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.

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Paying my dues

Yesterday, someone commented that I had paid my figurative creative writing dues. And yes I have. Oh have I. Twenty years ago, I started wri...

Friday, July 1, 2022

Plus size

I recently did a FB post about what plus size is: "What is plus size? Plus size is being large in everything we do. From our aestheti...

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Platform

I started this blog more than a decade ago. My first post was about my humiliation at doing the sprinkler dance at a work gala. The writing ...

Monday, June 27, 2022

Rough

It's been a rough couple days. I'm recovering from surgery and have been in a lot of pain. It's not unmanageable like my last su...

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Feelings

I'm so angry. This is righteous anger. As a woman, as a feminist, and as a lawyer, I am appalled, terrified, heartbroken, and more. Word...

Friday, June 24, 2022

The girl who sold the world

Life is so short. It is. Fleeting. Precious. And usually, at least for me, when I'm caught up in the day to day routine with work, it g...

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Ode to Coffee (In recovery room post surgery)

Ode to coffee Oh coffee I love you so Let me tell you how I like you Black and bitter warmth Or with a splash of half and half One sugar c...

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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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