10 Grateful Moments from 2018 and Filling the Well (I'll be back blogging on January 7, 2019)

Star photo by Mathias Krumbholz

What a year 2018 has been... Packed with Creative Highlights, One Lowlight, and So Much Possibility Ahead!

Here's my top ten creative moments from 2018, for which I am grateful:

1.

Successfully crowdfunding my book!

2. 

Publishing that book as my debut YA novel, “Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill”!

3. 

Getting some awesome trade and reader reviews!

4. 

Having my book named a BookLife Prize Semi-Finalist, making it one of Publishers Weekly's top five independently published middle grade and young adult titles of 2018!

5.
Giving out over 500 copies (so far) of “Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill” to LGBTQ and Allied Teens!

6.
Connecting with librarians at ALA's Annual Conference in New Orleans and beyond!

7.
Launching my book here in Los Angeles and having so many friends and family be so supportive!

8.
Leaning into the synergy of my day job at the Independent Book Publishers Association, yielding opportunities for me as an author publisher, and insights into providing better member services and benefits for our independent publisher and author publisher members.

9.

Losing a dishonest agent (yuck! But so good to be move on from that once it was revealed!)

10.
...and then signing with an honest and wonderful agent, Marietta Zacker of the Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency.

BONUS:
And throughout it all, my wonderful community was here for me. (We just passed 2.6 million page loads on this blog!)  Thank you!


Whew! So now, I'm taking a few weeks off of blogging and email, and I'll be filling the creative well, so 2019 can be engaging, fulfilling, and realize its potential!

I'll be back blogging on January 7, 2019. Until then, know that

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Merry Men - A Brilliant New Graphic Novel That Re-Visions The Legendary Robin Hood as a Gay Hero

Merry Men, written by Robert Rodi, Illustrated by Jackie Lewis, Colored by Marissa Louise and Shari Chankhamma, Lettered by Jon Cairns

Thirteenth-century England. Robert Godwinson, former lover of King Richard, lives with his band of Merry Men in Sherwood Forest, away from the watchful eye of Prince John, who has outlawed homosexuality. Though isolated, the men live in peace—that is, until a stranger enters their camp seeking aid for a nearby town besieged by the Sheriff of Nottingham. Robert, nicknamed Robin, is reluctant to hlep, but equally eager to be rid of this perplexing stranger... and to put his formidable bow-and-arrow to use. It's Robin Hood like you've never seen him before, based on scholarly speculation about what's really behind the outlaw's legend.

The story was riveting for how it pulled all the pieces of the Robin Hood legend together with the homophobic history of England, including both gay, bi, and trans storylines and characters to root for. I'm a fan!

Some great interior pages to give you a taste:

There's even some bonus "Queer History of England" pages at the end!

Throughout, "Merry Men" is the euphemism for "men who love other men" and it's brilliant!

Add your review of "Merry Men" in comments!

Booklist calls "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" "Compelling," "Intriguing and Readable"!

I'm so delighted to have a Booklist review of my novel — by Michael Cart. (It was published in their September 15, 2018 issue, but I missed it and only just found out!)

Here's the awesome pull quote from the review:

Hurray!

I hope this helps convince many more librarians to bring "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" into their libraries to empower their young LGBTQ and Allied patrons.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

P.S. I Miss You - A Book in Letters, Written by 11-Year-Old Evie to her sent-away-for-being-pregnant older sister... and in those letters, Evie writes about the crush she has on another girl

P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy

Evie is heartbroken when her strict Catholic parents send her pregnant sister, Cilla, away to stay with a distant great-aunt. All Evie wants is for her older sister to come back. Forbidden from speaking to Cilla, Evie secretly sends her letters.

Evie writes about her family, torn apart and hurting. She writes about her life, empty without Cilla. And she writes about the new girl in school, June, who becomes her friend, and then maybe more than a friend.

Evie could really use some advice from Cilla. But Cilla isn’t writing back, and it’s time for Evie to take matters into her own hands.

Add your review of "P.S. I Miss You" in comments!

The GSA Reading Group Challenge for "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" – Win 10 Free Copies for your Students – Enter Now!

Good news!

Thanks to a generous donation, I have 90 paperback copies of "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" to donate... and will be giving them to nine different high school Gay-Straight Alliance groups!

To enter, follow these steps:

1) Get ten members of your high school GSA to commit to reading "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" this 2018-2019 school year, and schedule a meeting when you'll discuss the book.

2) Have the GSA's faculty or parent advisor email me at
leewind (at) roadrunner (dot) com
with the name of your school and mailing address.

3) Be one of the first eight* high school GSAs to contact me and you'll win the ten free copies! (I'll cover shipping costs inside the U.S. If you're an international school, you'll have to cover shipping.)

*Why eight? Because the Gay Straight Alliance at Pali High in Pacific Palisades, California, was the first group to get ten free copies!

Will your school's GSA be next? I hope so—good luck!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

The Audiobook of "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" is Available!

Hello Community,

I'm really excited about the audiobook version of my debut YA novel "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill." The book has been named a BookLife Award Semi-Finalist, making it one of Publishers Weekly's Top Five Independently Published Titles of 2018!

Wyatt is 15, and nobody in his homophobic small town of Lincolnville, Oregon, knows that he’s gay. Not even his best friend (and accidental girlfriend) Mackenzie. Then he discovers a secret from actual history: Abraham Lincoln was in love with another guy! Since everyone loves Lincoln, Wyatt’s sure that if the world knew about it, they would treat gay people differently, and it would solve everything about his life. So Wyatt outs Lincoln online, triggering a media firestorm that threatens to destroy everything he cares about - and he has to pretend more than ever that he’s straight.... Only then he meets Martin, who is openly gay and who just might be the guy Wyatt’s been hoping to find.

The audiobook includes a bonus interview with the author Lee Wind by multi-award-winning author Lesléa Newman. If you loved the movie Love, Simon and the audiobook Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, you're bound to love Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill - also narrated by Michael Crouch!

You can listen to the first two chapters here:



The "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" audiobook is now available at these online retailers:

Audible - https://www.audible.com/pd/Queer-as-a-Five-Dollar-Bill-Audiobook/B07KRP2C89?qid=1544156028

Audiobooks.com - https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill/360622

Downpour - https://www.downpour.com/queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill?sp=292457

The Audiobook Store - https://audiobookstore.com/audiobooks/queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill.aspx

Libro.fm - https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781732228139-queer-as-a-five-dollar-bill

Google Play - https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details?id=AQAAAEBMqknqFM&hl=en_AU

The audiobook will be available soon on Hoopla, Overdrive, Nook Audiobook, Sribd, and Barnes & Noble.


My thanks to Becky Parker Geist and the team at ProAudio Voices, and especially to narrator Michael Crouch for doing an incredible job bringing Wyatt and the whole story to life. And my gratitude extends as well to the legendary Lesléa Newman, who was so kind — she interviewed me for a special bonus section at the end of the audiobook!

Download the audiobook version of "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill," and/or ask your library to carry it, and give it a listen. I hope you'll love it as much as I do!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

You Know Me Well - A Teen Girl in Love with Another Girl. A Teen Boy in Love with Another Boy. And One Wild Night.

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have never crossed.

That is until Kate spots Mark miles away from home, out in the city for a wild, unexpected night. Kate is lost, having just run away from a chance to finally meet the girl she has been in love with from afar. Mark, meanwhile, is in love with his best friend Ryan, who may or may not feel the same way.

When Kate and Mark meet up, little do they know how important they will become to each other -- and how, in a very short time, they will know each other better than any of the people who are supposed to know them more.

Add your review of "You Know Me Well" in comments!

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza - A Crush on Another Girl, Miracles, and, Maybe, The End of The World

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson

Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth.

This can be scientifically explained (it’s called parthenogenesis), but what can’t be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she’s had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a Starbucks parking lot. Or why the boy who shot Freddie, David Combs, disappeared from the same parking lot minutes later after getting sucked up into the clouds. What also can’t be explained are the talking girl on the front of a tampon box, or the reasons that David Combs shot Freddie in the first place.

As more unbelievable things occur, and Elena continues to perform miracles, the only remaining explanation is the least logical of all—that the world is actually coming to an end, and Elena is possibly the only one who can do something about it.

Add your review of "The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza" in comments!