Together Again

I have been very much a blogger slacker lately- with good reason. My children's book, "Together Again" has finally been published. The last six weeks have been a flurry of incredibly fun activity- selecting and working with an illustrator, selecting font types, cover art, reviewing book design. I am so excited and thrilled beyond words that it has come to life. The artist did an amazing job!.


The description and author bio from the book:

Have you ever felt as though you have known someone forever when you actually just met? Or felt a connection with your child or spouse that has an effortless, timeless quality? Together Again is the true story of such a soul connection between mother and daughter. Their story spans heaven and earth and thousands of miles as the two souls are reunited through the miracle of adoption. Their journey is spiritual as well as physical.

The story is told from the child's perspective: Do you remember where you lived before you were born? I do! I once live in heaven with my mommy and other people I love; then I was born in China. My mommy searched for me, found me across the ocean, and adopted me. From heaven to China to America ---we are together again!

Author, Laurie Stephens is a writer, dreamer, and a mom who loves laughter and this spiritual journey known as life. She works in the field of non-profit fundraising and marketing. Originally from Toledo, Ohio, Laurie currently resides in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, with her two incredible daughters.

To order go to http://www.shop.boutiqueofqualitybooks.com

Spiritual lessons-your stories needed

Isn't it wonderful how sometimes one when area of your life seems to get on track- others fall in line as well? You become inspired to keep going, moving forward and to try new projects or pull an old dream off of the shelf and start again.

For me- I got an amazing new job and at the same time was able to move forward with my children's book - "Together Again" which will be published hopefully by the holidays. While working on revising the manuscript and explaining the concept to the illustrator, I was struck with how much more I need to write.

The book is about the adoption of a baby girl from China and the experiences that she and her mother have in finding one another again. Yes, I said again, because I am attempting to include some key spritual principles in the book- ideas that I am finding are radical to some folks. I believe that we are all connected at a soul/spiritual level, that we plan our lives with divine guidance before birth and that the people who surround us are here on purpose. In terms of adoption, this includes children, siblings, parents and birthparents-all connected in unique ways and all with a role to carry out, a purpose to serve and a lesson to learn or to teach. My book editor resisted a bit- wanting to remove the early references to being in heaven before we are born (she thinks it will be confusing to young children) and eliminating the birthmother from the story all together. I cannot do either as it would the essence and purpose of the whole book. Plus, I believe that young children actually have the purest and most open spiritual perspectives of all, many talk about being with God and often see angels. Of course, a birthparent must be included in any adoption story - they are part of our lives and not people to be demonized or ignored.

This will all be ironed out in editing. I will add some language that will make the concepts clearer for children but will not compromise my vision for the book. Can you imagine the hoopla that would have occurred if I had included reincarnation into the story? The conversations have helped me realize that I really must go forward with two other pieces of writing - a novel with a reincarnation theme to be titled "When Earth Turns Over Heaven" and a non-fiction book called "Spirit Connects Us All."

The non-fiction piece will be a compilation of real life stories of families that have come together in unique ways and reinforce the message that spiritual connections not biology are the true foundation for a family. There are some amazing adoption stories out there not to mention deep relationships with step parents and foster families. Some of the connections, twists of fate (like the woman who adopted from China twice, years apart from different orphanages and ended up raising daughters that she found out were full biological sisters- there HAS to be a divine hand in that) and paths that lead us together are fascinating. Do you know someone with a story to tell about how their family was built - put them in contact with me!

I will continue to edit my book without compromise and look for new ways to communicate that spirit really does connect us all!

The writing fever is back

The writing fever is back! One of the purposes of this blog is to put some structure and yes even discipline around writing. Having a blog to write pushes me to put these crazy plans, thoughts, inspirations and observations down in written form.

I am absolutely amazed that people in over thirty countries around the world have read this blog. Recently, folks from Iran, the Netherlands, Denmark and Nigeria have become readers. That is truly astonishing to me! They found this blog through google and other searches. The power of the internet to connect people with common ideas, viewpoints or challenges is wonderful. It reminds me, once again, how connected we are as human beings in spite of nationality, culture or circumstance. In my opinion, we are connected beyond our common humanity.

We are connected because we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Our souls, spirits, energy, essence - use the word that best describes your beliefs, are all connected. And that connection transcends biology, race, gender, geography and even lifetimes. The idea that our energy is all connected fascinates me and explains so much about human behavior and what brings us peace and contentment and dare I say it happiness.

I realize that all of my writing projects currently on paper or in my brain, including a children's picture book, magazine articles, non-fiction book and a novel all have this theme at their core. Interestingly enough, when I am writing or working with this theme in mind "Spirit Connects Us All", the words flow and things fall into place. The stories need to be told and it just might be my place to tell them.

Glad the writing fever is back!