Charlie Cochrane - Mysteries with a dash of slash, romances with just a pinch of spice

Lovely to have my old mucker Lex Valentine as my guest today. (One of the great delights of having interviews is what you discover about people you think you know!)

So, Lex, what inspired you to start writing?
I don’t know, honestly. I started penning poetry at a very young age…like first grade. The older I got the more I wrote. I guess I liked creating worlds different than my own. It was probably escapism!

Do you have another job (paid or otherwise) apart from being an author? If so, how do you juggle your time?
I have multiple jobs. I’ve worked as the network administrator at a 100+ year old cemetery for 15 years. I also do covers, graphics and websites as Winterheart Design. As for juggle…I don’t always that do that very well, but other than the EDJ and the urge to write, all the other stuffs ebbs and flows. Sometimes I have a lot to do, sometimes not much. I just do what has to be done when it’s supposed to be done as close to deadline as possible!

What did it feel like watching your first book fledge and leave the nest?
It was really exciting, but I don’t think it had really hit me yet. My first two were novellas and the third was a full length novel. That third book got a lot of attention, great reviews, nominated for awards…I think it really hit me then. OMG. I’m an author! I felt faint and nauseous with excitement then. It hit me so much harder than the first two novellas.

Are you character or plot driven? What do you do if one of your characters starts developing at a tangent?
I’m both just like I’m both a plotter and a pantser. I have characters who are all about telling their stories. And I have books that are all about the plot. Usually, I fall in the middle. I have plot points like mile markers on a map, places where I have to go on my journey. Between those plot points, I let the characters drive. I don’t stifle them. I let them ride my creativity to the next plot point. I find it much easier to unleash my creativity that way. Something that is overly plotted would never really suit me. I would feel stifled trying to write that way. Even so, my plot points often do drive the story in conjunction with the characters rather than an either or situation. Oh, and I just ride those tangents. Sometimes I end up culling some of it. Sometimes it’s too good, too relevant to omit.

If you were in a tight corner and had to rely on one of your characters to save you, which would it be and why?
HA! It would be Travis Wilder from Partners. The man has mad skills. He’s super observant, proficient with weapons, thinks quickly on his feet and has no qualms killing someone. He was Marine Force Recon after all. And he’s a great cook.

If you had no constraints of time and a guarantee of publication, what book would you write?
All the stuff I write today. I don’t write anything I don’t want to and I don’t write anything I wouldn’t read myself.

Is there a classic book you started and simply couldn't finish?
I’m probably going to get killed for this but…Jane Austen…The Hobbit…a host of other classics as well. There’s a good reason I like action movies. I don’t like things to drag out. I’m kind of an instant gratification girl. Don’t spend an entire chapter telling me what a room looks like. I’m going to wander off and find something else to do. I got tired of reading Ann Rice for this very reason.

What’s your favourite gay romance/other genre book? And why?
My favorites change depending upon my mood. I re-read everything of Kim Dare’s over and over and over again. I reread my faves of Lynn Lorenz, Belinda McBride, LB Gregg, Josh Lanyon and ZA Maxfield, over and over. Which book always depends on my mood at any given time. I’ve never had just one book that was my favorite. I have lots of favorites. The one thing I can tell you about why I am addicted to rereading everything MM of Kim Dare’s is that her characters, despite being kinky, are so obviously in love. They sometimes can’t say the L word, but they feel it and she makes you feel it and know it even when she doesn’t say it on the page.

What's your next project?

I have three that are demanding my attention. I have to rewrite a big chunk of my 2nd Out in the NFL book, Out of the Pocket. It’s way overdue. I also need to write the 3rd Souls in Bondage book, Binding Heaven. And VJ Summers and I need to get the 2nd Shadows & Kink book, Masks, out by the summer.

Partners, Shadows & Kink 1 by VJ Summers and Lex Valentine