Representation and How Awareness Matters
Louise Gooding, Halli Gomez and Kate Foster

Louise Gooding is a children's non-fiction author, based in Switzerland.
As a neurodiverse writer herself, Louise is a keen advocate for more own-voice neurodiverse writers and mental health representation in Children's Literature.
Louise wants to share stories  that feature characters that stand out, are different and who have something to say.
Inspired by stories from her own experiences and within her family, she took up writing to find a way of discussing neurological and physical diversity, and how to explore other sensitive issues within children’s books.

Her debut book, "Just Like Me", is a collection of forty stories, about neurodiverse and disabled individuals from around the world. Each who have defied other people's expectations, shown they are more than just a label and challenged stereotypes!  From Scientists to Gymnasts, TV Personalities to Business men and women.

Louise is a member of SCBWI, and runs the Writers, Illustrators and Bookish people of Zurich group, organising weekly meetups and creative opportunities for writers and illustrators from all genres.
When she is not writing, she is busy Book Fairying around Switzerland and further afield, spreading the joy and magic of reading by leaving books for others to find, read and share again with others.

Twitter / Instagram : @onceuponalouise
Website: www.louisegooding.com 

Halli Gomez writes for children and young adults and works at her independent bookstore.  She has written several stories with neurodivergent characters including her young adult novel, LIST OF TEN (Sterling, March 2021).
When no one is looking, she sock skates through the house and talks to her dogs like they are human.  When people are looking, she enjoys reading, outdoors, and breaking out of escape rooms with her family.  Halli lives in North Carolina, US, with her husband, two boys, and two dogs.

LIST OF TEN Book Details:
A harrowing yet hopeful account of a teen living with Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder . . . and contemplating his own mortality. Ten: three little letters, one ordinary number. No big deal, right? But for Troy Hayes, a 16-year-old suffering from Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, the number ten dictates his life, forcing him to do everything by its exacting rhythm. Finally, fed up with the daily humiliation, loneliness, and physical pain he endures, Troy writes a list of ten things to do by the tenth anniversary of his diagnosis—culminating in suicide on the actual day. But the process of working his way through the list changes Troy’s life: he becomes friends with Khory, a smart, beautiful classmate who has her own troubled history. Khory unwittingly helps Troy cross off items on his list, moving him ever closer to his grand finale, even as she shows him that life may have more possibilities than he imagined.

Website: https://halligomez.com
Email: [email protected]

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/halli_gomez_author/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Halli_Gomez

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/halligomezauthor/ 

Kate Foster is a children's author writing about friends, family, and dogs. Originally from a small town in the south east of England, she now lives on the Gold Coast in Australia with her husband, three sons, and cavoodle and spoodle.

PAWS Book Details:
Everything is changing for 11-year-old Alex and, as an autistic person, change can be terrifying. With the first day of high school only a couple of months away, Alex is sure that having a friend by his side will help. So, he’s devised a plan – impress the kids at school by winning a trophy at the PAWS Dog Show with his trusty sidekick, Kevin. This should be a walk in the park . . . right?

Article https://www.anovelmind.com/post/kate-foster-autism-friendship-anxiety-and-dogs

Publisher:  Paws - Books - Welcome to Walker Books Australia
Goodreads: PAWS by Kate Foster | Goodreads

Website: www.kfosterbooks.com
Twitter and Instagram: @kfosterauthor
Email: [email protected] 

Patience Agbabi FRSL is a poet and middle-grade novelist.  Her latest poetry book is Telling Tales (Canongate, 2014), a 21^st century multicultural retelling of The Canterbury Tales.

In 2020 she launched The Leap Cycle, a time-travel adventures series for 8—12 year olds with a neurodivergent cast of characters.
The first book, The Infinite (Canongate 2020), was CBBC Book of the Month for July last year.
The sequel, The Time-Thief, came out in May 2021.

It’s midsummer’s day and thirteen-year-old Elle and her Leapling classmates are visiting the Museum of the Past, the Present and the Future. But on the day of the school trip, disaster strikes, and the most unique and valuable piece in the museum, the Infinity-Glass, is stolen! And worse still, Elle’s friend and fellow Infinite, MC², is arrested for the crime!
To prove his innocence Elle must leap back centuries in time, to a London very different from today. Along the way she will meet new friends, face dangers unlike any she has ever known, and face an old enemy who is determined to destroy her. Can Elle find the missing Infinity-Glass and return it to its rightful home before it’s too late?

“In The Time-Thief, Agbabi has written a second instalment to the Leap Cycle series that even exceeds the first. Elle is a delightful character to follow: not just a well-rounded heroine with a unique set of beautiful insights, but also an important example of meaningful representation in a literary arena where Black autistic girls are rarely represented. In reading The Time-Thief you also get a clear sense of how much Agbabi loves creative wordplay, as she tells a gripping time-travel story that keeps you guessing, while clearly having fun with the English language along the way!  A creative, imaginative novel with a fascinating lead character”
CHRIS BONNELLO, AUTHOR OF UNDERDOGS

CONTACT:

For live bookings Melanie Abrahams or Rochelle Saunders: hq@renaissanceone.co.uk

For literary queries Simon Trewin: [email protected].uk

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Website: https://theleapcycle.wordpress.com

Twitter: @PatienceAgbabi

LinkedIn: Patience Agbabi – Creative Writing Fellow – Oxford Brookes University | LinkedIn

Listen to Patience Agbabi reading from her children’s book “The Infinite”

https://youtu.be/WEjkeZVqbrc

Register for World Brain Day – https://buff.ly/3jxLq3f

 

Marcia Brisset-Bailey – International Speaker, Writer and Consultant and Advocate Marcia Brissett-Bailey is featured in Forbes, a narrative changer promoting the representation of Dyslexia and neurodiversity. Nominated for the Stereotype Buster of the year category at the 2021 Celebrating Neurodiversity Awards!
In Marcia’s words ‘Neurodiversity has shaped my career per se. I have always been career minded and have a strong work ethic. The strengths I feel, I gain so much from my dyslexia: Seeing the bigger picture; being an ideas person and thinking out of the box, creative and positive; a little bit of a risk taker in business; with strong interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills, very much a people person.”
She has a degree BSc (Hons) in Information Science, post graduate in Careers Guidance and a MA in Special Educational Needs.  Marcia is currently a special educational needs case officer for a local authority.  An advocate and champion of Dyslexia and neurodiversity.  Board Adviser Member of the Centre for Neurodiversity Research at work, Observer on the executive board of the British Dyslexia Association, judge panellist member at the 2021 Celebrating Neurodiversity Awards!
A co-founder of the British Dyslexia Cultural Perspective Committee, trustee at the Waltham Forest Dyslexia Association, which she hopes will enable others with a Dis-Ability to find their voices, especially from a cultural perspective.

Marcia’s first book is an anthology called ‘Pioneering Women Speak‘, which are dynamic stories of women in leadership, will be launched on the 31st of July 2021, curated by Winsome Duncan founder of Peaches publication.  Her chapter will focus on Embracing Neurodiversity in Business.
She is currently writing her own book about being Dyslexic and Black, and she has a publishing deal with Jessica Kingsley publishers.
Marcia is also featured in two books, ‘Dyslexia from a Cultural Perspective’, and ‘The Bigger Picture Book of Amazing Dyslexics and the Jobs They Do’.

 

 

 

Recently Bidi has written a chapter called ‘The Art of Designing Your Life’ for the book ‘Pioneering Women Speak‘ which will be published soon.

https://www.instagram.com/patriciabidi/
https://twitter.com/patriciabidi
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciabidi/