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What would Stacy Whitman, owner of The Curious Cat Bookshop, do differently today if she were starting her bookstore from scratch? She's got a few ideas, mostly about preparation and community. Are you thinking of starting a bookstore or would like some advice on writing, publishing, or the book business? Let us know in the comments. Also, at least 5 cats make appearances in this video, with varying levels of interruption.

Stacy is the founder, former publisher, and now editor-at-large of Tu Books, the imprint of Lee & Low Books that publishes diverse middle grade and young adult novels and graphic novels. She is also the owner of The Curious Cat Bookshop in Winsted, CT, including the Curious Cat Bookshop Podcast. She holds a master’s degree in children’s literature from Simmons University. In 2013, Stacy founded the New Visions Award, which honors a new unpublished writer of color. Authors and illustrators she has worked with include Guadalupe García McCall, Yamile Saied Méndez, David Bowles, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Tony Medina, Kimm Topping, Anshika Khullar, Raúl the Third, A.M. Dassu, Olivia Abtahi, Axie Oh, G. Neri, Aamna Qureshi, Supriya Kelkar, and more.

Prior to launching Tu Books, she was an editor for Mirrorstone, the children’s and young adult fantasy/science fiction imprint of Wizards of the Coast. She has edited elementary school textbooks at Houghton Mifflin, interned at the Horn Book Magazine and Guide, and was a children’s bookseller at Barnes & Noble (not to mention editing phone books and transcribing overland trails journals in college, typesetting college textbooks and the publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in LaTeX at various points in time, freelance editing and copyediting; and writing, editing, and photography for Electrical Apparatus, the trade magazine for the industrial electrical motors aftermarket—as well as a small local paper in Stark County, Illinois). In her eclectic career, she has worked with a wide variety of writers, artists, and publishing professionals who taught her the gamut of the publishing industry, and she applies that every day no matter what part of the book industry she’s focusing on that day.

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We're bringing you a bonus episode of The Curious Cat Bookshop today: the recording of our event from August 2024 interviewing picture book author Anne Broyles about her writing life and how she ended up writing picture books for children after a life of service in the clergy and a career writing a variety of different kinds of work for adults. This audio episode has been edited for length. We also want to note for listeners that Anne had some visual aids in this episode, so if you'd like to see the photos and art she was showing, you can go to the full episode on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/vDsvK14OJ80.

We spoke with Anne about her latest picture book, I'm Gonna Paint! Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People. We discussed artist Ralph Fasanella's history with union organizing and why he chose to paint workers, Anne's journey to publication, advice for new writers, and more.

Buy I'm Gonna Paint! Ralph Fasanella, Artist of the People on our website

Buy Eating to Save the Planet on our website

Anne Broyles is a world traveler, vegan cook, hiker, art lover, avid reader, and children’s book author. Her published books for children include Arturo and the Bienvenido Feast, Arturo and the Navidad Birds, Priscilla and the Hollyhocks, and Shy Mama’s Halloween, which have won International Latino Book Awards, Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, and Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year. Anne is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation. She lives in Portland, Oregon in a multi-generational household that also includes three cats and a dog named Clover. Find out more about Anne at https://annebroyles.com/index.html.

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Author Kimm Topping, Ed.M., is an educator, writer, and historian dedicated to preserving LGBTQIA+ history. Their first book, Generation Queer, is a nonfiction YA highlighting the stories of LGBTQIA+ youth activists (and was published and edited by Stacy Whitman, who is also the owner of The Curious Cat Bookshop!).

As founder of Lavender Education, a national program promoting LGBTQIA+ history and youth leadership, Kimm leads impactful workshops, professional development, and historic walking tours.

In this episode of The Curious Cat Bookshop Podcast, Kimm was in conversation with Leah Juliett (they/them), an award-winning writer, speaker, LGBTQ+ advocate, and organizer from Connecticut. Technical note: there are some audio issues in this episode; watching with the captions on is recommended.

Buy Generation Queer from us at https://curiouscatbookshop.com/book/9781643795201.

Kimm lectures at Harvard Graduate School of Education, specializing in gender, sexuality, and equity. Their historic tours of Cambridge and New York City spotlight queer and feminist activism from the 1970s to the 1990s, and their widely recognized publication series, Mapping Feminist Cambridge, is available through the Cambridge Women’s Commission. Their work has been recognized by the 2025 Curve Power List and the 2023 Inaugural In-Service Award from the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.

Leah is a survivor of image-based sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation, and a lived experience expert on technology-facilitated gender-based violence. In 2016, Leah founded and led The March Against Revenge Porn across the Brooklyn Bridge, which garnered global support and moved the needle on cultural conversations around internet abuse.

In 2023, Leah testified before the White House Gender Policy Council on recommendations to support survivors of image-based sexual abuse, which helped lead to the federal funding of a national hotline for victims. In early 2024, Leah spoke at the United States Senate following the landmark Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Big Tech accountability. For Leah's work, they have been named a L'Oreal Paris Woman of Worth, Glamour College Woman of the Year, Advocate Champion of Pride, George H.W. Bush Point of Light, and GLAAD Rising Star. Leah’s writing and work leading social justice movements has been featured globally on CNN, BBC, NBC, TED, Teen Vogue, Bloomberg, MSNBC, and Pink News.

Leah champions LGBTQ-inclusive Internet protections and survivor-centered justice.

Support the show

More about The Curious Cat Bookshop

Shop online anytime for in-store pick-up or home delivery

Keep track of our in-store and online events

Become a member of The Curious Cat Bookshop! We have a subscription box or you can just add a little bit to help us become more sustainable

Follow us elsewhere!

• Bluesky
• Instagram
• Facebook
• YouTube (live events stream here)
• Threads

And always, our events locally and online can be found on our website!