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, September 26, 2020

The year of being content

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I pledge starting today to be content. Happy. Grateful. It's 1 am and I'm lying with my dog Frodo at my feet. My other fur monster C...

Saturday, September 19, 2020

My shadow self

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The other day, I had a meltdown. My poor computer suffered. I screamed at her. My dog Chewie shivered watching me. My husband ran upstairs a...

Monday, September 14, 2020

It's a small world after all

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My world has turned so small in ways. At the house, it's me, my husband and my mother in law. Oh and my two shih tzus. I see my best fri...

Monday, September 7, 2020

JEM's Drag

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Confession time, I am obsessed with Ru Paul. I am way late to the game, I know. But I've been binging everything drag race related since...

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Life of JEM is on You Tube!

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The Life of JEM live video podcast episodes 1 to 7 are up! Go to You Tube! Search Life of JEM! Or click here: https://m.youtube.com/playli...

Friday, August 21, 2020

Life lessons

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Recently, I learned a valuable lesson. Stress is sometimes self created. In my last post, I expressed how frustrated I was with starting my ...

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Witches: a Life of JEM video podcast!

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https://www.facebook.com/LifeOfJem/videos/2783675968624079/?vh=e&d=n

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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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