Welcome, Alyssa. Please tell us about yourself.
I’m a native Michigander who
should live somewhere much warmer! But after nearly fifteen years of marriage, I’ve
come to an understanding with Mr. Alexander. If he has a sweater or a fleece it
eventually becomes mine, so I manage to stay warm. I also work a full time job and
have a small boy-child. This means my days are full of work, my evenings and
weekends are full of family, and my late nights are full of writing!
Considering the weather we're having, you'll need more than his sweater. LOL
How long does it take you to write a book?
I rewrote my first book six
times. Six. Times. I don’t know exactly how many years that was, but I know it
was too many. I wrote THE SMUGGLER WORE SILK in two and a half years while
learning to parent a newborn son. After that, it was a year to write IN BED
WITH THE SPY, which comes out in the fall of 2014 from Berkley. The book I
recently finished took me about nine months to write. Clearly, I’m getting
faster with each book, so I’m hoping the next will take me about six months.
But I do have a day job and a kindergartner, so my writing time can be limited.
What do you enjoy most about life?
Most definitely cooking and
eating. I love food, of all types and shapes and sizes and flavors. I spend
entirely too much time looking for recipes online and buying new cookbooks.
Bless Mr. Alexander, he’s open to trying anything once. And, for the record, I
only made him sick one time.
Where do you start when writing? Research, plotting, outline, or...?
Unfortunately for my productivity,
I write out of order. I usually have a general idea of the characters and a few
highlights, though I don’t often know the ending. Sometimes, I don’t even know
the villain until half way through the book. I write the scenes as I see them,
whenever that happens to be, and then fit them together like a puzzle later on.
I think this process ultimately creates more work for me, but if I try to write
a book from beginning to end I get bogged down somewhere around page two. That
is, if I even get past page one!
How many hours a day to you spend writing?
I have a full time job and a five
year old, so my day is fast-paced and full. I usually write between 4:30 pm and
5:15 pm at a coffee shop near my work a few evenings a week. Then after my son
goes to bed, I write or conduct writing business, blogs, critique, promotion,
pay bills, vacuum, exercise, and whatever else needs to get done from 8:00 pm
to 11:00 pm. My actually writing time
can vary from a few hours a day to nothing, depending on what I have going on.
But if I don’t actually write, I’m still doing something writing related, such
as blogs or promotion or answering emails.
And, when I’m very lucky, I can
take some time to write during my day job. I have the world’s best boss, who is
very supportive of my writing. When time and schedule permits, he will let me
take a few hours while I’m at work to write.
If you could give the younger version of yourself advice what would it
be?
You cannot achieve anything
without hard work, discipline, stubbornness and sacrifice, but you must also
have balance in your life. You must laugh and love and play. Nurture your imagination
and cherish your relationships. Dreams are only dreams unless you add elbow
grease, but if you work too hard to achieve them, you might miss the good parts
of life as they pass you by. So write, laugh, love, and play! Oh, and cook.
Because good food makes every day better.
Great advice. Now tell us about your latest book.
My debut novel, THE SMUGGLER WORE
SILK, is set in Regency England. It does cross genres a little, as it’s both historical
romance and heavy on the suspense element. It’s about Grace Hannah, a poor
relation turned smuggler who comes under suspicion of treason. The spy stalking
her, Julian Travers, Earl of Langford, is being forced into retirement because
his identity has been revealed to the enemy and he believes she’s part of it. But
she’s innocent, and when he compromises her, they must marry. Still, there’s a
traitor on the loose and my heroine is a smuggler. Loyalties are divided and secrets
abound. The question is, can they get past those secrets long enough to fall in
love?
THE SMUGGLER WORE SILK released
this week and is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online and
brick and mortar retailers.
If you’d like to see the trailer you can check it
out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HboweQ3vDac
Whoa. What a trailer. I'm reading THE SMUGGLER WORE SILK and loving it!
One last question, Alyssa. Where can readers find you?
I hang out a lot on Facebook, but I dip my toe (or wing?) into Twitter
periodically. You can also find me on the web at alyssa-alexander.com
or on Goodreads.
Enjoy! And thank you so much for
hosting me, Diane!
My pleasure, Alyssa. I wish you much success for your debut book.
Alyssa is giving away a copy of THE SMUGGLER WORE SILK and chocolate to a lucky commenter. Be sure to leave your email address.
Thanks for hosting me, Diane!
ReplyDeleteI am so mad at you, Alyssa. LOL I stayed up way too late last night reading The Smuggler Wore Silk. I love the interaction (esp. the witty dialogue) between Gracie & Julian. What a book!
DeleteCongratulations! I don't know how you do all you do! Love, love, love the trailer!
DeleteThe trailer was so much fun to make! As to how I do all I do...It's called coffee! ;)
DeleteHa! Diane, I stayed up too late with One Red Shoe, so I think we're even!
DeleteLadies, ladies,
DeleteHow am I ever going to finish writing my books, when you two are casting delicious stories in my path. Sigh...must read faster..er...ah...must write faster.
All the best, Annette
Lol! Sometimes we all get derailed by books!
DeleteI look forward to reading your book. I loved your trailer!
ReplyDeletejandmterry@yahoo.com
Thanks, Missy! I had a great time putting the trailer together!
ReplyDeleteThis has been on my TBR pile for a while now! Time to get my hands on it, it sounds great!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your debut novel. You seem to get a lot accomplished in a day.
ReplyDeletepenfield716(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Two jobs, small child...not much choice. But I don't sleep much! And I do have a wonderful cleaning lady who comes in once a month to shovel out the dirt.
DeleteAnd the winner is...Missy Terry!!! Congratulations! Thank you to everyone for commenting, and a big thanks to Diane for hosting me this week!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Alyssa. Congratulations again on you new book. I spent another night reading The Smuggler Wore Silk until waay too late. I am really enjoying it.
Delete