Play Date with Lux Zakari

8 Sep

Plot Mamas is oh so happy to welcome the fabulous Lux Zakari. Lux has been a busy lady and has a few new stories. Make sure you check her out!

GM**From what I’ve seen
on your website and other places, you seem to flirt on the edgy and dark side
of romance and erotica. Can we expect any sunshine and daisies romances from
you?

LZ: Let me just say that I enjoy this question! Also, let me
also have a teensy chance to clear up my rep. I do flirt on the edgy and
dark side of romance and erotica, but never do I set out with the intent to
write something dark that will make everyone uncomfy and unresolved. I don’t
want to be pigeon-holed as that being “my thing.” I like to think I write about
the sexy side of relationships, for better and for worse, and I just want to be
true to an outcome that makes sense in regards to the characters. That being
said, I do have some happy endings up my sleeve, but they won’t be easy wins!

GM: **In my research, I
found you’re a Sweet Valley High type. I was more for The Box Car Children.
What drew you to the drama of Sweet Valley High?

LZ: Sweet Valley High
is so awesomely ridiculous. I think it isn’t so much as me enjoying the series
(although I used to adore the books in earnest when I was a kid) as much as I
enjoy snarking on the series. I also enjoy being an expert on something absurd.
I’ve read and blogged about the entire series at www.margorising.wordpress.com for
the sheer purpose of being able to say I did, so I can lapse into a lengthy
diatribe about it—which is probably not something I should admit to! I’ll just
stick to my other party tricks—telling fortunes with playing cards and hula
hooping.

GM: **In your writing
which do you prefer: Long or short (as in story wise)? And why.

LZ: Both have their merits in my eyes. I write short erotic
stories and enjoy how I’m limited to telling a full story in less than 5K
words, as well as the fact they let me reach audiences I might otherwise not.
For example, someone picking up the Girl
Crazy anthology might never have heard of me otherwise. However, I think I
most enjoy writing novels, even though it’s a much more of a commitment. I like
dialogue, which my short stories usually lack; they’re too busy trying to get
to the point. Also, I like having the time to develop my characters’
relationships and providing solid evidence why they should be together—or not.

GM: **What’s in your five
year plan as far as writing goes?

LZ: It’s my full intent to keep writing stories, and I hope to
have my audience of readers grow in number! Readers should always expect my
stories to be a bit offbeat; I will probably never pen a Harlequin romance, but
that’s okay. I’m all right with being a bit a weird. Sexy and strange—that’s my
schtick.

GM: ***And since this is
a Mama’s blog, share a kid-friendly memory. We’re all about teddy bears, snot
bubbles and gum stuck in hair.

LZ: I currently do not have children of my own, which made
writing Finale a bit challenging at
times! Actually I used to be nervous around kids; I didn’t know what to do with
or how to talk to them, and it seemed only “grown-ups” had them, and I
definitely wasn’t one of those! But now I adore my friends’ kids; they’re such
goofballs—not scary at all. I’m honored to be part of their growing up, helping
them learn how to swim, having an impromptu dance party to “It’s Peanut Butter
Jelly Time” and making them laugh by poking their belly buttons.

One of my fav memories involves my friend’s six-year-old
daughter, who, for whatever reason, started asking him “Truth or Dare, Daddy?”
Not exactly game he was ever hoping his daughter would want to play, so he
tried to avoid answering, even though his wife insisted that kids don’t mean
Truth or Dare in the adult sense. Finally, in response to his daughter’s
question, he was like, “Fine! Dare,” and his daughter said, “I dare you…to
fight me.” I just cracked the hell up. That’s definitely going in a book
someday. Speaking of which, because I enjoy torturing my friend, I told him,
“Y’know, I think Lux Zakari wrote about a Truth or Dare game once…” and he was
like, “Just wait ‘til you have kids.”

# # #

Purchase
link for Finale: http://www.whiskeycreekpress.com/torrid/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=601&zenid=6682f72a0e56c6d5ef87b6d88e427d51

Purchase link for Coercion:
http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_12&products_id=315

Find the fantastic Lux at: www.luxzakari.com

Thanks for playing today, Lux!!

Gnome Mama

aka Stephanie Beck