NEW BOSTON- Local author and songwriter Courtney R. Houston will be at a book signing June 17 at Paint Your Story in New Boston. Her most recent book, “Poetry Through the Pain,” will be available for purchase.

Houston has been writing since she was 13. While the themes in Poetry through the Pain are about relationships, loss, and survival, she also writes prose works of fantasy, horror and biography.

“I started writing in eighth grade and I just now have nine books out. ‘Poetry Through the Pain’ is my 10th book,” Houston said. Her new release includes “poems I have written from the time of my nephew’s death until now.”

Houston’s nephew, Garrett, passed away on March 4, 2016, from leukemia. He has inspired her next book, which is an autobiographical prose piece titled “Garretstrong.” It is due out next year.

“That’s a biography. It’s going to talk about his battle with leukemia and how he lost his battle and my battle with alcoholism, anxiety, and depression and how I got through,” she said. “One thing I did turn to was alcohol when that did happen.”

For more information on Courtney R. Houston’s upcoming books, check out her author page on Facebook.