MERIMBULA author Melissa Pouliot launched her third novel on July 24, a book that has been endorsed by the Australian Federal Police.
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Around 50 people, both established fans and new converts, from towns around the Bega Valley gathered at the HoWeRoll Café in Tathra for the launch of When You Find Me.
“There were lots of new faces I hadn’t seen before,” Ms Pouliot said.
“I’ve had some amazing feedback so far.
“Although the book was only released on Friday, I had people contacting me on Saturday morning who had sat up all night to finish it to tell me to hurry up and finish the next one.”
Rebecca Kotz, team leader at the AFP’s National Missing Persons Coordination Centre, and one of her team members, Rebecca Brown, attended the launch to endorse the new novel.
The AFP has also endorsed Ms Pouliot’s two prior novels for their role in raising awareness of missing people.
“These sort of books, particularly Melissa’s three books, are the best form of getting in touch with people who are suffering this ambiguous loss,” Ms Kotz said.
“I’m a trained counsellor and the best form of counselling for families of missing persons is via other families in a like situation.”
Ms Pouliot said reaching the community through fiction was extremely rewarding.
“All I have ever wanted to do was make books people weren’t able to put down,” she said.
On August 1, Ms Pouiot is holding a Picnic for Ursula in Kings Cross, to remember her cousin Ursula Barwick who disappeared 28 years ago and with the hope someone comes forward with new information of what could have happened to her.
Ursula’s case is the focus case for NSW as part of National Missing Person’s Week.
Her story and photo have been featured on posters in Chemist Warehouses this July.
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