Alexandra Norton's Blog, page 2

New look, new book

Houston, we have a logo

My brief to the designer was very hand-wavy. I wanted something that screamed science fiction, futurism, cyberpunk. Nothing too glittery, because I'm not a glittery person or a glittery writer. No pastels. But something that would convey the clash between hard and soft that I feel in all of my writing and in my person in general; something with rough edges that could still feel sexy.

I think my favorite part about this logo is the juxtaposition of the industrial-feeling sans-serif "Alexandra" with the script font of the "Norton". I think it captures my general "vibe" really well.

What do you think? Does this logo match the feel you get from my books?

The next book

Well, we know the next book coming out is going to be Aliens' Vice, the sequel to Alien's Host. It wraps up Layla's, Kuthil Ash Kharn's, and Kak's journey. Aliens' Vice will be released on March 11.

But what about the next book I'm writing?

I'm still getting into the swing of writing series, and realized that is one of my current points of improvement: I have so many ideas in my head, sticking with just one world is difficult. And I've had another idea banging around in my head ever since I took Linnea Sinclair's "character torture" course.

That is why I structured the first two books in Shards of Infinity as a duet. Alien's Host and Aliens' Vice present a complete story for this set of protagonists. Now, I'm taking a break to work on this other thing. This dark, character-torturey thing. And I'm into it. I wrote 10,000 words of the draft last Saturday. The draft is now up to 50,000 words, and it's... let's just say it's a slow, dark-leaning, furious burn.

The plan is to return to Shards of Infinity's next set of protagonists afterwards, with either a standalone part of the series or another self-contained duet.

Paperbacks

Okay so I didn't think many people would actually be interested in ordering paperbacks of my books. Most people read on their Kindle. But I did decide to publish a paperback of Aliens' Vice so that advance review readers could leave their reviews before the official ebook release date, and then I went ahead and published one for Alien's Host as well.

And let me tell you, when I found the author copies on my doorstep last weekend (I was not expecting a weekend delivery), it really hit me more than I expected. I mean... it's just a paperback. But they're beautiful, and physical, and I can hold them in my hands. And with Aliens' Vice being full novel length, it feels chunky. Like a proper book!

Surprisingly, several people also ended up actually ordering the paperbacks already, which I was not expecting. So I'll be producing paperback versions from now on.

Aliens' Vice (Shards of Infinity 2)

Amazon (Kindle Unlimited)

"There was new maturity in her dark eyes. New confidence that wavered only briefly. A sudden urge to dismantle it���dismantle her���rose in me. Could she tell?" 

LAYLA

It's been ten years since Kak came into my life. We had a rough start���sharing your body with a possessive alien who comes to you in passionate lucid dreams is no walk in the park.

I tried to fight it at first, but together we've grown into the perfect organism: two souls in one body. Perfectly synced and molded to each other's needs. We made it work, and he's mine.

But our comfortable life is thrown into upheaval by the unprecedented return of Kuthil Ash Kharn, the alien who implanted a shard of himself inside me all those years ago���the shard that became Kak.

Is it even him? Or has a decade back on his Home world turned him into someone...something... else?

There's a new darkness inside the newcomer that's impossible to ignore, yet it draws me like a moth to a flame. I want to run the other way and continue my idyllic life with Kak, but I can't. Not yet. Because I just learned that people are dying. And the aliens seem to be involved.

Now, I've got one last job to do. And I need Kuthil Ash Kharn's help to do it.

Will Kak and I get through this? Or will the inexplicable pull Kuthil Ash Kharn has on me fracture what took us a decade to build?

Aliens' Vice: A Sci-Fi Sharing Romance is a full-length steamy alien romance novel that leans dark.

Alien's Host (Shards of Infinity 1)

Amazon (Kindle Unlimited)

"Humans weren't built for this," he whispered. "You were too open. I had to bring you back, or you���d disappear.���

LAYLA

I didn't know how frustrating aliens could be until I got stuck with this golden giant on his ranch in the middle of a freak blizzard. The way he towers over me makes my breath hitch and his sharp eyes see right through me. Yet his aloof, condescending attitude towards humans makes me want to just get this job over with and go home.

But now, I'm lying injured in his bed.

And there's something crawling under my skin.

And I can't let myself relax.

Because if I do... I'm afraid I'm going to like it.

KUTHIL ASH KHARN

My new financial advisor is angry about being made to cancel her "Christmas" ritual, but easily placated with a dead tree and shiny objects. Just as we get down to business, however, she is injured on my watch.

Now we're trapped, she's hurt, and I know of only one way to help her.

But when I initialize the healing process of molding, I learn first hand how greedy and hungry a human female can be, no matter how hard she tries to fight her base instincts. And now that we've molded... I realize I'm hungry, too.

Alien's Host is a spicy science fiction romance featuring alien possession and being stuck together in (very) close quarters.

This story was originally published in the Unwrapping the Alien anthology. It contains a revised ending with three additional chapters.

"I stretched inside my new host, unfurling with each breath she took..."

Alien's Host is officially released!

For those who might not know, Alien's Host was originally published in the Unwrapping the Alien anthology. The standalone version contains a revised ending with three additional chapters.

If you got an ARC of Alien's Host, thank you so much for reading and reviewing the book. Today is the perfect day to post your review on Amazon.

Its sequel, Aliens' Vice, is also up for preorder and due to release on March 11.

If you are thinking about picking these up, please pay attention to the forewords! Don't say I didn't warn you ����

Oh, what a shame
Your spirit never left
Possessed me like a demon
Made the worship at your bed

Supernatural, Barns Courtney

Young lady, you're scaring me

It's a new year, and I hope you've all had a great start to 2023.

My own start to the year has been great. We took a little vacation (during which I actually got a lot of words down!), and I'm preparing to publish the first two (interconnected) books in the Shards of Infinity series. Things are a bit hard in the world right now and sometimes I dwell on that, but I try to just keep myself focused and busy while helping where I can.

But enough blabbering - let's get to the fun stuff!

First, the Unwrapping the Alien anthology is coming to a close and I am preparing to publish Alien's Host as a standalone novella. I am thinking of fleshing out the epilogue more. For those of you who have not yet purchased Unwrapping the Alien, now is your chance to get a whole bunch of sexy sci-fi romance stories in one hot package.

If you've already purchased Unwrapping the Alien and would like to get the new epilogue without buying the whole standalone book when it comes out, just send me an email at hi at alexandranorton dot com to let me know and I'll send it over when it's ready.

Second, the sequel to Alien's Host, Aliens' Vice (yes, that's plural ;)), has gone through its professional developmental and copy edits, as well as multiple edit passes by me. It's ready! I aim to publish it about a month or two after Alien's Host comes out as a standalone, but no dates are set in stone yet. We're also finalizing the cover for Aliens' Vice and it's still going through a few minor revisions but... I'm pretty much in love. I can't wait to share it with you all.

Third, big wheel keep on turnin'. After the conflict workshop I did with Linnear Sinclair, the exercises we worked on stayed in my head. During the workshop I began fleshing out some new characters and their world, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. So, I've been drafting. The project even already has a very tentative title, but I'm hesitant to share until I've fleshed out more of the draft ;)

And now for something totally unrelated. I just wanted to share a fun (sort of?) song I heard recently called Young Lady, You're Scaring Me by Ron Gallo. It popped up on my auto-playlist during a roadtrip and I couldn't stop smiling the whole time even though if you really pay attention to the lyrics it's a little bit twisted. But then... aren't we all a little bit twisted?

"Will we feel the same"

Will we feel the same
Caught between the sheets
Time is time again
Ghost

Just show me your world
Will we feel the same

Dancing around my head
Glowing stems of death
Time is time again
Ghost

"Ghost", by GUNSHIP

I've been editing Alien's Vice today, having gotten it back from my amazing developmental editor a couple of weeks ago. I like to listen to "mood music" while editing. I find it a little distracting for straight up drafting, but editing is a bit more technical and listening to music that reflects the atmosphere of the story I'm writing helpful. 

If Alien's Vice had a theme song, it would be Ghost by GUNSHIP.

In the meantime, I also attended a month-long workshop on crafting conflict by Linnea Sinclair (thank you so much to fellow sci-fi romance author Tandy Lyons for bringing the workshop to my attention in the first place). I never felt like conflict was a strong point for me. There were so many "Aha!" moments during the workshop. While completing the 7 homework assignments throughout the month, I ended up with a rough outline of my next story, which I even started drafting while waiting for Alien's Vice to come back from the editor.

But now the developmental edit is back, and I am focusing entirely on it. I cannot wait to incorporate all of the feedback, send it back over for a copy edit, and then finally release it to the world (that's you!)

"Why didn't you wake me?!" - "You didn't seem to want waking."

The first draft and minor cursory edit of Alien's Vice is officially sent for its developmental edit! As a recap, Alien's Vice is the sequel to my two-book plan for the Shards of Infinity series. Book One, Alien's Host, is currently out as part of the Unwrapping the Alien anthology.

Novel editing view

I tried not to get too hung up in small wording details when giving the rough draft a once-over: the point of the developmental edit is to judge the overall plot and character development, not get hung up on wording. After incorporating feedback that comes as part of the developmental edit, I will do a more detailed stylistic and grammar edit before sending it off to the editor again for the copy edit. 

Yes, I know that's a lot of edits... But I decided to focus on quality at the expense of speed. 

He ���oofed��� as I scrambled, hands and knees digging haphazardly against his body as I pushed away to clamber off the bed. I stood pressed against the bedroom door, arms crossed on my apron-concealed chest and legs pressed together tightly.

���Why didn���t you wake me?!���

���You didn���t seem to want waking,��� Kuthil Ash Kharn propped himself up on an elbow. I kept my eyes firmly on his, for his hard, marble-patterned chest was bare and led into nothing but a flap of blanket positioned precariously low on his groin, revealing the V-taper that led from his hips to���

���Not you,��� I snapped. ���I mean, you too. Both of you. Fuck.��� I raked my hand through my hair, unsure of what the fuck I meant anymore.

Kak could have woken me up when he sensed Kuthil Ash Kharn���s presence in the bed. He���s done it before, forcing me from my dreams. Why did he let me sleep through that? What had I done?

He rose up in my chest and I took a deep, slow exhale out of the subtle pang of nausea. I seethed, stifling him as he attempted to flood me with some sort of��� reassurance? Acknowledgement? Alarm? I didn���t need that now. I needed that hours ago!

I couldn���t help myself���my eyes strayed to Kuthil Ash Kharn as he sat up in the bed, arms rippling with striated muscle. He mercifully adjusted the blanket more securely over his nether region, but the knowing glint in his eye made me want to punch him. ���Your sleep betrays you, Layla Oberman.���

I had nothing to say to either of them. I realized I was standing in my underwear covered by a mussed up thigh-length apron, staring at the naked alien before me like an idiot, unsure whether to be very angry or very aroused.

���I have to go feed the chickens,��� I blurted. He raised an eyebrow, presumably at my sudden claiming of responsibility for the chicken coop.

A smile played on his lips as I fumbled for the doorknob and backed myself out of the room, refusing to turn around and give him a glimpse of my nearly bare ass���as if I didn���t just spend the night pressing it against his naked body. I willed my cheeks to stop burning.

Alien's Vice

Unwrapping the Alien (Christmas Anthology)

Read on any platform

Unwrapping the Alien is a stellar collection of Christmas sci-fi romance stories from all your favourite authors.

Steamy and sweet, spicy and hot with all the alien action you'll ever need. Hearts are made to sparkle again, aliens get naughty (or nice) with their mates, relationships from beyond the stars are perfectly wrapped and finished with a bow.

So curl up, get cosy and get ready to unwrap your very own alien for Christmas!

Participating Authors:

Krista Luna
Holly Hanzo
Godiva Glenn
Hattie Jacks
Chloe Parker
Tandy Lyons
Alexandra Norton
Latrexa Nova
Remy Cavilich
Melody Beckett
Jinx Layne
Eden Ember
Deysi O' Donal
 

Snake Keeper (The Federation's Keepers 1)

Amazon (Kindle Unlimited)

First a deadly virus, now spaceships descending upon the Earth. What's next, getting abducted by a red-eyed alien snake monster?

The Federation came to invite humanity into the fold. The last thing I want to worry about is alien "Keepers" or the humans they want to bring back to their worlds for an "evaluation period". I want to keep my head down, study, and live my normal life in peace.

Xioumar, the Keeper put forward by the serpentine species of Xiorn, has plenty of willing human volunteers to go with him. I saw the one they assigned him, fawning over the towering, statuesque alien like a lovesick puppy.

So why does it have to be me?

He moves like a viper ready to strike, and his touch sends a very unsettling jolt of electric heat down my spine. Are they all like that, or is it just him?

Ripped from my home against my will and taken hundreds of thousands of light-years away, I am trapped. And now I have to learn to live with this monster.

But I'm not worried. I have a plan.

Exiled Keeper (The Federation's Keepers 2)

Amazon (Kindle Unlimited)

When I said I wanted an adventure, being dragged to a prison planet by a golden, blue-eyed alien hitman was not what I had in mind.

My alien Keeper has killer abs, but it turns out he���s also a killer, period.

All I wanted when I volunteered to live with aliens for five years was to prove to everyone that I wasn���t safe, boring little Anette.

But then my seemingly perfect hunk of a Keeper turns me into an accomplice to murder and gets us both in huge trouble with Federation law. This is way more excitement than I bargained for.

He���s a murderous, infuriating, solar powered brute of a creature. Light courses through his veins and death comes at his hands. But he promises to protect me, and to get me home.

Can I keep it together and find the courage I need to make it through this? And can I prevent my unwanted attraction to the exiled alien killer from clouding my judgment before it���s too late?

Or will I need to let him suck me into his twisted world and let go of my own humanity to make it out alive?