Author Bill Timmons will sign his book "Becker's Farm" Thursday, beginning at 9 a.m., and throughout the day at New Life Christian Bookstore, 212 Norris Ave. (Dawn Cribbs/McCook Daily Gazette) [Click to enlarge]

The patchwork quilt met the needs of a frugal homemaker by providing a use for small fabric remnants or serviceable fabric gleaned from outdated or outgrown garments. The result was a colorful spread that sometimes evoked memories of a favorite dress or gown.

A patchwork quilt of memories and recollections of days gone by sets the scene for a series of novels about the prisoner of war camps that dotted the Nebraska landscape during the war years.

William Timmons, of Riverside, Calif., has woven these memories and recollections into a charming story about the impact of imprisonment on the prisoners, on those that guarded them and on those who lived and worked with them in the surrounding countryside.

Speaking about the first novel in the series, "Becker's Farm" Timmons said,"This is a work of fiction, but careful observation by those who were directly involved may reveal the bits of memory fabric from which it was patched together."

Timmons will appear at an all-day book signing Thursday, beginning at 9 a.m., at New Life Christian Bookstore, 212 Norris Ave., and is anxious to visit with local folks who remember those war years as he continues to research the second book in the series.

Timmons first became aware of the prisoner of war camps through his wife, Rachel Orman, originally from Hayes Center, whom he met in Africa where they both served in the Peace Corps.

Writing became a passion in Bill's life after years of living, working and traveling through more than 40 countries. According to the author profile, as an American Peace Corp volunteer, he taught English to the president of a West African country. He served as a missionary in the Philippines and worked with child welfare programs in the slums, prisons and orphanages in Thailand for which he received a Royal Decoration from that country's king.

Timmons was impressed by the treatment the prisoners received at the hands of their captors, noting the Christian ethic that inspired their humane treatment.

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"The Christian ethic was as much a part of that generation as their skin. We treated the German POWs like brothers and after they were released, many of them wanted to emigrate to America."

His characters reveal the effect of that Christian ethic on the prisoners and on themselves as they live and work together. The comfort of God and his goodness is realized as the prisoners learn to speak English and discover the common language of faith.

Timmons is an adjunct professor at California Baptist University where his wife, Dr. Rachel Timmons is a full time professor. He believes he has received a "divine nudge" to write this series of novels after encountering "a lot of trash in modern fiction" and voicing his complaint.

In response to his frustrated claim that he "could do a better job," a small voice replied, "Why don't you?"

"I won't say I've been divinely inspired," he said with a chuckle. "But certainly I have been divinely nudged."