The news of my debut picture book was shared on Publishers Weekly this week, and I could not be more excited! LIKE A MOTHER BEAR is a picture book biography of Jeanne Manford, an amazing advocate and mother who founded PFLAG, an advocacy group for parents and loved ones of LGBTQ folks. Back in the early 70s, she stood up for her gay son in a very public way, and became an advocate and mother figure for so many.  To be illustrated by the amazing J Yang, this story about family, queer advocacy, standing up for loved ones, and the power of letter writing will be published by Atheneum/Simon & Schuster.

 

There are a lot of people to thank for reaching this milestone. Thank you to my editor Feather Flores and the team at Atheneum for your beautiful vision, and to my dedicated agent Lori Steel at Red Fox Literary for championing this story from the very beginning. 

So many hands and hearts helped along the way: Jeanne Manford’s family, the New York Public Library Manuscript and Archives division, my VCFA and Courage to Create community, Boston Authors Club,  The Writing Barn, the 2022 Queer Kidlit Mentorship, Eric Marcus at Making Gay History – The Podcast. Eric interviewed Jeanne Manford and her son Morty while researching his book MAKING GAY HISTORY, and you can listen to the interview on his wonderful podcast.

Finally, thanks go to my core of writing partners and friends, and my family, who never stopped believing.