I’ve just returned from two glorious Internet-free weeks, during which I took a much-needed break from blogging. My family spent last week camping at Pacific Beach, Washington, where the sun shined warmly all day (a minor miracle for the Washington coast). We flew kites with our kids, played in the sand, and walked for miles along the coastline, collecting sand dollars. My son and I even spotted two pelicans who were trying to blend in with the seagulls sitting on the beach.

The week before our beach trip I was in Denver, working as a journalist at the International Christian Retail Show. I had the opportunity to interview about 20 authors, several of whom I’ll be featuring in upcoming posts.

Today on my Exploring Adoption blog, I recapped some of my adventures at the ICRS. On this blog, I’ll introduce you to some of the adoption and infertility authors I met.

It was 11:30 p.m. I had just checked into my hotel and was heading for the elevator when I ran into bestselling author (and adoptive mom) Karen Kingsbury, her gorgeous teenage daughter, Kelsey, and Karen’s trusty assistant, Katie Johnson. I interviewed Karen last year for a profile that’s being published in this September in Today’s Christian. Her latest novel is all about adoption; it’s called Like Dandelion Dust.

I had fun interviewing Barbara Curtis, whose new book is called Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues With People Who Don’t Think Like You.
In addition to being a journalist and social activist, Barbara is a mother of 12, several of whom were adopted and several of whom have Down syndrome.

One day, while I was waiting for an interviewee to show up, I overheard the women at the table next to me talking about their adoption book. My ears always perk up at the mention of “adoption,” so I glanced over to see who it was (we wear gigantic name tags at ICRS so it’s easy to tell).

Sure enough, it was Ruth Graham (yes, that Ruth Graham—Billy’s daughter) and Sara Dormon, co-authors of I’m Pregnant…Now What? and the soon-to-be-released, So You Want to Adopt…Now What? I’ll be reviewing their books in future posts.

When I sprinted upstairs to get a copy of I’m Pregnant…Now What?, I just happened to meet Mark Stuart, lead singer for Audio Adrenaline. His parents direct an orphanage in Haiti and the guys from Audio Adrenaline are involved with the Hands and Feet Project there. The HAF Project does not facilitate adoptions; they raise the kids to be strong Haitian Christians. I’ll share more about their work next week.

Mark and I had only a few seconds to chat, but I did walk away with an autographed copy of their new CD, Adios, Greatest Hits.

Minutes later, back in the media room, I was still waiting for my next appointment when I spotted a man sitting next to me with two red carrier bags that said, “Adoption Today” and “Fostering Families Today.”

“Cool bags. Where did you get them?” I asked the man (I’m always on the lookout for freebies).

He looked at me quizzically.

“I brought them,” he replied.

“Oh, do you work for those magazines?”

“Yes; I’m the editor.”

Well, well, what do you know? Richard Fischer was waiting to interview none other than Ruth Graham and Sara Dormon, so we had a good chat while we waited. I’ve been reading both magazines for the past few months and am quite impressed by them, particularly by Fostering Families Today.

While Richard and I were gabbing away, the person I was meeting next had wandered in and was sitting down near us (she had her back to me so I didn’t recognize her). She figured out who we were and introduced herself. It was Sandra Glahn, co-author (with William Cutrer) of the infertility classic, When Empty Arms Become a Heavy Burden: Encouragement for Couples Facing Infertility, and The Infertility Companion: Hope and Help for Couples Facing Infertility.

Sandra and I (she's on the left; I'm on the right) connected instantly, and after chatting for 45 minutes, decided that we are kindred spirits.

Stay tuned for more news about hot-off-the-press adoption books in my next post.