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.

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

330 am

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It's 330 am and I can't sleep. I often get a topsy turvy stomach when I plan to travel and today is no exception. We are getting on ...

Tuesday, February 6, 2024

5 am again and AWP

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It's 5 am. The rain is pounding the roof. Hard and fast, like a rock song. The beating of the drops has a nice rat a tat tat rhythm. Ch...

Sunday, February 4, 2024

The Doors

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There is an old saying, that when one door closes another opens. I know it's a trite saying attributed to the man who invented the telep...

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

I know

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It's 230 am and I'm up with Chewbacca. He's having a rough night. My life just fades away in these moments. It's just me and...

Friday, January 26, 2024

To sleep, perchance to dream

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I want to sleep hours and hours. I want to fall into bed and dream of kittens and rainbows. I want to relax into slumber. But alas, no. This...

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Pied piper of creativity

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It's 6 am. Per my usual practice, I am listening to some Bowie. He's talking about a star man in the sky. A kind of pied piper to th...

Monday, January 22, 2024

Raindrops and more

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Rain keeps falling. It's pitter pattering on the roof. I hear the drops hitting the windows. I find the sounds peaceful, almost like a s...

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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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