Much ado about Alex

Alexander Mark Lehman Richfield.

A character from the Action! Series that has created so much controversy…I love it!
Okay, for those of you who don’t know Alex, let me give you his background;

If we are taking Going Wild, Book 9 in the Action! Series for our reference point, twenty-two years ago, Alex’s mother, Iris Johansen had an affair with Mark Antonious Richfield. While Mark was in college at Stanford University, he was still struggling with his sexuality. Mark’s deceased father, Milt Richfield, thought his only son was a disgrace and continued to harass and abuse Mark because Mark appeared to be gay, or at least showed tendencies of leaning that way.
During this troubled time for Mark, he had just finished a brutal battle with his father regarding his sexuality and headed to a strip club near campus. Mark was able to get erect and have sex with Iris, (one of the dancers), by staring at a photo of a Gulf War soldier that Iris had taped to her vanity in the changing room at the club.
After the one night stand Mark soon forgot the incident and Iris.
Eighteen years later, in Behaving Badly, Book 4, Alexander shows up at Mark and Steve Miller’s posh home in Bel Air. Yes, Alex had a chip on his shoulder. But can we blame him?

Alexander never knew his biological father. His mother, Iris kept it secret from him. She married his auto-mechanic step-father while she was pregnant, and Bill Lehman did not like this child from another man. Iris and Bill had a daughter, Amy, and twin sons, Will and Kyle, eight years after Alex was born. While Alex shared a room with his twin siblings, he was constantly verbally abused by the bratty boys. Alex also withstood physical abuse from Bill who was an alcoholic. As Alex matured and his sexual nature emerged Bill Lehman’s anger towards Alex grew to fury and hatred.
Alex spotted an ad in a magazine for Dangereux Cologne. His resemblance to the striking model, Mark Richfield was too strong to ignore. When Mark does a guest spot on Forever Young, and his name appears in the credits, Alex becomes aware of who Mark is. Next, Alex tracked Mark down.

Immediately his reception from Steve is warm and filled with amazement, while Mark panics at the idea he has fathered an unknown offspring and of course, later, Mark deals with Alex’s attraction to Steve and all of Mark’s contemporaries.

Think about Alex for a moment.
A young man growing up in a hostile environment, gay as he can be, and alone to deal with it. Alex has a few contacts for sex as an underage young man, but his confusion and loneliness, not to mention the bullying Alex endures both at home and in school, could have had dire consequences to an adolescent who wasn’t made of tough stuff. Alex is very tough. He’s had to be. And even with the mess of his past, which in no way was his doing, Alex strives to be loved, famous, and successful. His determination, his drive, and of course his pretty face, give Alex the television role of a lifetime. He is the star of the new sexy vampire series Being Screwed. Yet Alex, because he lashes out against his father in frustration, is set up for a lot of ridicule by readers of this series.

Alexander sees his father as perfection. Mark is who Alex wants to be in every way. Mark is the nation’s number one top model, rich, a celebrity, and loved. Loved dearly-by three men in particular; Steve, Adam Lewis, and of course his longtime friend Jack Larsen as ‘husbands’; not to mention, Mark is adored by a very supportive group of gay men he has managed to attract.

Alex has been isolated his whole life, and sees his larger-than-life father as a threat.
But Alex learns his life lessons quickly.

He and Oliver Loveday become friends, and lovers. But Oliver is Alex’s age, and still growing into a man as well. Oliver does not fulfill any of the father-figure-hero worship Alex needs to feel whole.

One man does.

Fiction- yes, this is fiction. Though Alex’s story may be someone’s in reality, and probably many young men who have struggled with coming out, living in their father’s celebrity shadow, and a number of youth inspired issues, Alex has become unpopular with some fans simply because he tempted a man who was in a relationship, to stray.

To keep novels intriguing, authors must create drama. Alex is the ‘drama king’ of several of the Action! Series books. Ever since Alexander showed up at Mark and Steve’s door, he has wreaked havoc and tempted oh so many of Mark’s good friends.

In Going Wild, Alex finds his soul-mate. His one true forever love. And so does the man he falls in love with. Though many of us hope that we find that one in a million the first, or second time we meet someone, sometimes love comes a little later. But when it hits, we know it. Alex knows he has hit the lottery with his new man. And his lover is equally in love and loyal. As far as any romance story I have yet written, Alex and his older man mate- are meant to be more than most.

Maybe as you read this blog, as well as the newest addition to the Action! Series, this July when it is released, you will cut Alex some slack. If he was your son, struggling to find his way in a world turned hostile to homosexuality, growing used to his universal appeal and fame, and suffering all the hardships of any twenty-something to grow and learn, you would find a place in your heart for our crazy Alex.

I know you will be thrilled with the latest in the series and expect great things from the once insecure youth, who has blossomed into an intense young man.

Be safe.