Happy Pride month! June is PACKED with updates, so we’ll run them down here:

#1 – With your help, we’re going to empower 350 (or more) LGBTQIA2+ and Allied teens with their very own copy of A DIFFERENT KIND OF BRAVE. Backers can donate a paperback AND get themselves an exclusive collector’s hardcover edition of the novel that won’t be available anywhere else! Details: bit.ly/BRAVEkickstarter

#2 – Librarian friends, I’m going to be at ALA in San Diego! If you’ll be there, come say “hi”:
Sat Jun 29, 2024
11am – I’ll be signing copies of A DIFFERENT KIND OF BRAVE at the Chicago Review Press booth #632
2:30pm-3:20pm – I’ll be giving a talk about THE GENDER BINARY IS A BIG LIE on the Diversity Stage
4:00pm – I’ll be signing copies of THE GENDER BINARY IS A BIG LIE at the Lerner booth #1822
Sun Jun 30, 2024
3:00pm-3:45pm – I’ll be signing copies of LOVE OF THE HALF-EATEN PEACH at the Reycraft booth #1358
Otherwise, from Friday – Monday I’ll be working with the team at the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) booth #1837.

#3 – A DIFFERENT KIND OF BRAVE was featured earlier this month in Bookshop.org’s list of 30 YA Novels to Celebrate Pride!

#4 – THE GENDER BINARY IS A BIG LIE got its first trade review — Kirkus Reviews gave it a Starred Review, calling it, “An accessible, thorough, curiosity-provoking introduction to gender.” The book was also named a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection!

#5 – I’ve been having some great conversations on podcasts and Instagram Live, and you can listen to them, too:

The Big Gay Fiction Podcast – Jeff and I talk about A DIFFERENT KIND OF BRAVE, the inspirations behind the spy action adventure gay teen romance, and also about the upcoming THE GENDER BINARY IS A BIG LIE – Episode 455 – “A Different Kind of Brave” with Lee Wind

Audiobook Connection – Becky and I talk Queer representation in children’s and teen literature, and in the conversation there was a moment I said: “When one book touches one heart and makes an impact – that is changing the world.” I stand behind those words! – Ep 207: Queer Representation in Kid Lit – An Interview with Lee Wind

Grandpa and Chill – the group and I chatted about, among other things, my discovering the secret about Abraham Lincoln (that he was in love with another man, Joshua Fry Speed) and how that launched me into using primary sources to recover and discover Queer history – “No Way, They Were Gay?” (with Lee Wind)

Read Your World – I spoke with Leanna about my journey to being a published author and the three books I have coming out in 2024 – “Celebrating Queer Joy” Instagram Live with Read Your World and Lee Wind

That’s the update for June 2024 – I hope you’ll check out the BRAVE kickstarter, and thanks for all you do!

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