My writing journey began, as many do, with short stories. The idea of writing something as complicated as a novel, or even a novella, seemed much too big a challenge at that stage. Besides, I was still finding my feet, my author’s voice, so to learn the art of crafting a tale just a couple of thousand words long seemed more manageable. At the time, I was going through a phase of reading rather a lot of erotica so my stories reflected that and this is how Siren Spirit began, as an erotic short story.
It was as I writing the last few lines that the story was feeling somewhat unfinished. Without realising it, I had moulded the character of Emma on myself and my own feelings of disorientation after a marriage breakup. Her sense of loss, her grief and the desire to hide away to heal were all emotions I felt around that time. I should point out, however, that the similarities end there. I have never experienced any paranormal events, sexual or otherwise.
It was after this bombshell that it became clear that I needed to concentrate less on the erotic content of the story and more on Emma herself. Enter Lewis Carrington, her neighbour.
It was a fun story to write and, when the first draft was complete, I was confident that I would eventually publish. Then I had a revelation about telling the stories of Emma’s friends, too, and thus the Lost Souls series was born. The second book, A Friend in Need, was published a couple of years later, and the third (working title Letter of Lament) is due out some time in 2021.
This whole journey has ignited an interest in history that I didn’t know I possessed. I hated the subject at school, dropping it as soon as I could. It was only when I decided to trace my family tree around ten years ago that matching actual people with history began to bring the subject to life for me. Indeed, Grace’s father in Siren Spirit, Joseph, is based on one of my ancestors, who was a blacksmith.
People often ask us, as writers, where we get our inspiration from. For me, it is everywhere – in my own life, the things I do, the places I visit and the people I meet. I just need to be open to receive it. Once I am in the right head space, ideas come thick and fast; the creativity flows like a river in flood and I struggle to get it all down on paper fast enough!
Elizabeth has always been a voracious reader since her preschool years, so perhaps it’s not surprising that when she hit middle age, the urge for a career change brought her into the world of writing.
The Lost Souls series brings together her love of the supernatural together with romance and historical settings to create provocative stories around her central female characters.
She has recently left the world of automotive engineering to concentrate full-time on writing and her freelance editing business, and is making plans to move to the south of France, fulfilling a lifelong dream. She is keeping her fingers crossed that her two cats will forgive her at some point in the future.
