Sunday, December 5, 2010

Shawna K. Williams - Author


I am often intrigued by the ways that blogging has affected my life. The people that I have met and the things I have learned from blogging are amazing. Shawna K. Williams is one of those people. I first started following her blog because she lives in the same town that I do. I was searching Blogger for blogs from my hometown.

In May of this year I bought a Kindle book reader from Amazon. I absolutely love it. When I first got my Kindle I was like a kid in a candy store. So many choices - what was I going to read next.


I read on Shawna's blog, My Father's Oldsmobile, that she had just published her first novel and it was available on Kindle. I downloaded a copy of her book titled No Other.


The book was like No Other that I had ever read. It is considered Inspirational Romance, and I don't read romance novels. My taste in reading is history, autobiographies, non-fiction, religion and classics with just a little science fiction mixed in, well really only Isaac Asimov.

I enjoyed reading No Other. I found the historical small town setting interesting and the characters believable and even a bit gritty. Here is the way the book is described on Shawna's website. "In the aftermath of WWII all Jakob Wilheimer wants is to get over his pain, get on with life, and if at all possible, forgive those who've wronged his family -- including himself. But it's hard to do when there are constant reminders. One of them being his former schoolmate, now teacher, Meri Parker -- Miss Port Delamar Pearl, Mayor's daughter, Belle of the town -- Meri Parker.

After enduring the stigma and isolation associated with the internment camp, the awkwardness of going back to school should've been a cake walk. But Jakob didn't expect to find himself inexplicably drawn to Meri. Or to discover that the pain and loneliness of her life surpassed his own. She needed to be rescued from the wretched people seeking to control her life. And more than anything, he needed to be the one to save her."

As I read the book I found that I was drawn into the story and had to find out how it ended. I hadn't really expected to be so intrigued by the story and the characters. After all I don't like Romance Novels.

Once Shawna had published her first novel, she just kept publishing, and has released two more books this year. The next book was the sequel to No Other titled In All Things.


The story of Jakob and Meri moves from rural small town USA to the bright lights and glamor of Hollywood. Set in 1950's Hollywood, the couple struggle balancing success with the important things in life like love and family. When they return to their hometown for the holidays events are set in motion that help them see that there are more important things in life that fame and success - that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

The portrayal of 1950's Hollywood and the movie industry will be interesting to anyone who enjoys the old movies of that era. Shawna does a great job of capturing an era - a picture in time.

With two books published in such a short time I was surprised when yet another book was published just a few days ago. It is a story that has no relationship to the No Other / In All Things story. The book is titled Orphaned Hearts.


Orphaned Hearts is set in Western Arkansas during the Great Depression. An orphanage and a young handicapped orphan are at the center of the story. Of course there is a love story - it is a romance - but the focus of the story is the love that the two main characters have for a young orphaned boy. With a Christmas scene being pivotal to the story, it is a great Holiday read. I enjoyed the setting here in Arkansas, and the depiction of life in a small rural Arkansas town during the depression.


I have enjoyed reading each of Shawna's books and can recommend them to anyone. If you enjoy reading I hope that you check these books out. For more information check out the Shawna K. Williams website.

10 comments:

  1. Hi Rich,

    God! I love our names §;-)

    Enjoy the last days of sunny days, at least. It started so early this year. Much electricity bills coming. Thanks we had changed our power to a very friendly power. Not sure what to say in English. Anyways, it lessen half of our normal bills. Or else, I gonna get broke.

    A -15 deg below 0 is on it's way this coming Tuesday and probably will go up to -25deg on week-end till Christmas. Snow is nice in a way but the coldness, is killing my bones.

    Thanks a lot for dropping by at my place and I love reading your posts here. Very educational.

    Hope to see you around.

    Cheers Mate,
    /chie

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  2. Nice reviews richie and like you I am not usually a romance novel type but these sound quite interesting. I will check her site.
    Thanks for that great example of the price for expertise you left in your comment. Perfect.

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  3. Hi Richard! This was a nice surprise. Wanna know something funny. I don't read romance either. Every now and then I find one I can get into, but that's because the characters grip me in some way. I like to think of myself as more of a character writer than a romance writer. Thank you so much for telling people about my books. I don't have anything else coming up for a while so I guess I better get busy!

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  4. Nice blog. I have to admit I skipped the part that talks about In All Things since I'm halfway through it and don't want to read a review before I write mine. But, I agree with what you had to say about No Other.

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  5. Interesting! This was a nice read.
    I can well imagine how good the novel would be.

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  6. I love the way you stumbled about Shawna's books. What an awesome community you must live in~

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  7. How wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing this, Rich! Just stopping by to wish you and yours the Merriest of Christmases!! Warmly,Janine

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  8. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
    All the best for 2011

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  9. Greetings from rainy Southern California.

    I added myself to follow your blog. You are more than welcome to visit mine and become a follower if you want to :-)

    May God bless you and your family in 2011 ~Ron

    And always remember: Smiles don't have to be saved for a rainy day. It's good to waste them :-)

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  10. The book sounds good...will have to look for it. Thanks for writing about it.

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