Welcome NYT Bestseller Alyssa Day!!

Interview by Kirsten Scott

I am so excited to welcome NY Times Bestselling author Alyssa Day into the Lair! Alyssa hit THE LIST for the first time with Atlantis Unleashed, which was released on June 5, but she's sure to hit it again with Atlantis Unmasked, which was released yesterday. Alyssa was actually my very first guest blogger, two years ago and a lot has changed since then -- for us, and for Alyssa. But we've got no time for walking down memory lane -- we've got a lot of ground to cover. Now let's get started!

KIRSTEN: Alyssa, thanks so much for stopping by the Lair! First of all, let me congratulate you on hitting the New York Times Bestseller list for Atlantis Unleashed! That is a huge accomplishment. I bet you've been celebrating ever since you got the news. Can you tell us if your life has changed? We've got a lot of cabana boys running around the Lair -- any chance you're hiring one, now that you'll need a personal masseuse and errand boy? Or do they just assign you one when you land on the list? Our own Kate Carlisle hit the list a few months ago, and she claims she didn't get a cabana boy assigned to her. I suspect she's just saying that so she doesn't have to share him with the other Banditas.

ALYSSA: First off, thank you so much for inviting me back to hang with the cool kids! Yes, life absolutely changed in some ways and in others – not a bit. If you’re really interested, I posted the step-by-step minute-by-minute of the first few days in a New York Times bestselling author at my blog (http://warriorsofposeidon.blogspot.com/2009/06/first-few-days-in-life-of-brand-new-new.html) but here’s what happened when the actual call came in:

5:30 p.m. Talk to lovely editor, who is miserably sick but still in office. Tell lovely editor to go home, get rest, see doctor. Editor says: No, I’m waiting for NYT list – I think you might have made it. I say, I have no chance to make it. Summer beach read competition, etc. etc.

5:35 Other line rings. It’s agent. Heart rises into throat. Start stuttering. Editor yells at me to ANSWER PHONE. Click over to line with agent and say, Hello? Agent says, NUMBER 28!!!

5:37 Start laughing and make squee-ing sounds and fall out of chair. Say, Are you sure? Agent says, Yes. Start crying. Agent (who is a guy) hurriedly says, Talk to editor now!

5:38 Tell editor. Both of us are laughing and crying. Blurry. Said stuff. Thanked her for believing in me. She said words like, I told you so. More laughing and squeeing. Some shouting of happy words. Finally tell lovely (sick) editor to go home and take much Nyquil to celebrate.

5:40 Tell children. They shout out Yay and congratulations!! Then: she says, He touched me. He says, She stuck her tongue out at me. Wonder if other NYT bestselling authors have nannies. Or Swiss boarding schools.

As a lot of readers will know very well, it’s impossible to get a swelled head when you’re a Mom!

KIRSTEN: I managed to stake out a copy of Atlantis Unleashed and Atlantis Unmasked (thanks Borders!) last week. I started with Unleashed and thought it was your best book ever. But then I opened up Unmasked and fell in love with Alexios...but then Unleashed has Justice and he's so tormented and has all that lovely blue hair and that really big sword... Hmm...I can't decide. We'll have to talk about both of them!

First, though, for those who aren't familiar with the Warriors of Poseidon series, can you give us a little background? Who are these hot, tormented guys, and how did you manage to combine the legend of Atlantis, vampires, and shape-shifters all in the same world?

ALYSSA: Sure! It all came together as these things generally do for me – with an intense love story, some fascinating facts and an enormous What If?

I’m an addict, I admit it. A mythological history junkie. If there are facts or archaelogical evidence to be found that might possibly tie in with my preferred view of the universe – Atlantis really exists, Helen of Troy was real, vampires and shapeshifters are lurking at the edges of darkness – well, I’m all over it.

For example, there’s this device. A machine, really. It’s a mechanical computing device which pinpoints astronomical events. Comes complete with its own user’s manual. Seriously nifty technology.

The catch? It’s TWO THOUSAND YEARS OLD. Found off the coast of southern Greece back in 1900, but took us until now to be able to figure it out! The Antikythera Mechanism has been described as a pocket calculator of its time. (Of course, no mention of where the pockets were in togas, but that’s another book.)

I have collected hundreds of examples of technology and science far beyond what is believed to have been the scope of learning at the time. Also, designs or writings that are eerily identical – yet found in the ruins of ancient civilizations on entirely different continents.

How is it possible? Well, that was the giant What If for me. What if one ancient civilization was advanced far beyond the rest of the world? What if a cataclysm such as the flooding event described in countless different histories wiped this superior civilization off the face of the earth?

What if Atlantis really DID exist – and still does? What if Poseidon himself tasked a race of supernatural warriors to stand guard over humanity? What if the evil creatures hiding in the shadows grew bold enough to make themselves known – and take over our politics and our media?

What if the Warriors of Poseidon made the decision that Atlantis must rise to the surface and take its place as protector of mankind again? What if mankind didn’t feel all that much like being protected?

And, most important, what if a human female were discovered to have the ancient power of emotional empathy, lost to Atlantis for more than 10,000 years? What if the high prince of Atlantis, in spite of all the laws forbidding it, fell in love with this woman?

Oh, and what if the fate of the entire world were at stake?

At its heart, every book in the Warriors of Poseidon series is a love story wrapped in an epic quest – just the way I like it!!

KIRSTEN: Atlantis Unleashed was released June 2 and Atlantis Unmasked on July 7. Can you tell us a bit about each?

ALYSSA: Since I’ve been so long-winded above (sorry! Get a writer talking . . .) here’s the quick version: Atlantis Unleashed features Lord Justice - a gorgeous Atlantean warrior who has been fighting the dual nature of his soul for hundreds of years, and Dr. Keely McDermott, the beautiful archaeologist with special talents that allow her to work with Justice to discover one of the lost gems of Poseidon’s Trident. Oh, and there are about 500 other things going on, but this is, no doubt about it, a HOT love story!

Atlantis Unmasked continues the series with Alexios, a warrior who was brutally scarred by an evil vampire goddess – his perfect self-control is rocked by the lovely human rebel fighter Grace, who just happens to be a descendant of the goddess Diana. Sparks fly when these two are forced to work together to train new rebel recruits!

KIRSTEN: Now, we authors like to joke about torturing our characters, but you take that to another level. Poor Justice! I thought what happened to Conlan back in Atlantis Rising was bad, but Justice is truly driven to the point of madness. Anubisa, the evil goddess of vampires, breaks down the minds of her victims and the people she draws in to support her -- is "playing Sudoku" with their brains, as one character puts it. How do you write such complex, deeply psychological stories?

ALYSSA: I have a very dark and twisted mind. That is a direct quote from my editor, the brilliant beyond measure Cindy Hwang at Berkley. Also, my (guy) agent, after reading one particular scene in Atlantis Rising (remember Anubisa ripping the . . man parts . . off of that vampire?) said, “Never, ever make me read anything like that again.” My husband said the same thing. (Go figure!) LOL.

But in all seriousnesss, I studied deviant psychology in college and very nearly went into profiling with the FBI. The darker side of the human psyche fascinates me.

KIRSTEN: I see torture in your books as a metaphor for duty and ultimately, the need for redemption. Each of the Warriors makes incredible sacrifices for the people of the earth and for his brothers, but he needs a woman to redeem him and the blackness that colors his soul as a result. Now, as it turns out, your husband is in the military. Do you think your interest in the concepts of duty and redemption comes from your experience with the military? Does having a military man in the family change how you think about men and women?

ALYSSA: I love that you noticed that, because redemption is and always has been an overarching them for me in the Warriors books. I wouldn’t say that the concept of redemption comes from being married to a Navy Guy (he flies P-3 Orions); but honor and duty and courage and self-sacrifice is so fundamental to all of our men and women in the military. My dad was career Air Force, so I’ve grown up around guys like this; black humor when times get tough and courage beyond all measure. My nonfiction book, EMAIL TO THE FRONT, discussed what it’s really like to be a military family during war time. Scary stuff. My absolute admiration and thanks go out to all of our military families, always.

Thanks, Alyssa, for a fantastic interview -- and thanks for writing such wonderful books.

Now to you, BBs...Alyssa's had a lifelong fascination with Atlantis and ancient civilizations. I'd like to hear about your childhood interests. Anyone want to be an archeologist when you grew up? Do we have any former dinosaur hunters, cowgirls, or airline pilots in the audience? What did you dream about when you were a little kid, and do you still find it interesting?

Oh, and BY THE WAY -- Alyssa will be giving out FIVE -- count them, FIVE!! -- copies of Atlantis Unmasked to our commenters today! So have fun and welcome Alyssa to the Lair!