Laurin Mayeno is the author of “One of a Kind, Like Me/ Unico Como Yo”, a bilingual children’s book inspired by her own experiences with her son and her community activism. In “One of a Kind Like Me”, a young boy fights gender stereotypes by dressing up as a princess for the school parade. Laurin’s book is breaking ground as one of few bilingual, multicultural children’s books about gender diversity, and its inspired much-needed conversation about gender diversity with educators, families, and children.
Laurin's episode is proudly sponsored by 'Libby'. I just borrowed audiobooks through "Libby" last week and it's been AH-mazing. For those of you who are new to it, "Libby" is a brand new reading app lovingly developed by Overdrive (a company I've been a fan of for 6 years). Overdrive's vision and mission is to enlighten the world by reading, a vision that also aligns closely with my core beliefs. 'Libby' was designed for readers to discover and borrow ebooks and audiobooks from your library for FREE. Be sure to click here to learn more and download the app to your phone or tablet!
In today’s episode, we dive deeper into Laurin’s relationship with her son Danny, and how he’s shown her a world where love is not limited by gender. Laurin has tirelessly dedicated her time to working with organizations, schools, and families to create spaces where gender-diverse young people and their families can thrive. Today’s conversation is a really special one for me as I hope all parents of LGBTQ children will be as supportive and loving as Laurin is today. Especially in light of the news yesterday, Laurin’s work and contributions are needed now more than ever.
Further into our conversation, we discuss why it’s beneficial for writers to work with a writing coach and how a writing coach helped to shape Laurin’s story. Laurin walks us through her process of being a first-time writer where we cover how to publish, the learning curves she had to go through, and how to market your book. And we also touch on self-publishing versus traditional publishing.
Say 'Hi' to Laurin on Twitter and check out the books/resources mentioned in her episode over at her shownotes page by clicking here!
Happy listening!
Xo
Yin
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“Learn and keep learning. It’s not a process that ends, it’s a process that continues.” -Laurin Mayeno (Click to tweet)
“People have immense capacity to go through challenging times and learn and grow if they’re given the opportunity.” -Laurin Mayeno (Click to tweet)
“Society has some learning and growth to do.” -Laurin Mayeno (Click to tweet)
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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN TODAY'S EPISODE:
Laurin shares the personal experiences that inspired her to create "One of a Kind, Like Me" Why it’s beneficial for writers to work with a writing coach and Laurin shares how a writing coach helped to shape her story How Laurin stays proactive in learning about the LGBTQ community Advice for parents who are worried about their LGBTQ children being harmed in public The challenges and sobering realities of parents who have children who are LGBTQ Why it’s crucial to highlight diverse literature for children Laurin walks us through her process of being a first-time writer: How to publish, learning curves, how to market How to turn a story that wasn’t meant to be a children’s story, into a children’s story Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing Why it’s important to get your book on as many lists as possible