If you’re a literary mama, you’ve likely been reading to your child since birth. But as our children grow, those reading relationships change. The Literary Mama blog team will be periodically presenting some short essays about what those stages of reading look like with some help from guest mama writer, Cassie Mannes Murray. Her first […]
In 1995, I heard the question over and over, like a wave crashing down every time a breath is needed: “What will you do with an English degree?” The prospect of life beyond the safety of school was scary enough without the incessant questioning. I purchased a t-shirt for myself that summed up how I […]
While I would never describe myself as an optimist, I must be because, in addition to gardening, I write. Back in 2024, when Labor of Love: A Literary Mama Staff Anthology was published, I wrote a blog post about having a fire lit under me as a result of writing a piece that was selected […]
I just returned from AWP in Baltimore where I met writers, editors, and publishers from all over the country. I connected with writers featured in Literary Mama, including one fiction writer who published with LM way back in 2005. It was amazing to celebrate each other’s writing lives and to share the bond of our mama-writer community. Another of […]
With the start of 2026, we wanted to take a moment and reintroduce the Literary Mama Blog team, which consists of myself (Carrie Vittitoe), Femi Lewis, and Christina Francis-Gilbert. Each of us came to Literary Mama with different motivations. Whether it was the desire to connect and network with other mama writers or an intention […]
I spoke with my sister earlier this week and she told me she had spent four hours wrapping presents. Needless to say, she was exhausted. This got me thinking about when I will complete my own mammoth job, and that thought alone tired me. For many mothers, the task of wrapping gifts is, in reality, […]
As a mom and a part-time teacher, I need summer break. I need to sleep later than 5:20 am, which is when my alarm goes off from mid-August through May. I need to have a more relaxed schedule and not be bound by the limits of the school day. I need to not have to […]
When I became a mother in 2004, I had grand unrealistic expectations for myself and the new journey I was on. I completely bought into the notion that I would love every second of motherhood and that it would fulfill me in all possible ways. Even though I had watched my own wonderful mother experience […]
Pen Parentis is hosting a Literary Salon on March 11, 2025 (7 pm ET/4 pm PT) titled “From Page to Screen,” and Literary Mama is invited! The Pen Parentis Literary Salon is a monthly series with multiple goals including shattering stereotypes about parent writers and promoting their creative work. The March salon features four parents–Trey […]
My Barbie story begins on a quiet tree-lined neighborhood in Queens, New York in the late 1970s. My younger sister and I played with the neighborhood girls who had a real Barbie collection with the frills. They might have had the Dream house. I know we did not. My parents were immigrants from India; at […]
When I signed my contract with the publisher of Typecast, I was thrilled. Having worked as a book publicist, I was under no illusion that having my book published meant that anyone would read it. Over the past twenty-five years, online bookselling and the advent of new publishing options have transformed the industry, leading to […]