The Book

As many of you know, I am a writer in my heart. I have always dreamed of being a writer. The kind of writer that makes money and people actually read what I've written. I believe I have been truly blessed with love and babies and more love. I am also blessed with an ability to see things from a different perspective than most. As a teenager, I thought I would someday write fiction, which I may still. As an adult, I recognize how unique my life is and I think there may be a market for my perspective on life and parenting.

A little over a year ago, I started writing a book with another mom, Aimee, who is an adoptive parent of 2 African American children. We met in the Parenting Across Color group that I facilitate every month. Aimee is one of the founding members of the group that is sponsored by St. James Episcopal church. The book is called Brown Babies Pink Parents and we liken it to the girlfriend's guide to parenting black children. Aimee and I noticed how scholarly the books about transracial adoption are and they aren't real page turners. In my opinion, they read like the thesus for a PhD.

So, we start writing a book from the perspective of real moms in the real world. We have high hopes for commerical success and spend 8 months tempting publishers with our brilliance. It came as a complete shock to me that we would receive a letter of rejection. After all, I was raised by Pollyana.

On Monday, August 18 I stayed up late reading O (Oprah) Magazine. I read a section of the magazine I never read and something caught my eye. A reader was asking the O Staff how to publish the book she had written. In black and white simple language, O outlined the steps to take to get a book published. I stayed up all night following the directions.

I finally went to bed about 3 Am, having contacted a dozen or more literary agents. I got up the next morning to read my e-mail and SHAZAM! I have a response from an agent in California who is an adoptive mother and interested in our book. A few hours later, SHAZAM! Another agent is interested! My head was spinning!

Aimee and I are hard at work on a formal proposal for each agent. Honestly, writing the formal proposal is harder than writing the actual book! We are having a great time putting this information together that I know will benefit other families like ours. I am hoping we can put these proposals in the mail before the end of the month.

Please keep all fingers and toes crossed for us. Once we get the book published, we are going to put together a course on "diversiying the culture in your home" to present to foster and adoptive parenting groups around the state. Our hope is to educate parents on caring for their child of a different race. Stayed tuned!