The Word Cloud

Milton Keynes – January 2008 – First time author Andy Angus hopes to bring hope to countless adopted people around the world with his about to be published first book about his twenty year search and consequent discovery of his birth family in Australia and New Zealand. Many years ago now Andy unwittingly set out on a journey of discovery that was eventually to take him quite literally to the other side of the world. Andy like many other people was adopted as a child of the 1960’s and over the years had often wondered about the truth surrounding his conception and how life might have been. It was this thirst for knowledge and the truth that lead him on a quest of over twenty years finally culminating in a Pandora’s Box of surprises that even he couldn’t have foreseen. Andy never set out to write a book about his experiences because at the time it was a very personal account of the highs and inevitable lows of his adoption and indeed his subsequent life and how it eventually turned out. That said he had always intended to document his investigations and travels just as a personal record for his family and himself, much as you would a travel diary or journal. However when Andy started putting it all down in writing he mentioned it in passing to a couple of colleagues at work who asked if they could have a look at what he was writing. Against his better judgement at the time Andy agreed and emailed them the first manuscript which subsequently became the basis for Chapter Two of the book. The feedback he received and reaction from those that read the first few paragraphs was astounding and made him realise that perhaps this was something he could and very possibly should share with a wider audience and so the idea of putting it into a book was born. It is a book for anyone who has been adopted or who is about to adopt. It is also for birth mothers and fathers who have found or been found by siblings long since given up. In essence it is for anyone who has been touched by the adoption process and it is something which never ceases to amaze Andy as to just how many people have been adopted, have had children adopted or known someone who has been adopted. It may be viewed by some as a very personal account of his growing up, the eventual discovery of being adopted and the subsequent search for a reason to explain his existence and where he came from. But although it can be viewed as a personal account Andy feels privileged to be able to share his experiences and all the highs and lows with anyone who wants to share in his exhilaration. It has made people cry and it has made people smile even laugh. But above and beyond that people have just said thank you, for the inspiration to start their own searching and for the confirmation that good things do happen in the rollercoaster we call life. The book itself is currently being published by the self publishing method and so retains the original ethos of being available to family and friends but also allows Andy to provide it to a wider audience should it be required as it is printed on demand. The company he is publishing through, LULU.com also submit it to Amazon (UK), Amazon (USA) and Barnes and Noble as part of the package. As you would probably expect he already has a number of people with their names down for copies, some who have been on the list since the start and are now begging for the rest of the book since they only got to see the beginning of the story and not how it turned out. Andy says: ‘’this is a once in a lifetime event and has been approximately four years in creation. I never imagined when I set out on this epic journey that I would end up being a published author. But thanks to the support of numerous friends, colleagues, family and of course Lulu.com I have now achieved something that I hope will open doors for so many other people in the same position as me’’ Lulu.com: Lulu.com is the premier marketplace for digital content on the internet, with over 300,000 recently published titles and more than 4,000 new titles added each week, created by people in 80 different countries. Lulu is changing the world of publishing by enabling the creators of books, video, periodicals, multimedia and other content to publish their work themselves with complete editorial and copyright control. With Lulu offices in the US, Canada, the UK and Europe, Lulu customers can reach the globe. Andy Angus is 45 years old and works for Thames Valley Police as a Control Room Operator in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. He also lives in Milton Keynes with his wife Michaela.