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, June 28, 2024

Laps

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I'm in at my community pool doing laps, well really I just finished and I'm in the jacuzzi writing this. Swimming is such a zen acti...

Thursday, June 27, 2024

Get up and go

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I have decided that I need to start working on a one woman show. It's something I've always dreamed of and after performing one of m...

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Multi-hyphenated and a dream catcher

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The other day, someone referred to me as a multi-hyphenate. I had never heard the term. I had to look it up. Was it because of my last name ...

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Saying yes (again)

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This Sunday I am in a performance called Manecdotes. It's all the way in Burbank. I live in San Bernardino so it's a two hour drive ...

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

For now

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I'm posting two days in a row. Blame the weather. Blame my sleep patterns which are fucked after taking care of a sick shih tzu for a mo...

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

Time Time Time

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Time. I feel like it's getting away from me. It's as if time is moving so fast that I cannot catch it. Is this what they mean by lif...

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Dear Mama

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My mom really freaked me out last week. I almost lost it. I was at work and got a call late in the afternoon from an unknown number. I let i...

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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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