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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… -
Naked Writing – 9
By Jennifer Lawler • September 29, 2026This week, I was re-reading an Ed McBain novel, Bread, and I came across a sentence that for some reason struck me: “like a stray would that you fed and now follows you home.” And that made me think of giving the narrator a grim who doesn’t leave. Then later I realized it could be… -
The Work of Middle Age
By Jennifer Lawler • September 25, 2026If youth is learning to spread your wings and fly, then I would say to be middle-aged is to fall back to earth. Once you reach a certain age, the future is no longer a limitless horizon; there is no longer your whole life ahead of you. In fact, most of it is behind you,… -
Naked Writing – 8
By Jennifer Lawler • September 22, 2026In this writing session, the idea of having Marissa turn out to be a mermaid was unexpected, but I liked it. It helps cement the idea that now that the narrator (sorry, still no name for her) has come into her power, she can see the world as it really is. It also gave me… -
What Are You Looking At?
By Jennifer Lawler • September 18, 2026Some years ago, I used to read a productivity guy’s blog and he randomly veered into proselytizing about the laws of attraction – you know, the idea that if you just think about something hard enough, you’ll manifest it. While I agree that we’re more likely to get the things we focus on, I don’t… -
Naked Writing – 7
By Jennifer Lawler • September 15, 2026This week, I decided that something needed to happen to make the narrator’s situation feel more urgent and dangerous, so I decided to have something bad happen to the investigator, Mickey. But since I don’t want there to be dead bodies already, I decided just to have him be threatened and to assume it’s because… -
Life’s Insoluble Problems
By Jennifer Lawler • September 11, 2026A while back, I ran across this quote from the French poet Christian Bobin: “I was peeling a red apple from the garden when I suddenly understood that life would only ever give me a series of wonderfully insoluble problems. With that thought an ocean of profound peace entered my heart.” I am sure the…
