Random Musings

Random Musings because it's just that kind of day - brain is not on track for anything cohesive.

* We're stuck indoors while fierce rain and winds lash down and everybody has cabin fever. I've been reading some books I'm judging for a contest and working on a short story for THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF PARANORMAL ROMANCE that will be coming out with a British publisher (but here in the U.S. too) sometime next summer. It's a satirical take on The Princess and the Pea (all of those shallow princes who fell in love on looks alone always drove me nuts; what if Rapunzel's glorious hair hid the personality of a troll? Who the heck CARED if a princesss could feel a pea under mattresses?). Anyway, mine involves a spoiled princess, a cranky serving wench, and a very surprised elven prince. I'll post a little bit later after I've played with it some more.

* I'm roasting a turkey just because. Love turkey. Love to make turkey veggie soup the next day. Love turkey sandwiches.

* Did I mention the rain? And the first day of school canceled till Monday? And cranky bored kids?

* Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories a day. I'm taking up swimming. Now. On NPR's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me show, at the end where the panelists make predictions, Peter asked what Phelps would do next. One of the predictions was "go back to his day job as Mayor of Atlantis" and I laughed so hard I nearly snorted Diet Coke on my keyboard. (In a strange coincidence, Alexios's heroine is a former Olympic contender in swimming.)

*Finally, last but certainly not least, I have been overwhelmed by all the gracious posts and private emails from all of you about the delay in the books and my health. I feel so grateful and humbled that you have all been so kind to me. Thank you with all my heart.

hugs, Alyssa - off to carve a turkey :)

Good news and bad news . . .

VERY IMPORTANT: Okay, the Bad News first.

With many apologies, I have to report that ATLANTIS UNLEASHED will not be released in August as previously reported, but it has been moved to June ’09. I was very, very ill the first half of this year and everything had to be pushed back. I am really sorry that the announcement of the delay didn’t get made sooner; with everything going on, updating websites was far down my priority list. Please accept my sincerest apologies for not letting everyone know about the delay – and that it’s so long – much sooner. Sometimes life and health issues just get in the way, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all for hanging in there with me. You are amazingly kind and generous - all of the emails and messages have truly lifted my spirits when things were difficult. Thank you so much.

To help make up for this delay, I’ll be posting free short stories, excerpts and deleted scenes on the website over the next several months until WILD THING is reissued in mass market paperback form in January, and then during the January until June timeframe. Thank you for trying my books and for hanging in there with me when life and health had to come before writing.

The Good News - No, Great News - is that we're going to have a gracious plenty (as my Southern friends say) of Warriors next year. Here's the projected schedule:

January, '09: WILD THING - Bastien's novella in this anthology - will be reissued in mass market paperback at the $7.99 price point for all of those who hate paying $14 for trade.

June, '09: ATLANTIS UNLEASHED - Justice's long-awaited story. Both my editor and my agent said it's the best story in the series yet. It's much much longer than the others (turned it in at 500 manuscript pages) and much darker and more emotional. I hope you love it as much as I do. I so wanted Justice to have his happy ending.

July, '09 - the very month after Justice's book: ATLANTIS UNMASKED - Alexios meets Grace and his life is never going to be the same. I'll have some deleted scenes up soon where you'll meet Grace and see why he's drawn to her.

"Fall" '09 - exact date to come: ATLANTIS REDEEMED, Brennan's book. He met his heroine in Justice's book and oh boy was it an explosion. Plus there is that small problem that he can't remember her the minute she's out of his sight . . . Wow. This one is going to be tough to write my way out of . . . but Brennan deserves the best.

So there you have it. The bad news and the good news. Please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in letting everyone know and thank you so, so much for your kindness in trying my books and for caring about what happens to my Warriors. I am truly blessed to be able to write my stories and I am grateful and humbled that you enjoy them.

hugs, Alyssa
ps There will be excerpts and extras and short stories posted soon on the website - stay tuned!

Pics!!

Me and dear friend Marianne Mancusi at Sambuca's family style Italian restaurant - home of the bowling ball sized meatballs!!


The whole gang: Marianne and me and Cindy Holby and Barb Ferrer and Liz Maverick. We had a blast!! and then ice cream. oops!


Central Park view at dusk - gorgeous!


Me, Barb, and Best (Assistant) Editor in the World, Leis Pederson at Ellen's


Outside of Ellen's - surprisingly not too long of a wait to get in pre-theater, but I do try to schedule my theater going for Tuesdays and Wednesdays and avoid the weekend crush Loved it, loved it, loved it!!!

hugs,
Alyssa, who will have more later

POOR UNFORTUNATE SOULS . . .

Yes, I'm still singing sea with Ursula's song from The Little Mermaid on Broadway (go here for a wonderful snippet if you have time; it has music) last night. (Ursula was played by Meredith Inglesby and she ROCKED THE HOUSE!!!!) Why do I always love the villains best?? Hmm, maybe something to ponder later . . .

The funniest part was when Sebastian made a reference to "Grandpappy Poseidon" and we cracked up!! I was with a very good friend who knows my books and Best (Assistant) Editor in the World, so they laughed so hard and tried to convince me to use the line in my books!! Can't you just see Ven saying something like that when Riley has her baby???

We had dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner before the theater and it was amazing! All of the wait staff are aspiring singers and dancers and actors, so they sang all through dinner - some of them will be on Broadway very soon, if the level of voice talent is any indicator!! The girls had an amazing time.

And, best of all, I'll post more pictures in a few minutes!
hugs,
Alyssa

 

 

Start spreading the news . . .

New York!!! My favorite city in the entire world!!! I'm here for an entire week and having a blast. We have an amazing apartment (see above for view from my window) and the week is jam-packed with fun, sights-seeing, shopping, museums, spending time with Best Editor in the World, and going to shows. Tonight is Little Mermaid on Broadway. Okay, must run but enjoy the pics!! I'll try to post more daily.
hugs,
Alyssa

Happy Summer!!

Happy Summer!!!!


Wow! It's been a while since I checked in - crazy crazy times here. But it's finally summer, my darling son graduated from elementary school (how did that happen?? he was just born!!) and no more homework, projects, or early morning alarms! yay!!

How are you all doing? Any fun summer trips?

We are going to a Disney family vacation this week. We're staying at the Wilderness Lodge and doing the whole crazy park-hopping thing. I'm not really theme park girl, but it seems like it would be impossible to have a bad time at Disney. LOL. After that, I'm off to NYC for a week mid July to meet with editors and agents and take my daughter the diva to Broadway camp.

Then of course it's San Francisco the end of July for RWA national. I hope any northern Californians can come out and meet me!

Just had some amazing news!! The More than Magic contest of Romance Writers Ink announced their winners - and ATLANTIS RISING took first place in paranormal! But wait, there's more - ATLANTIS AWAKENING took second place!! But wait, there's more! LOL. This is the most exciting - ATLANTIS RISING is the grand prize winner of all the categories!! I was so honored and thrilled and surprised!! (You can see the full list here - there are so many very talented writers on that list; I'm very proud to be part of it.)

In news you really want to hear, I should finally know the new release date for ATLANTIS UNLEASHED within the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!!!

Okay, more later. I'm off to watch the Tonys. But I promise not to fall out of touch again!!
hugs,
Alyssa
ps If you've been waiting on a mailing, they're all finally going out this week, we promise!

Friday free throws

1. Go see PRINCE CASPIAN. Even if you don't have kids. Loved it! I so wish I could have dinner with C.S. Lewis.

2. My dear friend Karen Rose's first hardcover novel just came out and it's brilliant! If you love romantic suspense or even straight thrillers, this book is for you. James Patterson even gave her a cover quote. Check out SCREAM FOR ME now!

3. I'm still at Romance Divas all weekend talking about mythology in writing - pop over and read the posts - fascinating stuff happening.

4. I just wrote a post over there, in fact, that made me realize a basic truth about my dark and twisty mind: I think my subconscious hangs out in bars with Stephen King's subconscious and they shoot tequila together.

Seriously.

5. Remember the Boy Scout Rescue Mission? Found out today that my darling son's class had to write an essay and do a multimedia project on "My Hero" this week - and he wrote about me and did a movie!! I'll see if he can figure out how to load the movie here; it's pretty cool. (And yes, that was the sound of me getting all choked up.)

Happy weekend!
hugs,
Alyssa

Guest blogging!

Come visit me over at Romance Divas with other fabulous authors as we talk about myth in paranormal romance!



Everything Old Is New Again – Using Mythology in Romance

May 16, 17, and 18 at Romance Divas


Featuring:

P.C. Cast

Robin D. Owens

Gena Showalter

Lori Handeland

Alyssa Day


Want to know how to use mythology, culture, fairy tales, or folklore in romance? Romance Divas is hosting a 3-day workshop with some of the hottest names in the genre. It will take place at the Romance Diva Forum. All are welcome. To get access to the forum you will need to register.

Guest blogging!

If you're an aspiring writer, stop by and see me at Romance Vagabonds today. I'm talking about supbplots!
hugs,
Alyssa

Bid on signed books!!

Okay, it's an auction, so you're actually bidding, but author Brenda Novak
has a huge annual fundraiser to raise money to fight juvenile diabetes and you
can bid on a full set of mine HERE!

There are many many more things to bid on, including an African safari!
hugs,
Alyssa

The Great Mommy/Boy Scout Rescue Mission of 2008

And you all thought an author's life was glamorous . . .

So my darling son went away Saturday morning for his first sleepover camp away from home. He's still a couple of weeks shy of his 11th birthday, and I spent most of Friday night hyperventilating. Because:

1. First sleepover camp
2. First camping trip without a parent, just the Scout masters
3. They held it in the Florida Keys. Which is a very very very long way from Jacksonville. (440 miles, to be exact, but more on that later)

Finally, Saturday morning, I decided to let him go. After all, I'm very adventurous. My husband is very adventurous. I didn't want to crush Connor's sense of adventure at such an early age because Mommy was worried.

Right?

Wrong.

After more than 10 hours in the van, they finally arrived Saturday night and set up camp. In the swamp. Seriously. Long Key State Park smells like a swamp or a sewage treatment plant. I'm sorry if you're from Long Key, but even driving up to it I could smell the stench through my closed windows. (Driving. Up. To. It. Yes. I'll get to that . . . )

We got a call at breakfast Sunday, things were good. Much camping activity planned. No call Sunday night, but okay, scouting things. Independence. Mommy tries not to worry.

Monday morning the phone rang. It was the scout master. Heart leaps in throat. What's wrong?

Connor is in bad shape. Because the SWAMP they picked to camp in is -- wait for it . . . this is a shocker if you know anything about Florida or swamps . . . A MOSQUITO NESTING GROUND.

The poor kids have been SWARMED. Connor has my blood chemistry, which means that he, too, is very attractive to all manner of stinging insects, and he reacts badly to them. The scout master says, We're all bitten pretty badly, but poor Connor is the worst. The other scout master is on the way to the store for FIVE MORE CANS OF BUG SPRAY.

FIVE.

Connor wants to come home. Also he has a bad scratch right next to one eye.

Okay. I say, reasonably, I think, Are you all coming home early since you're being dive-bombed with mosquitos?

No.

Okay. I say, I'm on my way. Less than an hour later, Tom Tom programmed, daughter ensconced at the home of a very wonderful friend, I'm in the car heading south. Driving south.

Driving. South.

For Four Hundred and Forty miles. South.

Arrive at camp site amidst stench 7 1/2 hours later and bugs start to dive bomb me. Walk through group of very depressed-looking kids, all scratching their bug-bite covered limbs, to find mine. He's in the tent packing up. Say, Connor come out here.

Child is a mass of welts from head to toe. Literally. Swollen up so badly behind his ear, his ear is pushed out from his head. Neck covered, Arms and legs covered. Every available inch of space covered. He's trying to roll up his sleeping bag, I say, forget that, just throw it all in the trunk. We make the mad dash out just before all blood is sucked out of my body by kamikaze mosquitos.

Head 30 miles back up the road, trying desperately to keep poor kid from scratching himself raw. Stop at lovely Key Largo Holiday Inn resort and put child in shower. He comes out and sits in only his shorts on bed while I slather him with half a tube of cortisone cream. EVERYWHERE is covered with bites. They got in his clothes. Bites even in his armpits. Between his toes. Gave him Benadryl, I take shower to wash 440 miles of road off. We head for dinner, he eats like starved thing. Other boys ate faster so he never got seconds.

Back to room, collapse in exhaustion. Wake up Tuesday and drive the 410 remaining miles home.

Wait, are we getting to the glamorous part yet? Oh, no. Hmm. Maybe where I washed 8 loads of laundry yesterday, with all camping clothes, gear, and sleeping bag wet and sandy from beach . . .

But he did tell me he helped clean up a turtle nesting ground Sunday and he was proud of that. (The welts and bruising are healing now.)

We got matching t-shirts and are calling this The Great Mommy/Boy Scout Rescue Mission of 2008. Because you have to laugh about this stuff. And who wouldn't drive 900 miles in 2 days to rescue her kid? It's in the Mommy contract.

But from now on? No camping trips further than 150 miles. Seriously.
hugs,
Alyssa, trying to survive the final 4 days of spring break

The happiness of THE END

random stream of consciousness; done the end done red bull done coffee the end diet coke must go to dentist now will snore in chair is that bad?

ok after nap I'll take a look at final clean up; goal is to get this baby to editor by the 21st. Happy happy happy done

Oh, and just filed taxes too so life is happy now. House? Hmm. tornado seems to have hit, indoors, sometime during last month or so . . .

sigh.

for some reason I want to take a nap

Could it be the sleepover Princess had last night, where the girls were up, giggling, till midnight? Or could it be some sort of subconscious puggy mind control, because I walked through the family room on my way to find caffeine, and had to pass this:

Fun news!!

Just heard through the grapevine that my good friends Catherine Kean and CL Wilson won in the historical and paranormal categories of the prestigious Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence contest!!

Catherine writes lovely, richly nuanced historical romance that really pull you into her world. And CL spent FIVE YEARS writing the first two books in her series - you better believe they are amazing!!!

Cheers to both of them!!
hugs,
Alyssa

T-5 . . . continued

Received a lovely note from a reviewer today. She said that she read on my blog that I was going through a rough patch with
revisions, and then she wrote:

"I finished reading the Anthology Shifter yesterday and thought I would
share my review ( I'm a reviewer for a Dutch website on English
(romance) books) of Shifter's Lady with you, just to let you know what
an amazing writer you are and how much we love what you do. We hope
you'll hang in there also on these bad days."

What a thoughtful thing to do - I have to tell you that notes like this and the posts you all make on my blog, and all the emails are so encouraging when life is getting in the way of the writing. I'm back at it today, after yesterday's sinus migraine and "Family Fun" aka "Stand around in the heat and spend $40 on raffle tickets to win nothing but at least we're raising money for the school" Day.

Life is good. I'm very lucky. Hope you're all having great weekends!
hugs,
Alyssa

T-5

Bad day. Brain melting. Child still sick. Will try T-5 again tomorrow.

T minus 6, and chapter 1 changes again

for the 4000th time, but who's counting????? argh.

ATLANTIS UNLEASHED, copyright Alesia Holliday/Alyssa Day

Four months ago: A cave deep underneath Mt. Rainier, Cascade Range, Washington, United States

Justice took inventory of his condition, his weapons, and his chances, as he’d done so many times before in his centuries as a warrior and came up with:

1) bad,

2) worse, and

3) odds-on favorite to be a dead man in the next five minutes.

Condition, physical: Currently lying flat on his belly with his face smashed down on the side of a wet and soon to be seriously enraged tiger. Peacock-sized egg on the back of his head from rough handling by the vamp and wolf shifters who’d carried him down the long tunnel from the surface. Possible cracked rib or two. The ketamine they’d darted him with was mostly worn off, due to the nature of the Atlantean immune system, but he wouldn’t bet any gemstones on his ability to transform into mist.

Condition, mental: Fury bordering on homicidal rage. In other words, standard operating procedure. Ha. SOP. Poseidon picked his warriors carefully, or so he’d always heard.

The sea god must have been multi-tasking the day he decided to add Justice’s name to the list.

Weapons: None. The sword he’d worn for hundreds of years--indeed since the king of Atlantis had given it to him with not a single word of explanation but only a look steeped in contempt—gone. The slightly less-dumb of the two shape-shifters standing guard over Justice and his furry friend Jack stood off toward the mouth of the cave, fondling Justice’s sword like he couldn’t believe his luck.

The shifter wouldn’t have his sword for long. That was a vow.

Justice would have smiled if he wouldn’t have ended up with a mouthful of wet tiger fur.

They’d taken his daggers, too. The better to kill them with.

The drugs were probably still interfering with his access to Atlantean water and energy powers, too. He’d assume he was powerless; didn’t want to rely on the unreliable when he was otherwise weaponless against two wolves and a tiger.

Chances: He’d bet his Atlantean powers against most shape-shifters, even in close quarters like this, but five hundred pounds of tiger? Even one who was sort of a friend when he walked on two legs and called himself Jack?

He’d have to call it even odds. And that was before he ever got to the two wolves.

But Justice knew one critical fact: he’d rather spend eternity roasting in the lowest of the nine hells than spend one more minute with his face pressed into the side of a wet tiger.

T-7

Okay, I'm doing the 7 day countdown to turning in the revised version of ATLANTIS UNLEASHED by the 15th. Suffer along with me (and my friend Barbara Ferrer is doing the same). My brilliant and long-suffering editor has suffered long enough waiting for this book. Everybody please send me "Brain not-melting" vibes and cyber chocolate, okay?

In more fun news, here's an interview with Kendra Leigh Castle, author of CALL OF THE HIGHLAND MOON, out now!!

Alyssa: Tell us about your world and why it called to you:

Kendra: Big sexy men in kilts, magic and mist...um, does Scotland NOT call to anybody? Okay, so maybe that's just my own fixation at work (Seriously, though! Hot guys in kilts!). But I've always loved romances where the Highlands were involved. Well, Highlanders, to be more specific. And anything supernatural pulls me right in, always has. So I developed the idea of a remote estate in the Western Highlands of Scotland where the actual Stone of Destiny (not the one currently on display in Edinburgh) is guarded by a pack of werwolves whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Civilized by a saint and assimilated into the Clan MacInnes a thousand years ago, the MacInnes Wolves roam the part of my world that I like best: the magical part that bumps right against the everyday reality we all live in. I've always wanted to cross that border and see what was there...so I took a peek, and there was Gideon MacInnes, tapping his foot impatiently and refusing, in his delicious Scottish brogue, to wear a kilt. I feel that the butt-hugging jeans were a fair compromise.

Alyssa: Why will readers fall in love with your hero?

Kendra: Gideon is my favorite type of hero: strong, stubborn, smart, loyal, and charmingly imperfect. I just loved the idea of this big, handsome Highlander who's always been the "good son," who always welcomed having responsibility heaped on him, trying to cut loose just once and having his well-ordered universe come down around his ears. He might be a big, tough werewolf, but Gideon has a good, honest heart, and I hope that's what readers love about him.

Alyssa: Why will readers identify with your heroine?

Kendra: Smart, funny, and self-deprecating, Carly Silver has a strong attachment to her home and family, who she loves even though they make her crazy. She's driven and ambitious when it comes to making her business, a romance-centric bookshop called Bodice Rippers and Baubles, a success, and is really pretty happy with her life. Except for the part where she's way more successful with animals than with men, that is. She has no idea how beautiful she is, which is one of the reasons it was so much fun to land a real live hero straight out of fantasy on her doorstep to tell her. Carly is someone I would be glad to have as a friend, and I'm hoping that my readers feel the same way!

Alyssa: What has been the most surprising thing to you about becoming a published author?

Kendra: I guess I'm still learning to deal with the fact that this isn't just me plugging away at a story on my laptop anymore...it's an actual business! I'm not just writing a book...now I'm also fielding revisions, edits, publicity, etc., on top of the book writing, and trying to balance all of that with my day-to-day "mom stuff" that goes along with having three young kids. It's a step learning curve, but I wouldn't trade it. And I even almost actually wrote something in my day planner the other day. Sanity through better time management: I'm getting there.

Alyssa: What's next on the horizon?

Kendra: The sequel to Call of the Highland Moon, called Dark Highland Fire, will be out in October, and I'm currently working on story that comes after that one. The werewolves and some of their otherworldly counterparts are keeping me very busy!

Alyssa: How can readers learn more?

Kendra: You can visit me at my website. I also blog twice a week at Wickedly Romantic.

Alyssa: Just for fun, what is your favorite movie that you've seen lately?

Kendra: Oh, tough one! I don't get to the movies nearly as much as I'd like. The last thing I saw at the theater that I really loved was Enchanted. I'm always up for a fractured fairy tale, and I think Disney did a great job poking gentle fun at their oh-so-perfect cartoon princesses by moving one into modern day New York City. And then giving her Patrick Dempsey (*drool*)! Poison apples? Helpful sewer rats? Giant dresses and over-the-top dance routines in Central Park? I'm SO there. Yes, mentally, a part of me is still five years old. It's part of my, um, charm.

So that's it for now - send me GO ALYSSA, GO JUSTICE vibes and cyber chocolate, and check out Kendra's book if you have time. THANK YOU!!!
xoxo,
Alyssa