Alicia Voltmer is an attorney who specializes in labor and employment law. In her 25 years in practice, she has seen and heard it all. Inspired by her experiences, Voltmer has now accomplished her goal of publishing a novel.
Voltmer describes her debut novel, The Rise of Lady Justice, as a “supernatural legal thriller for adults.”
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“The book involves a lawyer who was murdered and wakes up in the afterlife having to determine who murdered her and why, and what her role is in that afterlife,” Voltmer says.
The Rise of Lady Justice was inspired by Voltmer’s desire to see something new on shelves. She wanted better female representation and to create something that would leave heads turning and pounding.
“I’ve been practicing law for over 25 years,” she says. “I’m an avid reader and I’m also a fan of both legal thrillers and supernatural stories. I felt that there was an absence of both of those genres coming together. I wanted to write something more groundbreaking and non-derivative.”
Writing The Rise of Lady Justice was a process that took over four years. During the writing process, Voltmer would make note of ideas as they came to her, rather than outlining a story from beginning to end.
“I have always wanted to be a writer,” Voltmer says. “As an attorney, I write a lot of motions and briefs and letters of correspondence. I spend much of my time writing and reading. I just needed to have the inspiration to write about something.”
While Voltmer has handled several stressful cases during her law career, she says that she learned a lot about herself during the process of writing The Rise of Lady Justice. This was a new experience for Voltmer, however, she is satisfied with the work that resulted.
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“It takes an incredible amount of patience and thoughtfulness to sit down to make yourself write,” Voltmer says, “even when you might not feel like it; or when you sit and you rewrite the same sentence, five or 10 times, which happens very frequently.”
Physical and e-reader versions of The Rise of Lady Justice are available for purchase here.
