Interview with
Author Elissa Daye
GRACEN: You're a new author, just starting out. What
inspires you to write?
ELISSA: That’s a tricky question actually, because
it has two parts to it. The first part is why did I want to be a writer. I was
an avid reader from the moment I could read my first words. I read everything I
could get my hands on. In third grade I remember getting a notebook as a prize
from a teacher and I started writing poetry where every line had to rhyme. Something
like “The little kitten lay, fast asleep in the hay.” The other reason I
started writing was that it was an escape from life. Reading and writing got me
through some very difficult times growing up. There is nothing like getting
lost in another world to avoid the one you live in. In many ways I want to
provide that outlet for others.
As far as what inspires me to write my stories,
it’s different all the time. Sometimes it’s a certain feeling I get that there
is something inside just itching to come out. A lot of ideas pop in my head
right as I am working on another project. In the past these ideas have
distracted me from finishing whatever writing I was working on at the time. Now
I just write down the general idea and promise to come back to it when I can
devote adequate time to it. Here lately
it’s the inspiration of fellow writers that gets me moving. Seeing that others
believe in you and have walked the path before you really helps when you are
just starting out. Having people who appreciate what I write and give me
feedback has been so helpful since I’ve been terrified to share my work with
others. You know how it is, we’re always our worst critic and we sometimes
expect others to treat our work as critically as we treat it.
GRACEN: You have a young family. How do you juggle
writing while doing all the homelife things you need to get done, too?
ELISSA: Actually so far it has been easier than I
thought it would be. My daughter is about 23 months old right now and she is
extremely active, so it has been a challenge. I take advantage of naptime. She gets
a good two hours of sleep in the afternoon which is a good chunk of time. I
sometimes put cleaning on the backburner and make meals that last a couple of
nights so I have more time to focus on other things. My husband has been very
helpful too, especially when I need to take a break from life to write. I have
left the house with the laptop or camped out in the bedroom away from family
life for a few hours at a time. Weekends have become my friend as I let daddy
take over caring for baby. It gives me time to work on things or take a break
while he gets to bond with our daughter. The biggest chunk of time that I have
is when my child goes to bed for the night. When everyone else is asleep I
finally get the quiet time that I need to focus on writing. My house may not be
as picture perfect as people expect, never clean enough to pass the white glove
test, but it’s enough for us to function and certainly a lot cleaner than it
was when we were both working desk jobs. Sometimes we sacrifice for our craft. That’s
my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
GRACEN: Do you work outside of the home? If so, what
kind of work do you do and do you incorporate your work life into your writing?
ELISSA: I used to work outside the home before I had my
child. I’ve taught middle school and elementary school, so I think in the
future when I write children’s novels I will pull greatly from that experience.
I will be kind to the teachers when I write my books, because we often read
about the evil, nasty teachers and never hear about the ones that put their
heart and soul into the classroom. I also worked a desk job, so I guess it is
easy to say that I could incorporate the daily frustrations of dealing with
people and working in a small cubicle that sucks the life out of you. Currently,
I am a stay at home mom, and am thoroughly enjoying raising my daughter. It
allows me to watch her grow and encourages me to be the best role model I can
for her. Someday I know she will be proud of me for pursuing my own dreams. I
hope to encourage her to do the same.
GRACEN: When did you start writing either creatively?
What were some of the early writings that you did? Would you ever use any of
them now?
ELISSA: I think I sort of answered this on a previous
question. I have been writing for a very long time. I have never written
professionally before though. When I was a child, I loved reading and escaping
into other worlds. My favorite books when I was a child were written by C.S.
Lewis, Judy Blume, and Jean Craighead George. I very much wanted to live on my
own and survive in the forest. When I was in third grade I wrote a fanfiction
story for Highlights Magazine, but it was never published. The title was
Superfudge Junior, and you can probably guess it was all about Farley Drexel
Junior and how he was very much like his father as a child. I did not
understand copyright infringement at the time, which is why I think they never
responded to my inquiry. From there I continued
to write more poetry. I remember when my mom attended a parent teacher
conference for 8th grade. My English teacher told her how impressed
she was with my writing and told her that I wrote like a 20 year old. It was
the best compliment I had ever received at the time and it made me want to do
even better.
When I entered high school I started writing
short stories, mostly for school assignments. By the time I was a junior in
high school, my English teacher encouraged me to enter for a chance to attend
the Illinois Summer School for the Arts. At that point in time I had already
been writing longer short stories, one of them being a ghost story, which I
entered as an example of my writing. I won a scholarship to attend the two week
summer camp and had the time of my life. I decided from then on that I wanted
to be a writer. The funny thing is that I had such a logical head on my
shoulders and decided since writing was not a guarantee that I had to have a
profession to fall back on. So I
attended Illinois State University and got a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary
Education. I became a teacher, who put everything I had into my work and had
very little left over to work on the book that I had started when I was in
college. When I was finally able to quit teaching, my writing became my focus
again.
GRACEN: What else would you be doing if you couldn't
write, and why?
ELISSA: Well, I’ve already done it. I was a teacher. I
loved teaching, but the dealing with administration and bureaucratic imbeciles
that had never even spent a day in the classroom literally sucked the soul
right out of my body. I would probably find a desk job if I could no longer
write. Or just stay home and raise my children and let my husband take care of
us. One day he says I will keep him in the manner to which he should be
accustomed. Ha ha ha! Dare to dream I tell him.
GRACEN: Who inspires you to write?
ELISSA: I think it is fair to say that the people I know
and love inspire me every day to write, but every part of my past is a stepping
stone to another story. It is true that writers suffer great melancholy, and I
have had my fair share which I think allows me to put more emotion into my
writing. I also think that everything I have gone through in this lifetime has
inspired me to be who I am. I waited most of my life to get to the point where
I believe in me and while having others like what I do is nice, I have to be
the one to inspire and motivate myself to continue. There was nothing like
finishing the first book, being proud of myself, and knowing that I could
repeat the process anytime I wanted. From there, I have only continued to grow
my world in my books and my personal life.
GRACEN: Have you always wanted to write paranormal
romance novels?
ELISSA: Actually, until recently I didn’t know it was
possible to write them. I have just learned that the box I was writing myself
into no longer exists. People are ready for almost anything you can dream up
these days, which opens my writing up to whole new worlds that I had never
thought to explore. I have been reading romance novels for most of my young
adult/adult life. I liked to escape from my world and live in someone else’s
for awhile and I liked the idea that most romance novels gave you a happily
ever after.
GRACEN: Tell us about In Flames.
ELISSA: In Flames was not the first book I have
finished, but it was the first that I wanted to share with the world. I loved
the romance between Lysandra and Aiden. It’s not an easy romance. Nothing about
their situation is easy. Lysandra has been torn away from everything she knew
way before she could ever understand who she was or who she was meant to be.
Aiden knows who he is, he has already lived through some of the darkness that
is new to Lysandra. They both have their road blocks that keep them from seeing
the overall picture. They are destined to be together, destined to fall in
love, and destined to change their world together forever. Their love ignites
the pages, so be prepared, for this story is not your typical handholding
romance novel.
EXCERPT of IN FLAMES:
Chapter 1
Outlands 1342
The Outlands was a favored stopping place for the soldiers
of Blackwolf Keep. It was a
village filled with wanton women who had decided to live
away from the rest of the world. The
soldiers were always eager to slake their lust within its
walls. The wars that waged across the
countryside had almost diminished, making their visits to
their favorite stopping point few and
far between but always treasured. When they arrived within
the wooden gates, the women of the
village rushed toward their horses with their buxom chests
and swaying hips. Everyone knew
that the night would be filled with sounds of passion.
Lord Aesov walked into the middle of town like he owned the
place. After days of conquest
he was more than ready to find a warm body to relieve the
tension from his aching body. The
Outlands was certainly the place for that. He had taken his
pleasure with most of the women in
the village and today would certainly be no different. The
women were lounging all around him,
but none of his usual conquests would quench his thirst
today. That was until he spotted Bridget
from across the camp. Something about her distracted him
from the swarm of beauties before
him. Perhaps it was the fiery hair that fought to escape
from its ties, the way her chin jutted out
in defiance as he perused her body, or maybe even the way
she tried to ward off the blush that
crept up her face. He had never seen her in the Outlands
before. He would certainly have
remembered her. When he dismounted, he walked over to where
the quiet woman stood. When
he reached out to take her hand, she pulled it away. He
bowed low to her and let his eyes meet
hers slowly. “I’m Lord Aesov, leader of Blackwolf Keep. I am
humbled by your beauty, my
lady.”
“Humbled my arse,” she chided him.
“I’ve never seen you before. Are you new to Outlands?”
“What you mean to say is you’ve never ridden me before. I’m
not a doxy and I do not tussle
for the mere sport of it, my lord.” She lowered her blue
eyes away from his and turned away
from him.
“Aye. I can see that.”
From that moment on, Aesov made it a goal to stop in the
Outlands as often as he could and
a slow courtship began. He had never been turned down before
and his ego made him feel like a
stuffed porcupine; his prickles were always up whenever she
was around. It took time and
perseverance on his part, not to mention spending time away
from his husbandly duties at
Blackwolf Keep. His wife, Lilyana, had known better than to
keep him on a tight leash. While it
would have been objectionable to most women, the riches she
enjoyed made turning her back on
his dalliances easier to do.
When Bridget finally caved in to his demands, Aesov could
not get enough of her. He had
stayed with her for weeks at a time hoping that soon his
desire for her would be quenched. He
knew she was becoming attached to him, so he planned on
breaking it off as soon as he had his
fill of her.
Aesov ran his warm hands all over the beautiful body before
him, his desire for her so
unworldly he thought he would explode. She had been rather
difficult to seduce away from her
naive notions that love was the only thing that separated
them from the wild animals of the
forest. It had been hard to trick her, to make her believe
that her feelings were returned, but
Aesov had been persistent. He would never settle
down with the fiery redhead, not the way she
CONTEST
2 comments:
Looks great! Thank you for the giveaway. :)
So glad you entered! Thanks for being such a lovely host to my tour! Elissa
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