Sometimes writing can be a slog. Some days I might sit in front of the laptop with nothing but procrastination on my mind. Some days I’ll type like the wind while in my mind I’m thinking this is the best stuff I’ve ever written only to realise I haven’t gone back to it in over a month because I hated it. But there are those few days, the rare days, when everything just seems to come together and the words are flowing and things are good. Those are the days that, as a writer, I love the most.
There have been a couple of times during my journey as a writer where everything has just seemed to click and the writing not only becomes nearly effortless, but enjoyable. It’s a fantastic feeling. It’s like being on cloud nine as your fingers are tapping away at the keyboard.
One of those times was when I began writing the Peyton’s Soul Seeker series. It started as one novella, titled Soul Seekers, that got published in Eight Deadly Kisses (released by Dark Chapter Press) featuring eight female horror writers to celebrate women’s writing horror month in February. That was back in 2016.
From there, I always knew that Peyton was going to go further. She had so much more to tell and as I began to write the series, totalling eleven novellas, she and her best friend Olivia came to life. They’re a duo that can’t be tamed and both are brutally honest, beautiful women who share a life-long friendship that go through all of the ups and downs of a normal relationship with some added extras. Peyton is a recovering alcoholic and Olivia is the only person left in the world who is there for her. It’s with Olivia’s help that she finally realises what her life has become and that acceptance of herself is the way forward.
If you like reading supernatural mixed with real-life, then this is for you. Peyton and Olivia bring the novellas to life with a new case to deal with each time and all the while Peyton is continuing her path of acceptance of herself and learning to help others along the way. Each novella can be read in one sitting and they can be read as a series or standalone, if you just want to dip in and out.
I love Peyton and her story (and of course, Olivia!) and I hope you do too.
Coming soon from Parliament House!
Alice lives and works in the North East of England with her partner and slightly ferocious cats! Alice has always enjoyed writing from being a child when she used to carry notebooks and write stories no matter where she went. She would be the girl in the corner scribbling away while everything went on around her. She writes all manner of fiction with a tendency to lean towards the dark side. Dreams and sleep-talking are currently a big source of inspiration and her debut novel, The Doors, is a young adult novel which originally came from a dream several years ago. Several of her short stories have been included in anthologies and she is always working on more. When she's not writing, she always has a book in her hand and will read from whatever genre suits her that day.
Twitter: @alicejblack
Instagram: @alicejblack