Perdita Bradley has been riding a wave of support since the release of her first book, “Friends With Benefits: FWB”, and is currently writing the followup to her impressive original. Her first book is now found online at Amazon Kindle, Google Play, iTunes, Walmart, Barnes and Noble, and Books A Million–and is being discussed by book clubs across the nation. Things are looking great for the rising Birmingham author in recent months–but it was a journey to get to where she is today.
“When I was in high school, I used to love writing poems. In the process of moving I lost a lot of that,” Bradley recollects. A defining moment during this time was in her 9th grade English class when she turned in a creative writing assignment that asked students to make up a story about what they did over the weekend. The teacher loved Perdita’s writing (and couldn’t believe her story wasn’t true) and suggested the young student consider pursuing writing and journalism in college. At that age, she was not yet ready to consider taking her penmanship talents to the collegiate level–but this teacher’s words would inspire her again years later.
“I kind of let go of the idea of writing, and it ventured off into other things,” Bradley shares. Her interest was reignited after Perdita’s nephew, Jerein Harris, released a book of his own about four years ago. She read his book, and the published works of his cousin Clint Cullen, and told the two authors that they inspired her to write. “They kind of stayed on me to give it a try,” Perdita shares of her author family. She started writing the story for FWB in 2019, but temporarily lost interest in finishing the story with the thousands of distractions that come with living life.
Things changed when Perdita’s work sent everybody home during the pandemic. Bradley used the time to clean out her laptop files, and when she opened the pages of her book she found she was ready to finish the story. She had a goal of 70,000 words and dove into finding the best ways to expand on character arcs and include the most attention-grabbing moments. When Perdita finished her first completed masterpiece in February of 2021 she sent it to three publishers–unsure if they would want it.
“I was a ball of emotions. I was excited. I was nervous. I really can’t tell you exactly what all I was feeling,” Bradley recollects on completing the book, and these feelings were only elevated in her first meeting with a publishing representative. “Even if no one accepts your book, the fact that you wrote a book is an accomplishment in itself,” the chairperson for the first publishing company told her. All three companies would end up extending offers.
The next step was creating a book cover, and Perdita wanted to ensure it was a celebration. She told her son, Cordarius, she’d like a reveal party and his musical group (very talented brass collective LoudPack) helped bring the excitement. “I’m very emotional when people do stuff like that for me, so when I saw the guys coming in with the drums and the keyboards tears started rolling again,” Bradley shares, “It was a very good feel-good moment. I wasn’t expecting the amount of support even that day.” The support hasn’t slowed down, as word of FWB’s flirtatious storyline continues to increase the books sales and words of encouragement for the author.
The idea came from a simple enough moment–women friends and family of Perdita sitting around, enjoying each other’s company, and talking about their various relationships. One friend was discussing a friends-with-benefits situation, and while not everyone agreed with or understood the desire to keep things so casual, they all continued to joke about the differences in various types of relationships. These moments sparked the plans for the plot–but Perdita is clear that nobody she knows, except for Birmingham’s DJ Elite and LoudPack music, are in the book.
There are some pretty spicy scenes in Friends With Benefits, and it is a book for adults–but it’s much more than a simple fantasy. The book follows a young woman named Elaine, who through a series of events finds herself torn between two men named Chad and Eldrick (who has hurt her emotionally in the past). “All of the elements of her life come into play to help her decide what’s best for her in the end,” Bradley explains.
There are moments many of us can relate to–returning to religion, lost connections, and even sexting. It isn’t afraid to cover both holy and earthly desires, because the real world doesn’t shy away from these experiences either. “To me the book is life,” Perdita shares, “You have sadness, you have laughter. It has funny situations in it. There are sad situations. There’s love. There’s drama.”
Friends With Benefits: FWB was the first book Perdita had written in a while, and she “basically just went in like I was telling somebody the story.” She then had a handful of friends–who didn’t know each other so they couldn’t compare notes–read the book and give her honest feedback. The process seemed to work–she’s received stellar reviews from online supporters, friends, and book clubs since the release. She has a group in California hoping to bring her out in person if the pandemic slows down. Many of the readers are women, but she’s enjoyed getting the male perspective just as much as it’s a new experience.
All of the feedback Perdita has gotten–and the experience she’s gained–is now being put into writing her second book. “I’m taking it all in because I want to go from where I am to even better,” Bradley shares of her peers’ feedback, “I really want to go to the next level.” This time around she’s able to do more prep work on her characters and storyline, with her main goal being that fans of the original will feel that the next release does its predecessor justice. She laughs while saying she’ll have ideas while driving to work and write them down in a notebook as soon as she’s able to safely stop.
Bradley is also intending to feature Birmingham businesses and entrepreneurs in her next book, with an index of local companies readers can support in the back. “There’s enough money out there for all of us,” is Perdita’s philosophy, “It’s just a matter of getting exposed and letting people know that this is what we have available. If we don’t tell it, nobody will know. Birmingham is a hidden secret.”
“I’m still trying to absorb the fact that I have a book that’s available to the public with my name on it. It feels good,” Bradley shares, and she’d encourage others to pursue writing their grandest ideas as well. “If it’s a dream. If it’s something that you really want to do. You have a passion for it, or just want to see what it would be like to publish a book. I say do it,” she shares, “Find you a small group of people that you can trust and who will be honest with you about what you’re doing, and go with them.”
“Who would have thought that a 15-year-old girl who was asked about being a journalist and quickly said no, would have her name on the cover of a book,” the now 51-year-old Perdita reflects. We’re thankful her teacher, her mom, her sister, her family, friends, and herself all inspired this Birmingham author to guide us through the world of Elaine and a heart that’s torn in two.
