Last month, new author Julee Pauling self-published her very first novel, View from the Lamplighter Inn.
This suspense/thriller follows Elspeth James on her journey to self-discovery as she attempts to solve a series of mysterious deaths — something she can’t do until she has worked through her past trauma.
According to author Julee Pauling, View from the Lamplighter Inn explores “human psychology and its effects on society…From the perspective of someone who has survived trauma and must learn how to re-engage with the world.”
Elspeth’s journey in View from the Lamplighter Inn is far from simple. After suffering from this trauma, Elspeth loses her position as a philosophy professor. Despite this, Elspeth pushes on, “investigating social violence as it exists on many levels, from the ways other people try to solve our problems for us, to micro aggressions, to full-on bullying, all the way up to human trafficking and assault.”
While Elspeth’s journey may be a work of fiction, her story was actually inspired by real events in Julee Pauling’s life. After being diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumour, Julee had felt as if her life began to crumble.
“Prior to my brain tumour, I had a career in the public service developing ethics programs and advising on public ethics and conflicts of interest.” Julee said. “The use of the imagination in moral education has always interested me, and I had once thought I would study it at a doctoral level.”
But things took a turn for the worst.
“I was suddenly caught and I then was trapped for a time. There could be no quick escape. I just needed to work it through.” Julee confessed. “It was like one day I had an identity and a role in society and then it was gone.”
Thankfully, it didn’t take long before Julee was able to find herself once again through her writing. She set aside time to write nearly every single day, determined to finish Elspeth James’ story.
“Writing a book was always in my life plan,” Julee confessed. “But, I didn’t expect to write a book until I was over 40.”
She admits that writing her book was definitely the right path for her and urges aspiring writers to explore self-publishing as well.
“If anyone has that burning desire to publish a book,” Julee said, “give it a try.”
But her journey doesn’t stop here. When asked about what readers can expect in the future, Julee assured that View from the Lamplighter Inn would not be the end of this story. In fact, readers can expect the next novel in the series, Polished Stone sometime in the future.
To secure your very own copy of Julee Pauling’s View from the Lamplighter Inn, click here.
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