Thursday, October 15, 2009

Novel Dreams come true for local writer




At the tender age of five a little girl sat beneath an old apple tree; a place of refuge to escape a less than perfect childhood.
Alone with her thoughts she chased away the loneliness and boredom with stories she created from her imagination.
Years later, Janice Walters Rawlins would recognize those early attempts at story telling as where her passion for writing began.
“I was five years old when I realized I had a passion for story telling”, Rawlins said. “I can remember being made to sit under an old apple tree all day when I was a little girl, and that’s when I started making up stories to escape from a horrible childhood.”
Rawlins also remembers how she would tell stories to her cousins when she was a young girl.
“I was a story teller when I was young all my relatives can tell you that”. Rawlins said.
But it wasn’t until she was in high school that Rawlins started writing down her creative thoughts.
“I was a freshman in high school when I first started writing short stories”. Rawlins said. “Mrs. Well was my English teacher and she was the one who told me I had a very creative mind and that I should go to college to become an author.”
A life of marriage, children and working full-time put Rawlins dream of becoming a published author on the back burner.
With a Bachelors degree in Social Work and an internship at a shelter for homeless women Rawlins went about life as usual then came the discovery of cancer.
“When I found out I had cancer I started writing to help me overcome the depression of being sick”, Rawlins said. “That’s when I started to write my first book. I wanted to turn the negative into something positive through writing”.
Rawlins says her ideas for short stories come from keeping her eyes and ears open to life that is happening all around her.
“I am very creative and very open minded. My ideas come from things around me and watching people and listening to what people have to say. It does not take me long to come up with an idea of what to write”, Rawlins said.
With two books under her belt, Rawlins says the process has been a long and difficult road to travel.
“I have written two books. My first book is titled “Where are They”, which is a mystery and is being published through Trafford Publishing Company. My second book is called “Tattoo Granny”, a comedy dedicated to all grand parents who are raising their grandchildren in some way or another”, Rawlins said.
Publishing a book is expensive and time consuming. Marketing is another big part of promoting your book.
My books are short novels that I hope my readers will find to be interesting page turners.”
A native of Bath County Rawlins is the daughter of the late Austin Walters and Francine Anderson. She and her husband Lloyd Dean have called Menifee County home for the past 33 years and have two children, Jennifer Rawlins Sorrell and Joseph Rawlins.

13 comments:

Hazardgal said...

Such a lovely cameo of her. I wish her much success!

Anonymous said...

This is a very good post about Janice Walters Rawlins.. who has endured alot. Her dream will come true and the battle has been long.
The story was very compelling and with strong emotions tied to it. The titles of the books are very interesting titiles. We are excited about her books and when they are released.

Anonymous said...

WE WISH HER THE BEST IN LIFE. MAY HER DREAMS COME TRUE.

Anonymous said...

The people posting this must have NOT read the excerpts from her book!!! Quite humorous I must say! Maybe moving to a more literate state where we spell and punctuate correctly and form complete sentences! YIKES! Take OR retake your English class chick! Just a thought!

Kym said...

You do realize that Steven King totally flunked English do you not?

I bet the grammar police had fun putting him down too, and what a last laugh Mr. King had in the end!!

Those excerpts were before editing was done.
Kym King had this to say thank you very much.

We can spell in Kentucky and damn tired of folks who live in uppity states making fun of us.

Anonymous said...

How do you know the person that commented WASN'T from KY and (just for my own curiosity) what exactly constitutes being from an "uppity" state and what textbook did you find those? Never heard of "uppity" states before! I do have a right to an opinion...can't help it you didn't like my opinion. It's a terrible terrible attempt at writing a book and the writer will see when it doesn't make it to the shelves. Props to you for encourging though! PS. If you don't want negative comments posted...don't post to the public!!

Anonymous said...

You have rights to your own thougts, but however, if any book does not make it to a shelve then so be it. Negative or positive feedback it good.. and I love it.. you made my day... thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

I am uppity, and have lots of money and who cares what anyone thinks. If this person makes it big who care's sounds like she had a hell of a life, and someone might be jealous of her pitiful life, the apple tree... I will say one thing to her... the titles are grabbers.... and sounds like you have a post on here who is a stabber.. behind your back.. lol.
Good luck! sounds like you have someone who has issues with people doing better with their life, hang in there.. janice.. you will find people like that everywhere you go..and this is just one of them..

Anonymous said...

I am on here to agree with the person who said about the writer, it is true her books may not make it to the shelves, I think was being honest and giving her thoughts even ir it was positive or negative. Maybe she wrote a book and knows how terrible it is to write a book and see her book never make it to a book shelve. I see her point, but I hope the person's book goes make it. I read about her and it seems she was treated bad, and to be honest I heard from someone she still haveing it rough with health problems, someone told that she almost died a few months back. I came across this site bring told by a friend to read it. They know the person and said she is still struggling with health stuff. Oh well jsut my thoughts. Bless you and keep up the good post on here. I really love to read about everything posted on here, not just about books..

Anonymous said...

Sounds great! I read her Bio, it sounds like good books. I wish her the best in life. Writing is tough and hard to do, it is a long hard journey. Good Luck Miss janice.

Anonymous said...

Tattoo granny is now released, and another one on the way. Thanks for you support with my book, it will be a book journey for me. Anyone who likes to write, don't ever give up on your dreams. Bless you and thank you so much.

Janice said...

Hello everyone it has been a long time but I have good news. It has took me over two years bit my books are on Amazon and Kindle and soon will be at Barnes/Nobles on the shelves. I am so thankful to God for helping with with this long hard struggle.
I want to wish anyone who loves to write to go for your dream. No matter what age we are the dreams are what gives us hope... and I am thankful for all the nice comments about me and my books that are coming true at last. Now for the negative comments they do not bother me only make me stronger to fight harder for my dreams. Bless you all and may everyone be blessed.

Janice said...

No matter how long you write books you need to always proof read..lol. No one is perfect.. If anyone likes fiction I just read a book called the gift/the curse by R.W Wells on Amazon.