Born and raised in west Michigan, Sharlene attended Spring Arbor University. Upon graduating with an education degree in 1971, she taught second grade for two years then accepted an invitation to travel internationally for a year with a singing ensemble. In 1975, she returned to her teaching job and then married her childhood sweetheart. Together they raised two lovely daughters, both of whom are now happily married and enjoying their own families. Retired in 2003 after 31 years of teaching, “Shar” loves to read, sing, travel, and spend time with her family, in particular, her wonderful, adorable grandchildren!
A Christian for almost 60 years and a lover of the English language, Shar has always enjoyed dabbling in writing. She remembers well the short stories she wrote in high school and watching them circulate from girl to girl during government and civics classes. With the teacher’s back to the class, some girl would whisper from two rows over: “Pass me the next page.”
In the early 2000s, Shar felt God’s call upon her heart to take her writing pleasures a step further and after writing for six years, finally landed a contract to publish her first faith-based novel titled Through Every Storm. Now, with more than 20+ published novels, she daily gives God all the glory.
Over the years, Shar’s books have reaped awards and nominations in several categories such as the “American Christian Fiction Writers nomination for Book-of-the-Year”, “Road to Romance Reviewer’s Choice Award”, “Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award”, and the “Retailers’ Choice Awards” to name a few. In addition, Interviews and Reviews voted one of her novels, A Love to Behold, “Book of the Year for 2019”.
Shar does numerous countrywide book-signings and has made several television and radio appearances. She loves to speak for community organizations, libraries, church groups, and women’s conferences. In her church, she enjoys involvement in women’s ministries, and regularly attends Bible studies and other events. She and her husband Cecil live in Spring Lake, Michigan with their beautiful white collie, Cody.