Hair Pride is Live!
I’m a published author! I'm excited to announce the launch of my children’s book, Hair Pride! I wrote it back in May and have learned so much about what it takes to bring a book to life in the past few months. There’s a lot to digest and learn: how to get an ISBN number, find an illustrator, decide which publishing route to take, price your book, and create a website. It’s been fun to discover an industry I knew little about before.
Some of you may wonder why I chose to write a book about hair. This book is very personal to me, as it was inspired by my own experience with alopecia, which started when I was fifteen years old. I have androgenetic alopecia, one of many forms of the autoimmune disease, where my hair thins throughout my scalp, similar to male-pattern baldness. Having hair loss in my teens and twenties was very difficult for me, at a time when I was already self conscious. At that age, all I wanted to do was look like everyone else and be “normal.” My hair loss made me feel like something was wrong with me, like I didn’t fit in, and I feared that people would make fun of me if they knew my secret. Hair is so central to a woman’s identity, and the loss of mine often made me feel ugly, so I did everything I could do to hide it. It took me fifteen years to accept my appearance and to share my story with others. Once I did, I quickly learned that my hair had nothing to do with how much my loved ones cared about me and that I was good enough just as I was.
I’ve worn wigs for about a decade now, which has been a way for me to reclaim the hair I had as a child and to have fun with different styles and colors, rather than letting my hair loss rule my life. I never could have imagined I would tell the world about my alopecia and I’m thankful that I was able to get this place of accepting myself for all that I am, even things I thought of as flaws for so much of my life.
Hair Pride is all about celebrating your hair, no matter what it looks like, while also realizing that your worth is so much more than what is on the outside. This is the book I wish I had when I was first experiencing my alopecia. I hope it will help kids accept and celebrate themselves and others.
Hair Pride is now available in paperback on Amazon worldwide. I will be releasing it in hardcover with other retailers soon- stay tuned! I’m proud of this book and its message and I can’t wait for you to read it!
