Lifestyle: Author Stephanie Clarke-Jennings

If every cloud has a silver lining, then Stephanie Clarke-Jennings found hers in the struggles of post-natal depression.

The Australind mother of four used the "escapism" of creative writing to help her recovery and this has culminated in the publication of her debut novel.

It was only some wise words from her doctor while battling post-natal depression following the birth of son Max in January 2014 that made her book a reality.

"I didn't realise how bad my post-natal depression was until I went to the doctor," she said.

"He said I needed to find a hobby and I thought 'I used to paint and still have my book'.

"I love the escapism of being able to write other people's lives."

The beginnings of her fantasy novel, The Emerald Ink, can be traced back to a bucket list Stephanie complied after a house fire took the life of a close friend and the friend's children.

The first words of her novel were written in 2013 while she was working and at university and she estimates the book was about 25,000 words long before the birth of Max.

The occupational therapist's life, and writing, went on hold again with a newborn son.

"Your previous life goes out the window when you have kids and you can lose your identity," she said.

"When you have young children, you don't have much of a social life so writing was my thing.

"Writing was my therapy and it evolved and snowballed as I found my creativity again."

Now a mother to 10-year-old Isla, six-year-old Mila, two-year-old Max and her youngest son Alexei, who turns one this month, she believes things happened at the "right time".

"I probably wouldn't have written at the rate I did," she admits.

"I would have picked the book up again eventually but it came at the right time. It's definitely addictive and you want to get ideas out."

Stephanie admits writing is "part of me now" and The Emerald Ink will be the first book in a trilogy.

She knows the plot of all three novels and is already planning a spin-off series, based in the same town as her trilogy but focusing on a minor sub-character.

Now juggling her writing with part-time university studies, her creative side is being stimulated by travelling into the fantasy world she has written.

The Emerald Ink is based around seven scripts that were written several thousand years ago, with the one of the reincarnated authors hunting them down in the modern-day world to pit humanities against each other.

Stephanie's book was officially launched with a free function from 7pm tomorrow at Verve Hair and Beauty on Stephen Street.