Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Another Week, Another 20 Books Sold...

Our new baby goat didn't make it. Two days after it was born, it soared to divinity and left Mattie, it's gentle mother, crying for three days. She's back to normal now and so are we.

A few readers were kind enough to post 5-star reviews of the book at Amazon.com and BN.com and I'm excited. A woman called up from her vacation in Florida to leave a message about how much she enjoyed the book. Said she couldn't wait until she returned home to Massachusetts to talk to me about it. Said it was "exquisitely written."

I'm truly humbled.

A nearby woman has ordered her fourth copy, having send the first three to friends. Called to say she still hadn't read it, but would most likely keep the fourth copy for herself, but "don't count on it." Love that.

All in all, promotions are going well. Press releases have found their way into Internet media outlets. Editors are requesting review copies. An old friend and college compatriot took it upon himself to add a post to his blog. If knew HTML better, I'm sure I could post a link here in this window, but his name is Matt Florence, his blog is called Still eggplant.... and he's in San Francisco. Check out his blog. He's doing great work out on the other coast.

Till next time,

Peace and Love....

Monday, February 14, 2005

Today is the Day!!!

Today is the official release day of Fumbling Toward Divinity: The Adoption Scriptures. So far the book has sold 30 advance copies. Barnes & Nobles has agreed to carry the book.

I couldn't have been more pleased with and humbled by a card I received in the mail just today from one of the advance readers. He has given me his blessing to post what he wrote here:

Dear Craig,

Just finished Fumbling Toward Divinity, a wonderful read. I was touched by your story, the poetry, the beauty & the pathos. You are a wonderful writer full of goodnes and truly God's glory. May God's blessings cover you and Job forever.

Love to you,

David

Sunday, February 13, 2005

And Then There Was One...

This morning, our goat, Mattie, gave birth to three beautiful kids, but two of them were stillborn. It was sad, but the one who survived, which we have yet to name, is so cute. It can hardly stand up, but its high-pitched whine is music to my ears. JB, the dog, was jealous because someone else was getting all the attention for a change.

When we give the new member of our barn family a name, I'll let you know.

Till then....

Peace and Love.

Friday, February 11, 2005

Just As I am

I just watched the episode of "ER" with the same title as this post, and I was in awe. At first I thought, wow, did they get this story right. Carrie, the lesbian doctor, is reunited with her birth mother, a devout Christian. Of course, Carrie isn't able to reveal her sexual identity to her birth mother right away. She is too overwhelmed and surprised by meeting her. When she finally does reveal all of who she is, her birth mother says it's wrong and wants to pray with her and blames herself, wondering if her firstborn is lesbian because she abandoned her at birth.

Exactly like my own story. Right down to the dialogue.

And that's when I wondered... did the writer(s) of this episode get a hold of my manuscript or my galleys some time ago? Or was this just some cosmic coincidence? My own life some archetype for the lives of other gay & lesbian adult adoptees?

Probably the latter. But how could the dialogue have been so similar, almost verbatim at times?

I'll have to sleep on this.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

Exhaling..

Since I last wrote, my book has arrived unblemished from the printer. Yes! It is a beautiful production, if I do say so myself, and now it's time to promote it.

Finding my birth family and the aftermath, which is what Fumbling Toward Divinity: The Adoption Scriptures is all about was an overwhelming, extraordinary, transformative experience that I could not have ever imagined. All my life, I wanted to look the woman who gave birth to me in the eye. Thankfully, I got that opportunity. I have a sister, also adopted, who has located her birth mother, but her birth mother has refused to allow her to see her. My sister is devastated. I'm angered. I share my story in the hopes that if only one birth mother who has previously disallowed her offspring to see her or know who she is reads my book and changes her mind, I will have achieved more than I could hope for.

To me, such a thing is a basic human right.

Is it always possible to get this information? Absolutely not. If a baby is found in a dumpster (or adopted from a legal (travesty of travesties) Safe Haven program) and raised by loving parents, that child will probably never know their biological roots.

I can't imagine what that must be like.

But when you know the information is out there and you still can't get it because the state claims its interest in protecting a person's privacy is more important than facilitating your healing, it can make you feel deep down inside like you're still the rejected child who's not worty of inner peace.

All the therapy in the world can't take the place of looking your birth mother in the eye.