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A few years ago, Julia Tannenbaum would never have imagined she’d publish one book, let alone two.

The 19-year-old West Hartford resident and recent graduate of Hall High School did just that in early August when she released Breaking Free, the sequel to her first novel, Changing Ways.

The books – about a fictional teenage character named Grace Edwards – both draw from her own life experience with having a mental illness. For Tannenbaum, it came in the form of an eating disorder that nearly derailed her time in high school.

The newest book deals with recovery from mental illness, something Tannenbaum knows a lot about considering she’s living through that now.

“A lot of people don’t realize that recovery is most of the journey and it takes the longest and it’s really hard,” Tannenbaum said. “I wanted to depict that.”

Her first book was followed by much fanfare in West Hartford. She participated in various book discussions across the area, something that wasn’t easy for her to do.

“I have social anxiety and performance anxiety, so standing in front of a group of people and baring my soul and being authentic and sharing my story with mental illness was intimidating,” Tannenbaum said. “Most of the time, it ended up going really well. I was connecting with people and had this platform to make a difference. It’s been great.”

Julia Tannenbaum, a 19-year-old from West Hartford, has published her second novel, “Breaking Free.” Both of her novels deal with her own struggle with mental illness.

Writing began as a way of therapy for Tannenbaum and still serves that function today.

“Writing has continually been an excellent release and something I can turn to when I’m not in the mood to talk to people,” Tannenbaum said. “It’s a great expression for my thoughts and my emotions. That hasn’t changed at all. The experience of being published and doing talks and events has boosted my confidence a lot. It’s motivated me to get better, even more than before, which is great.”

But with two books under her belt, Tannenbaum knows that writing is also a chance to speak up about mental illness. She routinely receives messages from other young people, and sometimes parents of young people, who are going through something similar to what she experienced.

“It’s hard to hear that people are struggling, but that’s the reality that is mental illness,” Tannenbaum said. “People want someone to talk to and for someone to understand. For some people, I can be that person. I am perfectly happy to listen. I’m not a professional, but I’ve been through a lot. I can share my story of how I got out of it.”

Even she will admit that she never really saw herself to so quickly be in a place where she’s the one giving advice.

“Just a few years ago, I was a complete mess and now I am offering advice to adults who have a child in a similar situation,” Tannenbaum said. “I’m being this voice of wisdom for people who are in the place I was a few years ago. It’s still hard to adjust to. It feels great to be able to make a difference.”

Tannenbaum remains in recovery, she said, and takes value in being able to share her story. The more that people talk about mental illness, the less stigmatized it becomes, she said.

“With mental illness, we’ve made a lot of improvements about being open, but it’s still so stigmatized,” she said. “The only way that will change is if people talk about it and share their experiences so that other people will realize it’s not something to be ashamed of. You’re not broken and you’re not a problem.”

Tannenbaum will attend Emerson College in Boston this fall, where she will study screenwriting. She also has plans to release a third novel sometime in the future.

“It still feels surreal sometimes when I think about where I was,” Tannenbaum said. “I’m so excited and so glad that I got to a place where I could graduate high school. I have a whole plan in place to make my transition as successful as possible. I’m looking forward to having a fresh start.”

Breaking Free can be purchased on Amazon.