Author's Message

Who Is Sylvia?

THE DEBUT BRAVA AUTHOR REVEALS HER MANY SIDES

From the day her mother placed a romance novel in her 12-year-old hands with the injunction, "You need to find a man like that," Sylvia Day knew she wanted to write romance. It took several years and several career moves -- including one as a Russian linguist for the U.S. Army -- for this wife and mother of two to get there. But just over a year after writing her first erotic romance, the Lori Foster Novella Contest winner received the call all authors dream of -- in her case, an offer of publication from Brava editor Kate Duffy.

Day entered the contest that ultimately led
to her publication on a whim, whipping up the three-page entry in three hours and submitting it right then. "As soon as I was finished writing, I was confident it was a good piece of work," she says. "It was instantaneous. I thought, I have 750 words to hook the reader and the
editor. What will hook them right away?"

This kind of risk-taking and self-confidence has served Day well in her short career. In addition to her debut, Bad Boys Ahoy! (Feb.), Brava's first historical Bad Boys anthology, she has a historical title from Brava due in August and another scheduled for early '07. She also writes futuristic romance for e-publishers Ellora's Cave and Amber Quill Press, is working on a contemporary paranormal and cofounded the Romance Writers of America's erotic romance chapter, Passionate Ink.

Many established authors can only dream of Day's productivity. So how does she accomplish all that she does? "Most of my day is spent writing," Day confesses, while also acknowledging the importance
of e-publishers with helping her keep up her grueling schedule. "I'm lucky there are publishers out there who like to buy different things and that I can write different things." -- Colleen Cusick