Daisy Rain Martin SUMMER 2024 |
|
|
Welcome in! I'm so glad you're here. |
|
|
Hello, all! Welcome to SUMMER and welcome to PRIDE month! You know, friends, I am of the persuasion that every single one of us has at least one family member who is a lesbian or gay or bisexual or trans or queer or questioning or intersex or asexual. | | |
|
|
Sean-Martin and I are blessed and grateful beyond words for our brilliant, beautiful, hilarious, talented, intelligent, sensitive and kind trans daughter. What a GIFT they are to us and to the world. We have four other family members who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and we count ourselves so, so lucky that they are in our lives… that they are ALIVE… that they are loved and embraced by almost every extended member of our family. (The ones who are not supportive have voluntarily excluded themselves, which is A-OKAY!) | | |
|
|
Believe me, every family has its issues--ours included! Inclusivity, however, is not one. We wish every person who is part of the LGBTQIA+ community could count on that from their families but, tragically, so many do not. Many are forced out of their homes. Too many leave this world. Believe me when I tell you that you have queer people in your family. They may not feel safe to let you know that, but make no mistake… they are present, if not accounted for. Are you a safe person for them? Would you provide a safe place for them to exist? Would you embrace the person they truly are without trying to ‘change’ them? Would you relinquish the notion that they should even be expected to change who they are? Would you protect them from family members who think they are somehow flawed or eternally damned? I hope so. Because they are ours and they are gifts, sent to this earth to love and to be loved. If you have convinced yourself that every relative you have is cisgender and heterosexual (cis-het, for short) it is as important as ever for YOU to officially ‘come out’ to your family and friends as an ALLY and declare yourself a safe person to any and all LGBTQIA relatives, that you will accept and embrace and affirm them, no matter what. Try it. See what happens. And for those families out there who wrap their arms and hearts around their queer children so tightly, THANK YOU! You make all the difference! #HappyPride #LGBTQIA #TransLivesMatter #Ally #LoveJustice #ShowMercy #WalkHumbly |
|
|
Writing Rituals (Get you some!) When you sit down to write, do you have trouble getting started--because a lot of us do. Social media is a complete mind-suck. Grocery lists are actively dying to be written. Some of us have partners or spouses, kids or cats, who think it's perfectly fine to knock on the doors of our offices, peek their heads in and ask about pickle ball--but they're whispering so they believe they're not really interrupting us... I have no words of wisdom for the partners, spouses, kids or cats, but I might have a suggestion (if not a solution) for the 'getting started' part: Writing Rituals. Have you ever watched basketball players stand at the free-throw line after they've been fouled, hoping to put that ball in the bucket for a point or two? I promise you, they have a ritual. They take four or five seconds to perform a ritual. Maybe they bounce the ball once, spin it, then bounce the ball twice, spin it, bounce the ball again three times, look up, take the shot. Every time. When I go into my office to write, I have my fruit and yogurt OR avocado toast and my Lady Grey tea. My phone is off and on the shelf. My hair is pulled back, and my laptop is open... to James Corden's Carpool Karaoke. Not even remotely kidding. Here are my go-to You Tube videos: |
|
|
Do I sing along between bites? OF COURSE--DON'T JUDGE! You know what I DON'T DO? I don't open social media (only because I grab my phone as soon as I wake up in the morning because I'm an addict, so by this time I've already seen all that mess) and I don't read any headlines. I rely solely on those videos to put me in a super creative space. When I'm finished with breakfast, I pull up the doc I need, go back and reread from the beginning of whatever chapter I'm working on and write like the wind! Like a basketball player getting ready for a free-throw. So, tell me! Do you have writing rituals? I wanna know! And if you don't, what do you think would help you out? Let me know on my Contact page! I'd love to hear from you! |
|
|
| | I don't read a lot of romance novels, and I don't read a lot of Sci-Fi, so the fact that this YA novel by Eliot Schrefer is one of my faves deserves a solid nod, and I'm excited to share it with you. I was immediately thrown into the darkness of outer space with an astronaut and a cosmonaut, Ambrose and Kodiak. They must work together, not only to complete their mission, but survive unexpected threats from their own vessel. Folks, Eliot authored the most mind-bending plot twist I have ever read in my life, making this book a WILD RIDE! This story is smart, it is gorgeous, it is powerful. It made me believe that, in addition to being a brilliant author, Eliot likely moonlights as a rocket scientist on the weekends! In other fabulous news, actor and producer Elliot Page (Umbrella Academy) is making a MOVIE from The Darkness Outside Us! Huzzah for the El(l)iots!!!! Plus, we can all look forward to the sequel! Book Two is called, The Brightness Between Us--and I cannot wait! | | |
|
| | Sweet Riley... I love this picture book by Elana K. Arnold for so many reasons, and I think you will too. Linda Davick's illustrations absolutely bring Riley and friends to life! As a public school teacher for many years, I spent a fair amount of time encouraging kids simply to be themselves because they are inherently good and talented and smart. I continually let them know it was perfectly fine to lean into what is unique and special inside them. They are gifts to me and to each other and to this world. Elana has joyfully encapsulated every wish I had for my students (and all humans, really) in this endearing lil' character, even when a little shyness or worry creeps in. True friendship, demonstrated so effortlessly in these pages, goes a long way in creating safe spaces where kids feel safe in being exactly who they are. My heart is warmed whenever I get to read something that features the innocence of childhood, friendship, inclusivity and hope. Drop me in a world like this, please! | | |
|
|
| | I love me some Jonathan Hillman! I met this author my first semester at Hamline University--we were in a workshop together, and this book was but a dream in his phenomenally talented heart. Today, Jon's wish to be a published author have become a reality, and I am thrilled for him. What I love about this book (in addition to how Nadia Alam has created these images so beautifully) is that Jonathan understands that kids wish for things, and sometimes those wishes emerge from a place of worry or anxiety or even sadness. Life inevitably takes us to places where things are different than what we're used to. Children make wishes that things would remain like they are. This story recognizes that kids face hard things sometimes. And yet, love brings security and courage. Sometimes, we get cookies. Jonathan, I adore you! I adore your work! It is amazing to have read this story as an unfinished manuscript and now, to hold this book in my hands! I'm so impressed that, when we workshopped this piece at Hamline, it was so very close to having a life of its own! You deserve every happiness, every success! | | |
|
| | Do you know why this book has so many beautiful stickers on it? BECAUSE IT'S AWESOME! This story simultaneously broke my heart, yet somehow mended it. How devastating it must be to live in fear that the people you love the most--your family--might throw you out into the streets if they found out you were gay or trans or bisexual. Sonora Reyes created a remarkable character, Yamilet Flores, who lives in a continual state of this very fear and dreads what she believes is, possibly, in her near future. The religious school she attends isn't exactly a sanctuary for her either. However, hope emerges--a lifeline. This is a wonderful coming-out story with grace and hope deeply embedded in the pages, thus, my mended heart. On a personal note, we had a student at the middle school I worked at for much of my teaching career, who confided in a colleague. They basically asked, "Will you please call my father? I need you to tell him I'm gay. And I need you to ask him if I should even come home tonight?" True story. How can anyone turn away their child? Yet people do--often in religious spaces. I don't get it. I don't get it. I don't get it. And I never, ever will. | | |
|
|
KID LIT AUTHORS Up Close and Personal |
|
|
Elana K. Arnold How do I love this beautiful human? Let me count the ways! Elana writes brilliant books and teaches career-changing classes--at least in the literary world! | | |
|
|
I was able to overhaul my first novel by taking her online class 'Revision Season' and feel so much more confident pitching my ms to agents, as I am currently living in Queryland. (I will be taking her 'Vision Season' class as soon as she opens it up--maybe in the fall? I'll let you know!) What I love about Elana's work is the sheer RANGE of it. She writes for ages pretty-close-to zero through young adults. One of my favorite book series for younger readers is her BAT series, starring a delightful young gentleman named Bixby Alexander Tam. The first book in the series... and you'll love this... is called A BOY CALLED BAT, followed by BAT AND THE WAITING GAME & BAT AND THE END OF EVERYTHING. But it's NOT the end of everything! When I asked Elana if there was any 'scoop' I could share with you, my readers, on her behalf. She told me, You could share the news that there are three more BAT books on the way, beginning with BAT AND THE BUSINESS OF FERRETS, which will be out in February of 2025, with Charles Santoso illustrating! I will let you click on this Kirkus Review to meet Sir Bixby Alexander Tam as well as the next button to see how incredibly talented Mr. Santoso is! |
|
|
Sonora Reyes One of my very favorite things to do is meet other kid lit writers, so I'm jazzed to introduce you (if you don't already consume everything they write) to Sonora Reyes. I literally just read their book, The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School a few days before this newsletter's deadline and knew I had to TRY to include them in this issue. I found their website and sent a quick note, and THEY WROTE ME BACK! | | |
|
|
I asked Sonora if there anything they would like me to tell the world on their behalf? Maybe something about their writing journey or what inspired them to write this book? Here's what they gave me: When I first set out to write The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, I chose this story because I naively thought it would be the easiest thing for me to write about. I'd been challenged to write my first novel in 30 days for the month of November along with some of my friends. At the time, all my original books ideas were fantasy or sci-fi--all stories I had absolutely no time to flesh out in the few days before drafting would begin. So, I thought I'd make it 'easy' on myself by writing a story in a setting that I knew from experience, where I wouldn't have to spend time fleshing out a new world or magic system. Spoiler alert--it was not easy. I ended up figuring out so much about myself I didn't know was still broken. While this book was the farthest thing from 'easy' to write, I'm very glad to have been wrong. I, for one, am so glad Sonora finished this book (which earned all those stickers) and I hope you'll give it a read. |
|
|
Have you ever dreamed of writing children's books? How about middle grade or young adult novels or graphic novels or poetry? Going to Hamline University and earning my Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children through Young Adults is most definitely one of the top ten BEST DECISIONS of my life. If you're curious about what that might look like for you, please click on the button below and check it out. |
|
|
|
|
