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Naked Writing – 14
By Jennifer Lawler • November 10, 2026I didn’t expect the chef to do what he did in this scene – characters quite often surprise me – but I just went with it and I like how it turned out. Adds another twist to what’s going on. Here’s this week’s work: “So what if she’s trying to kill Hugh Smalls?” I asked…. -
On Witches and Wizards
By Jennifer Lawler • November 6, 2026A writer is always willing something into existence, which is probably why I’m interested in witches and witchcraft and have been exploring it a lot lately. Lois, in The Mage of Motor Avenue series, doesn’t call herself a witch, but that’s what she is. I always felt like it was awkward and artificial to divide… -
Naked Writing – 13
By Jennifer Lawler • November 3, 2026Earlier in the story, Narrator is using an amethyst to see the future, a little bit like a magic 8 ball. Then Nikki gives her an amethyst pendant for protection, so I thought, “What happens if readers get confused by all the amethysts? Then I thought it might be fun to show an actual magic… -
On my new wrinkles
By Jennifer Lawler • October 30, 2026I have developed a wrinkle above my right eyebrow and I couldn’t understand what it was from until I caught sight of my “Are you fucking serious?” expression in a mirror one afternoon, and it all fell into place. Some people have laugh lines, I have “Are you fucking serious?” lines. I also have squint… -
Naked Writing – 12
By Jennifer Lawler • October 27, 2026At this point I was going to have the narrator discover a connection between Cyn and Hugh Smalls, but I realized I was making it too easy, so I backtracked and decided to make it harder. I’ll make some additional changes in revision. Also, it’s not July. I’ll fix this in revision. I’m pondering the… -
Seeing the World As It Is
By Jennifer Lawler • October 23, 2026When I was writing The Wanderer series, I was interested in exploring Lucinda’s coming-of-age. From the beginning, I wanted to make her a strong female character but if I made her too strong, she wouldn’t have much of an arc. “She starts off strong and stays strong” isn’t all that interesting to follow. But because… -
Naked Writing – 11
By Jennifer Lawler • October 20, 2026The narrator needs to look into the death of the actor Cyn Stryker, whose partner is not an actor. I needed to assign her a job. I knew Narrator would need a way in to speaking with her, and I remembered that I’d given Narrator’s friend Dahlia a job working for a talent agency. It’s… -
Throwback Friday: Pick Happy
By Jennifer Lawler • October 16, 2026This is an essay I wrote many years ago when my daughter was much younger than she is now. It’s included in Just So You Know, and I wanted to share it here so you can get a sense of what my memoir is like. We’re in a grocery store and my seven-year-old daughter Jessica… -
Naked Writing – 10
By Jennifer Lawler • October 13, 2026I started this part of the scene not sure of who the third witch (who has died) should be. Then, because I live in LA and the narrator does, too, it popped into my head that the witch should be someone famous, which would lead to the narrator doubting what she’s being told, and to… -
On shedding illusions
By Jennifer Lawler • October 9, 2026I wrote this essay almost exactly ten years ago, the summer after Jessica graduated from high school and I was feeling restless. It never quite fit into any of the memoirs I’ve written about my life with her, so it’s never been published anywhere but my blog, and I wanted to share it again as… -
Just So You Know – Release Day
By Jennifer Lawler • October 6, 2026Today is release day! Just So You Know, my memoir about coming to terms with … well, life, is out today. I’ve been wanting to share this story since Jessica was about three years old, but I never felt like I got it right until now. This is a happy story, although no one ever… -
The Weight of Words
By Jennifer Lawler • October 2, 2026A few years ago, shortly after my daughter and I moved into a new apartment in Los Angeles, a neighbor helped me with a heavy box. Once we’d struggled it through the door, I thanked him and said, “My name’s Jennifer and this is my daughter Jessica.” And he said, “Nice to meet you. My…
