Shawn Schwaner was born to a single mother on January 21, 1966 in Toledo, Ohio. Alone and poor, she was graced to have met Bertha Lee Green, "Mama," who raised Shawn as her own. Mama, whose story is energized in the book "Dear Mama," was an African-American woman who dropped out of school in the third grade and was raised as a sharecropper in Deep South Arkansas. Sitting at a crossroads to keep her baby or not, Susan Schwaner chose to give Shawn life and trust Bertha Green in raising her child. The decision changed the course of Shawn's life in perpetuity. After telling of a childhood background of violence, fear, and abuse in "Dear Mama," Semicolon tells of the internal dynamics that such experiences had on Shawn's private life and thoughts. Though the stories are, at times, difficult to consider, this book is about hope. Schwaner has an uncanny ability to see hope in the most challenging circumstances. This book, by design, is destined to provide uplift to anyone who lives in the proverbial dark. Schwaner is a masterful storyteller who will take the reader on a journey through a life of secrecy and trauma. Vivacious in public, Shawn details his raw experiences and fatalistic outlook expressed in in danger and life-threatening situations. Schwaner uses riveting stories to highlight a message of hope, resilience, and persistence in the face of self-doubt and ongoing battles of confidence based upon the haunts of childhood traumas. Semicolon is assured to lift the spirits of anyone who cares to know that they are not alone in the dark and can stand and walk to a brighter and greener day. As Schwaner's mantra goes, there is "hope from a place of darkness." Semicolon is assured take the reader on a fascinating journey within one man's mind.