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Friday, March 12, 2021 7 Brooklin Town Crier Brooklin Author Publishes First Novel It took Laura Leslie a year and a half of full time writing to complete her first novel, "The Pretty Place." It's a coming-of-age story about mental health awareness set in Port Perry that features plot twists many readers have admitted they didn't see coming. The novel has been named a winner by the Canada Book Awards, a book assessment program that promotes outstanding accomplishments by Canadian authors. Leslie studied journalism at Humber College and spent time in broadcasting, public relations and media before deciding to devote herself to the story. With money saved from shares in a start-up she'd worked for which got sold, she devoted 10-13 hours a day to putting her passion to paper. "The story is set in 1999," she says. "It's about what a young teen begins to experience and then continues with her into adulthood." "I loved the writing itself," she now says when describing the process. "It took about four months for that. But the editing and working with a professional editor were the most grueling. For sure, I could never have done this part time." Getting it published though presented different challenges, like finding an agent or publisher willing to do it. That plus the fact authors earn so little from traditional routes. Instead, she designed the cover herself, hired her own editor, and had it self-published through Friesen press. To date, she's sold hundreds of copies and has pretty much broken even financially with most sales through her website. As to what's next, Leslie is already looking at another novel while this one lays out a new path for her writing life. "The Pretty Place" is available in hard or soft cover format through the website theprettyplacenovel.ca. The site features testimonials, a list of songs mentioned in the book and excerpts. The novel is also sold through Amazon, Rakuten Kobo, Barnes and Noble and Google Play.