J. L. Martin resides in a quiet country town in Regional Victoria, Australia. In a past life of her own, she spent close to two decades working in the Welfare sector and at the coalface for the State Child Protection AHS Emergency Service as a lead investigator, applicant and expert witness within the Childrens’ Court—both in the family and criminal divisions—along with the Family Law and Criminal Court systems, before being forced to retire with cumulative trauma as a result of a final assault sustained in the workplace while carrying out her duties. She holds a degree in welfare and has two adult daughters and four grandchildren — along with a number of adult foster daughters and grandchildren.

 

J L Martin’s transition to full-time author began in December 2015 when she started writing as therapy to assist in her recovery from PTSD, ultimately leading to her debut series ‘Samsara’. 

 

Her only non-fiction book, ’A Journey to Finding YOUR New Normal—PTSD, Anxiety and Depression,’ was first published in 2018; however, J L Martin recently decided to update the existing manuscript while adding a significant amount of new information due to a number of changes that have occurred in a short space of time, not only in her own life but more importantly within the mental health field—along with the irritating fact that the phrase ‘New Normal’ is now closely associated with Covid-19. The updated edition will be published under a new title, ‘Sunshine after the Storm—Finding Joy after Trauma,’ and is available on her website and from all good bookstores in ebook, paperback and audiobook from January 2023. 

 

She owns a 19th-Century Coffee Palace & Bookstore with her partner, a creative soul and talented artist in his own right — their ‘Penny University,’ stocking only tomes from Australian Authors to demonstrate their unwavering support of all writers within the community and around Australia — and coffee — they have GREAT coffee. 

 

Want to stay up to date and be the first to hear about Samsara? Go to jlmartinauthor.com to sign up for her newsletter and receive alerts and updates, along with bonus content from unpublished volumes. Links to social media and bookstores are available here too. 

 

Go to jlmartinauthor.com