September 1st marks the 6th anniversary of the day we first met our daughter Tammy-Li.

It was hot, which is normal for Nanning, Guang Xi Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China. I remember all of the Dad’s were wearing shorts, and all the Mom’s wore shorts or sun-dresses. Nanning is on a latitudinal par with Cancun, Mexico, so palm trees lined the streets and there were jungles just outside the city limits.

The journey from Toronto to Nanning was both exhilarating and exhausting, with stopovers in Vancouver and Shanghai. The Chinese domestic flight from Shanghai to Nanning convinced us we were “not in Kansas, er, I mean Canada, anymore”. The plane ride itself was not unlike our venture into the adoption experience – embarking on either required a phenomenal leap of faith.

This weekend we are hosting a “day at the beach” – a get together for the families with whom we had the pleasure of sharing a life-altering experience. We meet with our Adoption Group at least twice each year. It’s always a thrill to see how the families are growing. Three of the couples have adopted more than once, and I can honestly say, Alex and I would not hesitate to do the same if we were younger.

However, reality being what it is, we are more than satisfied with our family. (***This is me, knocking on wood as I make this statement!) Our two biological sons and our precious daughter have brought us so much more joy than we could have ever hoped!

The most surprising thing of all, though, is not how much we love our daughter. To know her is to love her, and it’s impossible for us to imagine our lives without her.

No, the biggest surprise for us was how close we have become to our fellow-adoptive-parents! Those men and women, those comrades on the journey that changed our lives so dramatically – it is very much as if we were all in the maternity ward together, cheering each other on through childbirth!

Not only did we share in the Adoption Ceremony, which was very moving, but we also spent two intense weeks together in close quarters! We ate together, toured together by bus, swam, shopped, laughed and cried together in a tiny forced community that could not help but bond us for life.

Amazingly, even though we hailed from very different walks of life, we found there were many commonalities we shared, and still do.

The greatest of these, of course, is our daughters – those precious flowers of China, who have so bravely made the journey together from one world to another.

It is our sincere hope they will be “forever mei-mei’s”, forever sisters of the soul.

And that, in a nutshell, is the main reason we come together!

Donna Carrick, August 5, 2009

With the insurgence of Twitter as a networking/marketing tool, Alex and I have been having some fun learning to promote our books and blogs to all and sundry. (See Alex's blog.)

This morning I came across the following “Tweet” posted by Phillip Schofield in the UK: Wow, there's a lot of Saturday morning ironing going on in tweetsville!

To which I RT’d (Reply Tweeted, for the uninitiated): Apparently it ranks as #1 Diversion Tactic for writers!

Keep in mind, most of the people/groups I follow are Lit-related, for example publishers, agents and of course many, many fellow writers.

Checking out the dialogue between writers, I soon discovered that Phillip was right – there WAS a lot of Saturday morning ironing going on!

Now I can’t speak for other struggling writers, but from Monday to Friday I have a day job that keeps the kids in Cheerios. Which means, of course, that Saturday morning is PRIME TIME for writing, before the demands of the weekend beckon, or the call of the beach becomes too seductive.

After all, the laundry isn’t REALLY yelling at me to iron it. It can, in fact, be folded and put away as it is, leaving me time to complete at least ONE short chapter.

Which prompted me to ask the general question to all fellow writers: What kind of writer are YOU? Committed? Uncommitted? Ought to be committed?

My husband Alex, who has just sent his book “Two Scoops is Just Right” to the publisher, has a theory about “commitment”. He says that every activity presents the same set of choices to people, whether it be roller-blading or writing.

1-You can buy all the right gear, the helmet and elbow pads and best blades available on the market. You can tell yourself that you can’t possibly START blading until you have cleaned out your local sporting goods store. Also, you can’t possibly START writing till you have your own office or other quiet space (read garret) away from phones, kids, noises of any kind.

This rationale can buy a lot of procrastination points. You can effectively put off ANY activity this way.

2-You can promise yourself that you will START writing – as soon as the ironing or the cooking or the cleaning or the gardening etc. is done.

I call this a DIVERSION tactic, and a common one, in my opinion, based on the many writers I know.

3-You can tell yourself that you will begin writing as soon as you can afford the time or money to take a creative writing course, or a marketing course, or whatever other course you think will give you the credentials you need.

I am a big believer in learning all you can. By all means, attend a course. But if you are WAITING for those credentials to magically fall into place before you even begin, then sorry, but you’re not a writer. A writer writes, it’s as simple as that.

4-You can sit down this minute with your ‘puter or your pen and you can simply WRITE. You can write badly, or you can write well. You can burn every page as soon as you print it. You can edit your work for months, only to discover it wasn’t worth the effort anyway and you must trash it. None of that really matters. Writing is the end and the means, it is the practice that makes perfect (or at least marginally improved!) and it is the holy grail of all real writers.

So I’d like to throw the question out there to all my fellow-writers: What kind of writer are YOU? Committed? Uncommitted? Ought to be committed?

Comment below and let me know – consider it an invitation to firm up the old “commitment” factor once and for all!
Thanks for the info.
Donna Carrick August 15, 2009

With so many social networking sites available on the Internet, I thought I’d do some research to discover the emerging Do’s and Don’t’s of Self-Promotion. After all, one doesn’t want to become known as a Dreaded Spammer. On the other hand, we all know that “Bench Advertising Works”, so in that spirit, I set out to uncover the mysteries of Global Networking.

According to the experts, the following are the “10-Commandments” of on-line self promotion. I have to admit, they leave me feeling somewhat perplexed. See for yourself if you don’t come away scratching your head.

(Disclaimer: Yours truly may have paraphrased or even blatantly made up some of these rules.)

1- Try to ‘stir things up’. Controversy is interesting. Initiate debate and commentary to encourage an intelligent exchange of ideas.

2- Beware of controversy. Keep your biases to yourself. No one is interested in your personal opinions, except maybe for a bowl-full of salty nuts, and they just want to use your forum to vent their own brand of craziness.

3- Learn to view every site and discussion group as an opportunity to gain exposure for your work. Add links to your comments and mention your product or service in every post. Remember, you are trying to create your own cyber-footprint, so be bold.

4- Avoid obvious attempts at self-promotion, especially blatant references to your product or links to your own site. These could be perceived as “spamming”, and may result in your being barred from some social networking arenas.

Besides, your SSP (shameless self-promotion) really pisses people off. They have their own crap to sell, and you are using up valuable face-space!

5- When using tools like Facebook and Twitter, get to know your base market group. Work towards acquiring a following that shares your interests. These are the people who are most like to buy or cross-promote your product.

6- Cast a wide net. Take care not to restrict your networking group. Don’t “preach only to the choir”. After all, that Indonesian Fisherman might be interested in joining your Toronto Librarians’ Book Club. You never know!

7- Be respectful in your posts and comments. Even when disagreeing, remember to use your “indoor voice”. No SHOUTING, name-calling, or general “dissing” allowed.

8- Be aggressive in sharing your opinions. No one likes a “wussy-cat”. People are drawn to strength. Employ the “Simon Cowell” approach to every golden kernel you care to share.

9- Be warm and ‘folksy’ in your communication. Don’t be afraid to connect with strangers. Remember to show an interest in their comments and posts, not just your own. This will build a loyal following.

10- Don’t reach out to strangers. Some find this to be intrusive. I recently read an article about the 15 most annoying types of Tweets on Twitter. In the comments section below the story, one person took the opportunity to complain that complete strangers were “following” her and were annoying her with “Tweets”!

Go figure, eh? I have nothing to add to such a blindingly brilliant observation…

Regarding #10, I came up with the following thought on “paranoia in the modern world”:

A patient Tweets to his on-line Psychologist, “Doctor, I think I’m being followed!”
Donna Carrick, August 22, 2009

My latest mystery is finally scheduled for release in late September! "The First Excellence" is set in China and features a young Chinese-Canadian woman, Li Fa-ling, who returns to the land of her birth. There she encounters murder, kidnapping, political intrigue and troubling memories of her years in an impoverished orphanage prior to being adopted. Along with Detective Wang Yong-qi and his brilliant but uncouth partner, Cheng Minsheng, Fa-ling must stop a brutal kidnapper, before another baby girl goes missing!

A larger image of the cover can be found at: The First Excellence! Hope you will all drop in for a sneak peek.

Best in writing,
Donna