Interview With Author – Julie Ann Dawson

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I’ve been running a series of interviews with authors that are releasing new books. I hope you’ll take the time to check out their work. Today, please welcome author, Julie Ann Dawson.

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To start, can you tell me a little about yourself.

When I’m not working or writing, I operate a small boutique press called Bards and Sages Publishing that produces speculative fiction and roleplaying games (no, not video games…the old fashion pen and paper, Dungeons & Dragons style roleplaying games). I decided to publish The Doom Guardian through my own imprint instead of searching for another publisher because, well, I don’t think it would have made my authors feel very good to know that their publisher was chasing after some big contract with a New York publishing house!

Besides, I’m a project junkie. I love taking a project from start to finish. I’m constantly looking for projects to consume any free time I might have. By the time I finish one project, I’ve already got three more lined up in the pipeline. But there are worse addictions, I suppose, and at least this sort of a problem produces something productive.

How long have you been writing and how did you get to this point in your career?

I started seriously writing when I was thirteen. I had found a copy of Salem’s Lot in the school library and fell in love with the book. I remember thinking how amazing the story was, and then thinking “I can do that.”

I made it a point to learn as much as I can about publishing and writing. I had wonderful teachers in high school that taught the art of writing, not just enough to pass a basic skills test. I worked on the school newspaper. I majored in English in college, where I continued working on school publications and started to take freelance work. I started publishing professionally while I was still in school.

I read a lot of industry publications and attend workshops, conventions and book festivals when I can in order to keep up with changes in the industry and to keep my skills sharp. I think I’m at a point in my career where I am comfortable with the fact that I still don’t know everything there is to know, and I’m willing to keep learning.

Tell me what inspired you to write this particular novel?

The Doom Guardian actually started as filler fiction for a roleplaying supplement I was developing called Mythos: Gods of the Dead. It’s part of a series of PDF only supplements that provide players with pre-made gods for the game worlds. When you write these types of supplements, you often include filler fiction to illustrate a thematic point. I ended up writing the opening scene that appears in the book, and then going back and rereading it and thinking “I need to tell this woman’s story.”

But then I sat on it for a year, not sure with the direction to go with it. Then one day it finally hit me, and I just took off with it.

I have a keen interest in dark fiction. Tell me how you would classify this book and what’s dark about it?

It’s definitely a dark fantasy. I’m actually a horror writer, and this was my first attempt at a full-length fantasy novel. The protagonist, Nadia Gareth, is a dhampir. In the world of Cambrea, dhampirs are an artificial creation of the Necromancers, who use their magic to breed human women with vampires. The original intent of the dhampirs was to breed an unstoppable army, because when a dhampir dies, it rises again as a full vampire to continue fighting.

But the corrupting influence of the Necromancers’ magic made all the dhampirs mentally unstable. Nadia is one of the few that somehow managed to retain her wits and escape. At the start of the book, she is actually in the employ of the Crypt Keepers, who despite the ominous sounding name are actually one of the benevolent groups in the world. The Crypt Keepers serve Nadru, God of the Dead, who shepherds the dead to their proper place in the afterlife. He is at war with his father, Vagruth, God of Undeath, who wants to turn the world into an undead wasteland. Nadia is a Doom Guardian, the sect’s equivalent of a paladin. Her primary objectives are to hunt down demons, which try to steal the souls of mortals, and the undead.

Cambrea is a pretty dark place. Besides the Necromancers, you also have the Felsworn, which are demon-tainted mercenaries. There is an undercurrent of a cold war between the free kingdom of Ebernia and the slaver state of Zaronbar. There is a brewing class war between the wealthy merchants and nobility that control the Ebernian interior and the poorer rural areas along the borders. The reader also gets glimpses at some of the political intrigues that plague the world throughout the book, much of which is the reason the Necromancers weren’t stamped out long ago.

Sometimes we have to be ruthless in writing/editing. We cut scenes, eliminate characters or even kill them off. Tell me what was the hardest of these in this book.

I had to make a decision regarding one of the characters that I know broke the hearts of quite a few readers, but it was necessary for the integrity of the plot. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly, particularly because I had grown somewhat attached to the character myself. But it definitely needed to be done and if I hadn’t it would have felt like I was cheating.

This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.

Nadia is the primary protagonist in the book, but Nigel, the dark elf con artist, really ended up with all the best lines. I think he sums up Nadia nicely when he says:

“You aren’t a monster,” said Nigel as he sat on a nearby stool. “You’re arrogant, brooding, hypocritical, temperamental, and ever so slightly unhinged. But that doesn’t make you any different from most women with authority I’ve met.”

Don’t worry. The line isn’t nearly as misogynistic as it sounds when read in the context of the scene.

What can we expect from you next?

Right now I’m finishing up a modern horror novel titled A Game of Blood. I’m toying around with releasing it for free in instalments. It’s a vampire novel about a detective that stumbles upon the truth regarding the existence of vampires while investigating a series of brutal murders. Unfortunately, the vampire he is investigating, a three hundred year old sociopath named Darius Hawthorne, takes a strange liking to him and decides that he will make the perfect nemesis for the bored immortal. The relationship between the two evolves in some rather bizarre ways, and they become somewhat dependent on each other even as they are trying to destroy each other.

Where can we find you on the internet?

My main website is wwww.bardsandsages.com from there, you can find links to my Gather, Goodreads, Twitter and Facebook pages. Just recently, I launched a new forum to help independent authors with the business end of publishing. Folks interested in that can go to http://positivepublishing.freeforums.org to join.

Any final comments or thoughts?

I’d just like to thank my readers. Its fun having a book on the market where one of the characters (Nigel) has his own stalkers! The reader response to the characters themselves has been wonderful, even when those same readers are mad at me for doing “bad things” to their favorite characters.

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Thank you very much for dropping by, Julie. Best of luck with The Doom Guardian as well as with Bards And Sages Publishing! You must be so busy!!

Random Searches

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I often check how people come across my site. When the referring site is something like Google, Yahoo, or Bing, I check on the keywords that brought them here. I get all kinds of humdingers.

For example, one of the more recent visits was someone looking for “nose picking“.

I thought it would be fun to list a few keywords that have brought people to my site over the last year, and the posts that brought them here:

Interview With Author – Daniel Arenson

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I’ve been running a series of interviews with authors that are releasing new books. I hope you’ll take the time to check out their work. Today, please welcome author, Daniel Arenson.

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To start, can you tell me a little about yourself.

I was born in 1980 and spent my early years moving around a lot. I moved between countries five or six times. I currently live in Toronto, and have been living here for several years.

I have a university degree in computer science. It taught me a lot about writing! Managing large applications, thinking logically, and solving problems–all the skills you learn in software development–are invaluable for an author.

I’ve always loved books. I think a great novel is one of the best things in the world. When I’m not writing or reading, I enjoy painting.

How long have you been writing and how did you get to this point in your career?

I’ve been writing since high school. I sold my first short story in 1998, when I was eighteen. I’ve been writing seriously since then, and have sold a couple dozen stories and poems. Firefly Island, my first novel, was published in hardcover in 2007, and has just recently been released as an ebook.

Tell me what inspired you to write this particular novel?

Firefly Island is my first novel, and is inspired by hundreds of fantasy novels I read growing up. I loved authors such as Roger Zelazny, Tolkien, Weis and Hickman, George R. R. Martin, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Orson Scott Card, and many other authors of fantasy and science fiction. I wrote Firefly Island because it’s the kind of book I love to read, and I wanted to share my story with others.

An epic fantasy full of wars and battles, Firefly Island is also inspired by history; its conflicts, triumphs, and tragedies.

Finally, fairytales inspired me. Firefly Island has a strong fairytale feel–not happy Disney fairytales, but the darker Grimms Brothers fairytales which blend the magical with the creepy.

I have a keen interest in dark fiction. Tell me how you would classify this book and is there anything dark about it?

People are often surprised by the darkness in Firefly Island. I don’t categorize it as dark fantasy–there are no vampires, no werewolves, no demons. It’s a high, epic fantasy, and that means adventure, magic, and romance… but also battles, sacrifice, and destruction.

In Firefly Island, I deal with contrasts. I illuminate the lighter scenes by interposing them with dark, violent scenes. You appreciate the fragile light when you see the darkness. You fear that darkness when you’ve felt the light it can extinguish.

Booklist called Firefly Island “dark and gory”, and it certainly includes those elements, but it also has a magical, lighter feel.

Sometimes we have to be ruthless in writing/editing. We cut scenes, eliminate characters or even kill them off. Tell me what was the hardest of these in this book.

I cut so much from Firefly Island. Pages and pages. Entire scenes and characters. I tossed out and rewrote the opening few chapters at one point. It’s all hard to do. You say goodbye to so many magical locations, so many characters. But it’s part of being an author; we have a pen in one hand, an axe in the other. We create with the one, cut with the other. I don’t know if one deleted scene was harder to cut than another. Ultimately I’m happy with all the choices I made.
You can’t include everything, not if you want an exciting story that flows well and keeps the reader turning the pages.

This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.

Well, it’s not exactly random, but here is the first sentence:

The little girl huddled in the corner, weeping silently.

What can we expect from you next?

My dark fantasy Flaming Dove will be released later this year. Half angel, half demon. Outcast from Hell, banished from Heaven. Laila–of tears and blood, of sins and of piety. Flaming Dove tells her story.

Where can we find you on the internet?

On my website, you can learn about me and my works, read free stories, and find free writing tips. The URL is: http://www.DanielArenson.com

Firefly Island in the Kindle store

Any final comments or thoughts?

I’d like to say how thrilled I am with the surging popularity of ebooks. Firefly Island was released in hardcover back in 2007. It’s only been an ebook for several weeks now, and has already sold hundreds of copies in the Kindle store. It’s soon coming to iBookstore and other places. I love connecting with ebook readers and selling digital copies. This is the future of literature.

And thank you, David, for the interview! It was a pleasure.

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Thank you very much for dropping by and answering these questions, Daniel! Good luck with Firefly Island, sounds like it’s doing great, and I look forward to Flaming Dove when it’s released!

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Interview With Author – Jenna Johnson

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I’ve been running a series of interviews with authors that are releasing new books. I hope you’ll take the time to check out their work. Today, please welcome author, Jenna Johnson.

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To start, can you tell me a little about yourself.

Hello, my name is Jenna Elizabeth Johnson and I’m a fantasy writer. It wasn’t until my time in college that I realized I wanted to write novels for the rest of my life. I grew up on the Central Coast of California and attended college in the Bay Area. I have since returned to my hometown to work in the education system. In my spare time, I work on my writing, as well as catching up on my favorite books. I also enjoy gardening, bird watching and camping. My goal is to someday make enough off of my books in order to take up writing full time.

How long have you been writing and how did you get to this point in your career?

I’ve been writing consistently for about five years now. Getting to this point in my writing ‘career’ has been itself a work in progress. Once I decided I wanted to write, I sat down and just began typing. At first it wasn’t necessarily organized, but I kept at it; learned to polish the raw material I had before me. I’m still learning how to write that ‘perfect’ novel, and I hope someday to do so.

Tell me what inspired you to write this particular novel?

I must admit, I can’t exactly pinpoint it; it was a combination of things. I’ve always been inventing stories, ever since I was very little. Unfortunately, I never really wrote anything down. In college, I took several art classes and a good number of Celtic and Scandinavian mythology classes. I think it was the Norse and Irish myths and legends that finally inspired me to write it all down.

Sometimes we have to be ruthless in writing/editing. We cut scenes, eliminate characters or even kill them off. Tell me what was the hardest of these in this book.

I had a hard time letting go of some of the stories Hroombra (one of my dragon characters) would tell Jahrra (my heroine) and her friends. They were simply an embellishment; they weren’t needed. I think I liked them and had originally included them because of my joy of myth and legend. The stories he told explained some of the natural occurences in Jahrra’s world, but they were something extra, so I had to shorten them immensely or cut them out completely. Perhaps one day I’ll gather them all in a book of legends.

Eliminating characters is another thing completely. The first characters I had to eliminate died rather early on, and although they played an important role in the main character’s life, I accepted that and was able to deal with it rather well. I will admit that a major character dies in the second book, but I can’t say who. This was another character I knew would not survive to the third book, but this one was harder. I just had to accept that my protagonist would not be able to grow as a person and move on if this character wasn’t taken out of her life. Still, it is no easy thing killing off someone you’ve grown to admire.

This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.

Here’s a few lines from chapter seventeen, ‘Dealing with Dragons’. I particularly like this quote because it shows the uneasy relationship between the dragon Jaax and Jahrra, something that is central to the plot:

Jaax’s voice finally interrupted Jahrra’s thoughts, “Shall we continue?”
“What?” Jahrra said, not realizing she’d stopped to ponder the scene before her.
“I want to be done with this as much as you do, so it would help if you paid attention.”
Jahrra turned pink. Stupid dragon! He shouldn’t be allowed to be so rude all the time.

What can we expect from you next?

I have several works in progress. I expect to write two or three more books to complete the Oescienne series, and I’m working on a few more YA fantasies, some parts of series, some not. I also have a few fantasy ideas and novels for the older crowd (some of these are also parts of series, some stand alone). I’m also toying with the idea of writing a few fantasy adventures for children.

Where can we find you on the internet?

I have a website, where you can find everything you would like to know about The Legend of Oescienne series. I also have a blog. I don’t write on my blog often, but if you would like to have a more inside view of Jahrra’s world, it is set up as a journal from her perspective. I also have a twitter account and a fan page on Facebook. The best way to contact me is through my website or on Facebook.

Any final comments or thoughts?

I can’t think of anything more. Thanks again for this wonderful opportunity!

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Jenna, thank you very much for dropping by and doing this interview! Good luck with The Finding and I’ll keep my eyes open for the next book in The Legend of Oescienne series!

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Interview With Author – Debra L Martin

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I’ve been running a series of interviews with authors that are releasing new books. I hope you’ll take the time to check out their work. Today, please welcome author, Debra L Martin.

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To start, can you tell me a little about yourself.

Currently I have a day job at a major research university as a Program’s Manager. While the work is rewarding, my first love is writing. I get so wrapped up in it sometimes that I lose all track of time. Creating characters and a storyline out of your imagination is food for my soul. The characters take on a life of their own and all you can do is hang on for the ride. It’s especially thrilling when a minor character demands to be heard. You know that niggling little voice in your head that keeps repeating “What would so-and-so say or do?” In Quest for Nobility Eclair Jortac was one of those characters and as the storyline developed, he ended up being an integral part of it.

How long have you been writing and how did you get to this point in your career?

My love of writing started back when I was in high school [quite a few years ago now]. I had an English teacher who had a knack for teaching that inspired you to write better and better stories. Years later, I tackled my first novel when I was going through a difficult period in my life. It was my way of dealing with everything happening at the time. That manuscript still sits in a dusty drawer somewhere, but at least I can say I wrote a complete novel.

About four years ago, my co-author, David W Small, and I were looking for new books to read. We like the same kinds of books and often swap books back and forth. That day every book either one of us suggested, we had already read, or was too familiar to what we had read recently. We left the bookstore without any purchases which was very unusual for us.

Both Dave and I were frustrated at the lack of anything in the SF/fantasy section that wasn’t the usual dragons, elves or magicians. We thought, what the heck, we can write something we want to read and so the partnership was born. It took us two years of writing, editing, more writing and more editing to finally declare Quest for Nobility fit to be read by others. We live on opposite coasts so writing together was a bit challenging. With email, Instant Messenger and Skype, we were able to keep on track with the book.

I have a keen interest in dark fiction. Tell me how you would classify this book and what’s dark about it?

I don’t think Quest could be classified as dark fiction, but we have a deliciously evil assassin, Nils that is definitely dark. Nils is a step above your usual assassin because he’s also a powerful telekinetic which makes it virtually impossible for any target to escape him. He will find you. Nils doesn’t kill swiftly. He relishes the kill, gets a high off the victim’s struggles and final death throes. And let’s not forget that we have a master manipulator pulling the strings throughout the novel to attain his own selfish goals. Both of these characters would definitely qualify as dark fiction.

Sometimes we have to be ruthless in writing/editing. We cut scenes, eliminate characters or even kill them off. Tell me what was the hardest of these in this book.

At the beginning of Quest we kill off two major characters. These murders drive the story forward and sets the stage for what happens to royal twins, Darius and Dyla Telkur. It’s definitely not a happy beginning to the book, but it was absolutely necessary to the storyline.

This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.

I think I’d have to pick something from Nils, a man of few words.

“I have a suspicion all of you will still be a problem, dead or not.”

What can we expect from you next?

The second book in the same series, The Crystal Façade is now available for sale. This book continues the story of Darius and Dyla Telkur and Eclair Jortac.

We are now concentrating on a new fantasy novel. This one involves an assassin [we do we love these characters], a witch, a noble house and of course, a long lost prophesy. We hope to have this book finished by 2011.

Where can we find you on the internet?

We have our author site which includes all of our writing plus some free samples at:

And of course, you can always find me commenting on the Kindleboards and Goodreads.

Any final comments or thoughts?

I want to thank you David for giving me the opportunity to showcase some of our work. Writing a book is definitely hard, but getting the word out to readers is crucial. I appreciate you helping out a fellow author.

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Wow, Debra, working with a co-author so far away must be such an interesting challenge! Glad to see that you’ve worked so well together that you’ve put out multiple books!

Thanks for dropping in for the interview and best of luck with the series!!

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Interview With Author – Danielle Bourdon

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I’ve been running a series of interviews with authors that are releasing new books. I hope you’ll take the time to check out their work. Today, please welcome author, Danielle Bourdon.

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To start, can you tell me a little about yourself.

Hey, David! First off, let me say thank you for doing this interview. I’ve been looking forward to it.

I was born and raised in Southern California. Since graduating from Corona Sr. High, I have lived on both coasts and now reside in Texas with my husband and two kids. I’ve traveled across the country too many times to count and I hope to visit Egypt in the near future. I’ve always had a fascination with it. I also love to read as much as I love to write.

How long have you been writing and how did you get to this point in your career?

I remember the very first ‘story’ I ever wrote. I was 11 years old. I’ve still got that dinosaur somewhere! I fiddled around with writing for years, starting and stopping several books that I’ve still got sitting on a hard drive somewhere. I got stuck in ‘edit’ mode and never could actually finish a book. National Novel Writing Month in 2009 changed all that. I’d wanted to enter for a long time and I decided I was going to give it a shot. I churned out 50 thousand words in thirty days without editing one thing and a book was born.

Tell me what inspired you to write this particular novel?

What inspired me to write Dréoteth was a deep desire to actually finish something I started. I’m a real stickler when I set a deadline or a goal for myself and I don’t like to fail. I decided to write this novel because I didn’t know anything about it other than the main character’s name, that he wrote in a journal, and he suffered a lot of emotional conflict over humans. I wanted a blank slate so my creativity could run wild, and that’s what I got.

I have a keen interest in dark fiction. Tell me how you would classify this book and what’s dark about it?

I admit trying to classify Dréoteth has been a little rough. It’s definitely fantasy and very character driven. I wanted to explore the emotional aspects of the main character and what made him tick. What makes some aspects of this story dark, I think, are Dréoteth’s emotional struggles and his constant inner battle to rise above his rage. I tried to write compelling conflict, although I think the darkest scenes involve secondary characters. It’s certainly not the darkest story I’ve ever written, but the last chapter has inescapable black moments that left my beta readers a little surprised.

Where do you get the ideas for your stories?

I pull from a wide range of genres and mythology, and sometimes, the idea just blossoms off the end of my fingers when I least expect it. My favorite thing to do is re-write folklore and put my characters into the setting. Ironically, I’ve never considered fantasy one of my strongest genres but I’ve got a plethora of fantasy based stories sitting on the back burner. I dabble in everything from modern contemporary to horror to historical fiction.

Sometimes we have to be ruthless in writing/editing. We cut scenes, eliminate characters or even kill them off. Tell me what was the hardest of these in this book.

I’m a prolific risk taker and love taking the reader on a ride they maybe didn’t expect. For those reasons, I don’t find it hard to kill characters off or cut scenes, if they need to go. Sure, losing all those words stings, but story wise, it doesn’t bother me. What I found hard was sticking to my guns about not making this particular story a romance. I felt a little personal pressure to add it in, and there are a few romantic overtones, but I wanted it to stand alone without romance being the focal point.

This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.

From the deepest recesses of memories more ancient than his own, he pulled arcane words to the surface and wove them into a chant from a long dead language recalled in a most desperate hour.
Although his whispers could not have been heard above the rain, Feline roared in fury. The sound rattled the already rattled night.

What can we expect from you next?

I’m very excited about my next book! My co-author and I are almost finished with our first draft and have a tentative release date of September 1, 2010. The book is titled Bound by Blood. We wrote this story two years ago and decided to go full throttle with it this spring. It’s a paranormal romance with elements of time travel and more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at. We cross from modern day to the Tudor court and back again with a lot of drama in between. It’s a very expansive, deep story with well developed characters and quite a bit of suspense.

Where can we find you on the internet?

You can find my website at: www.daniellebourdon.com. It doubles as my blog. My twitter address is: www.twitter.com/wildbloom.

Any final comments or thoughts?

Only that publishing my book has been a great thrill for me and I hope readers enjoy my stories as much as I enjoy creating them.

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Danielle, thank you very much for dropping by and answering these questions! Best of luck with Dréoteth and I look forward to hearing more about Bound by Blood when it’s released!

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Random Musings: Our Adoption Anniversary

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It’s been a year since we officially adopted our boys (i.e. stood before a judge who signed the documents) and almost two and a half years since they joined our family.

I’ve never blogged about our adoption story. I’ve blogged about older child adoption, mused on things as a parent, and given my opinion on a number of adoption-related events, and issues, but I’ve never related our story.

So here it is.

It’s long.

Get comfortable.

…

My partner and I are a same-sex couple. We’ve been together for thirteen years. Six years ago we attended a course run out of a GLBT community centre in Toronto called “Daddies and Poppas”. Basically it was a course meant to educate couples on the various parenting options.

We knew we wanted to be parents, but the question was how. Surrogacy? Local adoption? International adoption? Co-parenting?

In the end we chose local adoption. We felt it was the best fit for us.

So in February of 2005 we put in our application with the local Children’s Aid Society to become adoptive parents.

After that, we waited.

And waited.

Two years passed before we finally received the call that we would be able to attend the adoption orientation course. (The wait for the course is now more like a year since they made some changes to the system, but I truly believe this wait is necessary. It gave us a lot of time to think about what we wanted out of parenting and quite honestly it helps prevent impulsive adoption. There’s nothing worse than a failed adoption because a parent wasn’t capable/ready of taking on the challenges that adoption can incur.)

The adoption orientation course was engaging and interesting. We learned a lot about the various circumstances under which children come into care and become crown wards. We also learned about the various types of adoptions (open, closed, etc). The course was ten weeks long, and after that we were set up with an amazing adoption worker who would then interview us, both separately and together, as part of the home study. We also had to provide reference letters, undergo a medical check, a comprehensive police background check, and provide information proving that we were financially capable of providing for children. (NOTE: Although adoption through Children’s Aid is free, we needed to be financially secure.)

During the interview process, we were required to talk about our past, including personal issues, our relationships with our family members and spouse, as well as what expectations we had as parents. That honesty is fundamental in a lot of ways. The aim of Children’s Aid is to find the right home for a child. They have no obligation to prospective parents – so there was no guarantee that they would find us a child. The focus was, and should always be, what is best for the child. I’ve heard parents complain about how they never got a child through Children’s Aid. IMHO, I don’t think they waited long enough, or their parameters were too narrow. Desiring a healthy baby of similar ethnic background from a birth mother with a perfect health record and no history of substance abuse is a recipe for a very long wait, or an impossibility.

Back to the home study.

In talking about our relationships, past and present, the adoption worker was able to get a feel for who we were and what we were capable of. We decided that we wanted to adopt two children (siblings) that were between the ages of 2 and 5. We felt that was the right fit for us. Our worker took all of the information back and wrote up a report, recommending us as prospective parents.

This was June of 2007.

Then the wait started all over.

At this point, we were waiting for children that would become available for adoption in our area, as well as ones that the workers felt would be a good fit. They had multiple parents to choose from for various children and they needed to decide who would make the best home for the children.

We continued to wait.

Getting closer to October, we were told that an Adoption Resource Exchange Conference was happening in Toronto. This event is only open to parents that have a completed home study (or are in the process of completing it). They hold them twice a year. At the conference, children awaiting adoption from all over the province are profiled (through displays, pamphlets, videos, and pictures) for adoptive parents and workers to review. These children are profiled at the conference because they couldn’t be placed in adoptive homes in their own regions. Usually this is because they are children with specialized needs or because they are sibling groups.

We didn’t know what to expect at this event. We arrived and took up a seat in the auditorium and watched as videos of children and descriptions of their needs were played on the large screen before us. Between choking sobs and tears, we made notes on the pamphlets we had been given so we could follow up with various workers. We didn’t last long in there. It was heart wrenching.

We then wandered through the various displays across multiple rooms, stopping here and there, saying hello to the workers and picking up information sheets on the various children.

And as we stepped into one of the rooms, I saw a display across the way of three boys. They had the look of little Huckleberry Fin’s. I will never forget that moment as I muttered out loud, “Oh my god.”

Believe me, or don’t, I knew they were our children. I knew it in my gut, and I made a beeline for the display.

We immediately hit it off with the workers, asking a million questions. We watched a little video they had brought with them that showed these beautiful boys in stunning photos. The song Little Wonders by Rob Thomas played in the background. Our hearts melted. They told us that the oldest was living in a separate foster home than his brothers, didn’t attend the same school, and rarely saw them. He wanted to be with his brothers. They were 6, 7, and 9 years old. And if they didn’t find an adoptive home for them at the conference, they were going to split them up, adopting the two youngest together and try to find a home for the oldest separately.

We told them we wanted all three. Together.

We took down all of the relevant information, filled out forms, gave them one of our own profile sheets, and made our way back to the auditorium to watch the information video on this little trio. From that moment those boys had captured our hearts.

We wandered through the aisles and took information down about other children, but none had had the impact on us like those three little boys.

And so, the wait began again.

From that weekend, we learned that there were eight couples interested in the boys.

Our hearts were heavy. We were a same-sex couple, and despite the fact that Children’s Aid had long been approving of same-sex couples as adoptive parents, we couldn’t help but wonder if we might be overlooked.

A couple of weeks later, we learned that the choice had been narrowed down to four couples.

We were among them.

To the four couples, an information package was sent, giving full disclosure of the boys’ backgrounds, their birth parents, the reason they had come into care, and some of the challenges that the boys faced.

We were daunted by none of it. We read that information over and over. It furthered our resolve that we were the right parents for these boys.

Then a little snag occurred. The two youngest attended a school where one of the school staff wanted to adopt them. They hadn’t completed a home study yet, but Children’s Aid deemed that they should be treated as a kin-type of relationship.

We were devastated.

What could we possibly offer that someone who already knows them couldn’t?

So we waited. Dejectedly.

After about another two weeks, we were told that this person’s plan wasn’t viable. They weren’t aware that there was a third child and Children’s Aid thought it was in the boys’ best interest to find a home for them where they could be together.

So now it came down to us and one other couple. We were told that we would be interviewed, as well as the other couple, and the decision would be made after that. We were up against a heterosexual couple with a teenage son. We also found out that this particular Children’s Aid Society had never adopted to a same-sex couple before. Yet again, we wondered if we would be chosen.

The interview was incredible. We talked with the same workers that we had met at the Exchange. We talked, and laughed, and shared plans and ideas. We even cut into the time of the other couple because we lost track of time.

After that, it was a few more days before we received the call. We had been chosen!! Those three little boys that we had waited to hear about for seven weeks were going to be our children! We were beside ourselves with joy!

This was now early December 2007.

We were invited to meet with the foster parents and we would be given the chance to see the boys in a meeting room from behind a two-way mirror.

We drove four hours to the region where our boys were living. And as we pulled into the parking lot, we saw two little boys get out of a car, one of which stopped as we drove by. I watched him mouth the words, “Woah!” as we went by. And the two of us were practically screaming, “Oh my god! Oh my god!” as we parked. That little boy was our middle son.

We waited for them to enter the building, giving them the time to get in and then we followed. We were immediately escorted to a room so we could watch from behind the mirror. Our oldest got to meet with his younger brothers and we watched from behind the mirror as they exchanged Christmas gifts and home-made cards with each other. (We still have those cards.)

One of the workers sent the boys over to the mirror to clean their faces after they ate lunch, knowing we would want a closer look at our future sons.

They came over and made faces in the mirror to our delight.

After letting the boys leave we moved to another room where we met with various workers as well as the foster families. Our boys had still been living in separate foster homes (our two youngest were together in one, our oldest in another). We were told more about the boys and what to expect from them. We discussed schedules of visits, sleep overs, and the final move to our house. We brought with us little photo albums that we had created for each of them with pictures of their new home, school, dogs, family and friends. And in that album was also a DVD that very good friends of ours put together for them.

We then left knowing that in early January we would be meeting them.

Christmas came and went. We spent New Years alone that year, wanting to just rest and relax before the upcoming maelstrom of visits and activities. A new and exciting journey was waiting for us!

We went shopping for gifts to bring with us. We got a flat tire the night before we were supposed to meet them and had to scramble to get it replaced. As a result, we were an hour late arriving and found the boys all sitting in a circle on the floor, playing Old Maid. We came in and said hello, bringing the bags of presents with us.

The boys said nothing. They looked up from their game, and my partner and I took places in the little circle with them. We needed no introduction. My oldest said not a word. He simply took half his cards and handed them to my partner. And as if we had always been a family, we played Old Maid and the bonding began.

In most cases, the workers or foster families are needed to break the ice and act as mediators in the initial meeting. That wasn’t the case for us. We hit it off immediately. My youngest told us, in his matter-of-fact tone, that they were going to come and live with us, and that I had a big head. I laughed aloud, not having the heart to tell him that he had a pretty big noggin himself.

From there we spent the coming days getting to know our boys and took them tobogganing, swimming, bowling, and to their hockey games. We lived out of McDonald’s – their favorite restaurant.

A few weeks later, they moved in with their new family. Us.

It wasn’t necessarily simple from there. Minor complications arose. Our oldest son had been living with an extremely religious foster family that had poisoned his mind. They led him to believe he would go to hell because he had two dads. It was something that no nine year old should ever have to deal with, not after everything else he had been through.

It took time to undo the brainwashing. Between a very supportive play therapist and children’s books like “And Tango Makes Three” he was better able to understand what it meant to have two dads.

We spent the next year doing what all families do. We took them to amusement parks, camping, the cottage, family get togethers, and cultural events. We talked with them, read to them, played with them. We went crazy at Christmas with gingerbread houses, decorations, fun in the snow, and lots of presents!

Then we were told that, just prior to seeing the judge for the adoption finalization, our boys had to see a lawyer. Because of their ages, they had to formally agree to the adoption. They had to sign. And they had 3 weeks in which to change their minds. There were two sets of fears going on here. Our fear that they might not sign, or that they might change their minds. And for the boys, they feared that we might not want them.

Three weeks later we stood before an Ontario Supreme Court Justice who told us that we were all officially a family. It is one of the greatest moments in our lives. And for our boys, especially our oldest, the tension they had been living with suddenly melted away. They knew they would never be separated from each other again, they knew that this family would be forever, and that we would always be their dads.

Family and friends filled the court room to share that wonderful day with us. And now, a year later, we’re as strong a family as any. Our boys proudly correct people who assume they have a mother. “I don’t have a mom. I have two dads,” they say. They stand up for others when they see injustice, and they like that they’re a little bit different. “I wouldn’t want to be like everyone else,” my oldest says, “I like being different.”

I now barely remember what it was like before we had children. And I don’t want to. They have filled our lives with so much love, laughter, and joy that I can’t imagine it any other way.

And so now it’s our anniversary, and at this time of the year, every year, we’re going to celebrate.

Wouldn’t you? :)