When 24-year-old Paige Hawk, of Bath, author of “The Wounds That Don’t Bleed,” wrote a short story for her fiction writing class at Moravian College in 2018, she had no idea it would turn into a novel.

As a child, Hawk had enjoyed writing, but her pastime became a faint memory as she grew older. Attending college helped Hawk “reclaim her identity,” she said.

Though she graduated with a marketing degree, a writing class she took as an elective reminded her of her passion for writing.

“It felt natural to me. I felt like I found my calling but also my group of people,” Hawk said. “They called me an honorary English major just because I took a lot of English classes.”

On her first day of the fiction writing class, the professor took the students to the campus library, where the librarian had taken out old photographs and yearbooks from past decades to help spark story ideas. Hawk realized there were no photographs from the 1960s, a decade she favors, so Hawk asked the librarian if she had any and was given a stack of photos to sort through.

It was then she found a picture of a female student with two long braids sitting on a bed drinking alcohol with a male standing beside her. There was a rainbow poster on the wall and beads hanging in the doorway.

“I fell in love with this one photograph of two hippies hanging out in a dorm. And to this day, I think of it, and it absolutely enchants me,” Hawk said. “And from there, I thought, ‘OK, who are they, and what were they doing there?’ And the story kind of unfolded from there.”

For her class, Hawk wrote about two hippies attending a conservative college. After she graduated, Hawk wanted to return to the story of her main characters, Pat and June, to whom she had become attached.

“The setting itself of the conservative college — I did that kind of on purpose because it juxtaposes against the characters of Pat and June — is a very obvious clash,” Hawk said.

Hawk said her story is character driven, as opposed to plot driven, as she let Pat and June determine the direction of the book. In her novel, Hawk’s nonconformist characters begin dating and rely on one another for support while being ostracized by their classmates.

“The two characters kind of balance each other because Pat, in the beginning of the story, knows his identity. He’s all about peace, love and everything like that,” Hawk said. “June is the total opposite, and she’s trying to find herself.”

Things change drastically for the couple after Pat is raped and experiences post-traumatic stress disorder. He quickly deteriorates and copes by making toxic choices, while June tries to help him deal with the trauma he has experienced.

“He’s kind of losing who he is, while she’s figuring out who she is. So it kind of shows both perspectives,” Hawk said. “And if I’m being honest, it’s probably based on different scenarios I’ve seen in my life. I mean, even if I’ve never personally experienced the trauma, I’ve seen it, and I’d like to tell the story about it.”

Hawk said rape is a topic most writers steer away from, but when she was researching, she found a forum of survivors and those with PTSD who complained there were very few books that authentically addressed the topic.

“I did put a lot of research in because you want to be sensitive to every topic mentioned in the book,” Hawk said. “You don’t want to put out an experience that couldn’t be true, especially with post-traumatic stress disorder.”

When Hawk was deciding what to do with her completed novel, she had family and friends help with the editing. She thought about querying publishers but ultimately decided to self publish on Amazon because the most important thing to Hawk was being able to hold the book in her hands.

Hawk said self publishing gave her freedom she wouldn’t have had with a traditional publisher. She did have to put in a good deal of work as she took on the marketing, editing and design of the novel.

Even though Hawk’s book is based in the 1960s, she believes the themes in her story are just as relevant today. She hopes readers will have an “ah-ha moment” by the end of the book and realize some things have not changed.

At first, Hawk was hesitant to share her novel, worried about her family’s reaction to the nature of the topics in her story. Hawk’s fears were unfounded, and she received all positive feedback and encouragement from those closest to her.

“For me, it’s about opening up the conversation and not being afraid to read about something you think may be touchy,” she said.

Hawk’s advice to other writers who want to write about difficult subjects but have those same concerns is “to be fearless.”

“Go ahead and write what you want to write,” she said. “Don’t worry about how other people are going to take it. I mean, obviously you want to be sensitive when it comes to certain topics. I don’t mean to throw the book completely out the window, but be a little spontaneous.”

Hawk’s book was published in November of 2019 and is available in paperback at Https://www.amazon.com/Wounds-That-Dont-Bleed/dp/1688216650/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+wounds+that+don%27t+bleed&qid=15