PROCTORVILLE — As a child, Judy Reed enjoyed spending her days writing and sometimes even drawing illustrations for her works. At 54, those writing skills are as strong as ever.

Reed, also known as J.B. Reed, has just published her first book, titled “Deadly Shamrocks.” The book has a little romance and a little murder. Reed said she came up with the storyline from a couple of inspirations.

“My mother passed away last December and I wanted to do something to honor her. She was very proud of her Irish heritage,” Reed said.

As for the murder, she was inspired from a television show. “I was watching a rerun of The Sopranos, and I was thinking, I could write something as good as this. It kind of developed from there.”

She said the main character, Vivian Clancy,a is a daughter of Irish immigrants who is saved from an attack by a man who turns out to be an Italian mobster. Her life is changed forever after that instance.

“It actually only took me about four months to write this,” Reed said. “Once the idea came into my head, it’s like I was possessed. I kept writing and writing and writing.”

She said her first attempt at publishing the book was a success.

“I was excited beyond words,” she said.

Reed was born in Charleston, W.Va., but moved to a small town in Central Ohio when she was 2 years old. She moved back to West Virginia when she was in her late 30s and has lived in Proctorville, Ohio, since 2006.

Reed described herself as an average student in school, with a love for English and spelling. As she got older, she became very involved in school and extracurricular activities. Reed said she chose marriage instead of college after she finished high school.

“We all make mistakes,” she laughed.

While this is Reed’s first published work, she wrote children’s stories for her daughter when she was young.

“After she got older, I pretty much had to put that on the backburner. I just didn’t have the time to devote to writing like I would have wanted,” she said.

Reed said “Deadly Shamrocks” was released in September and is available at Amazon.com, and Books-A-Million, Barnes and Noble and Borders can order it. A signed copy can be purchased at www.authorjbreed.yolasite.com.

Reed is already working on her second book, a sequel to “Deadly Shamrocks,” about Vivian’s daughter.