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I met Kim de Blecourt at a luncheon last year. She sat next to me, jet lagged and saying something about adopting from Ukraine. I smiled and nodded, having absolutely no idea of her story.

Then I heard little bits and pieces. She had some trouble over there. Had to stay for a long time. Legal trouble. Things like that. But I still had no idea.

Then, I read her book. Until We All Come Home is a heart pounding read. Throughout the read, I had to remind myself that this was her story, not a novel. One reviewer of her book compared the book to reading a spy novel. I think that’s an accurate comparison.

More than the intrigue and action and suspense, what caught my heart in this book was the raw honesty with which Kim told her story. She didn’t make herself look like a patient saint. She didn’t play the “martyr card”. Rather, she wrote honestly about her fear and anger and doubts. She even wrote about a time she lost her temper with her husband and admitted that it wasn’t fair. I kept thinking about if I would be so transparent in this kind of story. It’s a risk. Usually, in these kinds of books, the writer smooths over the blemishes and sugars up their attitudes. Not in this one.

Here’s the reason she did that; she wanted there to be absolutely no doubt that the happy ending of this book was not linked to her goodness or glory or strength of faith. Kim wanted to point directly to the provision and protection and goodness of God who worked every day in her life to bring her home…with her son.

This month is National Adoption Month. I’m pleased to endorse Kim’s book and her ministry, Nourished Hearts (a ministry to the families who adopt and to feed orphans around the world).

Allow me to toot another horn here, Kim isn’t keeping any of the money from the sale of her book. Every penny is going to feed orphans. The sale of each book feeds 9 children in orphanages in other nations. Read more about Food For Orphans HERE.

I’m happy to have a copy of Until We All Come Home here on my desk that is just waiting to be given away (Thank you, Kim)! All you need to do is leave a comment below to be entered.

Thanks for stopping by! Check back on Wednesday to find out who won the book!

*Note: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

…Chocolate. And coffee. Mix them together if you want. That’s fine by me.

What? Did you really think I was going to tell you who I voted for? No way, Buddy. I like to keep my politics hush, hush. I don’t get to keep many secrets to myself.

One thing that I will tell you, though, is that today’s writing was tough. So far, only a little over 2,000 words.

Did I hit the wall? Not really. Although I’ve been known to run into them every once in awhile (I’m clumsy and absent minded).

Did I run out of ideas? Totally not. I’ve got lots of novel left to write.

Then what happened?

A really emotional scene, that’s what. A full chapter of story that made me feel like someone had taken a Brillo pad to my heart.

Ouch.

And here’s the other painful thing about that chapter; I will most likely edit the whole thing out. Most, if not all, of the words will go the way of muffin cups. Used to hold the badder together and then tossed in the trash when no longer needed.

Wow. That was bad. But I’m keeping it. Because I’m too tired to think of something else to say.

Anyway. If I knew that I was going to toss it, why did I write it? Because I needed to develop a character and a situation. I couldn’t have done that without writing a few thousand words. Later, after I cut and cut and cut that thing, I’ll have a more concrete plan for that scene. I’ll write something slightly better (which will also need to endure a good edit).

All right, Friends. I’m back to the novel.

Thank you for cheering me on. You all mean so much to me.

Here I go.

But first, a little coffee. And chocolate.

Tonight I wrote the 25,000th word on the first draft of my novel. That word, amazingly, was “wouldn’t”.

Romantic, right?

Today is the third day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). You can read a little more about it here.

This morning, I realized the beauty of scheduling a write-your-novel-in-a-month for November. It is ever so “conveniently” right after Halloween. Candy is super cheap after Halloween. Sugar is a great way to kick start your brain…

What?

No?

Sugar isn’t good for the old cranium?

Ah, pooh.

Well, candy is still good.

Daily NaNoWriMo update: 13,132 words. 17 chapters. And all with reasonable amounts of sleep and without an overdose of coffee.

Watch next week for a book give-away (not NaNoWriMo related) and more word count updates!