In North America alone, so many children are currently waiting in foster care for a permanent family to come into their lives. In places like China, where our own dear daughter Tammy-Li Ming-Hui was born, countless infants and young children reside in the stasis of institutionalised care waiting to be held at last by Mom or Dad.

To all of those children, parents and siblings "in waiting", I would like to say this: Your wait will soon be over. May you experience, as we have, the miracle of adoption and the joy of family in your lives.

The First Excellence, my mystery/intrigue set in China, was loosely based on a short story idea that came to me the week after we brought our daughter home. The protagonist, Li Fa-ling, is a young Chinese-Canadian facing the dillemna of all young adults: what to do with the rest of her life.

In an effort to better understand herself, she travels to the heart of mainland China with a Canadian adoption group. There she encounters murder, kidnapping, political intrigue and organ theft. Her cloistered world is sliced open by her unexpected affection for the Nanning Detective Wang Yong-qi and his brilliant but uncouth partner Cheng Minsheng.

Having said all that, this is not just a book about murder and kidnapping and those dark deeds we crimewriters do so love to study. In my humble opinion as the author, it is a story of the human spirit -- its quest to discover worthiness in a changing world and its relentless desire to love and to be loved.

To all those waiting for completion of the adoption process, and to those families and children whose lives have already been altered by the miracle of adoption, my very best wishes to you on this special day.

May we all take a moment to celebrate.

Yours,
Donna Carrick
www.donnacarrick.com