Hardeman County Authors Cheryl Bullion and Carol Maynard Hold Book Signing
Hardeman County authors Cheryl Bullion and Carol Maynard held a Meet the Authors event at Carriage House Coffee in Bolivar, on Saturday, July 19, 2025. The event was an opportunity for the community to meet both authors, learn about their writing and publishing experiences, and hear excerpts from their published writings.
Both women are cousins, proud Bolivar Central High School graduates; Ms. Maynard (1989) and Ms. Bullion (1982), and love to write. Interestingly enough, neither knew the other was writing a book the year they were both first published, which was in 2023. They learned about each other’s efforts through Facebook posts. As self-published authors, both women handle the promotion of their books.
“I did a giveaway, and she [Carol] won and we decided to meet here [Carriage House Coffee] to exchange the prize,” said Ms. Bullion. “We both thought, ‘Hey why don’t we do a book signing’!”
The challenge for them was how to present their books, because they both have different themes. Ms. Maynard’s being “connectedness“ and Ms. Bullion’s being “forgiveness”. They soon realized a connection between both themes and saw how they intertwined and would make for a wonderful presentation for the book signing.
“There are two things that fall into play and those are forgiveness and mine is more connectiveness with people. Without forgiveness, it is very hard to connect. In today’s society, everybody is looking for a connection with other people,” said Ms. Maynard, who shared the theme was inspired by the loss of her mother. “In 2020, I lost my mom, Frances Pirtle, who lived nine months after her diagnosis. During that timeframe, there were things I started to question from my childhood and put into a different kind of perspective. Her loss reminded me there are so many little things in life that don’t really matter. We need to focus on what does and that is connectedness with others.”
During the book signing, Ms. Maynard read excerpts from her books. REMNANTS: Finding Beauty in the Scars of Our Dark Spaces, published in February 2023, allowed her to resolve a lot of hurt from childhood and heal. Destiny’s Flurry: Uncovering the Hidden Quest to Your Extraordinary Potential, published in November 2023, shows personal growth and the excitement life can bring, which is displayed through the rhythmic style of writing in the story. Ms. Maynard shared REMNANTS is geared more towards an adult reader and that Destiny’s Flurry is one both children and adults will enjoy.
Ms. Bullion has spent years writing songs and journaling. As for so many people, unforgiveness was a struggle for her. It was not any one instance that led her to write about forgiveness, but rather just life events through her childhood and into adulthood.
“I have a friend who taught me about forgiveness and how to forgive others, so over the years, I have just practiced that fairly regularly. Through the “Lord’s Prayer”, I have learned there are some simple steps, that God has already told us to do. If we just put them into practice, it does a supernatural work. I just want others to have that freedom,” said Ms. Bullion, who felt prompted by the Lord to write her books. “I meet people who have unforgiveness and sometimes they don’t even realize it; I can hear it in their stories. If you hurt my feelings today, I will forgive you before I get home.”
As a thank you to those who attended the Meet the Authors event, Ms. Bullion and Ms. Maynard gave away Carriage House Coffee gift cards..
Ms. Maynard’s books and Cheryl Bullion’s books are available online on Amazon.
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