Love In The Time Of Global Warming - A Teen Fantasy "Chockfull of LGBT Characters"

Love In The Time Of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block

Seventeen-year-old Penelope (Pen) has lost everything—her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother. Like a female Odysseus in search of home, she navigates a dark world full of strange creatures, gathers companions and loses them, finds love and loses it, and faces her mortal enemy.

Thanks to my friend Lesley for letting me know about the novel's cast being "chockfull of LGBT characters." Add your review of "Love In The Time Of Global Warming" in comments!

The Frenzy - A Teen Girl Werewolf Novel with a Gay Best Friend

By Francesca Lia Block

Liv had a secret. Since she turned 13 four years ago, it was like her body was not her own. She had rages, that could turn her into... she couldn't even think about it. She took a lot of psychiatrist-prescribed pills to keep herself calm.

There was only one person Liv could share her deepest thoughts with. Her friend Pace.

"Pace wasn't a monster like me. He was just a boy who loved boys."

Liv's boyfriend Corey was perfect, but she was too afraid to tell him the truth about who she was. What if he could no longer accept her? What if he would no longer love her once he knew?

But things were coming to a head. There was a woman watching her. A pack of wild boys in the woods near her home. And then Liv learned the truth about the curse that caused "The Frenzy" in the first place.


Add your review of "The Frenzy" in comments.

Francesca Lia Block gives you a sneak peek into this Saturday's SMASHING STEREOTYPES! Writing Workshop

So I saw Francesca recently, and we shot this short video:



We're both really excited about our hands-on writing workshop this Saturday, September 11, 2010, from 11am to 3pm in West Hollywood, CA - and hope you can join us.

Here's the ad book soup ran for it!




And it was even covered in a local paper here in LA!




You can still get tickets here or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

The workshop fee is $50.-, with a $10.- discount for students, teachers, librarians, and members of SCBWI. Oh, and 10% of ticket and book sales at the event will go to City of Hope (a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center located just northeast of Los Angeles) - the charity Francesca chose. And did I mention the workshop includes a hot catered lunch?

But most important, it's a chance to learn from Francesca Lia Block, and to explore together the tools and techniques for SMASHING STEREOTYPES in your writing, and in your life!

Want more details?

Hope to see you there!
Namaste,
Lee

ps- I found the amazing (and license-free) Aurora Australis background image I used in the video here!

Smashing Stereotypes! The Writing Workshop LAUNCHES With Special Guest Author Francesca Lia Block!

Hi Everyone!

I'm delighted to announce the first in a series of Diversity-Celebrating Writing Workshops I'll be Presenting with Book Soup in West Hollywood, California!

Smashing Stereotypes!
The Writing Workshop
with Special Guest Author Francesca Lia Block

Benefiting City of Hope

Saturday September 11, 2010 from 11am-3pm
Pi on Sunset (2 doors West of Book Soup)
8828 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

We all know that Stereotypes are a ‘bad’ thing, yet we carry them around with us, silent but enormous weights that limit our ideas of what is possible for others... and for ourselves. This hands-on writing workshop will focus on tools and techniques to break free of those limitations. Learn how you can be Smashing Stereotypes in your writing, and in your life!

“Look at our cultural myth of how a woman needs a man to save her. It’s in all those children’s stories – Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. What does that tell girls? Or boys? How can we break free of that mindset? Writing is one of the main tools we have to smash stereotypes – all stereotypes. That’s what I want to empower people to do.”
--Lee Wind

Renowned author Francesca Lia Block will be featured, and we'll discuss the challenges of stereotypes and how she has overcome them in her writing. Francesca has published over 30 books, spanning Young Adult novels, poetry, and short stories collections. She is the author of the groundbreaking “Weetzie Bat” books which have been credited by the Los Angeles Times with “...helping to revolutionize young adult literature.”

We'll focus on (and Francesca will sign)“Weetzie Bat” and a number of her most recent books, including “Pretty Dead,” (which School Library Journal called “a startlingly original work that drives a stake deep into the heart of typical vampire stories”) “House of Dolls,” (Booklist Journal’s starred review said it was “powerful, haunting, and – just when you don’t think it’s possible – inspiring, too.”) and her upcoming release “The Frenzy.”


More On Francesca Lia Block:



Author Francesca Lia Block has described her groundbreaking novels and stories as “contemporary fairy tales with an edge,” where the real world and its trouble find solace through the magic of creative expression and love. Born in Los Angeles, where she still lives, Block’s work pulsates with the language and images of the city’s sprawling subculture. Lauds a reviewer for the New York Times Book Review, “Block writes about the real Los Angeles better than anyone since Raymond Chandler.”

Block has received numerous honors, including the Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award and the Phoenix Award, as well as citations from the American Library Association, The New York Times Book Review and School Library Journal. Her work has been published around the world and translated into many languages. www.francescaliablock.com

More about Me, Lee Wind:

I know you're here at my award-winning daily blog, “I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell do I Read?” But maybe there's some stuff about me you didn't know. You're one of over 200,000 unique readers who have loaded over 350,000 page views about GLBTQ Teen Books, Culture and Politics. And in what might be my favorite review to date, Greg Miraglia of Outbeat Youth Radio called this blog “...the perfect website for young LGBT readers.”

I co-facilitate monthly meetings of 35-50 people on the craft, business and inspiration of writing for the Los Angeles Westside Schmooze of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. My interviews with luminaries in the world of Children’s literature have been published online and in the 2011 Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market.

I hold a Masters of Education from Harvard, focused on integrating education, entertainment, and media. Did you find out something new about me?

More about City Of Hope:



Just northeast of Los Angeles, City of Hope is one of only 40 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, and is recognized worldwide for its patient care, innovative science and translational research, which rapidly turns laboratory breakthroughs into new therapies. www.cityofhope.org It's the non-profit that Francesca Lia Block chose to have our event benefit.


More about Book Soup:




On the infamous “Sunset Strip” in West Hollywood, CA, Book Soup is one of the last large independent bookstores, serving the Los Angeles community - and beyond! - for over 30 years. www.booksoup.com



Tickets are $50.- ($40.- with Student I.D., Teacher I.D. or SCBWI Membership), include a catered lunch and are available here at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/124702 or by calling 1-800-838-3006 and asking for the "Smashing Stereotypes writing workshop."

10% of ticket and book sales at this event will be donated to City of Hope.


There are only 40 spaces available for this workshop, and with the incredible Francesca Lia Block as the guest author, I expect they'll go fast!

Hope you can join us,
Namaste,
Lee

They're itchin' to burn a gay teen book in West Bend, Wisconsin. Francesca Lia Block's "Baby Be-Bop" is under attack!

You'd think the folks in West Bend, Wisconsin would have better things to do with their time than try to restrict library access to, and -failing that - BURN a book featuring a young man coming to terms with being gay.

You'd be wrong.

So, in the time-honored tradition of books that are challenged having increased sales and readership due to their new visibility, I present once more for your consideration:

Francesca Lia Block's "Baby Be-Bop"





Buy it.

Read it.

Donate a copy to YOUR local library.

Because this book burning stuff should have died out with the Nazis. Really.

Baby Be-Bop - A Gay Teen Book

By Francesca Lia Block

A prequel to (and the last published of) the Weetzie Bat Books, "Baby Be-Bop" follows Dirk and his early childhood realization that he's attracted to other boys.

In adolescence, Dirk struggles with his identity - with his best friend who can't deal with his being gay, and with how to tell his Grandmother who is raising him.

In a state of semi-consciousness after being gay-bashed, Dirk is visited by his ancestors - and even has a vision of his future, giving him hope that love will come to him in time.






"Baby Be-Bop" was re-published in the Weetzie Bat two-novels-under-one-cover "Beautiful Boys," which includes the novel "Missing Angel Juan."




"Missing Angel Juan" is a continuation of the story of Cherokee, who goes to New York to find her boyfriend.

Add your review of "Baby Be-Bop" (and if you wish, of "Missing Angel Juan") in "comments!"

Witch Baby

By Francesca Lia Block

Book 2 in the Weetzie Bat series, "Witch Baby" tells us the story of the outsider among Weetzie Bat's group of dreamers.

In the Shangri-LA that is their Los Angeles, Witch Baby struggles with the injustices in the world, with pain, and figuring out where she belongs.

This book includes the whole gang again, including gay Dirk and his lover Duck.


"Witch Baby" was re-published in a two Weetzie Bat books-in-one set called "Goat Girls"




which also includes the novel "Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys."



"Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys" takes up the story of Cherokee and Witch Baby when they form a band with two guys while their parents (the adults in Weetzie Bat) are off in South America filming a new movie. Magical costumes help the band gain success, but the teenagers discover fame has a price.

Add your review of "Witch Baby" (and if you wish, of "Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys") in "comments!"

Weetzie Bat

By Francesca Lia Block

Nobody understands quirky Weetzie, until she meets Dirk, who takes her clubbing and tells her he's gay. Together the two iconoclasts and friends go "duck hunting" ...and find their loves.

The two couples move in together, make movies that become underground successes, and even have a baby!

"Weetzie Bat" is the first in what became a five book series.

Add your review of this book in "comments!"