About the Book

Book: Sermons from a Soapbox, Messages of Hope and Encouragement

Author: Ladonna Shanks

Genre: Devotional, based on personal experience; Memoir; Adult Nonfiction; “Life Lesson Essays”

Release Date: April 8, 2025

“What is God like?

Does He even exist, other than as a figment of the imagination?

Or is He real, a part of daily life and our world?

In Sermons from a Soapbox, Ladonna Shanks shares her personal spiritual journey of more than seventy-five years. “I cannot write what I have not experienced,” serves as the base of her easy-to-read, anecdotal essays. The short “sermons” challenge the reader to think, question, search, and consider living where God is . . . in the spiritual, long-term, instead of humankind’s physical, short-term.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author

Ladonna Shanks was born and raised in Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley. During her several decades of life, she has been an entrepreneur, a small business owner, and, most recently, a writer. Her first book, Tidbits and Pearls, A Book of Essays on Living Everyday Life with God was published in 2019. Ladonna’s family, including five grandgirls, and her commitment to God serve as her priorities.

 

 

 

 

More from Ladonna

The desire and passion to share God’s quest for friendship with humankind has driven me to write of my personal experiences with Him. “I cannot write what I have not experienced” is my mantra.

The easy-to-read anecdotal essays make up both of my books: Tidbits and Pearls, A Book of Essays on Living Everyday Life with God and my newly published Sermons from a Soapbox, Messages of Hope and Encouragement. (My editor calls them “Life’s Lessons Essays.)

I never preach, but I share my life. My desire is to challenge the reader to consider life in the long-term, eternal instead of the short-term, physical. I want them to think.

I am open, honest, and transparent as I present my weaknesses, failures, and inadequacies in contrast to God’s faithfulness, care, and love.

Author Interview

• What is your favorite genre of books? Why?

Lately, I have been enjoying fiction novels set in the World War II era, involving both Hitler and the Japanese. I have never been a history buff, but I find them interesting and intriguing, as I was born in 1945, around the time Pearl Harbor was bombed. The courage of those who lived through that period of time, both as citizens and America’s soldiers is inspiring.

• Are you a one project at a time author or do you have multiple projects going at once?

I deal with one project at a time.

• How has your life experience helped in your writing journey?

I would say it is the reverse—my writing journey has helped in my life experience. When I write, I am pushed to limits I don’t experience in my ordinary daily life. I am laying myself out in transparency and honesty through my essays. That’s not an easy thing to reckon with. I am asked to place my trust in my Heavenly Father, and I am stronger because of it.

• Where do you find your greatest inspiration?

My inspiration comes from God. I am only able to write when He gives me a thought, the subject matter based on a recent experience, often along with an opening sentence. I cannot write what I have not experienced.

• What do you need in your writing space to help you stay focused?

I do not have extensive outlines. I write in essay form, each essay independent and separate from the next one or the previous one. Typically, a single word is the anchor of each essay. I indicate that word and its definition at the beginning of my work. I do not write for hours at a time, although when I am rewriting or editing, I will spend at lot of time at my computer. Both of my published books are compilations of essays I have written, including this one.

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, November 13

Simple Harvest Reads, November 14 (Author Interview)

Texas Book-aholic, November 15

Artistic Nobody, November 16 (Author Interview)

Guild Master, November 17 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 17

The Sacred Line, November 18

Lots of Helpers, November 19

Fiction Book Lover, November 20 (Author Interview)

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 21

Vicky Sluiter, November 22 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 23

For the Love of Literature, November 24 (Author Interview)

Because I said So, November 24

Tell Tale Book Reviews, November 25 (Author Interview)

Girls in White Dresses, November 26

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Ladonna is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card, copy of my book, and a set of 6 blank note cards created by myself using floral photos!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/3d5a0/sermons-from-a-soapbox-celebration-tour-giveaway