Introduction to my blog

Hello, there!  I'm so glad you stopped by. I have a new book coming out very soon that I just know will tug at your heart strings. I'll be blogging little "bites" of my book here, so you don't want to miss a post.

Have you ever adopted a child? Mothered a child who is not biologically yours? Visited an orphanage? Been involved in foster care?

Or perhaps you know an adoptive family? An adopted child? A family providing foster care? A couple pursuing children through adoption?

My heart beats for children who don't have a family of their own or who are unable to stay with the family that brought them into the world. I am both a biological mother and an adoptive mother (of an older child), as well as a "stand-in" mother (also for an older child), but our journey toward parenthood was longer and harder than I ever imagined.

I originally wrote and self-published our story in a book called From the Mountain . . . to the Valley   . . . and Back! through Westbow Press in 2012, the self-publishing division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. However, our story continued in such a way that a sequel was required to tell the rest of our journey to our son. After I finished the manuscript for the sequel, I went back and revised my original manuscript in order to make the books match as a series when the sequel comes out later this year. (Note: The revised edition of the first book will come out several months before the sequel.)

I will be pulling my first book "off the shelves" from Westbow Press shortly so I can present you with the new and revised book called Unexpected Tears (through Authenticity Book House). Our experience included many unexpected tears -- tears in the waiting, tears of grief, and later tears of joy. In my new book, I share more intimate conversation and detail not included in the original book.  It also reads much easier with shorter paragraphs, better sentence structure and more dialogue. (Thank you, Rockwall Christian Writer's Group, for everything you continue to teach me about writing. I think I broke every writing rule in that first book, but I am excited about the revised edition now that I have gleaned so much insight and expertise from you.)

I did things a bit backwards, but I am pleased with how it is finally coming together. I hope you will be, too. Stay tuned for my first post from the book, as well as a few pictures to draw you in.

If you already read my first book, please share this blog with someone who hasn't and repost for me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, other blogs, etc. If my story helps connect just one more child to their forever family, then all the tedious work behind these books was worth every ounce of energy and time.

I love this quote from Create Space. I decided to do it, to add to it, and then to do it again to make it better.