An Interview with An Author: Ashley Peters

Welcome to the new year and our third episode in our interview series on science fiction indie authors and their works! Today, I’m joined by the philosophical Ashley Peters. Ashley’s upcoming debut, IN STASIS, is described as a “lyrical, slow-burn survival novel,” and I have to say, I’m stoked to chat with someone who writes in one of my absolute favorite genres.

Time to see what answers to all of life’s questions Ashley has in store for us. Also, let’s just take a second and enjoy this gorgeous cover.

Cover image courtesy of Ashley Peters

[Salena]: Ashley! Welcome to the Susbstack, and congrats on your upcoming debut - already something to celebrate in the new year. Let’s start with your very first memory of writing.

[Ashley]: My first memory was creating imaginative stories as a child. I would write and draw until late elementary/early middle school when I begged my grandma for a typewriter. She found a vintage one at an antique store for cheap and I would write endlessly, creating the loudest clickity-clackity noises all day long. I don’t know if I was being ironic choosing a typewriter or if I resisted computers that were gaining popularity because it wasn’t tactile.

[Salena]: I have one of those typewriter keyboards myself to recapture that tactile experience. How has your relationship with writing evolved since that first memory?

[Ashley]: Eventually I found my way into poetry but it was more feelings and sensory descriptors than stories. I was growing my love for literature and reading but as I grew into my teens I felt that my creative ideas couldn’t measure up to what already existed. So at that time I wrote mainly for competition pieces, scholarships etc and other more creative, experimental stories were for just me. I found myself starting to run narratives in my head and now I realize it was the beginning of brainstorming. I’ve found my way back to writing and it feels like what I should have been doing creatively all along.

[Salena]: It totally makes sense that your first novel is lyrical, given your poetry roots. Most writers are readers-first so, what was the first book you read that made you fall in love with reading?

[Ashley]: This feels like an impossible question! But there’s a few that stand out. I remember Star Girl resonated as I was the “weird kid”, and then The Giver, LOTR, and His Dark Materials Trilogy opened up this world of possibilities of good v evil, ethical compasses and they’re all displayed in worlds beyond ours.

[Salena]: I feel like we could have been reading buddies back then; I was a huge fan of His Dark Materials! What’s the most recent book you’ve read that made you fall in love all over again?

[Ashley]: Also impossible to answer ha ha. Most recently I read Coffin Moon and Out There Screaming. Both of those presented horror stories in a new way to me. I always deeply appreciate when I can be surprised or something elicits a new feeling. Just a little while before that I finally read Babel and I was wrecked. Wanted to devour it and ended up in tears--I HIGHLY recommend this book!

[Salena]: Adding those recs to the list! Talking about inspiring books, let’s shift to your debut. Your novel, IN STASIS, is described as “a lyrical, slow-burn survival novel that invites you to explore a duality of worlds and survival from the perspective of an average woman.” I am HERE for it. Tell us a bit about the book.

[Ashley]: In “In Stasis” our FMC Jessi is forced to choose to flee to the forest with her dog Janus to avoid arrest after facing a betrayal while living under a newly formed authoritarian regime. It explores themes of autonomy, survival ( literal, psychological, and metaphorical), dystopian/authoritarian baddies, socio-political intrigue, found family v rugged individualism and hope in suffocating times. It’s a gritty story but written like a love letter to nature because I love contrast and complexities. It’s written in a first person POV and an epistolary style because I wanted the reader to be along for the ride as if you were in Jessi’s shoes.

[Salena]: Love a good survival theme and I’m so intrigued by the epistolary style. What was the inspiration behind IN STASIS?

[Nina]: My partner and I were talking about politics, the world etc. and movies/books in relation to the fall of societies. I said how I’m surprised there’s not really many (any?) stories of people going off grid trying to stay unnoticed, wait it out, or metaphorically duck their head in the sand, and how that would be the move I would take. We discussed how in WW2 there was a town that did live in hiding in a forest to evade Nazis, but no modern fiction came to mind. So I felt it was a story worth exploring. I explicitly wanted it to be from a female perspective of an “average” woman (i.e. me) with minimal camping/glamping experience (not a Bear Grylls) without a male sidekick/partner etc. because I didn’t want society or critics to rob Jessi of her accomplishments due to proximity of a man.

[Salena]: Writing a novel is never easy. What were the highs and lows of producing this work?

[Ashley]: I loved the writing process. When I started, the words flowed out, the plot moved as if it already existed and I was just illuminating characters that felt real. Editing I have mixed feelings about because the nitty-gritty things are a drag (to me) so I did hire an editor. The hardest part was ensuring that what was in my head ended up in someone else’s head via the page. I’m a very visual person but sometimes that’s a detriment. You give me a phrase and my brain has conjured a whole scene in my head but not everyone operates that way so I had to make sure that others saw what I saw via my writing. Fortunately my partner does not create a whole scene in his head so he was a pretty good litmus test.

[Salena]: There are so few solo-female survivalist novels, so I’m absolutely hooked. What do you want readers to be left with after reading the novel?

[Ashley]: A feeling of confidence, autonomy and hope. We discredit our capabilities, especially as women and that shit needs to stop. Trust your gut and raise the bar. There is light to be found in dark times and we are all capable of doing hard things. This isn’t a self help or inspirational book but I hope that it resonates, and that readers can see a bit of themselves in Jessi or take a bit of Jessi with them daily. At the bare minimum I hope readers enjoy it and share with their friends, family, books clubs etc. I’m grateful for any and everyone who reads a line.

[Salena]: IN STASIS is available for pre-order, with a release date of January 12, 2026. Walk us through the publication process. What’s something you know now that you wish you knew when you first started?

[Ashley]: I underestimated how long editing takes. As I mentioned before the writing for me felt quick (4 months) but the editing and revisions took so much longer (almost 6 months). I think I naively thought it would flow as easily and I wouldn’t end up changing as much as I did. There’s also downtime, that unfortunately just exists, so if you can use that time for other things ( such as promoting, making connections etc) it will create a better cycle.

[Salena]: I totally feel that. My most recent novel took about three months to write but I’m still deep in the editorial process. It’s the worst. What’s a day in the life of a writer look like for you? How do you maintain balance?

[Ashley]: I do work a full time job in addition to writing. I actually own a wedding beauty business so balance for me was key. Morning would be my day job handling emails, contracts, etc. but naturally in the afternoon I would be bored with day job emails and my brain would want to creatively explore. I leaned into this allowing afternoons to be writing time and sometimes evenings too. Writing actually forced me to be more efficient in my day job so I wasn’t dallying and created an indirect win-win. In general I enjoy silence and hearing the street noise or dogs sleeping so I write in silence. Sometimes there’s a tv show in the background but it’s hard to not get sucked in so I’m less productive in those cases. I don’t have any particular rituals but I do try to get into the headspace of characters. If I’m struggling I may listen to sounds that would be in that environment or play with dialogue out loud.

[Salena]: That definitely resonates. I find it really hard to make the time while doing full-time work. Even fifteen minutes sometimes feels like a win. How and where do you find your writing community? What advice would you give to someone who hasn’t found theirs yet?

[Ashley]: Social media is actually really beneficial in this way for a few reasons. You can connect with people all over the world and while it’s all virtual there is a community being formed. Social media can also present groups, events and organizations to create in-person connections. I’ve participated in several groups and been fortunate to connect both on and offline with authors via the starting point of social media. If you haven’t found yours yet, that’s ok. It takes time to find the right group for you because of the personalities different groups attract, the activity the group may be doing, schedule etc. I will advise you to sample around. Try out various groups to see what matches your vibe and don’t feel like you have to belong to all(or any) of them even if there’s a lot of hype.

[Salena]: What’s next for you for the rest of the year and 2026?

[Ashley]: The rest of the year will be promoting IN STASIS and getting ARCs as well as PR boxes out. Promoting will continue into 2026 along with events (book fairs, festivals & stores) but I also have some new stories in the works. I actually have 3 very different full novels in some stage of creation. One is a speculative fiction climate piece involving boats and space, one is a dark comedy pushing the limits of what we would do for our fur babies and wishful immortality and the final one is a dark comedy about a duo trying to escape fate in a futuristic hoa community. If this is perplexing or intriguing then you’ll have to stick around on our social media (@ashley_peters_author) or our newsletter. I’m also working on a series of short stories. My lofty goal would be to have 1 novel and short story collection completed in 2026 but we shall see!

[Salena]: That’s amazing! I definitely think you can do it. Anything else you’d like to share as we wrap up?

[Ashley]: For the book In Stasis, I just want to say that I think whether you are a hiker/outdoorsy person or not; or a speculative fiction person or not; or a fall of society onlooker or not; woman or not: this book will strike a chord. It was so hard to pull comps (Leave the World Behind, Parable of the Sower & Wild) because it crosses genres and themes. For the genre, well I have a hard time staying in genres! I blend a lot. It’s what I’m drawn to because life is complex and messy and doesn’t stay in one category. I do love the exploratory nature of speculative fiction (which all my work is rooted in) because it allows you to ask “what if” and I LOVE a good theoretical conversation. For my experience writing, I would advise everyone to not undervalue their story. The comparison game is a killer. A year ago, an interview like this didn’t even cross my mind as a possibility and yet, here we are. You never know where life will lead you if you take a chance.[

Huge thank you to Ashley for joining me today. It was so great to learn how she approaches her work, her life, and publishing. If you found IN STASIS intriguing, get yourself on that pre-order list.

Next up, we’ve got an interview with Samara Knight and what’s been going on in the first month of January! Speak soon, friends!