For Liverpool resident, Sandra Saulnier, seeing her name on the cover of a book has been a lifetime dream and earlier this month, that dream came true as she held her first novel in her hands.
“It is surreal; it’s difficult to put into words how it feels because this is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Saulnier said. “But I can say for certain that it feels great. I can’t believe I’ve actually done it.”
Lost in Grey went live on December 22 via Amazon. The book is available for Kindle and hard copies can be ordered on demand.
Saulnier explained that she decided to self-publish her book because she didn’t want to take the usual six months to a year waiting to hear a from a traditional publisher.
“And then, that’s only to see if they are interested in the book or not. After that, I know it can be a long process. It could have taken a couple of years before my book was available to readers,” she said. “I was anxious to let people read my book so this seemed like the best solution.”
Describing her book, Saulnier said, “Lost in Grey is about a woman who develops postpartum depression which turns into depression. The characters and story are a work of fiction but I also pulled from some of my own experiences and feelings as I suffered from depression many years ago.”
She added, “I think we need to bring more awareness to mental health issues as it is not something that should be hidden away.”
She said it is her hope that her book might help people to relate and that they will stand up and start talking about these issues.
Even though Saulnier, a mother of three children ages 7, 13 and 15, said she worried she may be a little late in her life to be embarking on a new career, she quickly pointed that writing has been something she has wanted to do for as long as she can remember.
“And I’ve always loved books,” she said. “My mother tells me stories from when I was as young as five, laying on the living room floor reading to my family. She said I would read anything to them, even the newspaper.”
In school, Saulnier said, English was her favourite subject and she enjoying writing assignments.
“I just always had this dream that someday I would write a book,” she said, adding that she is very excited that she has now seen that dream become a reality.
While she said she enjoys reading all genres of books, fiction is her favourite to write because fiction gives her the freedom to take the story wherever it needs to go.
“When I started writing this book about year ago, I had no idea where it would take me and now, I’m ready to share it with everyone,” she said, adding that part of the excitement will be hearing what people think of the story.
While Lost in Grey is just hitting the market, Saulnier explained she already has two other books in the works, one a horror thriller which she plans to shop around to publishers and the second a fantasy thriller for young readers which she said she plans to self-publish.
