To contact Annick drop an email to: AOShinn@earthlink.net

July 8, 2008

A writer’s life

Shinn’s novel ‘Pierre’s War’ documents WWII in occupied France

By Jeanne C. Carbone
Editor

Every writer desires to publish a book. And for Annick O. Shinn, that time is now.

Shinn’s children, Danny, Corinne, and Monique Faylor, proudly presented their mother’s first novel “Pierre’s War From Invasion to Liberation” to the public at a book signing held at the Campbell Community Center recently. Annick Shinn’s granddaughter Jacqueline Faylor read a chapter from “Pierre’s War” at the book signing held at the Campbell Community Center.

“Erna used to say that you were not a full-fledged writer until you’d published a book,” said the trim, attractive Shinn, who has previously published in newspapers and magazines. Holyer was her writing teacher who taught for decades in the South Bay. “I guess I can officially call myself an author now.”

But Shinn’s foray into the writing life started years before. Her experiences growing up in France during World War II is the impetus for “Pierre’s War.”

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Book Review:

An engaging story that teaches many worthwhile lessons, June 23, 2008
By Louise Cate (San Jose, CA United States)

Pierre's War is probably the best book I've ever purchased for our grandchildren. During the past 48 years I've purchased many books for our children and our grandchildren, but Pierre's War is the only book that explicitly shows a healthy, loving family dealing with severe adversity in a positive and creative manner.

Many books entertain, shock, frighten, educate academically, or stimulate creativity. Few books model how a family can deal in a positive manner with a disaster. After they finish reading Pierre's War, I believe all of our grandchildren will be better prepared to deal with whatever problems they may face in life. What our grandchildren will learn from the book will help them whether the particular crisis they face is a Katrina type Hurricane, the loss of someone they love, or some other disaster.

We recently visited our youngest son and his family in Virginia. I gave the children (ages 10 and under) a copy of Pierre's War. Our son's wife, Sarah, reads every night to their children. The night she started reading Pierre's War, I was in the living room rocking their new baby while Sarah was upstairs reading to their three daughters. After reading upstairs for a long time, Sarah came downstairs with a big grin on her face. She said after reading Chapter One the children begged her to continue and she finally told them she had to stop after Chapter Four. The children found the book so interesting and exciting that every night after that they went to bed quickly and begged for more than the usual one chapter limit.

As a parent and as a grandparent, I found Pierre's War a wonderful example of good parenting under adverse conditions. I hope our children and their spouses will be inspired to follow the examples of good parenting that are illustrated in the book.

Although the book is fiction, it is based on experiences that the author and her family had in France while France was under the control of Nazi Germany. I asked the author, Annick Shinn, if her mother had kept in contact with a family that had given them refuge while they were fleeing from the advancing German army. I should have known the answer. Of course they stayed in contact. Annick's mother wrote the family that helped them every year on the anniversary of the day they were given refuge and Annick is still in contact with the daughter of the family.

I plan to give copies of Pierre's War as gifts to both children and adults. What could be a better gift than an engaging story that teaches so many worthwhile lessons?