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, January 11, 2014

A Mantz Christmas Story (Part 3): The Soapbox Episode

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Growing up, my parents usually fought on Christmas. Something would always go wrong. Dad would drink too much or Mom would get mad about s...

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Why we all wanted to be Molly

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I am watching Pretty in Pink for the twenty-something (understatement) time. Pretty in Pink from 1986 is the seminal outcast movie. In the...

Monday, November 11, 2013

When

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When I was young, I never thought I would have kids. I have written before that I felt I was too damaged, irresponsible and/or crazy to be ...

Friday, September 27, 2013

Mad World

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"And I find it kind of funny. I find it kind of sad. The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had." Mad Wo...

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Hollywood (aka Hollyweird)

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I am sitting in the Starbucks on Hollywood Boulevard and thinking back to the days long ago when I would come here in high school. To Holly...

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Rockin the Casbah

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Just admit it. Life is hard. Being an adult sucks ass. There are days I want to listen to my punk music (the Ramones, the Sex Pistols an...

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Saturday, August 3, 2013

The hardest button

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"I had opinions that didn't matter/I had a brain that felt like pancake batter/I got a backyard with nothing in it/Except a stick, ...

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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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