Book Shop Chats:

Survival, Self-Publishing, And A Love Letter To Nature with Ashley Peters

• Season 1 • Episode 16

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About the author:

My name is Ashley & I am writing my debut novel in dystopian speculative fiction. It is a work in progress but I hope you join me wild journey of discovery and growth as I navigate the complexities of the writing, literary and publishing world.

I reside in East Austin TX with my partner ( Danny) and 3 fur baby rescue mutts ( Bently, Fredrik & Bruno). A self declared bibliophile and always a storyteller casting tales from a young age along the way I’ve typed away for various scholarships and minor publications. Now though, I’ve thrown myself into the realm of novel creation. When I’m not writing you can find me out in nature far from the chaos of the world, hiking, kayaking, enjoying good, inventive food or a matcha latte. At home my garden and library are my solitude though I deeply enjoy the artistic, quirky offerings of Austin. Having traveled the world each place and community has deeply impacted my life in ways I’m beyond grateful for. I can’t predict what’s next because it’s always an opportunity to take part and I’d rather hop on an adventurous side quest than die a bore. 

Book Blurb:

"Jessi is forced to choose to flee to the forest with her dog, Janus, after facing abetrayal and to avoid arrest from the newly established authoritarian regime.Deep amongst the trees she must learn what it means to survive-both in thewilderness and this new world.Convinced she can live, unnoticed in the forest, Jessi must grasp to her humanity,uncover dimmed skills, and cling on to the hope there's a way through this.Lurking beneath the surface is the nagging question: Is she truly alone in this vastexpanse?Each day a lucky gift, hiding away from the other shoe that threatens to drop, justbeyond the horizon, as signs of the world she left behind begin to creep in.Survival demands everything. Without an option to opt out, every day living is anact of resistance.Every choice demands her re-evaluation of what is necessary to endure in theface of erasure."

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About Victoria:

Hey there, I’m Victoria! As a writer and developmental editor, I specialize in helping busy writers bring their publishing dreams to life without the overwhelm. Your story deserves to shine, let's make magic together. 

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Bookshop Chats, where we cozy up with books, creativity, and embrace the magical, messy process of writing a book. I'm Victoria Jane, a writer, developmental editor, and coach for sensitive busy writers, and I love to support you on your journey of bringing your story to life. So whether you're here for inspiration, behind the scenes peaks of what it what it means to actually write a book, or just some bookish conversations, you are definitely in the right place. And if you're looking for more personalized support, I also offer one-to-one writing support sessions to help bring your story to life because sometimes you need a little bit of support digging through the noise that is your brain because staying. And if you've got a finished draft, I would love to chat to you about developmental editing. It is my favorite thing. I love supporting authors and bringing their story to life. You can find all of the details in the show notes. So grab a coffee, grab a tea, plug in your headphones, go on a little walk, and let's dive into today's episode. Welcome back to Bookshop Chats. In today's episode, I am chatting with Ashley Peters. Welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

Hey, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00:

Yay, I am so pumped. I'm very, very excited to hear all about your book. And you are like in the middle of all of the like hardcore marketing, all of that sort of stuff. So I will love, I would love to give you the floor and just let's dive in and hear all about your book that's almost out in the world.

SPEAKER_01:

Almost, yes. Um, so I wrote my debut novel in stasis, uh, is coming out January 12th, 2026. It is a lyrical, slow burn survival novel. Um, and it invites you to explore a duality of worlds. Um, and I say from the perspective of an average woman. So she's not a bear grills or like a survival expert by any means. But in it, Jessie is forced to choose to flee to the forest with her dog Janice after facing a betrayal to avoid arrest from a newly established authoritarian regime. And there, deep amongst the trees, she has to learn what it means to survive, both in the wilderness and then under this new regime tyrannical order. Um, she is convinced that she can live there unnoticed, but while doing so, she really is forced to face like her humanity, these skills that are kind of buried within her and has to like unearth those. While also there is the lurking question and maybe a little bit of doom of like, is she truly alone and can she do this alone, all the while there is a authoritarian government, you know, that is kind of closing in on her. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00:

That's that is wild. That is so wild. I love that. I love that.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It was it was really enjoyable. I it sounds weird to say it was really enjoyable to write this. It was very cathartic in a way to write this. Um it's been interesting because it spans across a couple of genres. So, of course, why would I not pick something that spans across a couple of genres to make marketing not as easy?

SPEAKER_00:

Um true.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Amazing. Well, I'd love to hear a little bit about how this story came into your world. Like, where the heck did you come up with this? Because this is like wildly like it just, I feel like when it's so many different genres, I always find that really interesting of like where these wild worlds and characters kind of come from.

SPEAKER_01:

So it all started. Um, my partner and I both pay a lot of attention to a lot of things that are going on worldwide, like politics-wise. Um, we also are both very outdoorsy and we like going camping and hiking. Um, but I jokingly say, like, I would refer to myself as like a cosplay camper. Like I like it, but I also don't like I have an idea of going through like the Pacific Crest Trail, but I don't want to like lose toenails because it's such a hard hike. Like I like a comfortable camping. But we were, it was last December, we were having a conversation because of politics and saying how like there's no like dystopian or doesn't feel like there's but a dystopian or science fiction stories where someone just kind of goes off grid and they basically are like, look, the world's burning, I'm dipping out, and I'm gonna be out here. And I felt like that was a missed story because I mean, I realistically, I think that you could like there are historical references. Um, there were stories from like World War II where an entire community existed in the forest to avoid the Nazis. So I'm like, I think it could be relevant, but I also wanted it to be from the point of view of, like I said, an average woman, someone who does not have like insane outdoorsy experience. They didn't really like want to get into this situation, but like here they are. Um I also very intentionally made it to where there's not really a lot of male counterparts because I didn't want it to be a thing where someone felt like the only reason she was surviving in the wilderness was because of like some big strong man who was like building the fire or something like that. Yeah. So we I started the idea just as a theoretical being like, well, I think somebody could do this, to then setting like a goal, like a New Year's New Year's resolution of I'm going to write this story. We'll see if it becomes anything. And then it just like poured out, and I was like, oh, I actually really want to share this with people. I think we're actually going to like pursue publication with this and not just make it exist, but like also make it exist in other people's worlds.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's so amazing. I think that's such a cool way of yeah, just like bringing relatability to characters and and like you said, of this sort of like real world of like what could it be like? And I think readers really connect with characters that they're like they see themselves in. Um, of just that sort of, and I mean, who doesn't want to like dip to the woods? Let's be real. I definitely would be down for that.

SPEAKER_01:

And um, yeah, I probably wouldn't thrive for a bit until I figured things out, but yeah, I wanted to make sure um our main character, Jessie, I do feel like she's very relatable. I'm sure um I think there's elements of her that like people will see themselves in, and even if like she as a character isn't spot on necessarily every person, there will be parts of like her reactions and things that she does where it is relatable and they could see themselves in this situation, making similar choices or having the similar rationale or kind of anxiety moments. Um, there's a lot of playing up of like her mental state during all this because ultimately a lot of it, majority of it, she is alone with her dog. And so, like, how often when we're with our dogs, are we talking to our own dogs, or are we kind of in our headspace and we're like kind of second-guessing ourselves and are like, are we crazy? No, this can't be like that while also in a like a survival situation, both like from the wilderness and from tyranny, you know, like she's I refer to it in there, there's a part um that she's like walking a tightrope and like this balance of like staying sane and surviving or not.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right. That makes that that makes so much sense. I feel like, especially with like isolation really does mess with your brain as a human, right? Like it's it's a big reason why it is like a considered like a torture tool for people. Uh, and I think they're yeah, just having that space uh where a character is facing those things. Like it's it's really cool to see the things that you can do like internally and like that's sort of like where the external isn't necessarily the I mean that's a part of it, but like internal, that's where a lot of the major shifting and fear and anxiety is coming from.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Um, there is it's a thing when I started it, I didn't really think of it necessarily as having like a almost a thriller type element. Um, but through having others read it and my editor, they I think that's part of also what made it interesting to categorize was there are like suspensible and thriller type elements, just more from a like anxiety um and a mental headspace perspective. Um I think maybe I was always just thinking like thriller is like you know, a spy novel. And I'm like, it's not that, but yeah, definitely like the like the walls closing in type of any crazy thriller.

SPEAKER_00:

Definitely, yeah. That stuff is like super, like it's subtle, but it just it hits really hard in writing, which is so um so amazing. Well, I'd love to hear a little bit about how you started like writing. Is this something that you've always um been drawn to? Or was it just that New Year's resolution that kind of was like, we're gonna do it?

SPEAKER_01:

So I've always been interested in writing. Um when I was younger, I would write, you know, like short stories or write poetry. I've done some writing um for different like competition things, like when going to college, but it was all just very minor. Uh I went to college for studio art and business. And for whatever reason, I thought it would be a better business or like career path choice to decide to be a studio artist versus a writer. And I just didn't explore it, which now I've through this process have said, I think I chose the wrong major. I definitely think I should have chos writing because uh I think there's people who are amazingly talented at art and other people who have to work really hard to make it as good as what flows out of somebody else. And by no means am I saying that I am like the amazing talented writer, but it flows out so much easier. And I'm like, oh, like this feels so much more just natural. Um, but so like that was a little bit of like the background of it, and I've just always been an avid reader and love picking apart the books, and then when books get translated into movies and appreciating, you know, the subtlety of like setting a scene and the dynamic of like the shadowy figure down the hall that you were like, Oh, I think there's something there, and just the way they set up a scene. So for me, when I was writing that, I think all just all the pieces like came together, and I'm like, oh, like this is this all makes sense. And then since writing this, um, and the process have been like jutting down other ideas, and now there's like three other books that are at some stage of being written, and so I jokingly am like this has become like a like kind of a monster that's taken over me in the best way, right?

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's so cool. Uh, and I think too, it's so common for a lot of like a lot of the authors that I've chatted with of like writing wasn't really something that they ever considered doing. And I think a lot of us kind of grew up in that sort of mindset of like it's a hobby, like get a real job, but right, like that sort of crap that we were told. Yeah. Uh, which it sucks because I I think I I get it, like then self-publishing wasn't so readily available, but now I feel like it is such a great option for authors that like you can just get these books out into the world in a much uh it's not necessarily easier, but like you can get them out on your terms kind of way, right? So, so that is, I think that's really I I'm really excited to see these amazing stories that are getting out in the world and I think challenging the traditional publishing world a little bit, right? So it's really cool to see that happen. And I yeah, I think it's it's really cool to kind of like look back at all of those experiences that led you to that moment where you're like, I'm gonna actually do it. And I think that really it's the story, and then like being at the right pale right time in your life to tell it, uh, which is really it seems to be that way where it just kind of flows through you and you're like, I have no choice to but to write this, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and it was definitely it was a thing for me. Like, I know originally I was torn. I was like, Oh, do I self-publish? Do I not? Um, but ultimately I chose to self-publish. And part of it was because in the story, there it is, like there's political intrigue, but it is in like near future, there are things that are were like politically and historically influenced, but from like hundreds of years ago, thousands of years ago, like all throughout history. And I'm like, there's nothing within the past decade that is referenced in the book. However, current politics, uh things like the world gets crazier, and then selling the book doesn't seem so crazy. And I'm like, okay, well, I need to get this out there before this is no longer like fiction, basically. Like it, you know, weirdly, the world is like setting its own timeline. But then I also with it, I didn't want there to be like a romantic interest. I wanted to be just it her story, and if you could say like a buddy story with like her and her dog, just like riding out at a dystopian fall of society. And I didn't want it to be a thing where because of traditional publishing and marketability, wanting to add some hint of that, because I'm like, well, that's not relevant. Like, we don't have to like love a love story, but it doesn't have to be in everything. So like I don't want to add it here. Um, and I know me. I would be very stubborn on that. I'm like, I'm not adding it. Um, so I was like, no, we're just gonna, we're gonna do this our own way. Um it's also, I will say it's like it's written in like a lyrical prose, but it's a gritty story. So it's kind of like a contradiction in that way. And I'm like, people like people are gonna love it, they're gonna hate that. My editor is like, these are lines that just like will live forever in my brain. Other people are like, why is this in a survival book? And I'm like, maybe you just haven't read a survival book like this. Like, I know Hatchet wasn't like this, and that's okay, but maybe this is a different version.

SPEAKER_00:

Right? I think that's amazing. And I think that like it truly, like you said, like people are gonna love it, they're gonna hate it. But like at the end of the day, either side, like they're still feeling something, it's still like pulling emotion. And I think ultimately that's the goal of a writer is to make your reader feel something, even if it's like rage, at least to make them feel something. Hopefully, love is you know, they love the book. And I think that that's such a cool way of having it be like the females, like story, like following her and not necessarily having a love interest or any of that sort of like romance element. Uh, because sometimes that just doesn't make sense for the book, right? Like I think, and or for your character's story, the journey that you want them to go on. It's just not it would take away from it. Uh yeah, I think, or it would be too almost too easy. Like so, I think that it I like it when people kind of like challenge the genre, try challenge like tropes and that kind of thing, and kind of make it their own, because it's always good to have like a fresh take on something that uh has been done before, but it's never been done by you. So I think that's a really cool way of uh putting putting it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. No, I'm I'm very I hope it resonates with the people who are looking for something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh-huh. Definitely. And I think, like you said, self-publishing is such a great option for that. Um just like sometimes it does make the most sense to do it that way, just with like current, like either what's what's trending in terms of what books are popular, or like, like you said, the political climate or any sort of thing where it you kind of need to get it out, like this is the time it's going to shine, and you need to get it out at that certain time. So I think having self-publishing be an option for that is amazing because I know how long it could take for like some trad published books to get out, and you're like, oh, it's so long. This is I would struggle waiting that long. Um, amazing. Well, now obviously your book is getting close to obviously being out early, early next year, which is wild that we're like at that point in this in the time, which is bananas. Um how has that side of things been for you? Like the marketing, the like all of that sort of like prep uh leading up to release date.

SPEAKER_01:

It's been so it's been interesting. Um so outside of writing um in my day job, I have to do a lot of marketing on social media, and I personally have a love hate with it. Um, I hate, I hate that we have to do so much of it. Um, and especially because we're all just like stuck with this algorithm that's forever changing by some billionaire somewhere. And I'm like, and I wish there was a better alternative, and there's really not. Um, so we're all just stuck doing this thing that none of us like doing. Um I have found that like as for like the social media marketing aspect, I do think trying to just feature the aspects of the book that if I was reading this and I didn't know anything about it, I'd be like, well, what is this about? Uh I think that has been my biggest focus and just showing a little bit of the like the behind the scenes of it. Um because I do think my personality definitely is deep within the book, especially with like a couple of the characters. So part of me is like, well, if you like my personality, you're at least gonna like some of these people. Um so that aspect, but then finding the writing community has been really amazing. Um, I'm in Austin, Texas, and there is a really amazing writing community here. There's several different writing groups, if that is like your vibe, um, and just like meeting other people and hearing about their journey. And granted, like there might be things from their journey that are helpful to you. There might be things that are completely irrelevant, but just forming that connection with other humans and like the bookstores and all the different um like resources has been incredibly beneficial in that way, which is kind of it's refreshing because I think there's a lot of industries that say the whole uh what is it, community over competition, but they don't really mean it. I do feel like the writing community actually genuinely like means it. I'm not saying that people aren't still competitive, but it feels more genuine. So I'm like, oh, this is nice. Um and then just I don't know, it's just refreshing. that way also it kind of the polar opposite of like the social media aspect of like it feels almost like a nod to something like very analog.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yes. I I love that. I think having the balance of like you said, like social media and then the in-person connections is so so huge. Uh because like social media is this sort of like rented space that you know we don't control, which is kind of like a little unnerving to know that. So like making sure that you've built that that sort of community offline or you know even like digitally but like on your own terms. Like a lot of the authors will have like their mailing lists and all of that sort of stuff that's all really important that's you know just theirs, how people can kind of like follow them in that space. So I think that that's such a huge part of right because it is so lonely. So to make sure that you have a connection and to have a community in some capacity is really helpful, especially when there are people that are a little bit ahead of you that the have done the things or or that kind of stuff because it is very daunting. Like there's so many steps when you're doing it all yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah there's so many steps and it's definitely a thing where it's like I went into it very much so thinking like I don't have a degree in this I don't have all the years of experience I am I want to absorb as much as possible because there's like you there's nothing bad about learning more and more and more. And I think in some ways that was hugely beneficial.

SPEAKER_00:

And like you said the newsletter um we started newsletter we're trying to get more and more people on the newsletter um I always joke I'm like I promise we won't spam you because I don't have time to so please join and you'll get you know early access to things and like fun little insiders but you know we we can't control the social media like as we've seen with TikTok it it could be gone tomorrow or not we don't know and at least the newsletter will always be there you know as long as like somebody's running it yes definitely I think that that's such a great reminder of just yeah like showing your personality your like world is always key uh I think that's what readers like want to to know about um and then like I and I think too having the in-person connections whether you're like doing it for your own like writing process like writing groups or um a lot of the authors like doing like um like I can't conventions that's the word I'm trying to think of like book markets that kind of stuff I think it helps with our perspective because a lot of us are like oh like I want to go viral or I want to have like if I only got like a hundred likes on my thing it's crap. But I think we forget that if a hundred people were standing in front of you, you would be so probably overwhelmed that they're all like asking. So I think it's a good way of like shifting that like reframing things a little bit to be like okay well sure it's not this but it's still something people are still getting you know used to who I am and and also for a first book it takes time to kind of like build that relationship with people. So like really focusing in on like like you said that long game um and like building that connection and getting in front of people so that they can like know who you are and if that their book your book isn't for them like maybe they know people who would have it. So I think that that's such a great thing to think of when it comes to just marketing and kind of like making it fun because like you said the algorithm is going to do whatever it's gonna do. And I I never know what it's doing. And I'm like well it may as may as well have fun making reels that I enjoy if I'm going to do it. So like it's it's just not I I don't have the capacity to do the lovely cinema like cinematic beautiful like skits that some people can do uh it's just not gonna happen. It's not happening.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah I I look at sometimes the numbers of like the reach and some of them are like so like it's a huge number I'm like that's amazing. What happened? I try to analyze like what what was this and a different one doesn't I'm like I don't I don't know and like I will I will firmly say like I am definitely millennial where I'm like look we're gonna do it very like 90s 2000s it's gonna look a little like unedited it's gonna be authentic okay everyone or someone I've heard appreciates that it's very authentic that's what it's gonna be it's not AI. It's very real.

SPEAKER_00:

So right I think that's so true like embracing it I think that's the best thing and that's really like as a as a reader that's what I connect with when I'm like following you know other authors and like their book like their personality is key whether you are um like self-publishing or even traditionally publishing that's a lot of the point of social media it's just the reality of how we market now. So whether you are self or trad, there's still that element that's still required for you to do it. So I think it's uh learning how to make the best of it is kind of been my like saving grace this year of like well I gotta do it. So let's just have fun with it at least.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And with ours like with this book um it's been fun with like the newsletter because we've been doing like these survival tips which has been one of the biggest things that I've found that people are like oh yeah like I really like that. And I think it's so interesting because I growing up I just didn't realize um one I think I was more like of the sporty person or the outdoorsy person until I talked to other people and I'm like oh this isn't common knowledge and I'm like oh hold on let me let me elaborate on this which is how a lot of the survival tips have came to be and it's such a kind of fun random takeaway from the book where I'm like well these things actually are useful. I'm not telling you to go out and like try to just survive in the woods but this would be useful if you found yourself in a situation. So let's like loop that into you know the newsletter aspect of the marketing or just other aspects of it because it is something that sticks out a little bit more versus like you said like the beautiful edited trendy videos I'm like they're fantastic but almost would rather deliver more like I don't know education I guess or like like fun tidbits or something that and then the behind the scenes because when I go to events to see an author I want it like I truly like I want to know how your brain works. I want to know where the inspiration came from so if I can just put out information for other people do basically dissect like I'm fine with being your subject I love that that's so cool and that's such a great way of like making the marketing like work like it's it's really doing the heavy lifting for you.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that's such a cool thing because like it's true like we are so disconnected from that sort of survival sort of like instinct I feel like if especially if camping or any of that sort of stuff wasn't like in like your wheelhouse or things that you did. It's it's wild to me to think of like oh wow like I really don't know how to do that or like how do I start a fire if I don't have a match like all of these like little things that are really important skills to have uh and then to be able to like tie it back to your book.

SPEAKER_01:

I feel like that's a really cool uh like whole marketing thing that I feel like you probably are playing with which is really fun yeah it's been it's been super fun I know like the first one I put out was telling about like to how to tell how many hours or how much time you have before the sun sets because like you know when it's dark, it's colder you really should be like back in your shelter or whatever. And I kind of casually mentioned it to another author in Austin being like I don't know like maybe this is just like two in the weeds of it and she's like I don't know other people want to know um so that was like the first one we did and started with that. So I jokingly I'm like oh this is a fiction book but if you needed to everything does factually check out so that is fantastic.

SPEAKER_00:

I definitely need all of the the help I can get in that kind of uh realm for sure so I think that that's brilliant um right like it ultimately I think the biggest thing on social media is just like standing out finding your little niche uh and connecting with the readers uh people will find you and it's it's often a slow build slow bird but it does it does happen eventually yeah yeah there's there's I feel like there's some at least some kind of semi-tipping points or something where it's like you're building the the right momentum with the right people which for us right now I feel like we've laid the groundwork um obviously maintaining that but then now we're in the phase of like connecting with both like bookstores and podcasts and blogs and all of those individuals that we feel like would also align with like the book and then their followers their readers things like that would also align with it because obviously we only have so much of a reach and that's just interacting and relying on a community besides just ours because at least my personal take is I'm like if you just rely on your community you're only going to get so far.

SPEAKER_01:

Like we you have to form like a network to benefit you and everyone the best yes that's huge.

SPEAKER_00:

I I think that's why you see so many authors doing giveaways um like collaborating right like it's a great way to reach other people that wouldn't otherwise be in your audience and why not right like and and really like you said it kind of goes back to that community over competition kind of energy that I do feel is pretty like common in in the writing author like indie publishing space of just like wanting to like build each other up and connect and like share um your books on like story like all of that stuff like that makes a difference and it's so easy to do right and I think I I you just never know what you're gonna learn from the people in these spaces and or when the connections that you make will you know maybe they will know that one person that's gonna like open the door for you. Right. So I think just like keeping that in mind because it can be like daunting. And I think um you know a lot of authors I've seen of just like feeling like they want to give up or like it's just it's not going anywhere. It can feel hard when it seems like you're screaming into the void, but it's just like constantly reminding yourself of like it it you know if I keep moving forward it's going to work. It just might not work when I want it to work.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh absolutely like I I toy with the idea of like well the universe will just make it happen when it's supposed to happen um while I'm also still very much so like a type A where I'm like but come on universe let's shuffle it this way. But I think for me like going to art school we all all had like the very uh ambitious and kind of Lulu dream of we just had to meet the right person. And while I think in some ways that can be like almost toxic positivity like dangerous it also keeps that flame alive in you where you're like look I'm just gonna keep doing it. I'm just gonna keep pushing I'm gonna keep creating because someone somewhere will enjoy this and that's great. I just recently read Stephen King's uh book on writing which I know I'm like probably very late to the game on reading it but I just love learning the fact that how like he almost tossed Carrie like it was literally in the trash can and his wife took it out and was like this is great and he's like this is garbage and it became what it was so I think like to writers who feel like it is all doom and gloom I think even the like the greats or the people who have you know what most would say is like success they also felt like that way at one point. So like you know you just you have to just keep I don't know whatever that motivation is like you just have to keep going.

SPEAKER_00:

Definitely and I think that's easy to forget like we often forget that with all of these you know you see these amazing authors or musicians like any creative that are making like art and they've got like a huge following and people are loving them. Like that we're seeing them at their like chapter whatever 20 versus where they were you know however many years ago um and I think it can be easy to forget that of like we don't know what their first draft looked like either. We're seeing there like however many revisions of this book. And I think that that can it it's easy to not like there's a disconnection between that somehow I think I don't know if it's our if it's because creativity and writing in any that sort of like space is so vulnerable. Like there's that fear but yeah I really am trying to like remind myself of that. And also the reality is art is sub so subjective so you're never going to please everyone and if you do I feel like that's not really like you're not really being your authentic self.

SPEAKER_01:

So I think that that's something that is it's a hard pill to swallow putting yourself into uh a space that is pretty much full of rejection right like oh yeah it's highly it's a highly critical field where everyone has opinions and like in theory all of them and none of them are right and that's just what it is. It's so subjective I was laughing because there's a line from the book that was just looking up um my I had one person say that like this line will like live in their brain forever and they're obsessed with it. Someone was like oh it's fine and then I had somebody else was like I hate this like this is like purple prose I'm not a fan and I'm just like okay we have all like all three of the gambit um oh gosh let's see here trying to find it oh yeah it says alluring nostalgia creates a haze numbing sharp memories with nature's hypnotic Novacaine and it got like all three very extreme reactions and I'm like that's fine it's subjective like okay it it's it's yeah it it truly is and I think the biggest thing that you can do is just learning how to sub like what is helpful feedback versus what is opinion.

SPEAKER_00:

And I think that's like real like when you can kind of like nail that as a writer you're on to something of just being like wait a minute like is this just their opinion or is this feedback going to actually help make the story better? Because they are two very very different though similar things.

SPEAKER_01:

And then what is what is feedback that I feel like some I say I feel like some feedback be based on trends. Yes. Because like if writing in general is going towards more of a certain direction, whether it's like quicker sentences, shorter sentences than other things they could be like no, we don't like this but if the pendulum swings then all of a sudden then that's good and the other things like quote unquote bad um so it's it is it's very fascinating how all of that works. I know for like that line specifically we put up on our social media um partially because I just thought it was funny that it got such three different reactions. But also my thought was I'm like if you love this, you're gonna love the book. If you don't love this, you're probably not gonna love the book. I do say I'm like even though it's like dystopian and authoritarian in survival it is also kind of a love letter to nature. Like if you're a nature person even on the most basic level of like looking out your window you will recognize it is a love letter to nature. If you don't like that and you want to be in like a very brutalist sterile you know hospital level building you're gonna be like I don't care about trees and it might not be yours.

SPEAKER_00:

So true so true. It's just yeah it's such a funny people are funny I think amazing well I would love for you to share how people can follow along and obviously get their hands on this book um that is obviously like coming out next year. But yes I would love to hear how people can can get on that newsletter because we need survival tips.

SPEAKER_01:

So um we have our website which is just uh www ashleypeters author uh dot com uh sign up for the newsletter is on there our Instagram is also it's uh at Ashley underscore peters underscore author um I wish the underscores weren't in there but my name is generic and so under the link there is a uh able to like just directly sign up for the newsletter so you don't have to go to the website. Our website does have a blog which one of the things like for me with writing is as like I want to show the process because I do think that I don't know I just think it's interesting. So that's all filled with that. The book will officially come out on the 12th of January but pre-orders are open so that you can get that both on Barnes and Noble um and on our website and then it is on Ingram Sparks. What else? Instagram um we have TikTok by the same name but there's not really like a lot on there because who knows what the fate of that's gonna be. But yeah I think I've been telling everyone when it comes to if they're hearing this and they're like I feel like it's these different I don't know they're like well I'm confused or like what different genres are we in um I've been telling people I'm like it's a survival of speculative fiction uh some interest points there's a strong female character uh but who's also like relatable and human there's themes of found family um rugged individualism versus community I say it's a lyrical love letter to nature in a crumbling world um as I mentioned authoritarian baddies um and then dystopian undertones and there's a dog companion whose name is Janice but it's for the people if you're worried the dog does not die so like if you're like oh I don't read read books with dogs for this reason with all the other stuff I promise you Janice is like all well and good and is kind of like the best character because dogs are the best.

SPEAKER_00:

Truly truly amazing well everything will be linked in the show notes so it will be super easy for readers to click through and find you and follow you and thank you so much for chatting with me today. Of course thank you so much for having me on. Thanks so much for listening to today's episode and if you really loved this author I highly encourage you to go check out their links and comment and share their work because let's be real as an indie author all that stuff makes such a difference. And if you're feeling a little stuck on your draft and just want some gentle accountability check out my one to one offers that are linked in the show notes as well. I'd love to support you with your writing Or editing journey. And if that's not quite where you're at, I've also put together a really amazing free resource to help with taking your writing to the next level because there are so many amazing resources available without needing to spend a ton of money or get that MFA or all of the things that you may think that you need in order to write a book. Until next time, keep writing your way and trust yourself enough to tell your story. Because I promise, if it's coming to you, there's a reason and someone needs to hear it.

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Victoria Hopkins

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