Author Spotlight: Jesse Fox

Today's author in the spotlight is Jesse Fox and her releases, Shadows Beneath and Le Jardin de la Lumière available from Dark Roast Press.

Jesse Fox is the nom de plume of a GBLT writer born in a town with a population of 400 at the edge of the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. She grew up on what was the wrong side of the tracks, her father disabled, and her mother a stay at home mom. From the time she was twelve she had dreams of being a comic artist or possibly the female version of Indian Jones. In May of 1986, she graduated from high school but found herself unable to attend college for financial reasons. At eighteen, the day after her graduation she moved to St. Louis looking for work. It was there that she began to aspire to be a writer, beginning with writing poetry (very badly), and leading to fan-fiction when she purchased her first computer.

She's made St. Louis her home and over the past two decades has held down an eclectic mix of jobs. Among those have been positions as an Operations Admin for a ceramic tile company, sales associate and design student at a floral studio. She also spent 13 years in the restaurant industry in various positions, which introduced her to a wide range of people. At present she is managing local rental property, busy honing her skills as a writer, and dreaming of a long lived career as fiction writer.

Her first published work was Shadows Beneath a GLBT Erotic Paranormal novel published by Dark Roast Press and released on April 15, 2008.

WHERE JESSE CAN BE FOUND –

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jesse_fox2008
Live Journal: http://jesse-fox.livejournal.com/
Lair of the Fox Website: http://www.geocities.com/jesse_fox2008/
E-mail: jesse_fox2008@peoplepc.com

Link Tiles – Fox’s Lair: http://linktiles.com/?tile=3040

Shadows Beneath – Released April 2008, Dark Roast Press

BUY LINK –
http://www.darkroastpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=5

Blurb

History repeats itself in the small Mississippi River town of Bauman Creek where two star-crossed lovers met their end during one of the darkest times in the history of the United States. Over a century later, six academics arrive at the site of their demise, Evans House, a haunted place, to oversee an inheritance passed to the State of Illinois by the last of the Evans family. Three of those people, Tristan Pryce, Catherine Mullin, and Jake Bauman will come face to face with the secrets of this place in a way they never imagined. Secrets can never be buried deep enough though and amidst its dark halls, the shadows seem to whisper.

Marcus Havers, a seasoned homicide investigator with the Illinois State Police, finds himself also drawn into the shadows. Called in to investigate the violence unleashed within its walls, he discovers that science cannot always explain everything and gradually, these strangers are pulled deeper into a nightmare, one that some may not escape. Amidst the darkness, the attraction between Tristan and Jake grows, one that may save or destroy them both. Together they must face the darkness, survive a nightmare unleashed, and discover what lies hidden in the shadows if they are to survive. They know you are here and they will not rest. Not until they receive what they desire.

Be afraid of the shadows…

Excerpt

Two cups of steaming coffee sat between the pale-faced companions, a cloud of cigarette smoke joining the steam to encircle their heads. Jake took a deep drag off the cigarette that dangled between his fingers, paused as if to speak, and then exhaled as their eyes met over the table.

“Have you ever thought you were losing touch with reality?”

Jake contemplated Tristan’s words, and then took another deep drag. Cup in hand, he played with the rim, his eyes focusing on the oily swirl as he decided how to answer that question. What could he possibly say to that? “Yeah, I have, Tristan. My entire life I have done nothing but question my sanity.” He leaned forward, sat his cup down, and his hand lowered, fingers splayed on the rough wood. “Whatever you do, Tristan, never think you’re alone in that.”
Jake could feel the tremor of Tristan’s hands vibrate through the tabletop as if he had finally released some huge tension.

Tristan stood, walking to the kitchen sink, where he emptied his barely touched cup down the drain, and watched the dark liquid swirl away. His gaze lifted to the window above the sink, his thoughts muddled as he studied the garden beyond. He wasn’t even really seeing anything. “Do you believe the dead can speak to the living?” He refused to look at Jake, ashamed of the warm tears that threatened to fall.

"I know they do, Tristan. I’ve heard them often when I’m alone at night.” He moved behind Tristan and wrapped his arms around his waist, causing him to flinch as if the touch had burned him. Beneath his embrace, Jake could feel Tristan’s stomach convulse as he tried to swallow back his tears, and fought the urge to pull away from the intimacy of the embrace. “Is that what happened in the attic, Tristan? Did she speak through me?’

“Who the hell is she?” Tristan turned and pulled away from Jake’s embrace.

“I told you something was here, but you refused to believe. Why is that so hard for you? Why can’t you believe? Deep inside I know you believe what I’m saying is the truth.” Anger tinged Jake’s words.

“I’ll lose myself.” Tristan turned away, eyes glazed over. “Don’t you understand? For just a moment, I felt myself slipping. She took my control away!” Swinging his arm out, Tristan sent everything clattering from the counter to the floor. Shattering glass and the tinkling of metal echoed in the kitchen, then faded, leaving only Tristan’s harsh breathing audible in the silence. Fists clenched he fell to his knees as he tried to catch a breath.

With a soft sigh, Jake knelt next to him among the broken glasses and scattered silverware. He hesitantly wrapped his arms around Tristan’s trembling body again and rested his chin on his slumped shoulder. Lifting his head, Tristan looked straight into the eyes of the man who had terrified him less than an hour ago. That was when he realized it. He wasn’t alone in this nightmare; he never had been.

“Our secret, Tristan, our secret, and no one else will ever know.” He hummed softly, fingers sliding up along his back. “Together we’ll discover what she wants.” Jake’s fingers lifted and tangled in his hair, pulling him close.

“She wants me...” Tristan whimpered as their eyes met.

“Well, she can’t have you.” His lips lowered to Tristan’s in a whisper of a kiss.

Sweeter than any taste that had ever touched these lips before, Tristan thought.

“You belong to me now, Tristan.” Something flashed in Jake’s eyes, something Tristan wasn’t sure he could put a name to.

Le Jardin de la Lumière – Released August 2008, Dark Roast Press

BUY LINK –

http://www.darkroastpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=11

Blurb

A successful young artist, Ryan Esson lost everything in the blink of an eye, including his ability to create. Courtesy of an anonymous benefactor, he’s given an opportunity to reclaim something he thought lost forever when he receives a mysterious invitation to a weekend artist's retreat at a pre-Civil War sugar plantation.

Built on a secluded string of islands off the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Le Jardin de la Lumière is a place of intrigue, a haunting legend, and one beautiful stranger, who will mesmerize Ryan. In a stranger’s eyes, will he find the strength to open his mind and his heart again?


Excerpt

Ryan swallowed hard, trying not to let on that a second before he’d been staring at the tightly muscled curve of Eric’s ass beneath his slacks. “Yeah, I guess so.” He nervously shifted his own duffle on his shoulder and stepped past Eric, eyes focused ahead deliberately on the sleek lines of the yacht. “So why do you suppose we were invited?” He could sense Eric at his side, standing far too close for comfort.

“Who knows?” Shrugging, Eric stepped in front of him gracefully, walking backwards as he studied Ryan with an amused expression.

To be honest Ryan didn’t much care for the familiarity with which Eric looked at him, especially considering he’d never seen Eric before in his life until five minutes ago. It stank of some uppity rich boy gigolo trying to scope out his prey. Ryan had seen more than his fair share when he’d attended parties, showings, and gallery openings all over the country, and it had never seemed to matter to any of them that he was on Michael’s arm. So many of them had assumed Michael was wealthy and he was nothing but eye candy for the sake of appearances.

He sniffed in disgust. “There has to be a reason.”

“Why?” Eric questioned as he spun and stepped up on the gangplank. “Can we just say it is what it is? Enjoy whatever pleasures we might discover here?”

Ryan hesitated for a moment; then the memory of that empty loft reared up, blinding him to any doubts, he might have about his present mind set. “No,” he shook his head, “we can’t.”

A soft hum escaped Eric’s pursed lips, “And why not, Mr. Esson?”

“Because,” Ryan met those wide azure eyes, “nothing is ever what it appears to be.”

“True, but then where is the adventure in that?”

Ryan dropped his duffel to the polished deck and leaned into the railing as the crew released the moorings, the boat slipping away from the dock and out across the twilight waters. “Some of us have had enough adventure in our lives.” He huffed out a breath, staring down into the dark water as the yacht sliced through it silently. “We don’t need any more.”

“Oh, but adventure is what brings us hope, desire, even beauty and faith. Adventure is what life is about. Don’t you believe that as well?” Eric chuckled, but there was a sadness concealed somewhere in the sound of his laugh.

Lifting his gaze from the water, he studied Eric for a moment. “No, I don’t.” He paused then admitted, “I did once, but not now—never again.”