*If you're 12 or under, it's not legal for anyone to collect your e-mail address. You can subscribe to this blog in a reader and follow me on twitter to get much of the same information, just not put together in tidy packages. But heck, if you're 11 or 12, you already know that life isn't always tidy. Thanks!
It's the summer before eighth grade, and thirteen year-old Jorge Fuerte wants nothing more than to spend his days hanging out with his fellow comic-book-obsessed friends. But then everything changes. Jorge's parents announce they're divorcing for a reason he and his twin brother, Cesar, never saw coming--their larger-than-life dad comes out as transgender.
Jorge struggles to understand the father he's always admired, but Cesar refuses to have anything to do with him.
As Jorge tries to find a way to stay true to the father he loves, a new girl moves into the neighborhood: cool, confident, quirky Zoey. Jorge must face his fears and choose between being loyal to his brother or truthful about his family's secret. Although he's no superhero, Jorge already has the world's greatest superpower--if he decides to use it.
Hi Community! I'm Lee Wind. It's December 2020, and this is the November/December 2020 Newsletter. It's been quite a few months, and I think what I've realized is that there are certain people that thrive on creating chaos, including the current occupant of the White House.
And I've also realized that I don't thrive on chaos. I thrive on being grounded, and breathing. Like in meditation or in yoga, when you have a solid foundation, then you can stretch and grow and expand. Like roots of a tree and reaching up to the sky.
It's been a very, very challenging time, and I just want to acknowledge that. And I hope that you and yours are well and safe and are finding moments of being grounded so you can thrive, too.
So it's the video newsletter. I have a few updates. The first, about author stuff...
I'm very honored to be one of 50 authors participating in "Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep" which is an amazing compilation of essays, an anthology of essays, orchestrated and edited by Melissa Stewart, who has so many amazing nonfiction books for kids that are out there. And she wants to let people know that nonfiction comes from a place of passion, too. It isn't just facts and dates.
Which I love, because I really believe, so strongly, that history to me was taught as medicine, and I think it should be like chocolate, and that's really the whole idea behind my new book coming out, "No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves."
I want to tell you about a book I read recently that I really loved. "You Brought Me The Ocean" - which is a graphic novel. It's sort of the origin story of Aqualad. Written by Alex Sanchez and illustrated by Julie Maroah. Julie is the creator of "Blue is the Warmest Color," which was amazing, and Alex of course has done "Rainbow Boys," and "The God Box," and so many other powerful Queer teen novels. I'm very excited to tell you that this book was amazing. I savored it! It was so beautifully drawn, and the story was so exciting. They're young Queer kids of color and Oh, yes! You must read it. It was so great!
Inspiration! So this month - these two months - the words I'm finding really inspiring, that are helping me stay grounded, are the words of Bayard Rustin. Actually, so inspirational that it is the opening spread of the chapter on Bayard Rustin in my upcoming nonfiction book.
This is - what is this, you ask? - this is a printout of an early version of a draft of the book - of the ARC - which is very exciting. You can see that it's very dynamic and exciting. It won't be in oranges, I don't know, my printer ink went wonky. It is black and grays. The quote from Bayard Rustin is right here, it's sort of a pull quote from later in the chapter, and it says:
"...If we want to do away with the injustice to gays it will not be done because we get rid of the injustice to gays. It will be done because we are forwarding the effort for the elimination of injustice to all." —Bayard Rustin, in a 1986 interview
I love that. Right? We can't each just be for ourselves. We have to stand up for everyone that is disenfrancished, for everyone who is left out, for everyone who is not getting their voices heard, and stand up together and then we will eliminate injustice for everyone at the same time. I love that vision. I love that that was 1986, and it feels like it could have been said today. So, Bayard Rustin, an amazing forefather of our modern Gay rights movement, and a real big player in the Civil Rights movement. He was the guy who organized the big march on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. made that amazing "I have a dream" speech. You'll find out lots more about Bayard in the book, but that really inspires me.
The final thing I wanted to share is gratitude. That I've very grateful that you're part of my community and I'm part of your community. Because truly, community is the antidote to chaos. And so, I invite you to take a deep breath with me. (inhale... exhale)
And I want to thank you, and I want to tell you that the light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you.
Jake Hyde doesn't swim--not since his dad drowned. Luckily, he lives in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, in the middle of the desert. Yet he yearns for the ocean and is determined to go to college on the coast. But leaving home would mean parting from his best friend Maria, who wants to stay and protect the desert, and breaking from his mom, who encourages him to play it safe.
But there's nothing "safe" about Jake's future--not when he's attracted to Kenny Liu, swim team captain and rebel against conformity. And certainly not when Jake secretly applies to the University of Miami. And those aren't the biggest of Jake's secrets, which include the strange blue markings on his skin that glow when in contact with water.
What power will Jake find when searching for the truth of his identity, and will he accept the consequences of coming out--in more ways than one--to his mom, Maria, and the world?
I am ridiculously, silly excited about this one. Add your review of "You Brought Me The Ocean" in comments!
Kirstin Cronn-Mills (who wrote the upcoming "Beautiful Music for Ugly People" (forthcoming this October from Flux), which tells the story of an 18-year-old trans guy. It's called "AM I ALLOWED TO WRITE THIS?" - an excellent exploration of the issues about writing an "other" minority character when you're not part of that group.
Paul's a High School Senior. He knows he's Gay, but being a Bible Belt Christian he prays to Jesus to change him. Enter Manuel, openly Gay AND Christian.
It rocks Paul's world. Maybe he doesn't have to choose between the two most important parts of himself: his sexuality, and his spirituality.
Or, does he?
I got to hear Alex read three different sections from "The God Box" and I was really moved by its honesty and the main character Paul's inner turmoil. Heartfelt. Brave. Passionate. Read more about Alex Sanchez here. And add your review of this book in "comments!"
Today I'm going to change things up a bit - and give you the FIRST (drumroll...)
NOTES FROM A READING
Last night I had the great good fortune to see Alex Sanchez
He read from his new book, "The God Box" at a Different Light Bookstore in West Hollywood, CA, and answered lots of audience questions.
I'll post on his book on Tuesday, but I thought his reading and the answers he gave were so juicy and interesting, it deserved a spotlight of its own.
When asked about the re-writing process, Alex quoted Leonardo Da Vinci's famous line "Art is never finished, only abandoned" and he laughed about how he could keep revising the same book for the rest of his life. At some point you have to say you're done with it.
How does he keep from being too topical or trendy so his stories have “shelf life” but still feel universal? Alex discussed the funny inversion of how the more specific you are with your characters and your detail, the more readers can identify and the more universal your writing becomes. That’s something it took me years to figure out on my own: When you try to write “universal” it ends up being so general and washed out, no one can ground themselves in it. It doesn’t sing off the page at all.
He shared that he’s gotten better at not mentioning specific music groups or trends that will time-out, but that the changes in technology were unexpected. In his first book, “Rainbow Boys”, the guys are listening to cassette tapes. By the second book “Rainbow High” (what’s supposed to be later that same school year) they are listening to CDs! He laughed that in the third book “Rainbow Road” they should probably be listening to MP3s!
Alex talked about sequels, How the characters in his books seem to come to life for his readers, and he gets many requests to continue their stories. He shared the advice of his editor: It’s great to fall in love with the characters, but you need a NEW story. It’s not just about having a new plot – you have to figure out how are the characters growing emotionally and changing? What’s their arc of emotional transformation?
Why did he write “The God Box?” Alex talked about how he needs some aspect of himself in it so he can feel passionate about the book he’s writing. He also shared some really heart-wrenching e-mails from Teen readers (just the content, nothing to identify who wrote what) mainly about their struggles with being Gay and Christian. He realized that while he can’t go and individually rescue these kids, he CAN write his books.
On Bible Study Clubs and Gay Straight Alliance Clubs: Alex regaled us with the ironic story of the religious right’s fight to have Bible Clubs in public schools – how it went all the way to the Supreme Court where they won the right to have their clubs. When Gay Straight Alliance Clubs started to form, the religious right said, hey, no way! But it was their OWN fight to have Bible Study Clubs that made the law defend the right of students to have Gay Straight Alliance clubs! Isn’t that great?
Alex talked about so much more to the crowd of Adults, some Teens, even a public school librarian!
I’ll share just one last anecdote from the evening. Alex spoke about librarians – how his vision of them has evolved to recognize that they are really outspoken free speech champions. He shared that often he’ll hear from librarians that they find the Gay and Lesbian titles mis-shelved in their stacks. And then they know that someone is too scared to check it out – they’re reading it in the library, and leaving it in a hidden spot so they can go back and finish it when they can. I’m pretty sure almost every librarian in that situation leaves that book right where it is.
I hope you get a chance to read “The God Box,” (the chapters he read aloud sound amazing) and if Alex is going to be somewhere near you to give a reading, check it out.
Disclosure: As of July 5, 2020, if you click on a book here on this blog and it takes you to bookshop.org, there is an affiliate relationship in place where 10% of that book order will come back to me, Lee Wind. I hope that works for you. And if it doesn't, no worries. I hope you buy your books somewhere that feels good to you. Thanks!
What if you knew a secret from history that could change the world?
“Get Balanced with Dr. Marissa Pei” Talk Radio show - Lee booked as featured guest on September 25
October 2018 - Publish Date of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill: Oct 2, 2018
Lambda Literary Festival - panel on Crowdfunding Queer Lit and reading - online Oct 1. Register here.
Star Style Radio Show with Cynthia Brian - Lee featured guest on October 3 program. Listen here.
Pasadena Fall Art Night - YA panel on Oct 12 in Pasadena
West Hollywood Library Teen Read Week - 10:30am October 13
San Gabriel Valley Pride - Authors Tent presentation, 1:00 pm on Oct 13 in Pasadena
Launch Party at Highways - 7:00pm in Santa Monica
Models of Pride - present "Discover our LGBTQ History" and give out free copies of Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill from the Camp Brave Trails booth on Oct 20 in Los Angeles
November 2018
Book Baby Independent Authors Conference - lead networking session "How do you measure success?" in Philadelphia, PA
Presentation and Reading at Palm Springs Public Library on Queer as a Five-Dollar Bill on Nov 7
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