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Author: Shawn Inmon
Publisher: Pertime Publishing
Published: September 4, 2012
Synopsis
September, 1975: Shawn meets Dawn, his one true love, when she moves into the vacant house next door. Many people spend their life searching in vain for happiness, but he was lucky; finding it at the age of fifteen.
February 1979: Forbidden to see each other and feeling he is harming her by being in her life, he walks away from the love of his life, apparently forever.
December, 2006: After decades of sadness and mourning the girl that got away, he has a chance meeting with her that might change his life forever… again. Can the sweet bond of first love not only survive, but flourish?
Feels Like the First Time lets you share in the magic of young love in small town America in the 1970s. No matter how much the world changes, some things – timeless music, high school dances, making out in the backseat of a Chevy Vega, and of course true love – will always remain the same.
Review
Feels Like the First Time is a very romantic story, about when boy meets girl, falling in love for the first time and is a true story.
Shawn tells us his story of meeting Dawn, and the beginning of a true friendship; of how their friendship grew into crushes, and then into love.
Shawn did not have an ideal upbringing…life was pretty good until his adolescence. Tragedy struck his family and changed their lives forever. He felt alone a lot of the time his Mom had her own ways of trying to deal with the aftermath.
When Dawn moved in next door, Shawn was happy to have someone to chat with now and again. As time went on, they got to know each other better. At Shawn’s 15th birthday party – they shared a dance, and that is when Shawn realized he had feelings for Dawn. However, Dawn was too young to be anything more than a good friend.
When Dawn began her freshman year her parents were supportive and actually encouraged a relationship with Shawn. They were practically inseparable throughout high school.
As Shawn’s graduation approached, Dawn’s parents became strict about their relationship. They suddenly implemented rules – when there were never rules before. More and more Shawn and Dawn were ‘grounded’ from one another, neither could figure out why her parents had completely changed their minds about the kids dating.
All too soon, Shawn found himself hours away at college. He wasn’t allowed to call Dawn, nor could they see one another when he was home on holiday breaks. Both of them were utterly devastated and so confused!
Eventually, Shawn had to make the decision to let Dawn go. They snuck to see each other when he was home – and it was plain to see the toll it was taking on Dawn.
Even though it felt like he was dying, he found the courage and strength to split up. He wanted Dawn to be the happy and vibrant girl he loved so desperately, and trying to hold on was not going to do anything but destroy them both.
When Shawn walked away, he knew he was leaving behind the only girl he would ever truly love. He hoped and prayed they would cross paths again someday……
Shawn carried on with his life, and Dawn did the same. They went in different directions, meeting new people, and trying to form relationships.
By some divine miracle, many years after they had split up, Shawn had a chance encounter with Dawn…..
I strongly suggest that you run fast, and grab your copy of Feels Like the First Time!! This story is epically romantic, and one for the ages.
I was completely immersed in Shawn and Dawn’s story from the very beginning. I laughed, cried, and went through all the emotions they felt.
I actually cheered when Shawn realized that the voice and laugh he heard during his chance meeting….I had tears of joy running down my face when they met up the second time and decided to have a date.
This is a bit of a roller coaster ride, but in the end you’ll feel so happy for them getting a second chance!!
Another aspect of this story that I identified with, is how Shawn viewed music. He can listen to a song and it will transport him to a time when he first heard it and how it made him feel. How he associates music with events in his life.
CONGRATS to both Shawn and Dawn….for never forgetting and always hoping.
Guest Post
Every Life is a Story
I met Dawn, the love of my life, when she moved into the house next door the year I turned fifteen. She was three years behind me in school, so it took some time to realize that I loved her. For us, friendship came first. We spent hundreds of hours, sitting in the grass between our two houses, laughing, teasing and supporting each other through the trials of being teenagers in small-town America in the 1970s. By the end of my junior year in high school, I knew I loved her, but it took until mid-way through my senior year before I let her in on the secret.
One short year later, we had made a lifetime commitment to each other, but had also been banned from seeing each other by her parents. I said good-bye to Dawn, I thought forever, on Valentine’s Day 1979. Although I never stopped loving her, I didn’t see her again until December 1st, 2006. When I did run into her again, completely by accident, it shook my world to its foundations.
After these events transpired, I began to realize that it was a story, and I wrote my book Feels Like the First Time. Now, after writing and publishing my own story, I have talked to dozens of people who said they related to our story of first love and lost love. Through these conversations, I have realized that every life is a story. Some are romances, some are action-adventure stories, and at least a few are comedies, but every life has a story arc.
With the changes in publishing over the last decade, telling that story has never been easier. When I first started writing Feels Like the First Time in 2006, I was intent on going to traditional publishing route – looking for an agent and trying to “sell” my story to a publishing house. By the time I finished it, I decided not to send out even a single query letter. The idea of being my own publisher had become too appealing to think of turning my own life story over to a stranger.
It was a steep learning curve for me, but I enjoyed every step in learning about editing, proofreading, cover design and interior book layout. It’s possible to do these things yourself, or you can hire professionals to do it for you. Before you get to that step though, you’ve got to write. And then write some more, and still more. Because I was an inexperienced writer, I wrote over two dozen drafts of Feels Like the First Time before I was ready to hire an editor to look at it.
I also recommend a thick skin. When I turned in the first draft of my story, it was over 100,000 words. When I hit “publish” five months later, it was 66,000 words. And that was after I’d already done dozens of revision on my own. Through the editing process, I kept a single mantra in the forefront of my brain: Whatever makes the book better. When you’re writing about your own life, it’s tough, but it’s good to get as much ego out of the way as you can.
Until you’ve done it the first time, the idea of sitting down and writing a book can be intimidating. That’s why I don’t recommend that. Instead, try just recreating various memories from your life, and telling them as stories. Write about your first kiss, or your first car, or when you lost someone close to you. Eventually, you may see a pattern emerging in those stories and a book might be in there, begging to be let out. Feels Like the First Time started as a series of emails between my oldest sister and I. It wasn’t until we had been exchanging those emails for two years that either of us realized it was a book.
Everyone has a story to tell, and it’s never been easier to share your story with the rest of the world.
About the Author
Shawn Inmon is originally from Mossyrock Washington, the setting for his first book, Feels Like the First Time. He has been a real estate broker in Enumclaw Washington for the last twenty years. Prior to that, he worked as a short-order cook, traveling T-shirt salesman, radio DJ, Cutco Cutlery sales rep, department store buyer, video store manager, crab fisherman, Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman, business consultant and public speaker. He is married to his high school sweetheart Dawn and has five daughters, five grandchildren and two chocolate labs named Hershey and Sadie.
Shawn Inmon is a husband and father, as well as a writer, Real Estate Broker, and member of KISS II, The Original KISS Tribute band. If you’d like to know what happened after he ran into Dawn in 2006, the answers are all in Feels Like the First Time, available in both Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
You can follow Shawn's blog and see more pictures of the people and places in Feels Like the First Time at
ShawnInmon.com
Facebook.com/ShawnInmonwriter
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This sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read this book. I love reading a good love story.
ReplyDeleteI am not so much into love stories, but your review was convincing enough. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete