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Samuel Hawley
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DAIKON (novel about Japan in WW2) Prologue - “Garbo Loves Taylor!”
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Samuel Hawley

Goodreads Author


Born
in Busan, Korea, Republic of
Website

Twitter
SamHawleywriter

Genre
Nonfiction, Historical Fiction

Member Since
October 2013

URL


Samuel Hawley has BA and MA degrees in history from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and worked in East Asia as a teacher for two decades before becoming a full-time writer. His nonfiction books include The Imjin War, about Japan's 16th-century invasion of Korea and attempted conquest of China; Speed Duel: The Inside Story of the Land Speed Record in the Sixties; Ultimate Speed, the authorized biography of land speed racing legend Craig Breedlove; and The Fight That Started the Movies, the epic story of how the emerging technology of cinema combined with prizefighting to make the world's first feature-length film. His latest book is a novel about Japan in the closing days of WWII, Daikon, hailed by John Grisham as "a breathtaking st ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

How do you get inspired to write?
Samuel Hawley I research. That's my background (MA in history and author of several nonfiction books). The first step in creating a good book is to research the hel…moreI research. That's my background (MA in history and author of several nonfiction books). The first step in creating a good book is to research the hell out of a topic, to immerse yourself in it. Do enough of it and a story starts to emerge--plot lines, character backgrounds, motivations, and a myriad of details, sights and colors, smells and sounds. I use this approach with my novels as well as my nonfiction books. No matter how active my imaginative might be, it pales next to what has actually happened, to what people have actually done, to events that have actually occurred. The cliche "the truth is stranger than fiction" is in fact totally true.

If you want ideas for compelling fiction, therefore, start by exploring the truth. Start digging by reading history books, biographies, memoirs, newspaper stories. Do that with your mind attuned to identifying interesting material and you will soon amass more story ideas than you can ever turn into books.(less)
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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?
Samuel Hawley I've returned to nonfiction with the book I'm working on now. It's a history of how boxing played an integral role in the early development of motion …moreI've returned to nonfiction with the book I'm working on now. It's a history of how boxing played an integral role in the early development of motion picture technology in the 1890s. The title is THE FIGHT THAT STARTED THE MOVIES: THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP, THE BIRTH OF CINEMA AND THE FIRST FEATURE FILM. It’s a little known story that I stumbled across several years ago and thought would be an interesting subject for a book. As with most book ideas, it came from reading, poking around, dipping into this book and that.(less)
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Combine Editions

Average rating: 4.17 · 1,936 ratings · 358 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors
Daikon
4.03 avg rating — 1,155 ratings
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The Imjin War: Japan's Sixt...
4.43 avg rating — 420 ratings — published 2005 — 7 editions
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Homeowner with a Gun
3.97 avg rating — 139 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions
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Bad Elephant Far Stream
4.51 avg rating — 84 ratings — 2 editions
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1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars
Speed Duel: The Inside Stor...
4.61 avg rating — 76 ratings — 5 editions
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The Fight That Started the ...
4.24 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 2016 — 3 editions
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Ultimate Speed: The Fast Li...
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4.42 avg rating — 12 ratings — 3 editions
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I Just Ran: Percy Williams,...
4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions
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America's Man in Korea: The...
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2007
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Inside the Hermit Kingdom: ...
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2007
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43 posts
Samuel Hawley's Blog

DAIKON gets *starred* review in Publishers Weekly

The first early trade review for DAIKON is in: a *starred* review from Publishers Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781...
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Published on May 08, 2025 09:44 • Tags: atomic-bomb, hiroshima, japan, nagasaki, publishers-weekly, ww2
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Samuel’s Recent Updates

Samuel Hawley is now friends with Raphaël Zéla
195267651
Nov 28, 2025 08:06PM  · 
Samuel Hawley made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Book on my author profile I didn't write topic
" An edition of this book is showing up on my author page, but it's not mine:
How to Train Your Donkey: The Slightly Stubborn Path to Donkey Wisdom ...more "
Nov 28, 2025 08:04AM
Samuel Hawley made a comment in the group Goodreads Librarians Group — Book on my author profile I didn't write topic
" A book I didn't write, "How to Train Your Donkey," has been added to my author profile . Author has the same name as me, I guess. Anyway, it's not min ...more "
Nov 07, 2025 11:33AM
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Quotes by Samuel Hawley  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“We’re going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay.”
― Samuel Hawley, Homeowner with a Gun
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“Jeff waited alone”
― Samuel Hawley, Homeowner with a Gun
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“Hiroshima had been annihilated, pulverized, transformed into a hellscape, complete with lost souls writhing in torment.”
― Samuel Hawley, Daikon: A Novel
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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Making Connections: 1892. - BAD ELEPHANT FAR STREAM by Samuel Hawley 4 20 Nov 28, 2013 02:09PM  
American Historic...: Giveaways 10 52 Feb 12, 2014 04:08AM  
Making Connections: 3426. - HOMEOWNER WITH A GUN by Samuel Hawley 4 20 Oct 29, 2014 06:38PM  
The Life of a Boo...: October 2014 Book Addicts Reading Challenge 103 424 Nov 01, 2014 06:30PM  
Hooked on Books : This topic has been closed to new comments. Read-A-Thon (Oct 26-Nov 2) - Sign up & Reading List 20 44 Nov 03, 2014 05:54AM  
Bookworm Bitches : This topic has been closed to new comments. October 2014: Bunch-O-Bitches Reading Challenge 55 111 Nov 07, 2014 11:38AM  
Hooked on Books : This topic has been closed to new comments. Marathon to 250,000 Pages 242 238 Dec 20, 2014 02:27PM  
Happily Ever Afte...: Jonel's Master Log of all things Book-ish 35 108 Apr 01, 2015 05:46AM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Completed Tasks: PLEASE DO NOT DELETE ANY POST IN THIS THREAD 2760 473 May 31, 2017 09:01PM  

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Samuel’s Groups

74638 All About Animals — 726 members — last activity Oct 11, 2025 04:54AM
We read books about all types animals, reptiles, sea life, birds, and insects. Also, any book with these as a second main character. The book that c ...more
60696 Making Connections — 14751 members — last activity Dec 05, 2025 05:52AM
Read, Review, and Make Connections
220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 302508 members — last activity 6 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
105786 Goodreads Reviewers' Group — 13197 members — last activity 16 hours, 22 min ago
This group helps to bring Reviewers and Authors together! Reviewers can make their own thread to post their reviews in, or post their reviews in the r ...more
105737 Calling All Canadians!! — 597 members — last activity Nov 29, 2025 09:05AM
Are you a Canadian? Do you write, blog, read and review books? Canadian Authors join us and promote away. Book promo's, do you have a book tour happ ...more
71494 Book Review Club — 2902 members — last activity Dec 06, 2025 11:54PM
This group is to help authors to achieve more-HONEST-reviews by reviewing freely provided books/ARCs. Rather than post scathing reviews, the reader ...more
50920 Beta Reader Group — 29931 members — last activity 5 hours, 23 min ago
A place to connect writers with beta readers. Sometimes writers get so involved in the plot they can't see the wood for the trees. Hang on a sec'--th ...more
25x33 Indie authors review swap book pool — 292 members — last activity Nov 24, 2025 06:15PM
A community for indie authors to connect with readers who are willing to review their work. If you would like to review a book in this group, you wo ...more
105571 Blog2Buzz — 204 members — last activity May 04, 2020 08:23PM
Blog2Buzz is a community of book bloggers and authors. If your looking to gain more followers/awareness for your site, meet other book enthusiasts, ge ...more
45289 World Mysteries and Thrillers — 2161 members — last activity Dec 06, 2025 05:03PM
The place to be if you love mysteries with an 'international' flavor. Diverse authors, here: Jo Nesbo, Carmen Amato, Henry Chang, Arnaldur Indri ...more
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Samuel’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-1)    post a comment »
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message 1: by Mac
Mar 23, 2016 09:55AM

Mac Logan Hi Samuel,

Good to meet you. I've been doing some work with high tech company with strong Korean roots. There's much to respect in many aspects of your culture.

Mac


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