The road to publication has been bumpier than we had hoped, but that often happens with labors of love. My co-editors Kassaye Berhanu, Aselefech Evans, and I are incredibly thrilled to be partners on the first anthology by Ethiopian adoptees, Lions Roaring, Far From Home. We are moving ahead in good ways.

Here’s what we have been working on:

• Selecting and editing 28 essays. The writers are from the U.S., Canada, France, Holland, Sweden, Spain, and Australia. They range in age from 8 to 47.
• Reaching out to potential partners to assist with funding for production costs and translations (Dutch, French, and Spanish).
• Acquiring the license for e-book publication.
• Beginning to format and upload material for publication.
• Reaching out to potential “celebrity” guest writers.
• Making connections with potential partners in Ethiopia, for sharing information and promoting the book. (We would love to get it translated into Amharic, though that’s another significant potential expense. We’re working on it.)
• Figuring out the best way to acquire the front and back cover art.
• Lining up pre- and post-publication reviewers.
• Setting up the book’s Facebook page (under construction but will be live soon.)
• Keeping up with our own family responsibilities, work, job searches, health, bills, travel, and so on.

I greatly appreciate the patience of our wonderful essayists. We will soon be working with them on the promotion of the book, which we hope will include readings in various cities (hopefully sponsored by adoptee, adoptive parent and other groups). I will be asking the writers to record brief video clips reading excerpts from their essays, to be used in promoting the book.

Original artwork © Maureen McCauley Evans

The learning curve has been steep on this book, but we are getting near the finish line. (It will be so much easier on the next one!) We are grappling with funding for the production and translation costs. Please keep in mind that revenue from book sales will go toward establishing a guest house/resource center in Addis for returning adoptees from around the globe.

We are honored by the gifts of the stories in this book. The essays are straight from the heart of the adoptees, who have dealt with the joy, the sorrow, the racism, the confusion, the reality that is international adoption. Thanks for being with us on this journey. Our plan is that the next update on Lions Roaring will be the publication announcement!