Joanie Schirm

Joanie Schirm

Joanie Schirm won the 2013 Global Ebook Award for Best Biography for her book: Adventurers Against Their Will. Potomac Books will publish the second book, her father’s epic WWII tale, My Dear Boy: A World War II Story of Escape, Exile, and Revelation on March 1, 2019. Joanie is an award-winning writer, photographer, community activist, and retired Orlando, Florida businesswoman. The daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Oswald Holzer, she grew up on a sandy barrier island on the Space Coast of Florida, a place where extraordinary memories are made and pelicans soar. A sought after public speaker, she is internationally known for her highly successful leadership role in Orlando’s hosting of FIFA’s 1994 World Cup USA 1994. She is the proud parent of two adult children, Kelly and Derick, and lives in Orlando with her husband, Roger Neiswender. Her books can be purchased here.

  • March 1, 2013 Today’s world of popping out a book

    March 1, 2013 Today’s world of popping out a book

    It’s amazing to think that my writing journey has been going on nearly nine hours every single day for five years. I started with the epic World War II story of my Czech father (My Dear Boy: The Discovery of a Lifetime),naively thinking I’d finish that book in about two years. Then, as I wrote…

  • So you want to be an author?

    So you want to be an author?

    So you want to be an author? Trust me; if you take this new job as a writer seriously, you are in for an experience-like-none-other. After thirty-five years in the business of engineering, seventeen as a business owner, involved in community activism up to my eye balls, in 2008 I retired to write a book…

  • Join me…

    Join me…

    So here we go: my first blog post! Although totally unprepared for this form of modern communication – this new day serendipitously coincides with receipt of the printing company proof of my debut book! As an omen of good luck, four white pelicans, my favorite birds, immediately flew over our lake. Join me in the…