Team Blog Intros: Meet Lee Wind

 

Scenes from the recent American Library Association Conference, from top left: me and publisher Cynthia Sherry in the IPG booth just before my signing copies of my YA novel A Different Kind of Brave (Duet Books/Interlude Press/Chicago Review Press); me posing in the Reycraft Booth with a promotional peach and a copy of my newest picture book Love of the Half-Eaten Peach, illustrated by Jieting Chen and due out Sep 3, 2024; and me in the Lerner booth, marveling at the giant image of my newest nonfiction for readers 11 and up, The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie, due out Aug 6, 2024; and me speaking to a crowd of 45 or so librarians on the diversity stage about how the gender binary really is a big lie!

Hi SCBWI community!

I'm really excited to once again be the organizer—and proud member—of SCBWI Team Blog for this Summer 2024 virtual conference.

Allow me to briefly introduce myself:

As an author, I write books for kids and teens (picture books, nonfiction for ages 11 and up, and YA novels), the kind of books that if I'd had them as a Gay Jewish kid would have changed my life. And because publishing is unpredictable, I have three books out in 2024 (see caption and photo above.)

Some of my books have been challenged/banned, but I didn't write them for the haters. I write them for the young people who need to know Queer history, feel Queer hope, and access Queer joy.

To that end, right now I'm running the BRAVE kickstarter to raise funds to empower hundreds of LGBTQIA2+ and Allied teens with their own copy of my gay teen action adventure romance A Different Kind of Brave -- as I explain in the campaign notes, "My book is saying that we queer people can be our authentic selves, find love, live an adventure, save the day, be surrounded by an awesome group of diverse friends, and have our happily ever afters, too.” The campaign runs through Saturday July 20, 2024 at 6:50am Pacific, and you can learn more here: bit.ly/BRAVEkickstarter

I'm also the host and founder of Queer KidLit Creators, a community group of Queer-identified authors, translators, and illustrators of books for children, tweens, and teens. 

With that same community-organizing hat, I'll be hosting the LGBTQ+ and Allies social at this conference Saturday Aug 3 at 4pm Pacific. I hope to see you there!

Outside of the KidLit world, I have a great day-job for the nonprofit Independent Book Publishers Association, my husband and I have been together more than 27 years, we have a grown daughter, and I live in Los Angeles.

You can learn more about me and my books at my website, and I invite you to connect on socials: Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Here's to a wonderful conference ahead!
Lee

P.S. - If you're interested in crowdfunding (even if you're traditionally published), I did a free podcast about that, with 12 tips. You can listen here, or on YouTube.