Shawn L. Harper

All this time she never forgot her love for the written word, taking many literature courses over the years. She has never been formally trained in poetry--all forms are self-taught. Joining an online poetry workshop in 2005 really sparked her creativity, and she's been writing on an almost daily basis ever since. By the time she left the Poet’s Workshop, she had written over 200 poems and risen to the ranks of National Poet Laureate and National Judge Advocate in just a few short months.

Moving on to a fresher clime she found All Poetry.com, the largest interactive poetry site on the internet. She quickly became just seriously involved as a writer, reviewer and as a contest holder, something she had never tried before but is now quite experienced at. As a contest participant she has already won many trophies and is considered one of the “big guns” of the site. Her own contests are quite successful and typically have many entries. This site keeps her very active and on an average morning she will write at least two poems that receive positive feedback from readers. There are a lot of young writers on the site and she is very encouraging and helpful in her comments. So far she has made over 430 comments on others' work.

Shawn’s poems have been included in many anthologies such as those published by poetry.com, JMW publishing, The Famous Poets Society and Voices Network. She was chosen to be in the poetry.com “Who’s Who in Poetry” in 2005 and 2006. She has also won the "Poetry in Motion" game twice at poetry.com and twice at the Poet’s Workshop.

Her main goal in her poetry is the same as in her Art, to be honest--never force a piece or it will be obvious to the reader and it won’t work. It must flow naturally and come from the heart. She is herself at all times. If a poem makes a person uncomfortable she offers no apologies, for it is only the truth as she sees it. That is one of her goals. Another goal is to purge herself of unwanted feelings: anger, frustration, confusion, and insecurity. Poetry is cathartic to her and often helps her discover new things about herself. It is one of the few things in this world that makes her feel good, that lifts her soul and reminds her that she does, in fact, have one.

“The Light at the End of the Tunnel” is a labor of love. Each of the poems contained in this book is a personal favorite of the author’s. Hand chosen and arranged to tell a story about her journey through this world that she often finds so difficult to find her way through. Now she too knows that all she has too do is keep following the light...