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 18, 2020

Sweet dreams

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The current pandemic has taught me some important life lessons. Life is so short. It's filled with times you would never expect, like no...

Saturday, July 11, 2020

The girl in the mirror

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I've been thinking much on the construct of JEM. I've said it before, that you only see what I want you to see. Sometimes it's w...

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Amplify

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Trying to conquer the universe is exhausting. I am no spring chicken. If I was smart, I would have started this whole "I wanna be a per...

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Live podcast! https://www.facebook.com/LifeOfJem/videos/273097427247826/?vh=e&d=n

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Perfection podcast

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I started a live video weekly podcast. On it, I read a story from this Life of JEM blog (Yes, this very blog!) and then talk about how it re...

Saturday, June 13, 2020

New day

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I sit outside listening to the birds and the twinkling of my flamingo wind chime and I ruminate on the last three months. Then, I think abou...

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Static

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Static: Defined as “pertaining to or characterized by a fixed or stationary condition” or “interference due to such (atmospheric) electricit...

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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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