: http://lyndialexander.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lyndialexander13/?ref=hl