The December 2019 Lee Wind Video Newsletter

Hi Community!

Here's the latest...



Watch the under six minute video by clicking the still frame above or clicking here: https://youtu.be/j5LsK0_bFts

Transcript:

Hi Community,
It’s December 2019, and this is my video newsletter.

I’m Lee Wind, and the whole point of this is to educate, inform, and hopefully inspire YOU.
Let's get started...

Queer History is Everywhere!

So this month, the thing I'm really excited about is this whole idea of the Statue of Liberty actually being a guy.

The sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was supposed to have modeled the sculpture after his mom. But author and journalist Elizabeth Mitchell has a completely different theory. She looked at photos of the sculptor's mom and then photos of his brother, Jean-Charles, and was like... wait a minute! This Lady Liberty looks a lot more like Jean-Charles. Which is really cool!

It lets us think that gender can be many things. And the idea that Lady Liberty is this gigantic, hundreds-of-foot tall sculpture of a drag queen is pretty amazing. And it's the thing I can't get out of my head.

Really, Queer History is Everywhere!

Lee Wind Author Update

This month I'm really excited because Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill has actually won two pretty significant prizes.

One was in the BookLife Prize competition put on by Publishers Weekly, it was selected as a semi-finalist in the children's and young adult category, which made it one of the top five independently published books of 2018, according to Publishers Weekly, which was really, really cool.

And then, it won another prize. It was actually the Winner in the [LGBTQ Books for] Children's and Young Adult category for the National Indie Excellence Award. And for those, there's actually a sticker, like a seal, and this month I'm getting it put on my book. So you'll start to see it for the ebook and the audiobook, and the print – both paperback and hardcover editions. All that stuff is happening now, but here's a sneak peek!

I'm really excited about it. It's really important for an indie published book, for it to be vetted in a lot of ways. I do have a lot of great blurbs and really nice reviews, but having the award sticker on the cover is something I'm really excited about.

Readers Say

So recently I got an email from somebody I didn't know, in Jerusalem, and they were writing to say 'thank you.' Here's what they wrote:

" I came across your blog today, and read the entire "Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill" in one sitting. I cried a bit, and it truly gave me a sense of hope, peace, and the strength and commitment... to dream of a brighter future.

Thank you so much for all of your work on behalf of queer, questioning, and allied people, and for deciding to put your inspirational book on your blog for all to read." - a reader from Jerusalem.

I thought that was really cool. Not only is it being read on the other side of the world, in the country my parents are from, but also that it's making an impact, and it's giving people a sense of hope and a vision for a better life for themselves, and that's very, very gratifying.

Events

December is not a month where I'm running around doing a lot of speaking. Which is kind of cool. You know there's this balance between Introvert and Extrovert, going out in the world and being really public and doing stuff, and... kind of just having time for yourself, to be creative, to spend time with  your family. It's nice to have some balance, and this is the time when we hunker down and get the work done. And I'm grateful for that opportunity.

Reading In, Writing Out

This month, the book I'm most excited about is...

Cursed by my friend Karol Ruth Silverstein. This is a YA that's #OwnVoices. Kind of pulled from her own life experience of being a teen and being diagnosed with a chronic illness, also with a lot of chronic pain, and when I was a young teen, when I was 13, I was diagnosed with something different, but it was also really horrible and painful and totally shitty and totally difficult to figure out how to be a teen and figure out how to get through it with a sense of hope and there's no miracle cure and Karol did such a beautiful job, and I'm super proud of her. And I can't recommend it highly enough. So read it! Cursed!

Inspiration

“A word after a word after a word is power.” —that's from Margaret Atwood

I love that quote. And I think a lot about how some days, all I get is twelve minutes to write. and it's a word after a word. And then the next day is another word after another word, and it builds up over time. And I love this idea, that “A word after a word after a word is power.” Because we're storytellers. So I'm very grateful to Margaret for that word – for those words – for her inspirational quote. And I hope it inspires you, too.

Wishing you all a healthy and happy holiday season.

And if you'd liked more, please visit my blog,  I’m Here. I’m Queer. What The Hell Do I Read? at leewind.org

Until then, the light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you.
Thanks!