Susan’s World – Susan Joyce

Susan and Doug in France, 1986 — 1986. Not long before moving their new publishing enterprise to the United States, Susan and Doug spend a weekend in Alsace with Doug’s visiting parents

School author visits becomes their new business — 1988. Finding the Pacific Northwest awash in children’s book authors and illustrators, Susan and Doug build a unique husband-wife school speaking business.

Susan Joyce, Venezuela 1997 — 1997. School author visits in Caracas, Venezuela, scuba diving off Isla de las Tortugas with friends Doug met teaching in Malta. Yes, the sun was strong!

Susan Joyce and Doug DuBosque, Australia 1998 — 1998. Distribution in Australia! Gotta go visit, natch!

Scholastic Book Fairs picks up the first of six titles! Susan and Doug respond by cutting back drastically on school visits, get involved with a local mentor program, and become parents. — Scholastic Book Fairs picks up the first of six titles! We respond to anticipated royalty income by cutting back school visits, get involved with a local mentor program, and become parents. Our Christmas card, 1999.

So who’s Jesse?

Jesse is an 11-year-old boy we met in late April (1999) through Found-A-Friend (the local Big Brother program). He lived alone with his terminally-ill mother (diagnosed in December with cancer and given six months to live). We immediately agreed that we would love to make Jesse part of our family. Within weeks, we went from thinking about buying a rural property to buying a house (with a swimming pool) in a less-trafficked, better-for-kids kind of neighborhood.

The elapsed time for house-hunting, purchase of new house, listing and sale of old house, closing on old house, closing on new house (yes, in that order) was 47 days. Doug’s mother died in early August in Connecticut (add a few long trips from North Carolina to make spring and summer busier). In August, jesse moved in with us, and in early September his mother die.

Amidst chaos (we’re still not settled), we’ve edited, created (a little), sold foreign rights, and completed the parenting course required for adoption. Days before Christmas, we’re waiting for an end to kitchen remodeling, marveling at the mysterious ways in which the universe works, and planning…no, praying…for a little less of a roller-coaster in the new millennium.

Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, 2004. We bought a house in Nelson, BC, and thought we were moving there. We weren't. — Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, 2004. We bought a house in Nelson, BC, and thought we were moving there. We weren’t.

2005-11-AR-Colonia-468 — Colonia, Uruguay, November 2005. A side trip from a month in Buenos Aires. Little did we know we would end up living in Uruguay! Susan, of course, made friends with all the local dogs.

with-cats-errol — It’s 2007, and we’re living outside Pátzcauro, Michoacán, Mexico. The neighbors left unwanted kittens on our doorstep (we found homes for all of them).

Fall 2008: back to Germny for the first time in 22 years, for the Frankfurt Book Fair and old friends. — Fall 2008: back to Germany for the first time in 22 years, for the Frankfurt Book Fair and old friends.

2010-0615-Susan-Gita — June 2010, 9 months after moving to coastal Uruguay. Susan with our Mexican street dog. She was very little when we met her, and Spanish speakers love diminutives, so she became Dogita, or Gita for short.

2010, Humahuaca, Jujuy Province, Argentina, and another new canine friend.

2010, Humahuaca, northern Argentina, and another new canine friend.