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ABOUT THE MAGAZINE
Our Mission Statement
The Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine, an online literary magazine, features writing by mothers on the ups and downs and many challenges of motherhood. We publish creative nonfiction essays, columns, book reviews, and profiles about mom writers.
The Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine features writing that is vivid, complex, and down-to-earth. We are not looking for “sugar-coated” material. Our philosophy is simple: Motherhood is always worthy of literature. We are a literary magazine for mothers with something to say. We’re proud to have published essays that are poignant, smart, and sometimes, humorous.
The Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine is also a resource for the literary community. We provide author profiles, book reviews, and our writer’s guidelines.
Here at The Mom Writer's Literary Magazine we know that being a mom takes more than the act of giving birth or adopting a child. Being a mom takes constant devotion and psychological work that goes on throughout your entire life. The Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine honors the fulfilling and tedious work that women do by making their stories visible through print.
About the Editors
Paula Schmitt, Founder and
Editor-in-Chief, is a writer living in
Lucie Bouchard Antoniazzi, Senior Editor and
Webmaster, is a stay-at-home mom with a bachelor’s degree
in electrical engineering and a specialization in telecommunications
from Concordia University in Montreal. She chose to stay home full time
with her three children after working as a telecommunications engineer
for twelve years. When her youngest child started school in 2002, she
decided to pursue her second passion: writing. Lucie now works from home
as a freelance writer and is senior editor, columnist, and webmaster at
justformom.com and senior editor and webmaster at The Mom Writer's
Literary Magazine. She also has a regular column at sanitycentral.com. Aside from writing personal experience essays and
humorous anecdotes for parents, Lucie writes articles and short stories
for children. She has a passion for writing picture books and is working
on her first teen novel. She recently sold her first children’s piece to
Highlights for Children magazine. In her spare time, Lucie likes
to read, listen to music, take walks, practice tae-bo, and spend as much
time as she can with her family. She lives with her husband and their
three children in
Laval, Quebec, Canada.
Alana Morales, Profiles Editor, has a degree in Psychology and is a
certified teacher. She taught high school English for six years before staying home with her two children and becoming a
freelance writer. Her syndicated column Family Business, which is about being a WAHM, appears on over 13 online sites as well as her local newspaper. Her first
book, Domestically Challenged, is due out in 2006 with Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing, Inc. You can read more of
Alana’s work and get information about her book at AlanaMorales.com.
Tracy Lyn Moland, Cover Page Editor, Reviews Editor, and Regular Columnist for
the MWLM - Over the past few years, best selling author Tracy Lyn
Moland, B. Ed. has established herself as a highly sought after and
internationally recognized life management and marketing expert. You may
recognize Tracy Lyn’s ideas and advice from magazines like Reader’s
Digest, Chatelaine, or Women’s Day as well as her
series on Good Morning Canada and appearance on Living it Up! With Ali
and Jack. She has been featured in over 500 media outlets and presented
in three countries. Her expertise has lead to her work as a spokesperson for
Johnsonville Sausages, Crayola, TJ Maxx, and Whirlpool appliances. Tracy
Lyn’s books Mom Management and Quotes of Inspiration have
provided much needed advice and sanity in our crazy world.
About the Columnists
Jennifer Brown, Regular Columnist for the MWLM, is a freelance writer with award-winning fiction,
nonfiction, and poetry appearing in over a dozen publications around the
world. Jennifer's work has appeared in Writer's Journal, Australia's The
Messenger, Long Story Short, and Simple Joy, just to name a few.
Jennifer most enjoys writing humor essays, and her humor column, "Adrift
in the Gene Pool," appears bi-weekly in The Liberty Sun News. In 2005,
Jennifer's humor essay, "Fling Shui for Beginners," won first prize in the
global humor category of the Erma Bombeck contest. Jennifer is also a
book reviewer for Bookpleasures, Road to Romance, Foreword Reviews, and
TCM Reviews, and teaches essay-writing and book reviewing classes for
Writer's Success.com and humor writing classes at Long Story Short
School of Writing. To find out more about Jennifer's work, visit http://www.freewebs.com/jennifer_brown.
Kerri Charette, Regular Columnist for the
MWLM, is editor of Misadventures of Moms and Disasters of Dads, a
parenting humor collection published by "Moms In Print". Kerri is a
mother to five children; three boys (ten, nine, five) and two girls
(three and two), a former kindergarten teacher in Ledyard, the president
of the Ledyard Women's club, a committee chair on the PTO, and a
religious education teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes church. Kerri also
hosts a weekly cable television show for the adoption agency Child
Adoption Resource Association (CARA) of New London, CT (Kerri's fifth
child's adoption was arranged through CARA). The show, "Families in the
Making" brings awareness to adoption issues and is seen on the COMCAST
Groton Cable Network, Adelphia Cable Network of Norwich, and Eastern CT
Cable Network serving the Waterford area. Kerri holds an undergraduate
degree in elementary education from the University of Connecticut (1992)
and a masters degree in teaching reading and language arts (1999) from
Eastern Connecticut State University. For those interested in learning
more about the Misadventures of Moms and Disasters of Dads
anthology series, Kerri suggests visiting the website
misadventuresofmoms.com.
Nicole Dean, Regular Columnist for the MWLM,
was born and raised in the Northwoods of Wisconsin - watching deer play
in her backyard, swimming in the many lakes, and trying to stay warm in
the white, snowy winters. After college, she married her college
sweetheart and headed west to Portland, Oregon. Eight years and two
children later, she and her family moved to the Gulf of Mexico where the
snowplows are only used for pushing the beautiful white sand from the
beaches off the roads. A proud work at home mom (WAHM), Nicole is the
owner and creator of ShowMomTheMoney.com, for which she was awarded the
WAHM Community MVP of the Year 2004 by WAHMTalkRadio.com. Her newest
creation, RomanceYourHusband.com is designed to help couples stay
friends throughout their marriage. Nicole is not a psychologist, nor is
she a marriage therapist. RomanceYourHusband.com is meant for women who
are in respectful, healthy relationships to find fun ways to keep the
romance alive. 'Til Death Do Us Part' can be a long time. So, why not
make the most of it? When she's not snuggling her husband, playing with
her children, working, or dodging hurricanes, she enjoys reading,
gardening, belly dancing, laughing often, and experiencing the joys of
life.
Stephanie McCarty, Regular Columnist for the MWLM,
is a freelance
writer and public relations consultant. She also works part-time
as Public Policy Coordinator for her local Chamber of Commerce, and is
co-president of the local chapter of the Association for Women in
Communications. Stephanie worked in PR and media relations full-time
for more than a decade, before starting her own writing and consulting
career. She grew up in Florida, where she earned
her B.A. in English (Creative Writing) from The Florida State
University. Stephanie has lived in various parts of the country,
including Washington DC, where she earned an M.A. in Political Management from The George Washington University.
While in DC, she worked as a press secretary on Capitol Hill, and in
the public affairs departments of a national public relations agency,
a large university, and a major corporation. She has also served as
spokesperson for two political campaigns. Stephanie says,
"During my professional tenure, I have worked on political campaigns,
in the halls of Congress, and in corporate PR – but nothing could have
prepared me for the roller-coaster ride that is motherhood." Stephanie lives in
Central Ohio with her husband and daughter, who is the joy of her life. She credits her little
girl with inspiring her to find her true writing passion. Sharon J.
O’Donnell, Regular Columnist for the MWLM, is an award-winning newspaper columnist, who specializes in
humor columns. Since 1998, Sharon has been a columnist for The Cary
News, in Cary, NC (just outside of Raleigh) and has won awards for
those columns. She has also written for Good Housekeeping, The News
& Observer, and Blue
Mountain Arts greeting
cards. Sharon
is a 1984 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(she used to live in the same dorm as Michael Jordan!!) with a degree in
print/broadcast journalism. Since then she’s worked in radio
promotions, special events planning, public speaking, and public
relations. Her current project is a humorous book of
essays about what it’s like to be the only woman in a houseful of males,
dealing with a husband, three sons, and a male dog. Sharon also writes fiction. In 1997,
her novel manuscript, Hand-Me-Downs, was a finalist in the Heekin
Group Foundation’s James Fellowship for the novel-in-progress division.
An excerpt from her current novel-in-progress, Bluebirds Fly, was
published in the Sunday Reader section of The News & Observer,
the Raleigh paper, in December of 2002. In the spring of 2003, she won
third place in the short story division of The Paul Gillette Memorial
Writing Contest, sponsored by the Pikes Peak Writers Conference..
Since 2000, she’s taught narrative writing through
week-long writing residency workshops in schools and is a
writer-in-residence through the United Arts Council. She has also done
public relations consulting that has resulted in successful media
coverage for various programs and events.
Jacob’s Ladder, a volunteer group she helped start in honor of
her nephew who underwent a successful bone marrow transplant in 1993,
won a national award called the HOPE award in 1997 for raising testing
money and promoting the bone marrow registry to minorities. She lives in Cary with her husband Kevin and their three sons
ages 14, 11, and 5 (ages of this writing in late 2005). Her Websites are www.momsofboys.org and
www.sharonodonnell.com.
Lisa Rickwood,
Regular Columnist for the MWLM, is passionate about helping people slow down and enjoy their lives. She is
the founder of Escape The Pace®,
a business dedicated to helping people live a happier, relaxed life
while pursuing careers, raising families, and making their dreams come
true. This was a spin-off from her highly regarded book,
Escape The Pace: 100 Fun And Easy Ways To Slow Down And Enjoy Life. Lisa has helped dozens of
professionals, entrepreneurs, and executives improve their lives by
offering: seminars, play-shops, keynote talks, books, greeting cards,
gift boxes, e-books, and an e-zine. Lisa was born in
Vancouver, Canada, and raised in the Okanagan in British Columbia.
She has a visual art degree from the University of Victoria
and is an accomplished international visual artist. She also spent years
working for two large newspapers as an advertising consultant before
becoming co-owner of a high-end menswear store with her husband on
Vancouver Island. When she’s not at the store or working on her business, she’s taking care of her
husband, two sons, and step-son. She is a sought-after
speaker and has lectured at colleges, Health and Wellness Shows,
business networks, Rotary Clubs, and large organizations. She is a
regular contributor to Woman’s World
magazine as well as Synergy
and Pure Woman magazine. She has been featured in
Common Ground magazine and the
The Berkeley Psychic Institute Newspaper. Two well-known
U.S. authors will feature her in their books, respectively,
Mom CEO and Less Than Perfect. Lisa is passionate
about being involved in a world-wide movement about work/life balance
and was asked to participate in a conference in Seattle called:
Take Back Your Time (www.timeday.org).
She looks forward to helping others ‘take back’ their lives.
Karen Rinehart, Regular Columnist for the
MWLM, is the creator of The
Bus Stop MommiesTM a syndicated newspaper and magazine humor
columnist, public speaker and author of the book, Invisible Underwear, Bus Stop Mommies and Other Things True To Life.
Karen has been dubbed this generation’s Erma Bombeck while Editor &
Publisher Magazine named her a possible replacement for Dave Barry. Karen lives in Concord, NC with one husband,
two children, and two goofball dogs. Read more at www.busstopmommies.com.
Dionna Sanchez, Regular Columnist for the
MWLM, has a passion for encouraging moms and a love for writing. Her
greatest desire is that they would enjoy who they are and what their
role in the home is as a parent, wife, and individual woman. Dionna has
the gift of compassion and counts her blessings while trying to keep her
own priorities straight as a mom, wife, and individual. She chose her
teammate in her husband Eliseo and they raise their three children in Idaho. Dionna created Emphasis On Moms to help share encouragement and
happiness with other moms. She encourages moms not to forget their
marriages while they parent and is always honest in her articles;
inspiring many. Her website ministry can be found at
EmphasisOnMoms.com.
Linda Sharp, Regular Columnist for the
MWLM, is an internationally read author, columnist, event speaker, and
media guest who
makes people
laugh and think from Maine to Malaysia. Enjoy
her book Stretchmarks On My Sanity and add her daily blog, Don't Get Me
Started, to your online favorites! Look for her new book, Femail:
A Comic Collision In Cyberspace this winter! Give her a Google - you'll be glad you did.
Carrie Myers Smith, Regular Columnist for the
MWLM, has a degree in exercise science and health education, is an
ACSM-certified personal trainer, licensed corporate Wellcoach®,
co-founder and president of Women in Wellness™, and the fitness editor
for Fit Body magazine. Her work has appeared in many publications
including Shape, Fitness, Fit Pregnancy, Cooking Light, Health,
Muscle & Fitness HERS, and Energy for Women, for whom she was
a contributing editor and "Body Shoppe" columnist. In addition, she
writes frequently for health and fitness trade journals, including both
ACE and IDEA publications, and is becoming increasingly more well-known
as a respected expert in the fitness industry. Her first book,
Squeezing Your Size 14 Self into a Size 6 World: A Real Woman's Guide to
Food, Fitness, and Self-Acceptance (Champion Press, 2004), has won
acclaim from real women and experts alike, and received one of
Independent Publishers’ highest ratings. "I love playing a role in
helping women change their lives!" says Smith. "While I may be
considered an 'expert,' I really relate to the average woman, having the
same struggles and life challenges." Part of these challenges includes
raising and homeschooling four sons with her husband, about which she
quips, "Let's just say they give me plenty of opportunities to practice
my coaching skills!" In addition to her first book and workbook, Carrie
also has the following books coming out in 2005 and 2006. Small
Steps, Big Changes: A Day-by-Day Calendar and Coaching System for Total
Wellness (Champion Press, 2006), Fit to be Mommy, co-authored
with Bonne Marano, Fitastic Kids! (Champion Press 2006),
Downsizing: Shaping Up Your Body by Slimming Down Your Life (2006).
Carrie’s books are available through local and chain bookstores, online
bookstores, and the publisher at championpress.com/books/squeeze.htm.
You can visit Carrie through her site (currently under reconstruction):
womeninwellness.com or email her at
CarrieMyersSmith@aol.com.
Julie Watson Smith, Regular Columnist for the MWLM,
is a mom of three and founder of Mommy Hullabaloo. More than just a
parenting column, it is a national company inspiring moms to
get organized and energized while learning, living, and loving the chaos
of mommyhood! Julie is also the author of Mommyhood Diaries: Living the
Chaos One Day at a Time (Wyatt McKenzie Publishing, 2005) and the
upcoming Mommy Hullabaloo’s Guidebook to Learning, Living and Loving the
Chaos of Mommyhood (TBD). Visit Julie at
mommyhullabaloo.com.
About the Graphics Design and Branding
Nancy Cleary, Graphics Design and
Branding for the MWLM, is an advocate for work-at-home moms - her
publishing company, Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing Inc., named for her two
children, celebrates seven years of bringing the ideas of mom writers
and entrepreneurs to fruition. Behind-the-scenes stories of mompreneurs
are featured in Cleary's series "The Best of Mom's Business Magazine
Volumes 1-4". Other mom titles include "I Love My Life: A Mom's Guide to
Working from Home" by Kristie Tamsevicius, "Mom's Work-at-Home Kit &
Workbook" by Lesley Spencer, "Today's BlueSuitMom Magazine" by Maria
Bailey, and current hot-seller, "14 Hours 'Til Bedtime" by Jen Singer.
In January of 2005 Nancy launched The Mom-Writers Publishing Cooperative to publish talented mom writers,
providing authors with a five-digit advance package, major book store
distribution, and everything they need to make their publishing
experience an empowering and profitable venture. Nancy Cleary has been quoted
in Business Week, Working Mother, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal,
Family Circle, Home Business Magazine, and Entrepreneur Magazine
and featured in three best-selling books: "Marketing to Moms: Getting Your
Piece of the Trillion Dollar Market" and "The Women's Home-Based
Business Book of Answers" both by Maria Bailey, and "The Self-Employed
Woman's Guide to Launching a Home-Based Business" by Priscilla Y. Huff.
Cleary has a BFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design
and has run a successful design studio out of her home office in
Deadwood, Oregon since 1992.
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