Biography

Xenia Alexiou was born in northern Greece on September 20th, 1967. She has studied, traveled, and lived in many countries, on many continents, and considers herself a citizen of the world, but Greece is and will always remain her home.

"There is nothing I enjoy more than traveling and taking pictures of the many breathtaking places this world has to offer. Most of all, I like to capture the wonderful and interesting people that represent these cultures. Trying to see the world through their eyes has been my most challenging yet rewarding pursuit so far.

Children, especially, have always had a special place in my heart. Regardless of race, country and religion, all children should have the right to be JUST that. Unfortunately, this is not the case in many countries, where war and famine have poisoned their youth and replaced the look of happiness and purity in their eyes with that of despair and fear. No child should have to replace balls and dolls for guns and grenades. No child should have haunted eyes."

Her extensive travels have inspired countless stories, and her friendship with author Kim Baldwin was the catalyst in her finally taking the leap to write them. The Elite Operatives series, released by Bold Strokes Books, mark her debut as a writer.

Lethal Affairs, the first book in the series, reached #1 in Lesbian fiction on Amazon's best seller list two days after its July 14, 2008 release. It was also given the "Readers Choice Award" and the Dutch translation Dubbel Doelwit won 2nd prize for "All-Time Best Lesbian International Book".
Thief of Always was released in February 2009. In 2010 it won the prestigious Golden Crown Literary Society Award, or "Goldie", in the category "Romantic Suspense / Intrigue / Adventure". In 2010 it also won the Readers Choice Award for Favorite Adventure Book 2009 and the Readers Choice Award for Favorite Mystery Book 2009.
The third Elite Operatives book Missing Lynx was released in February 2010 and she is currently at work on the fourth book in the series, Dying to Live.

Her passions include photography, the music of her homeland, racing fast cars and bikes, and a variety of sports. She is a voracious reader, and her extensive library contains an eclectic array of academic material, including books on sociology, anatomy, genetics, psychology, chemistry, and physics. Some of her favorite fiction authors include Fjodor Dostojewski, Leo Tolstoy, Umberto Eco, Michael Cunningham, and David Sedaris. But as much as she enjoys all of the above, that which gives her the greatest joy is spending time, when ever possible, with her amazing nephews.

Xenia shares her home with her extraordinary Shepherd, Noah.

COLLABORATION WITH KIM BALDWIN

Kim's a former journalist who started writing lesbian fiction in 2001. In 2005, I read her first two books and offered some feedback on them. We then began corresponding, became friends, and Kim asked me to be one of her 'first readers' on her next three novels, reading along as she wrote. Kim incorporated a lot of my ideas into those manuscripts.

While she was finishing her fifth novel, Focus of Desire, I approached her with a complex intrigue story and asked if she'd be interested in co-authoring with me. Kim jumped at the chance, and that story became Lethal Affairs. It's the first in the series of my stories that we are collaborating on, collectively called the Elite Operative Series. The second book in the series Thief of Always is also available. I recently finished the first draft of Missing Lynx, the third book in the series. I'll give you a sneak preview here on my site as soon as possible.

Check out Kim's website for more information on the author and her work.