Who in the world am I? Growing up in Wonderland, a guest post by Nicky Peacock

Last year was Alice in Wonderland’s 150th anniversary, and this inspired me to re-read the book as an adult. I’d always known there were certain themes flowing through the story: growing up, madness, etc. but it was only on this second read that I started to truly understand them. My book, Lost in Wonderland, then began to take shape in my mind.

Adolescence is a difficult process for everyone, but it is universal. We all go through stages of high emotions and frustrations and feeling like our bodies are changing beyond our control. In Alice in Wonderland, we can see a perfect example of this when Alice drinks from the ‘Drink Me’ bottle, and her body shrinks, making her too small to use the key to open the door she wishes to enter. When you grow up, you are given more responsibilities as a teenager; you suddenly become a small person in a very big world.

When Alice eats the cake, she grows to massive proportions. Just like when our bodies change through our teens; we feel awkward and out of control. She is now far too big to enter the door, so starts to weep. She shrinks into the salty pool – consumed by her emotions.

Then she meets Mouse, my own character’s namesake. Mouse introduces her to a party of animals that Alice frightens by talking about her cat and once again Alice finds herself alone. We all experience delicate peer social systems in these years. The wrong words or actions can quickly bring on ridicule and abandonment, but are these fair-weather people who we want in our lives?

The perpetual Mad Hatter’s Tea Party is an excellent example of particular peer groups that we all find in our schools. Those who appear to be having fun, yet in reality are not getting anywhere in life. Alice wants to join in but is ostracized and insulted – a blessing in disguise?

The Queen of Hearts is a totally unfair ruler, and perhaps this is similar to how we can feel about our parents and guardians through our teens. Doing and saying things we don’t understand, and feeling that they are being ‘un-needlessly harsh.’ when they do not concede to our wishes – no matter how right we think we are.

On the face of it, Alice seems to have incredible adventures in Wonderland, but when you re-read it, it becomes obvious that she has to run a gauntlet of emotionally draining trials and is dramatically thrown from one weird situation to another.

When I wrote my book, Lost in Wonderland, I didn’t want to just re-hash the original Alice story; taking the themes of growing up and being lost and threading them through a supernatural thriller. I wanted to give it a modern twist that was ultimately about Alice but didn’t star her.

My protagonist, Mouse, looks like a little girl but is, in fact, much older. Although this aids her in baiting serial killers, it hinders her life. She’s developed a love of high-heeled shoes to try to compensate for this almost eternal youth and is sometimes needlessly violent. She works for a vigilante group known as Wonderland that gives their operatives codenames from the Lewis Carroll book in honor of a murdered young girl called Alice.  Mouse’s brother Shilo is her opposite. He has grown into a man, but behaviors like a child, worrying about mythical monsters and talking to an imaginary friend. Both are trapped in their own Wonderlands and only when they work together do they start to find their way out.

Puberty is hard for everyone and the key is to realize that you are not alone.  Being a teenager is temporary so make the most out of it. Believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Embrace your emotions as you make your way through your own Wonderland. And remember this; no matter how insane of frustrating your life gets know in your heart that you will find your way out to become the person you want to be.

And if imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality, read books, preferably my books, but if you’d like to read others I won’t hold it against you…much 🙂

“Have I gone mad?”

“I’m afraid so, but let me tell you something, the best people usually are.”

― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

About Nicky Peacock

Nicky Peacock is an Amazon best-selling author of YA books. She has two series with Evernight Teen: Battle of the Undead and The Twisted and the Brave. She also has over 30 short stories published in horror and paranormal romance anthologies. In her spare time she runs a local writers’ group and volunteers to run creative writing workshops in schools and libraries to encourage the next generation of budding authors. You can find out more information here: https://nickypeacockauthor.wordpress.com/

Lost in Wonderland can be bought on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Wonderland-Twisted-Brave-Book-ebook/dp/B01E9NX1W2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1460706742&sr=8-2&keywords=nicky+peacock

Looking for a FREE Halloween read? Traitors’ Gate – prequel to the Battle of the Undead series is a historical vampires VS zombies YA read and can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Traitors-Battle-Undead-Nicky-Peacock-ebook/dp/B01KGBLIN0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473099917&sr=8-1&keywords=traitors+gate+nicky

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