The Writer
Unlike most writers who actually make it to publication, Sharon Ewell Foster tried to talk herself out of it . . . for years. When Sharon attended Western Illinois University for a quarter during her freshman year, Dr. Evie Adams Welch tried to inspire her.
Dr. Welch, who taught South African Literature and African American History, told Sharon that there were so many stories that needed to be told and she wrote well enough to do it. Sharon says, “I heard her, but I couldn’t dream that dream for myself. It seemed impossible. How could someone like me be a published writer?”
Sharon went on to attend U of I at Champaign/Urbana and graduated from University of Maryland at College Park. She married, had a career, and wrote technical manuals, lesson plans, book reviews, and news stories—all the while still running from creative writing. “I still couldn’t believe. I was afraid to try.”
But her kids picked up where Dr. Welch left off, nudging her toward writing. Finally, Sharon says, “I felt God pushing me toward what I thought was impossible. Long story short, here I am.” Her first book became the NAACP Book of the Year in 2000 and won the Christy Award. “The impossible is possible! Not just for me, but for all of us.”
Her writing has been embraced by Christians and non-Christians.
Sharon’s ability to effortlessly weave together seemingly unrelated disciplines and information is at the heart of her success as a creative and best-selling writer. Her acclaim has come for sources as varied as Essence Magazine, Christianity Today, Romantic Times, the NAACP, and The Historical Novel Society.
Sharon blazed onto the publishing scene nine years ago with the first successful work of African American Christian fiction–the critically acclaimed and Christy Award-winning Passing by Samaria. In fact, it was that first novel that opened the flood gates of interest in fiction with ethnic and inspirational flavor.
This double-RITA Award finalist and Daily Guidepost contributing writer weaves multicultural tales that span racial, religious, age and gender boundaries to share the best of the human heart. Hailing from a Department of Defense background, the author and speaker uses poetic and prophetic words to dramatically inspire and masterfully entertain while seamlessly weaving faith and scripture into unique stories that enthrall readers of all ages.
T.D. Jakes has said, “To me, she is one of America’s best-kept secrets-but not for long! Sharon writes for those of us who want more than just words on a page, but pictures painted on the canvasses of our minds. She has proven to be ‘the Picasso of the pen!“
She holds a B.A. in Radio-TV-Film from the University of Maryland and is a graduate of the Act One Screenwriting Program. Sharon’s writing has earned multiple awards including the Christy Award (she is a three-time finalist and the only African American Christy Award winner), Golden Pen Award (Black Writers Alliance), NAACP 2000 Book of the Year, and the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award.
Sharon has combined her love of history to pen historical novels like Passing by Samaria, the Christy Award-winning novel chosen by the NAACP as it’s Book of the Year in 2000.
