Patricia Pulley lived a happy and peaceful life with loving family surrounding her. A happy life, that is, until the death of her husband turned everything upside down, leaving her struggling to replace the lost love, in a constant battle with abuse and ending with her murder.

“She didn’t really have an idea how to reconnect socially and, you know, find herself in a new relationship. A good, positive relationship,” said Jim Pulley, author of the novel Love, Loneliness, Abuse, and Murder, a book he will be signing at the MSU bookstore on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Pulley, owner of the Pulley Insurance Agency in Wichita Falls, decided to put his mother’s life story into writing after a client who was dealing with the death of her husband stirred about old emotions in him.

“My client was actually a writer,” Pulley said. “She shared a novel she was working on and I told her, well I think I have a story to tell and I told her what had happened and she looked at me and said, ‘You better start writing your book now.’”

The title, Love, Loneliness, Abuse, and Murder, represents the stages in his mother’s life, Pulley said.

Pulley started transcribing the story in the spring of 2009 in hopes of helping others. One of his goals is to raise awareness to victims of domestic violence and abuse.

“As I put it, this stuff doesn’t go away. In other words, if you have been through a bad situation it doesn’t necessarily have to be abusive, but don’t hold bad feelings inside, because they will have a negative effect on everything that you do,” Pulley said.

He stresses that there is not one specific person that will fit into the category of the victim.

“I feel like, the sooner a young lady realizes that this situation is real, it doesn’t apply to any race, it doesn’t apply to social status. This stuff goes on in the country club and it goes on in section eight housing and all points in between,” Pulley said.

While domestic abuse is more common in women, he also clarified that it can happen to men.

It was stressful and emotionally upsetting to relieve some of those memories while writing the novel, Pulley said.

“After mom was killed, we found a day planner that she had written in every day for about six months while she was in the middle on an abusive relationship. And just reading her words, you know, Chapter 7 is every bit of what she wrote,” Pulley said.

Part of the research included looking through several case files that were associated with Patricia Pulley’s murder. Those files were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

“Going back through the police reports was not easy,” Pulley said.

Along with the novel, Pulley created a website providing information about abuse and violence. Visitors can also find out more information about the book, as well as his mother.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book are being donated to Faith Refuge in Wichita Falls, the only all-women’s shelter in the area between Oklahoma City and Dallas. So far Pulley donated $3,180.

“I’d like to add a couple zeros to it,” Pulley said.

The cost of the book at events varies by how much a person would like to donate. When purchased via the Internet, it is at a set price between $11 and $12.

Pulley said most people donate $20, but considering it’s a student event, he is expecting to see more $10 bills.

The bookstore set up the signing through a contact in administration, Christina Caston, assistant manager at the MSU bookstore, said.

“There’s a huge social network here on campus, because we have so many faculty authors,” Caston said.

“So, a lot of times it’s just a mention [when setting up a signing]. An administrator or faculty will come to us and will let us know that there is a local author or someone coming to town.“