Life of JEM: My Life In The Inland Empire

A BLOG ABOUT THE ZANY CHILDHOOD AND ADULT ADVENTURES OF A GIRL FROM THE INLAND EMPIRE WHO MOVED OUT OF THE INLAND EMPIRE ONLY TO END UP BACK IN THE INLAND EMPIRE.

Friday, March 23, 2018

Into the White

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There’s a Pixies lyric from their song “Into the White” that goes, “there ain’t no day and there ain’t no night.” That’s how my last year of...

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Artist or bust

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I have made a decision. I am a writer. First and foremost. To all of those who see me as a lawyer first, you’re wrong. Or as a wife, daughte...

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Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Eulogy for my brother in law

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Note: I struggled with whether to post this but when I asked my husband, he wanted me to. This is for you Gabe. RIP. My name is Juanita ...

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Notes on grief

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The last four weeks have been a zinger. My brother in law had a massive aortic rupture without warning. We were in the ICU in Orange for day...

Saturday, February 10, 2018

What I Am

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Something is going on with me. It’s why I haven’t written a blog in almost a month. I keep restarting. Maybe I have nothing to say. Or maybe...

Saturday, January 13, 2018

New Year Resolutions

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This year, I am in an odd place. I have a fulfilling job, a lovely house, and a supportive husband. But, something is missing. It seems I ...

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Portrait of an artist

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I saw two movies the other day, both about coming of age, Ladybird and England is Mine. The genre is called bildungsroman in literature (by ...

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About Me

Juanita E. Mantz (JEM): JEM's life story is the stuff that memoirs are made of. JEM went from punk rock high school dropout to corporate lawyer to rock star deputy public defender and nonfiction writer. JEM's stories, blog and video podcast document her journey so take a look! Her YA memoir, "Tales of an Inland Empire Girl", is available via Los Nietos Press (and through all national retailers). Her book tells the poignant story of her chaotic YA life growing up in the IE. Her chapbook, "Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender, or how I became a punk rock lawyer", was also released in Aug 2021 by Bamboo Darts Press. JEM is married to her wonderful husband Adrian who is a dentist. They have two Shih Tzus, Frodo and Chewbaca (Chewie to his friends). Her work has been published in Aljazeera, The Acentos Review, The Dirty Spoon Radio Hour, Entropy, As/Us, Inlandia, & Mutha magazine, among others. Go to her author website for more info at https://juanitaemantz.com. JEM is in the creative writing MFA low residency program at UNO. She has presented at AWP, Beyond Baroque and the UCR Punk Conference.

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