Comments on: Great American Novel

By: Quilly

Quilly — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:20:51 +0000

Kay — South Lakes Mom provided me with excellent info. I am hoping the story will be a fun read, despite the heavy subject.

By: Musings

Musings — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:47:10 +0000

I'm afraid I have no idea but this sounds like it's going to be a very interesting story. .-= Musings´s last blog ..Stanley's Piano Concert at the Hospice =-.

By: Quilly

Quilly — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:42:15 +0000

Barbara — my Amoeba brought up several thinking points I hadn’t considered. In fact, this has pretty much been a joint venture.

By: Barbara H.

Barbara H. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 04:32:49 +0000

I’m not much help — one of my sisters placed a baby for adoption but it was an open adoption — the adopting parents met her I think some time after the baby was born, and all the records were available, they all met from time to time through the years.

I do like hearing about the kids of things authors have to think through, though.

I’m not much into magic, except maybe the Lord of the Rings and Narnia variety.
.-= Barbara H.´s last blog ..Random Dozen #4 =-.

By: Susan at Stony River

Susan at Stony River — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:44:27 +0000

Oh boy. I’m buying it! I have a cursed heroine in production too, much different setting and premise but I love the idea. When I was younger Charles de Lint was one of my favourites; I think he’s the one who turned me on to the whole magical realism genre.

Good luck writing this one!
.-= Susan at Stony River´s last blog ..Last Call =-.

By: Quilly

Quilly — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:14:40 +0000

Bill, I was asking for information on ADOPTION. You said, “Ask, Thom.” Any logical person would assume you meant you thought Thom had knowledge on adoption.

And no, I can’t tell when you’re teasing. I cannot hear your voice or see the look on your face and there is nothing in your writing style to help me distinguish teasing from serious.

Please note — Thom didn’t know you were teasing, either.

By: Quilly

Quilly — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:09:00 +0000

SouthLakesMom — my story is going to be plot driven with romance on the side and I don’t care for explicit sex in my books so I don’t know that it’ll sell. Even so, it’s a great premise — with a bit of mystery — and I’m going to write it. Thank you for your help. I can’t believe you did that much work for me! What an incredible, unbelievable gift! When the book comes out you get an autographed copy!

By: Quilly

Quilly — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:58:57 +0000

Susan — I am writing an urban fantasy. My heroine is suffering the effects of a family curse — hardly fair since she has no idea who her family is and in fact was raised by a non-magical family. She has lived most of her life on the parameter of the magical society so the hero is her guide and companion as she looks for her identity and a way to break the curse.

By: Southlakesmom

Southlakesmom — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:55:56 +0000

And back again after all that (whew, I’m exhausted reading it!) — I have a subscription to ancestry.com, so if you need help to figure out how to navigate that or any of the genealogy sites, I can help.

Adoption records and dispositions are matters of state law — so where your heroine was adopted will govern releasability of records. This is a good site to start with to understand the vagaries of the different agencies, etc. http://www.researchingtools.com/adoption.html

I don’t much like romance and I can’t wait to see the published version! Go GIRL!

p.s. do you and Amoeba know about Geocaching? If you’re going to a state park…
.-= Southlakesmom´s last blog ..Five Words =-.

By: Quilly

Quilly — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:49:43 +0000

Gigi — I understand that isn’t uncommon for children from such situations.

By: Susan at Stony River

Susan at Stony River — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:08:01 +0000

Thom’s right (go figure). I’d absolutely advise asking Spock. He was after all always the Expositional Officer from a storyline standpoint.

After forgiving all present for the various names I was just called *ahem* etc because I love you, I’ll admit I dunno. Agencies have various rules regarding privacy; for simplicity’s sake I’d just make sure the agency was rather relaxed about it, and simply hand over the original birth certificate. That should have parents names, occupations, dates of birth, home addresses, depending on what nationality they were of course. Then I’d go to the local library (you I mean, and perhaps her) and ask there because librarians actually *do* get asked this question fairly often, by people starting out on a search and thinking Research=Library which to some extent is true. A good public library may have a resource list available at the Reference desk, of organisations, websites, print materials, applicable laws, whatever, to help adoptees begin a search.

If you get a bit stuck, there’s always throwing in a Plot Ninja. Maybe someone in the family knows more than they’ve let on all this time, and anything from a bad divorce to a drunken party makes that somebody spill their guts about what really happened behind the adoption, or what dread secret’s been withheld all these years, etc. It’ll get you out of all that research and maybe make the story a bit juicier. (not that it needs it I’m betting!)

And definitely, two young parents dying tragically together (if it was together?) leaving a baby girl behind would have been big news, and not forgotten in any local community, so just finding a town or region with a matching story would surely bring information.

Like I said, I don’t know. Never met anyone who went looking. But good luck, it sounds like a good heroine! What’s her hero like, and how does he come into this?
.-= Susan at Stony River´s last blog ..Last Call =-.

By: gigi-hawaii

gigi-hawaii — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:03:20 +0000

P.S. Odd thing that happened whenever meat was served: My niece would hide her meat in the dresser drawer. Apparently, the kids in the orphanage in Korea would steal her meat, so she hoarded it after she arrived in Hawaii. .-= gigi-hawaii´s last blog ..More photos by Ted Trimmer =-.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:35:01 +0000

And Please Explain how you got out of my comment I was asking if Thom was Adopted where you were asking for imput on your Novel ?? Hmmmmm .-= Bill´s last blog ..Thought For The Week =-.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:33:31 +0000

Thom, you best beware of Ladies with Irish Temper, though a Transplant. Though Our Susan did say she’d be a Bus Wench.

I bet if I offered to get Susan that Vulcan sign she’d be all over it. Lets see how much would it cost to send a Road Sign the size of a Barn Door over to Ireland from Canada? Maybe she can swipe it on her visit next summer.
.-= Bill´s last blog ..Thought For The Week =-.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:28:22 +0000

Quilly ~ The comment totally went over your head again, I was being Facetious A Smart Ass, I was telling you to ask Thom as he is a
“Know it All” and I am being Facetious on this Comment about Thom.

Really Quilly, I sometimes wonder if you really know when I am joking.