EDMONTON (CUP) — Danielle Cousineau had never written a book before. She had written and directed short films and even made it to major film festivals. But writing a book was something she'd never done. So when she decided to set her mind to writing, it only made sense for the Edmonton-born author to write about the one thing she knew: her own life.

"The person I was most interested in telling a story to was me, and I think I just needed to wrap my head around these big things that happened in my life at such young points," said Cousineau, from her new home in British Columbia's Lower Mainland.

Writing the book was an outlet for Cousineau. While she struggled with health issues and problems in her personal life, being able to sit down at the keyboard for hours at a time and write about her life was a form of catharsis.

"I reached a point where I needed to look at the things that had happened to me in an honest and approachable light," said Cousineau. "It was a lot easier for me to delve into looking at these really difficult things if I could mix in something I was comfortable with, which is sex."

Given that sex is a comfort zone for Cousineau, the title of her new book is unsurprising. She's called it A Book: of Sex and Little Else. Cousineau doesn't hold back much when it comes to her sexual escapades. While many of the names in the book are withheld for the sake of those involved, many of the details are not.

That doesn't mean it's an autobiographical form of Fifty Shades of Grey. There are some graphic details in the book, and Cousineau wanted to alert people to the sexual nature of the writing. But the title is also meant as a form of irony.

"The book screams irony," says Cousineau. "At a certain point, I was getting quite risky. I was doing things I wouldn't have otherwise done."

While her book delves into some of the problems she faced growing up, she also ran into issues in the publishing world. Getting the manuscript in front of a publisher proved to be problematic, since few accept unsolicited works. She had to fight to get an agent to represent her, and sent the book to eight different publishers, hoping for the best.

That's when she turned to online publishing. As a graduate of the Vancouver Film School and still an avid filmmaker, Cousineau has many contacts in the entertainment industry. They were telling her to try to publish the book online, on her own. One of the first places she checked was Kindle.

The online book giant has a self publishing arm, something Cousineau thought she would try out.

She submitted a manuscript, thinking it would again take a while to hear back. Less than two days later, her book was being distributed through the Kindle store.

"It was all kind of haphazard and fluky. It's what happens when anyone writes a book."

A businessman in Australia loved it so much he helped her to pay for a small initial print of the book, which she is now touring with.

With her first foray into the publishing world now behind her, Cousineau is already working on her next piece, a work of fiction.

"It's a way for me to write about the things I wanted to write about, without it having anything to do with me," she said with a laugh.