This Is How It Always Is
This Is How It Always Is is a critically-acclaimed, New York Times bestselling novel about a family with five boys, the youngest of whom becomes a girl. Its author, Laurie Frankel, also has a daughter who is transgender. Frankel can speak about gender identity and LGBT-issues generally, what it’s like to tour the country with a book that speaks to such a divisive topic, what happens when your inbox and social media feeds fill with hate mail and threats because of something you’ve written, and how raising a transgender child is no different than raising any other child for this is truly how it always is.

Is This True? Truth vs. Fiction
While she was on tour with her bestselling novel This Is How It Always Is, the most frequent question put to Laurie Frankel was, “Why didn’t you write a memoir?” It’s a good question. Why make up a family with a transgender child when you’re a member of one in real life? Why make up a small town poisoned by a big company, as she has in her novel One Two Three, when there are so many documented corporate corruption scandals? Why write speculative fiction about social media, as in Frankel’s Endeavor Award-winning novel Goodbye For Now, when there’s so much nonfiction social media all around us? Frankel can speak to the lines between fiction and non-fiction, novel and memoir, made-up and true, as well as the challenges of writing (and reading) about real life, family, identity, and other timely and personal topics.

Craft Talks
A college writing and literature professor for many years, Frankel can present a wide variety of craft talks to a wide variety of audiences, and she’s happy to tailor them to your needs. They can be broad-stokes topics such as: reading like a writer, buckling down and making progress, advice for the creative life, why literature and reading are important. Or they can be more specific workshops: novel prep, process journaling, editing.

Check out Laurie’s lauriefrankel Follow Laurie on Twitter Read or listen to Laurie’s interview with Morning Edition, NPR Check out Laurie’s piece for the Modern Love Podcast and read it on The New York Times Read Laurie’s piece in The Guardian Check out Laurie’s article in People Magazine Good Morning America lists Family, Family: A Novel as one of 15 New Books to Read for the New Year.

Laurie Frankel has a fantastic essay running now in The Washington Post about what it was like writing FAMILY FAMILY in our current social environment. Plus, FAMILY FAMILY is The New York Public Library’s Book of the Day on February 1, 2024 and Laurie’s podcast interviews on BiblioLifestyle’s “The Reader’s Couch” and The Writing Table are now available!

Vulture includes Family Family by Laurie Frankel in their roundup of “6 Great Audiobooks to listen to this Month”

“Laurie’s presentation was simply fantastic. She was thoughtful, kind and funny. She presented the themes of her book so that every person watching could make a personal connection to the story. I’m confident that by the conclusion of the program all of our guests felt inspired by her message.”

Praise for FAMILY FAMILY

“Highly recommended for fans of Frankel and those who enjoy literary fiction featuring witty dialogue and thought-provoking topics.”

“…Frankel offers a hilarious and sobering view of adoptive parenting through her portrayals of the cheerful and honest India and Rebecca’s open-minded adoptive mother…this is great fun.”

“Frankel finds the truth of modern family within the sparkly, funny characters….Suggest this warmhearted tale to readers of Jennifer Weiner.”

“A very unusual, and very Frankel, adoption story….Kevin Wilson fans who haven’t yet tried Frankel should…Full of warmth, humor, and sound advice.”

Praise for ONE TWO THREE

“Frankel has given us another socially conscious 21st-century fable in a voice that is part pastor, part political speechwriter, and part Fannie Flagg. Clever, charming, and always on message.”

“I loved One Two Three from start to finish. What you always get with a Laurie Frankel novel is an engrossing plot—she’s a terrific storyteller—but for me the best part of any of her novels are the three-dimensional characters she’s created, characters for whom she has empathy and palpable affection, characters who seem to leap off the page and into the heart of the reader. And that’s never been more evident than in One Two Three. I highly recommend it—it’s a book that will immediately draw you in and provide great reading pleasure.”

“In One Two Three, Laurie Frankel’s signature wit, warmth, and fierce compassion shine with the story of three courageous, memorable triplets. I loved this book from the first line to the last.”

Praise for This is how it Always is

“It’s early days, but this big-hearted novel about a family with a transgender child is in the lead for the most sensitively and sincerely told story of 2017. Frankel’s portrayal of even the most openhearted parents’ doubts and fears around a child’s gender identity elevates this novel.”

“Deeply satisfying…An intimate family story…Day-to-day parenting dilemmas are where Frankel shines.”

“Brave, complicated, occasionally horrifying and frequently very funny…Frankel is a first-rate storyteller.”

“Every once in a while, I read a book that opens my eyes in a way I never expected.”

“It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me think.”