Years after starting a career and leaving Austin, one woman is glad she didn’t further delay her lifelong dream of writing any longer.

Therese Pautz, a 1982 Pacelli graduate and the author of “Rain and Revelation,” is working on her next novel and will be one of many artists and writers to attend this year’s Austin ArtWorks Festival.

After beginning a busy life as an attorney in Minneapolis, Pautz’s dreams of publishing a book fell by the wayside.

“I clearly remember being a sixth-grader at Sumner and telling the librarian ‘I’m going to write a book someday,’” Pautz said.

Apparently, the author had mentioned that to more than just one person, and people asked over the last years when she was going to follow through on those claims. Instead of simply turning out random copy, she took the high road — literary classes.

“I decided to take classes at the Loft Literary Center, basically learning how to unlearn legal writing,” Pautz said.

She killed two birds with one stone, so to speak. While taking classes, she began the lengthy process of her first book, “Rain and Revelation.”

Given her starting point, Pautz didn’t expect much, not nearly as much attention as she has received, anyway. The book, which is available on Amazon, now has more than 80 mostly positive comments, and some quite critical.

“Even if they don’t like it, the fact that they took time to review it says something to me,” Pautz said.

Thus far, Pautz suspects her books, in one form or another, are in the hands of about 40,000 readers.

Among the numerous literary devices and plot-development techniques she learned in classes, Pautz drew on her own experience to form “Rain and Revelation,” a first-person, present-tense story of a young girl in Ireland. The main character, Eliza Conroy, 20, finds her mother in a bathtub after she sommits suicide. Though the characters aren’t real, the coastal Ireland setting is.

“I chose the setting because I lived there when I was in my last year of college as a study abroad program and fell in love with the rugged setting,” Pautz said.

And the action from the book stems from Pautz’s subconscious mind, she says. That’s something she discovered after writing nearly every day at the crack of dawn.

“I had to start getting up every morning at 4:30, and write from 4:30 to 7,” Pautz said. “It really became a more disciplined process.”

More than just following a timeline, though, Pautz wanted to impart something on the readers. She hoped the theme would leave readers with something to think about. Pautz said “Rain and Revelation” is about a person coping with the darkest times of life and learning how to come out on the other end empowered, not imprisoned.

“You really want to write a story that somebody will take something from,” she said.

Now, Pautz is taking the critiques and working on her second novel, which revolves around an 11-year-old girl. Pautz will take some elements from her previous book, including the character Conroy, but the setting will be in America.

“Hopefully, they all get better and each one becomes more successful than the other book,” she said.

Clearly, Pautz is energized with her new endeavor, and she is excited to attend this year’s ArtWorks Festival, where she will talk about her book at 2:45 on Saturday. Though Pautz’s writing career is just getting started, organizers are already talking about securing Pautz for the next Page Turners event at the Austin Public Library.

For now, Pautz is excited to see past friends, teachers and more local authors, such as Amanda Hocking. Of course, publishing another book soon wouldn’t be bad, either.