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.

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

New podcast episode is up!!

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Life of JEM talks with poet and essayist Elizabeth Galoozis about her beautiful new poetry book "Law of the Letter" published rece...
Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Kitchen table

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Mom taught me and my identical twin sister Jackie to read when we were four. I remember Mom sitting with us at our tiny kitchen table in the...
Sunday, September 7, 2025

Incinerate

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I am laying on a leopard couch trying to write. I play music to inspire me, some Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, Pink Floyd, Flaming Lips, and then s...
Friday, August 29, 2025

Check out JEM's podcast

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In her podcast, JEM interviews Writer & Professor Alex Espinoza, author of The Sons of El Rey (Simon & Schuster, 2024), a sweeping f...
Saturday, August 16, 2025

Forever

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I'm doing an event at a brewery that's music and literature where I might do harmony on a Beatles song with a friend. I'm not a ...
Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Is the rule of law dead?

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I read the news and I'm terrified. The erosion of our civil liberties is happening. The Nation just published an article stating the rul...
Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Dry eye

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It's almost six am. I'm thinking of all of the departed: about my dad John, my father in law Alberto, my brother in law Gabe, and th...
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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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