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, June 28, 2022

Platform

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I started this blog more than a decade ago. My first post was about my humiliation at doing the sprinkler dance at a work gala. The writing ...

Monday, June 27, 2022

Rough

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It's been a rough couple days. I'm recovering from surgery and have been in a lot of pain. It's not unmanageable like my last su...

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Feelings

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I'm so angry. This is righteous anger. As a woman, as a feminist, and as a lawyer, I am appalled, terrified, heartbroken, and more. Word...

Friday, June 24, 2022

The girl who sold the world

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Life is so short. It is. Fleeting. Precious. And usually, at least for me, when I'm caught up in the day to day routine with work, it g...

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Ode to Coffee (In recovery room post surgery)

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Ode to coffee Oh coffee I love you so Let me tell you how I like you Black and bitter warmth Or with a splash of half and half One sugar c...

Something that is hard for me

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Sitting here, at 4 am after surgery, I am thinking about a prompt that I was given recently to write about something that is hard for me to ...

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Tomorrow tomorrow

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I'm having surgery tomorrow. I'll be out of touch for a bit. So if anyone needs me that desperately, just message me. I'll get b...

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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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