Ruth Temple-Taul, a former McAlpin resident, recently published her third book, "Three Sheets in the Wind."

LAKE CITY, Fla. — Looking for something to keep herself busy after retiring at age 79, Ruth Temple-Taul began to write.

Thirteen years later, the former McAlpin resident is still writing after having her third book, “Three Sheets to the Wind,” published. She will hold a book signing Saturday, Sept. 16, at the Columbia County Library West Branch from 1-4 p.m.

“I quit working and I didn’t have anything to do,” Temple-Taul said recently at her home in Lake City. “I had never written before.

“But there had always been things that had happened to people that were unfair. I kind of carried them in my mind and I sat down to write that.”

That initial foray into writing spawned not just one book, but a trilogy, “Sandy Creek Junction.”

The Colorado-set books are still Temple-Taul’s favorite.

But that’s because they are more than just stories on a page. They became part of the Alabama-born author’s life.

“If it was a series, I could keep it going because when I was writing it, I lived in Colorado,” she said. “I mean I felt like I lived in Colorado and I felt like the characters were my friends.

“I was so in to that book. I guess I’ll always like it best.”

Her daughter, Carolyn Johnson, though prefers the newest novel.

It is set in 18th Century London and revolves around two orphans, including a girl that was abducted at birth before being abandoned in the streets and a boy, whose mother died prior to his teenage years but not before telling him his father was an earl.

The two later meet — the girl as a superb pianist and the boy a composer of music — and fall in love.

It’s a similar storyline to Temple-Taul’s writings.

“They are all rags to riches,” she said. “Struggles and hard times and stuff. Then they become very well off.”

Still, Temple-Taul didn’t expect to ever write “Three Sheets in the Wind.” An illness seven years ago put a stop to her writing until she and Johnson moved from North Carolina to Lake City in January 2016.

After arriving back in North Florida, she handed out a few leftover copies of her earlier works.

“People just raved over them so,” she said adding that she has three other books already started that she currently is working on and hopes to finish. “They told me to keep writing, that they wanted every book I ever write. So I’ve got orders for them.

“I didn’t do it for money. I just love writing.”

She loves trying to fix society’s missteps, even if some are a little personal.

“Sandy Creek Junction” is the story of a female slave who takes off for Colorado with the boy who loved her in pursuit of land.

Temple-Taul’s other book, “Blond, Black, and Blue” is the story of an abused wife on the day she left.

That story, in particular, hit close to home as Temple-Taul, a mother of seven, left an abusive relationship with six children to raise.

“Her husband had beat her up, she was black and blue and the house was a wreck,” she said tearfully. “Yeah, that sounded like mine.”