Hi all! I'm Juanita E. Mantz, JEM, and I'm a Latina writer/performer from the Inland Empire area of So Cal. I love writing about place and my hometown, and about punk and post punk music. I have two books, "Tales of an Inland Empire Girl" about my route from punk rock high school dropout to USC Law (Los Nietos Press, 2022) and "Portrait of a Deputy Public Defender or how I became a punk rock lawyer" (Bamboo Dart Press, 2021) which won a gold medal at the International Latino Book Awards. I also have a writer centric podcast and I'm currently adapting my books to the stage and screen. I'm transitioning to media full time soon, so just getting my feet wet here. Check out my books, podcast, and all my info on my author website: https://juanitaemantz.com/
2 people like this
Welcome Juanita! Nice to meet you. Glad you're here.
1 person likes this
Welcome to the community, Juanita Estella Mantz! Congratulations on winning a gold medal for your book! :D
1 person likes this
That would make such a cool script - I would love to see that.
1 person likes this
Thank you!!
2 people like this
Very impressive! Welcome to the community, we are happy to have you here :)
2 people like this
Hi Juanita Estella Mantz - nice to meet you! I agree with Wendy Appelbaum - your personal story is so inspirational - do you have any plans for a screenplay?
1 person likes this
So happy to be here!
2 people like this
Very happy to have you here! Very impressive life story. -- Fellow rocker.
2 people like this
Thank you Shellie! And everyone else who responded. I love the creative people on this site! It feels like a terrific community. I am (on my weekends mostly) working on the screenplay currently with a coach to help me with the transition to screenwriting from creative nonfiction. I plan on finishing the screenplay by summer hopefully. I do have a two act play that I wrote for my MFA program that is an adaption of my memoir and hope to do a table read soon.
3 people like this
You are being very smart with your writing career by hiring a coach for your transition. Wishing you nothing but the best with your script. There are a lot of talented folk here and happy to have another talented writer - you.
3 people like this
Very nice to see your work and podcast, a pleasure to e-meet you.
2 people like this
You're welcome, Juanita Estella Mantz. This is a terrific community. It's extremely supportive, helpful, motivating, and encouraging. Best to you on finishing your screenplay!