Domestic violence is a difficult subject to write about, but in his book The Skinny Girl author S.M. Matthews examines the subject.
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The Skinny Girl fictionalises the life of his friend who was in an emotionally abusive marriage for 25 years, abused by both her husband and her children, but to the outside world they were a normal family.
"Domestic violence is in epidemic proportions at the moment," Mr Matthews said.
"The more we talk about it, the more people want to be involved in helping stop it, the more there becomes an opportunity to reduce it in the future.
"And certainly if we don't do anything it's only going to get worse."
He said every two minutes in Australia the police receive a call from a woman terrified for her life and every 19 minutes a woman is hospitalised.
When talking to the police about the subject he said he was told police were concerned about the effects increasing interest rates would have on domestic violence, as it put huge pressure on people with high loans.
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"A sudden spike could do a terrible thing to domestic violence statistics," Mr Matthews said.
He hoped by writing The Skinny Girl he could help anyone who has experienced domestic violence realise they are not alone.
"The thing I learned from this is a lot of women don't know they are being abused, the perpetrators' techniques are a little bit at a time and it creeps up on them," he said.
"Over a period of time their self-esteem is lowered, they lose contact with their friends, their finances are controlled by their partner.
"The women don't realise it's going on until someone reaches out to them."
He said his friend who was the inspiration for the book was now doing very well.
"She's now opinionated and is a very vibrant middle-aged woman," he said.
"If we were able to get a cut-out figure of her from 18 years ago and a cut-out of her last week, people wouldn't think she was the same woman."
He will talk about The Skinny Girl and issues surrounding domestic violence at the Bermagui library, Bermagui on Friday, August 2 at 11am.
All earnings from the book's sale are being donated to charities helping victims of domestic abuse.
