Author: Sheryl Beyer
Located in: Brodhead
Submitted: June 05, 2026
Tell us a little about yourself. I am a scientist, artist, and nature-lover who reads with intention. I'm drawn to books that bring me closer to God and His creation, and I try to write the kind of stories I long to read-quiet, clean, and rooted in wonder.
Volunteering as a docent at the Pottawatomie Lighthouse on Rock Island shaped much of my creative life. The people I met there, the ferns, the birds, and the rhythms of the island led me from sketching to poetry and eventually to writing Birds of Fern Island.
What was your motivation behind this project? I was encouraged early on to "write for one reader," not for everyone. My one reader was a naturalist friend from my church fellowship - a man who has traveled widely, grows berries, and delights in God's creation.
We spent many joyful conversations talking about the art and stories in Birds of Fern Island. His wife later told me, "He has rejected so many books because they shock him or suddenly go foul. This one he is reading aloud, smiling, and saying 'more please.' "
That "more please" echoed by others in my congregation - many in their seventies, eighties, and nineties - became my motivation to continue writing gentle, faith-rooted stories.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? I hope readers find a quiet place to rest - a moment of peace and a story that feels safe, clean, and refreshing. I want the hand-drawn art and poems to inspire readers to journal, sketch, and create. Readers have told me the gentle pacing offers a perch for peaceful thoughts, something to enjoy on a porch swing, in a sunbeam, or at the end of a long day. Most of all, I hope readers feel closer to God through the beauty of His creation and the healing woven into the relationships in the story.
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? Writing this book deepened my gratitude for the people I met on Rock Island and for the quiet ways God speaks through nature.
The process of sketching, writing poems, and shaping the story helped me slow down and pay attention to the small, holy details of the world - ferns unfolding, birds calling, relationships mending.
It strengthened my belief that gentle stories still matter and that healing can happen in quiet places.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? Influential authors and artists
C.H. Thordarson - Thordarson and Rock Island: His Lake Michigan Island Estate
Richard Purinton - Words on Water: A Ferryman’s Journal
Callie Smith Grant - Consider the Birds: Heartwarming True Stories of Our Feathered Friends
Joseph R. Wiebe - The Place of Imagination: Wendell Berry and the Poetics of Community, Affection, and Identity
These writers helped shape my love for place, community, nature, and the quiet ways faith is lived out.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: I've heard from readers who found this story to be a quiet place to rest - clean, refreshing, and peaceful. One friend, Phyllis, who plays violin with me in our music group, loved it so much that she bought three extra copies to share. She told me she especially enjoyed the hand-sketched art at the end of several chapters and the poems woven throughout.
Many readers have said the pacing feels like sitting on a porch swing or in a warm sunbeam - a gentle perch for peaceful thoughts. The ending brings soft romance, a healed marriage, and relationships restored as the native plants heal the land. I'm grateful to see it offered here for readers who enjoy tender, faith-rooted stories.
