A Prince George raised author has used her hometown to inspire and elevate others.

Photo credit: Kim Purcell

Kim Purcell has been a writer for the majority of her life.

After a short career in journalism, Purcell decided to turn to novel writing as a way of addressing important issues around representation, depression, race and guilt.

“I wanted to be a novelist and talk about issues of representation, bias and injustice. Things that matter to me and do it in a fiction form,” said Purcell.

This is Not a Love Letter is Purcell’s latest novel and it is deeply rooted in events that occurred in Prince George.

Just weeks before graduation in June of 1989, Purcell’s good friend Al Rivas disappeared.

“It was a kind of a terrible way to enter adulthood, a very dramatic way, because suddenly I think we had to re-evaluate who we were what we wanted to be as well as how I wanted to honor my friend's life,” says Purcell.

Photo credit: Kim Purcell

This is Not a Love Letter is a representation of what Purcell felt like while dealing with this tragedy. 

While the names and storyline have changed, Purcell focuses on how that event shaped her as well as how it reflected the town as a whole.

“I felt that this story was a story that was very needed. I wanted to write a book about kids who are survivors,” said Purcell. “I wanted to write a book that spoke to the issues- especially in small towns. Prince George is not small, but it is isolated.”

She also recaps how the search in the novel represents the search she and her peers went through in Prince George.

Purcell uses Prince George and the corresponding events that took place as a way to talk about life’s toughest issues.

“I wanted to write a book that reflected what I went through, what we all went through. Back then, there was nothing that could help me process my feelings,” explains Purcell.

In the novel, Purcell touches on topics such as guilt, depression, bullying, bias, the unknown, fear and what it feels like to be a survivor.

Though designed for youth, Purcell used this novel as a way to cope with her own lingering thoughts and feelings regarding the incident.

“I felt like having gone through depression myself and having been the survivor, I needed to write a book about what that is like. What it is like to search your heart for anything you could have done differently and to find yourself and how you move past it,” says Purcell.

After having a tough go at adolescence herself, she created the book as a way to let other young adults know that their feelings are justified and can be helped.

Purcell designed this book to be an outlet for youth who may be struggling and may not necessarily know how to address it.

“The great thing is now I have heard from readers who have experienced similar things. I can say that there is nothing more gratifying than hearing from readers who say they have read my work that they feel like I was in their own mind," said Purcell.

The book took four years to write and was recently published on Jan. 30, 2018.

This is Not a Love Letter can be purchased online or in select stores.

For more information on Purcell and her novels, visit her website.