Alyssa D. Metcalfe was born in the Inwood section of New York City in the early 1960s. She and her older sister were raised by their British jazz pianist father and American mother who worked as a secretary, but never missed an opportunity to march against injustice. By the early 1970s, her family qualified for affordable artist housing in the West Village, where a lot of adults shared a hands-off style of parenting. There was little supervision and less discipline. As a result, Alyssa and her new friends used the city as their playground, theater, and teacher. It is through those experiences that many of her stories have been inspired.

As an adult, Alyssa attained an A.S. in Equine Studies from Northwest College in Powell, WY and a B.S. in Animal Science from UMASS Amherst. She currently lives on Cape Cod, where she sits on the board of directors for the Cape Cod Writers Center. In July, she won first place in Gemini Magazine’s short story contest, and has also had pieces featured in Dark Ink Magazine, Deracine Magazine, and Embark Literary Journal.