Adoption Anthology to be Published in 2011!!

Last summer I was sent the following information:

Call for Submissions--Adoption Essays

Have you spent years wondering what caused your birth parents to give you up for adoption? Have you watched school children play on your street, wondering if one of them could be the baby you surrendered to social services? Have you wondered about the family history of your adopted child? If you have thought about such issues and are willing to write about your experiences in a personal essay, the editors of a new anthology of adoption stories, to be published by TouchWood Editions, want to hear from you.

Editors Bruce Gillespie and Lynne Van Luven are looking for personal accounts, clearly and honestly written, for publication in an anthology reflecting an exchange of ideas and feelings by birth parents, persons once surrendered for adoption, and adoptive parents. Please submit, by October 1, 2009, a 300-word proposal that outlines the story you would like to tell....etc.

Wow! How exciting for me to think about submitting a proposal to these people about something so passionate within my heart! I leapt at the idea! It was exhilarating to imagine being able to write anything I felt about my own thoughts... my own experience... my own journey and then to be able to share all of this with so many others who are starting out on their own journeys of discovery in this wide world of adoption, foster care and especially, parenting.

Having said that, the deadline for submission was drawing nearer and, after a long journey of mixing up phrases and thoughts, I finally had some words that made sense to me drafted up into a proposal and then... off it went into the vast jungle of email and letter proposals to the editors for review. Well, within ten days, I was fortunate to have heard this back from the editors:

Thanks for your interest in our project. Your proposal sounds quite intriguing, so we invite you to write an essay that examines your experiences as an adoptee and send it along to us when you’ve finished it. The deadline for essays is December 15, 2009.

Okay, so now I was really in it - I had been asked to submit my essay and I had two months to get something put together. No problem right? Wrong! I had so much to do now what with my having to work, doing my volunteer mentoring with the True Colours groups, starting up the new group as well as facilitating the already established group, co-facilitating the transracial parenting workshops, the daily routines and activities with all of my children, and of course my books and their promotion, whether that be through book signings or participating in the Raise A Reader program throughout the community. Phew! Somewhere in there, I still needed to sleep too!

As time continued to pass, I realized I had not put together very many more words than what I had submitted for my proposal. That was definitely not a good thing so I got down to work and revised and revised and revised my thoughts and ideas and finally was able to get the essay off to the editors for the deadline date of December 15.

I knew going into all of this that there would be a wait in finding out whether or not my essay would be selected as one that was worthy of being accepted into the anthology selections. Day after day, week after week, month after month passed and I still had heard nothing. As the idea of being included in this anthology was something very important to me, I decided it was also important enough for me to be in contact with the editors in a patient yet touch base kind of way. So, at least every two months, I sent out little touch base emails to find out the whereabouts of where they were in their decision making. I heard back as often as I sent out my queries and finally after my last email this month, I heard back some absolutely, wonderful, fabulous news...

Thank you so much for your submission to our anthology of adoption stories, Somebody's Child, and for your patience in awaiting our response. We were overwhelmed by the number of essays we received from authors across Canada and the United States, each of which had a moving, unique story to tell.

We are pleased to accept your submission, pending editing for style and length...

Yahoo!!! MY ESSAY WAS SELECTED AS ONE OF THE ENTRIES TO BE INCLUDED IN THE ANTHOLOGY!!!!!! Yay!! I am so excited and I can hardly wait to get started with the editors. I am truly thankful for both of the editors and their decision to choose my essay. I look forward to this journey I am continuing and I can't wait to see where it takes me next...