SPOTLIGHT w/INTERVIEW - PNR THRILLER - CAIO (Limerent, #1) by LS Delorme

Caio

Limerent, #1

by LS Delorme

Date of Publication: February 11th 2023

Publisher: Limerent Publishing

Cover Artist: Brittany Wilson

Genre: Paranormal, Romantic, Thriller

ISBN: 979-8-9874880-1-3 Paperback

ISBN: 979-8-9874880-1-0  ebook

ASIN: BOBSGR1VB7

Number of pages: 294

Word Count: 114030

BLURB

Sarah Baker is a paralegal in a law firm in modern-day Brooklyn. Her life is bouncing between her abusive lawyer boyfriend, the voices she hears in her head and her soul sucking work at the law firm. On a New York spring day, she meets Caio as he plays basketball on a street court. He is alluring, intriguing and young. Yet that’s the least of his mystery, for Caio was beaten, thrown into a hole and left to die. In 1905.

Sarah tries to understand this enigmatic stranger while juggling the dubious ethics of her law firm and the ghosts in her head. As she struggles with loss, grief, love, beauty and lawyers, she will need to summon the strength to break all of society’s rules, save several lives and step into a new and potentially magical life.

Caio is the opening book of a new series of supernatural romantic thrillers that will pull on your heart (strings), challenge your perceptions and lead you on a singular journey of discovery and revelation.

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Excerpt:
How can you be as smart as you are and have no backbone, girl? or You’re not pretty enough to be able to expect a man to take care of you, so you better find an administrative job so you can support yourself, or Self-consciousness is just another form of vanity. It’s just you thinking about yourself too much.
That simply scratched the surface of what Sarah heard on a daily basis growing up. On the positive side, she could take criticism with the best of them. She had also learned to channel her sensitivity into an awareness of people’s motivations that coworkers called “uncanny.” On the negative side, when her parents died, she had absorbed their voices into those that already spoke inside her head, and now they were the loudest ones.
It was her heightened awareness that told her that something was not quite right with the Davies case. She wasn’t sure what, and she would need to be careful about how she researched, but it tickled her curiosity.
Sarah was lost in these thoughts as she left the grocery store and made her way home, past the park and toward the basketball courts. When she realized where she was, her heart started to race a little bit at the thought of seeing the boy she had seen last week.
There were some boys playing on the court. She scanned them for someone in grungy clothes, but from a distance, they all looked like they were wearing appropriate attire.
Sarah’s heart sank a little.
Don’t be ridiculous, she told herself. Although she wasn’t exactly sure what she was chiding herself about, it was nice when the voice doing the talking was her own.
As she got closer, she saw the tall, red-haired boy miss a shot and retake the ball. He was one of the regulars. When the red-haired boy landed, he jostled one of the other boys near him. That boy staggered, regained his footing, and in the process deftly stole the ball. When she saw his face, Sarah actually heard herself gasp. The boy who had been pushed, the one who now had the basketball, was the boy she had seen before. She hadn’t noticed him because his appearance was quite different. His shoulder-length dark hair had been cut. He had on a red-and-black striped shirt that didn’t look expensive, but did look brand new, as did the matching shorts. His sneakers were black with pristine white soles. And right at the moment, he was dribbling the ball down the court—straight at her.
Sarah froze. She was standing on the sidewalk behind the basket on the other side of the chain-link fence. She felt like her feet had grown roots as she watched him set up, jump, and make the basket. He came down right in front of her. As he landed, before turning to run back down the court, he stopped and caught her eye. His eyes widened ever so slightly, and he smiled.

For a moment, he looked directly in her eyes and she felt a strange dizzy feeling in seeing him and being seen by him. No one in her life ever seemed to actually see her. No one ever had.

Author Info

Lexy has lived an eclectic life.  As a 'navy brat', she grew up in various US states until her father retired to North Carolina when she was 14.   As an adult, she has continued this "tumbleweed" life, having since lived in 3 countries, 9 US states, and 21 cities around the world.  She has been a musician, scientist and attorney, and was one of the first employees at 23andMe.  But, through all this change, her love of writing has been the one constant whether it be songs, scientific writing, legal briefs, travel blogs or fiction.  Writing the Limerent Series allows her to combine all of this to help her create new worlds.  Lexy lives in Paris with her husband and two very cool sons.

Caio is book one of 8 in the upcoming Limerent Series

The Book Junkie Reads . . .Reckless Dreams  Interview with  . . . LS Delorme . . .

How would you describe your style of writing to someone that has never read your work?  

I've often been told that I write like I speak and that my "voice" is very recognizable.  I think my "style" comes from a desire to be true to the story and characters.  Personally, I don't like to read fiction where the author seems too in love with their own words.  As a result, most of my sentences tend to be short, because a reader is more likely to lose interest in something that runs on for too long. When I was studying Administrative Law, there was one opinion where the judge in question wrote a sentence that was way over 500 words long…one sentence.  It also contained more than three or four negatives.  As a result, there was always debate on its meaning, and most 1st year law students have a deep desire to murder said judge.  I never want to have someone want to kill me as a result of my writing style. 

From a stylist perspective, I like a certain level of juxtaposition when it comes to words.  So, I tend to use both sesquipedalian words and slang in the same sentence or paragraph.  I also have a very dark sense of humor, which I recommend when dealing with the storms of life and people's bullshit.    This tends to bleed into my descriptions of things and themes.  

Do you feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?

What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?

I find that I write certain things better in certain places.   I am a serious "outliner".  When I'm outlining, I do that at my desk.  I also use a spreadsheet to keep track of the character arcs and the structure.   But I write my major "scenes" when they come to me, and that's usually when I'm walking around and listening to music.   I can also say that I have never not used a scene that I have written when waking in the middle of the night.  I tend to have "movie dreams." 

Writing description can be hard for me, as I have absolutely NO physical intelligence.  I don't see things from my knees down.  I spill cokes in my purse because I don't close them tight enough…. the list can go on and on.  So, I write descriptions and scenes from photographs.  Otherwise, I would be saying things like "there might have been a tree in the yard, but she wasn't really sure".  

Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?

YES!  

I'm obsessive about character prep.  It's important to me that the characters can "breathe" on their own.  You need back story and an understanding of what drives your characters to be able to create something compelling.   For example, Sarah is someone who I created to be probably pansexual, in that she isn't attracted to people because of their appearance.  What she is attracted to in Caio is how he treats her…even in the very beginning.  Later there is very much a chemical component to her attraction but it starts with his behavior toward her.   So, I need to know what behavior would really impact her and given how she has been treated in her life, it would be being "seen".   

I also really do pay attention to the backstory of almost every character I write, even the "side" characters.   This is how "Caio" was born.  Originally the character of Caio was a side character in another one of my books in this series, but his back story was so compelling that I had to pair him with Sarah, another character that I had created.  Another fact about things I write is that often when I create a character, someone with the same characteristics or even name, will show up in my life.  This has happened with events as well.  I write it and then it happens.  It's happened so often that it has become an expected occurrence in my family.  

Do you have a character that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper?

Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?

"Caio" is the first book of the Limerent Series.   This series has 8 books in it, all of which are written but in different stages of editing.   I've approached this series a bit like how the Marvel Movies were made.   The first few books introduce different characters who will merge in the latter books.  The next book in the series will be released this October.  It's called "Bright Midnights".  This story exists in the same world as "Caio", but it introduces the character of "Amelie", a reserved and skittish high school senior who spends all her time banking an energy that she has which causes men to become dangerously attracted to her.   In the book, she "flies" in her mind when she sleeps.  One night, she enters a hallway, where a door leads her to being attacked, and then befriended, by a creature that she assumes is made up.  This is until he begins possessing people in her school.  This book is a paranormal, metaphysical romance. 

If you could have dinner/dinner party with 7 fictional character, who would they be?

1. Hannibal Lecter: He's intellectually brilliant, cultured, and sophisticated, with refined tastes in art, music, and cuisine.   Several people allude to the fact that he can't be diagnosed because he is too unique.  At a dinner party, if your manners were good enough, I think he would be fascinating.  
2. Eda from Owl House Series:  My kids think she's my doppelganger, so I would have to include her.
3. Hazel from Watership Down:  Even though he is a rabbit, Hazel is the quintessential leader.  He isn't as strong as Big Wig, or as smart as Blackberry, or as fast as Dandelion but becomes the leader because of his cool head, empathy, and willingness to lead from the front.  He reminds me of Jacinda Ardern from New Zealand, or she reminds me of him.  
4. Johnny Smith from the Dead Zone:  He gets visions of people simply by touching their hands.  While I wouldn't want him to touch me, I would love to ask him the nature of his visions and the physical ramifications on his life and his body.
5. Ripley from Aliens:  She's just such a badass.  I would love to get her thoughts on AI.
6. Dr Frankenstein:  Mary Shelley is female author of Frankenstein, one of the most legendary monsters.  While she deserves a seat at any table, the question is about fictional characters.  So, I would choose the monster, assuming he had learned to speak.  I would want his take on the real villain of the story…the doctor who made the monster.
7. The Narrator of "I'm a Fool" by Sherwood Anderson.  I would ask him just to tell him. "She likes you.  Just tell the truth about yourself."  Then he could be on his way.  

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