What inspired you to write your memoir?
I began writing on the plane to Russia, still hoping for a way out of this strange plan to adopt a Russian boy. Once I started, I could not stop writing. I never intended to write a book. I was an Art major in college, with a minor in English. Words have always been my favorite medium to express myself—painting with words. As the story grew in volume, I started to timidly share it with close friends. Then one day, as luck (and I learned through the adoption process that there is no such thing as “luck’) would have it, I met a new friend. We had so much in common and we bonded immediately. Turns out she was an editor. One read through my story, she not only edited it for free but took on the responsibility to encourage (she called it “nagging”) me every day to publish.
About your Book:
On a March evening in 2000, an unexpected and unsettling thought came out of nowhere, disrupting Debbie Michael’s comfortable life-adoption! It was neither her idea nor her desire to adopt; she was already the mother of three. Instinctively, she knew God was speaking to her, but she did not want to listen if His message required action as life-changing as adopting an orphan. Dread lingered in the aftermath of the disturbing suggestion, and a debilitating fog of uncertainty settled over her life.
A journey of a thousand miles (or five thousand, in this case) might begin with a single step, but Debbie was not eager to take that first step. Though God was relentless, she remained adamant. She was determined to ignore the nudging.
But God would not be ignored!
God pried Debbie out of her comfortable existence and opened a door to a life she didn’t know existed.
But the Greatest of These is Love is about much more than adoption. It is a story about the powerful and astonishing ways God uses ordinary people to accomplish His divine intention that we love one another.
How did you decide how to publish your book and where is it published through:
I finally decided to publish, almost on a whim, when I was pumped up from a group of close friends at my house one evening, raving about my story, saying it must be shared with the world. I am an introvert, and do not like to be the center of attention. I finally said okay, like I said, on an impulse, to stop further embarrassment. The next day I called Inspiring Voices, a division of Guidepost Magazine. The way the money came for the publication was almost are inspiring as the way God worked to move me into His plan of adoption.
How do you see writing a Memoir as different from writing other genres of books?
Writing a memoir is more difficult, because I had to be brutally honest about every part. Had this been a work of fiction, I could have created a character who was much more obedient, less selfish than I. Turns out the “honesty” is what readers say they love and can relate to.
Author Bio:
Debbie Barrow Michael is an artist of many medias: paint, clay, and words! She is the mother of three bio kids and the adoptive mother of one. The surprising call of God to adopt an older Russian boy is the subject of her new book, But the Greatest of These is Love.
Website(s)
Link To Book On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16060039-but-the-greatest-of-these-is-love
https://www.facebook.com/pages/But-the-Greatest-of-These-is-Love-By-Debbie-Barrow-Michael/479380268762902
https://twitter.com/dbmichael6
