Lexi George – Author of the Demon Hunting Series

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Good morning, Lexi. Thank you so much for stopping by and talking to us today about your Demon Hunting series. I’ve been having a great time with your series, and I have seen many great reviews for Demon Hunting in the Deep South. A lot of readers seem to have enjoyed it as much as I did.

I have many, many questions for you, but first tell us about you. Have you always known you wanted to be a writer?

Many thanks, Lucy, for inviting me to be here, and for your wonderful reviews! I have always written, but I didn’t consider making it a career until well into adulthood. I graduated college with a public relations degree, and went to law school after that, because I didn’t know what else to do. For those of you who haven’t been to law school, it teaches you how to think logically and critically, but not so much creatively. So, my creative well kind of ran dry during those years, and then I got my license, started practicing law, got married, and had kids, all of which stymied my writing.

I didn’t start writing again until my thirties, and then it was sporadic, because it’s hard to write when you have small children, a day job, and a dirty house. But, I wrote when I could, for fun. It wasn’t until much later that I joined a writer’s group and RWA, and started taking craft classes, that I buckled down and got serious about writing to be published, which is very different than writing for fun.

Do you read what you write?

Yes, and no. I have always LOVED romance, but when I read, it’s usually historical romance, although I read many other things too. I don’t read urban fantasy or paranormal romance, because I’m terrified I might subconsciously be influenced or “borrow” another writer’s ideas. Silly, I guess, because there are no “new” ideas, but there you are. I do enjoy Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series (and the HBO series TRUE BLOOD!), and I love Janet Evanovich’s humor. Right now, I’m reading book 3 in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. His world building blows my mind, and I am intrigued that each chapter is written from a different character’s point of view, so you see the story from all sides. Brilliant!

Let’s talk demons. In Demon Hunting in Dixie, you introduce  us to Addy Corwin and her small town of Hannah, AL, which seems to be a hot-bed of demon activity. Why do the demons love Hannah so much? Is it the Fried Chicken at the Sweet Shop?

Good question, and one that’s answered in book three, Demon Hunting in a Dive Bar. Hannah’s rolling hills were created when a meteor crashed into earth, and it’s the properties of the fallen star that make Hannah such a hotbed of magic and woo woo! Also, when the star fell it created a thin spot between worlds, that allows all kinds of creatures entry. The crater is the source of the magic, and it attracts all kinds of supernatural critters, including demons. The fried chicken at the Sweet Shop is a bonus!

All the demon activity in Town also brings the Dalvahni to Hannah, including sexy and gorgeous Brand and Ansgar. Who are the Dalvahni and why are they here?

The Dalvahni are a race of immortal warriors created by the god Kehvahn to hunt and capture the djegrali, or demons, when they leak into other worlds and cause mischief. The djegrali were confined by the gods behind the Veil, until Kehvahn’s brother, Pratt, a trickster sort of like Loki in the Norse pantheon, tore the veil and released them. As for the demons, no one knows where they come from. They are older than the Kehvahn and Pratt, older even than the stars.

The Dalvahni know nothing but duty and the hunt. They are humorless and emotionless, except for battle rage and lust . . . until they come to Hannah and fall in love, and then the fun starts!

In Demon Hunting in Dixie, Ansgar seems to be very by-the-book and frequently reminds Brand that he shouldn’t be fraternizing with Addy, and how it’s time to leave Hannah and return to the Hall of Warriors. Hmmm, seems like Ansgar has found a new rule book in Demon Hunting in the Deep South.

Ansgar, or the Giant Frozen Hemorrhoid, as Addy calls him, is all about duty and the hunt, and prides himself on being in control. Quite frankly, he is shocked and disappointed when his brother Brand, falls in love with Addy Corwin. It is simply not done! Then he meets and falls in love with Evie Douglass, and she rocks his world. At the end of book one, Evie loses her memory and Ansgar leaves, telling himself that it’s for the best, and he will forget her. Epic failure on his part; he can’t stay away, and comes back with his tail between his legs.

Ok — I can’t wait anymore! You seem to tie up several lose ends at the end of Demon Hunting in the Deep South. I have to know – will there be more Dalvahni visiting Hannah, AL?? (*Please say yes! Please say yes!*)

Why, yes! In book three, Demon Hunting in a Dive Bar, Conall, the leader of the Dalvahni, does the unthinkable and falls in love with a demonoid, the half human and half demon progeny of a demon possessed human. Talk about breaking the rules and shocking some folks! He fights it, of course, but he loses. 😉

I have ideas for nine more books in the series, including a story about a female demon hunter. The Kirvahni are the sweepers for the Dalvahni—they come in and fix things when the Directive Against Conspicuousness is violated. Think of them as Internal Affairs. Needless to say, the Dal and the Kir don’t get along.

We meet some interesting new characters in Demon Hunting in the Deep South, including a bartender named Beck and her mysterious stalker. Maybe we’ll see more of them?

Yes, again! Beck and Conall are the H&H in book three, Demon Hunting in a Dive Bar. I loved writing Beck. She’s a tough cookie, but her hard exterior conceals a tender heart. The demons are trying to recruit the demonoids to their side, so there’s action and adventure and, of course, romance between a certain stern demon hunter and the demonoid owner of a dive bar.

I have to ask. I’m from the suburbs of NYC. To me, a small southern town like Hannah, AL, has to be completely fictional. Does small town life in Hannah exist only in your imagination or did you base it off of some real town?

Hannah is both totally fictional and totally real. I was born and raised in a tiny town in South Alabama and I live with my family in another small town today, so the atmosphere and local flavor come from my life experiences. Southerners are zany, colorful people, with a lively sense of the ridiculous and an over-the-top way of expressing themselves. I have always loved funny sayings, and I collect them like magpies. When you grow up in a small community, you know everything about your neighbor and vice versa, so that sense of intimacy that drove Addy crazy is very real. Everyone knows your business in a small town. On the flip side, people are generous and willing to help, and come together in times of trouble.

I only recently found out that I missed a Demon Hunting short story that you have in the anthology, So I Married a Demon Slayer. I am looking forward to picking up a copy for another quick trip to Hannah, AL.

Yes! My story in the anthology is called So I Married a Demon Slayer, and tells the story of Bunny Raines, the Hannah librarian, and Rafe, the demon hunter she falls in love with. It opens at the wedding, where Bunny finds out the man of her dreams is an immortal demon hunter, and the “mugger” he saved her from was a demon. I had a blast writing it, and I hope you will check it out.

Thank you so much for stopping by and talking to us about your Demon Hunting series. We hope to see more stories from you soon.

No, thank YOU, Lucy! You’ve been incredibly generous and supportive.

Check out our reviews on the Demon Hunting series:

Demon Hunting in Dixie and

Demon Hunting in the Deep South

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Lexi George is an appellate lawyer by day and a romance writer by night. She started her writing career in the third grade penning bad poetry about hydrangea bushes and Erik the Red. Ironically, she ended up marrying a Viking, a Northern boy who came to Alabama with the Air Force and stayed.

She wrote poetry all through high school and college. And then she decided to go to law school and the muse left in a huff. The muse hated law school.

The muse returned when Lexi’s oldest child was a toddler and Lexi has been writing ever since. After piling up an impressive number of rejections on her first book, a fantasy romance that she worked on for more than ten years, Lexi decided to try her hand at something else. The result was Demon Hunting in Dixie, a paranormal romance about demon hunters in the Deep South.

The second book in the series Demon Hunting in the Deep South, was released on July 31, 2012. Lexi has a novella in the Kensington anthology, So I Married A Demon Slayer. Book three, Demon Hunting in a Dive Bar, will be released in January of 2013.

The muse is very happy, and so is Lexi.

Visit Lexi on Facebook and Twitter and check out her website at www.lexigeorge.com.

Lexi’s books are available from: Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, BooksaMillion.com, indieBound.org, or your favorite retailer.

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