Guest Post: The Countdown to GayRomLit 2016 with Featured Author Lex Chase

Hello, Internet! I’m Lex Chase and Lisa was kind enough to have me here as a part of the GRL Blog Tour! This year I’ll be attending as a Featured Author for a second time. I missed out on San Diego, but I’m baaaaack!

So… let’s talk about something we haven’t thought about, and that’s just what happens when you take 400 naturally introverted people and put them in the same room for three days?

GRL, of course.

The most exciting, yet terrifying time for many of us.

The conversation comes up every year about social anxiety and nerves. Issues of being too shy or too chicken to approach your favorite authors. Also the stress authors put on themselves to make their best impressions.

I just want to say, it s okay. We re all pretty here.

And we all need to learn about her limits. Do you know yours?

I for one as many of you know I am not a hugger. It s not that I don t like you, it s a simple con etiquette. Do not touch. Why? Con crud.

When I get the con crud, I end up in the doctor s office. So if you have it, I prefer not to. And if I m infected, is only polite not to infect you.

One year, I attended Anime Weekend Atlanta. I drove six hours solo, and at the end of the con, I caught the swine flu.

The swine flu kicks in fast. By three hours into the drive home, I coughed. And you know when you have that cough singling something isn t right. By the time I got home three hours later, I nearly passed out getting out of my car.

It wasn t pretty, or fun, but it was pretty scary. And will make you a germaphobe for life. So touching for me at a con is a no go.

For others, it s social anxiety where we have to force ourselves to be on even if we feel terrible in a number of ways. From physical, emotional, or just tapped out, sometimes a kind word is all we need. Sometimes just asking us if we re okay makes all the difference.

Writing is a very solitary and lonely job. We love it, or else we wouldn t do it, but get us in front of people and we freeze up like a deer in headlights.

What can you do? Here are some simple tips.

1. Be gracious. That reader may be terrified to talk to you. They may stumble over trying to explain their feelings. Be gracious. Say thank you. Ask them what they liked and what they didn t. Make a connection and possibly new friend.
2. Every piece you did even the ones you hate mean something to someone. Don t talk trash. There s a story here. I once met a famous actress whose work on a show meant everything to me. Turns out she hated the show, and made me feel like shit for it. Don t do that. Don t ever do that. By the way, I threw away her autograph.
3. When it gets to be too much, know when to excuse yourself. This should be simple. It isn t. Know when to say no. Know when you need to retreat to your room or to a quiet corner. Everyone needs a recharge. GRL is a marathon, not a sprint. We all need to sleep sometime and for that matter eat.
4. Speaking of eating, if you see an author sitting down for a meal please don t bother them. It may be only meal the day they re going to get.
5. As Wil Wheaton always says: Don t be a dick. This is common sense. So what someone doesn t like the alpha male that you like. So what someone doesn t like your genre. So what someone doesn t like the color of your shoes. That is absolutely no reason to make someone feel lesser. We re all here to have a good time. So don t be a dick. The period. End period.
6. Have fun. Let s all come together and enjoy this awesome event that we all love.

See you there!

Buy: DSP – ARe – Amazon – Google Play

Blurb: Modern day fairy-tale princess, Taylor Hatfield, has problems. One, he s a guy. Two, he s an insomniac Sleeping Beauty. Three, his practically perfect brother, Atticus Hatfield, this generation s Snow White, has been irrevocably corrupted by the Witchking. The Library, a clandestine organization, seeks to write The End on Atticus, and Taylor faces the impossible when his own parents endorse his brother s demise. With his true love, the huntsman Corentin Devereaux at his side, they once again set out to find Atticus, but Atticus won t go down without a fight.

The quest ends how it began. But instead of the quirky, corkscrewing Americana road trip, Taylor and Corentin must contend with the dangers of the urban jungle. With an unexpected ally at their side, they re forced to question all they knew about the legacy of Snow White.

As the world of the Enchants and the mundane hang in the balance, Taylor knows what he must do . Go pick an apple.

About the Author: Lex Chase once heard Stephen King say in a commercial, We re all going to die, I m just trying to make it a little more interesting. Now she s on a mission to make the world a hell of a lot more interesting.

Weaving tales of sweeping cinematic adventure depending on how she feels that day Lex sprinkles in high-speed chases, shower scenes, and more explosions than a Hollywood blockbuster. Her pride is in telling stories of men who kiss as much as they kick ass. If you re going to march into the depths of hell, it better be beside the one you love.

Lex is a pop culture diva, her DVR is constantly backlogged, she has intense emotions about Hannibal’s Hannigram, and she unapologetically loved the ending of Lost. She wouldn t last five minutes without technology in the event of the apocalypse and has nightmares about refusing to leave her cats behind.

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