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.

Friday, December 25, 2020

Christmas mourning

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It is one am on Christmas morning. I am wide awake and feeling stressed. This has been a hard year. The year of living in solitude. It could...

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Alignment

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Yesterday, Jupiter and Saturn aligned closer than they have in hundreds of years. The alignment was so close that from Earth they appeared t...

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Baby it's cold outside

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It feels like a dark winter is here. The virus is spreading in California like wildfire in a dry field. It's getting closer and closer t...

Saturday, December 5, 2020

Snow globe

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It's Saturday morning and I'm up at 5 am. I can't help myself. My eyes pop open. It's probably because I fell asleep at 7 pm...

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Hello world

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Today, I realized that I need to go outside more. It's easy with remote working to stay inside our cocoons. Being snuggled inside for ho...

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Thanksgiving thanks

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Every year, I write a Thanksgiving blog. I've talked about how my memories of Thanksgiving revolve around my father and my remembrances ...

Friday, November 20, 2020

Pandemic times

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It is the week before Thanksgiving. The pandemic is raging through the states. Some countries and states are considering locking down. Again...

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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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