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The Business of Storytelling
By Jennifer Lawler • July 16, 2026I’ve been a writer-editor for most of my career because imagining a life without creative work is impossible for me. Usually the editing work pays the bills and the creative work satisfies my need for expressing myself and exploring ideas I have about the world and how stories work. Most of the writer-editors I know… -
On homecomings
By Jennifer Lawler • July 14, 2026My daughter Jessica and I have unexpectedly returned home from Spain. I’m sure I’ll write more about that sometime, but for now I am just ready to say that we’re back in Los Angeles, and in our old neighborhood. We left Malaga in May, and already I can barely remember it, though I loved my… -
The Power of Magic
By Jennifer Lawler • March 13, 2026After my divorce, Mount Doom not being available, I sold my wedding ring to a pawn shop. I bought a bunch of books with the proceeds. I like reading way more than I liked marriage. I mean, I guess it’s fine for other people, but. I know that’s not very romantic coming from someone who… -
On Reading Aloud
By Jennifer Lawler • March 10, 2026“My feet are numb,” my daughter says. She has been sitting in her chair, eating dinner, feet on the floor. There is no reason for her feet to be numb, to have fallen asleep. Well, there is one reason but during this conversation, I do not remember that it exists. I just wonder how a… -
On Legacies
By Jennifer Lawler • March 6, 2026My father died a few years ago, and he left me a small inheritance – not life-changing money, but enough to pay a bill or two. I remember holding the check from his estate in my hands and thinking, “I wish I’d never received this. I wish he’d taken me to the movies instead.” When… -
Ravens Versus Tortoises
By Jennifer Lawler • March 3, 2026A few years ago, I visited the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert, California, to visit the wolves (my daughter adores wolves). While there, I noticed a sign about the importance of protecting the endangered tortoises. One of the threats to their survival is ravens. And the thought popped into my head that… -
A Matter of Perspective
By Jennifer Lawler • February 27, 2026Some months ago, when I started working with a Spanish teacher here in Málaga, we were practicing the difference between “ser” and “estar.” Both are verbs that mean “to be” but (in overly simplistic terms) ser is used for permanent states of being (“I am from the United States” = “Soy de los estados unidos”)… -
Story Idea Generator
By Jennifer Lawler • February 17, 2026One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “Where do you get your ideas?” I’ve always said that if you ask me to write a story about a woman in a red dress sitting at a bar, I can do that without batting an eye, but ask me to write a story about whatever I… -
The Vanishing Twin
By Jennifer Lawler • February 13, 2026Sometimes I hear the echo of my son’s laughter. I never bore a son; I should have, but I had a miscarriage. He was a twin to my daughter, and it is a loss no one acknowledged at the time because everyone was focused on trying to save Jessica. I can only grieve it years… -
BYOB
By Jennifer Lawler • February 10, 2026Because this winter in Málaga has been cold and rainy, once or twice a week my daughter Jessica and I curl up together and watch a movie or stream a television series. I provide pillows and hot chocolate but, as Jessica points out, it´s otherwise strictly BYOB: Bring Your Own Blanket. Most Spanish homes on… -
The Exchange Rate
By Jennifer Lawler • February 6, 2026Of all the things I didn’t worry about but should have before I moved to Spain, the exchange rate is at the top of the list. When I visited Spain in 2022, the rate was about 1 to 1. One dollar was about the same as one euro. But now? Now I watch the exchange… -
My favorite recipe
By Jennifer Lawler • October 28, 2025Back when I ran a romance imprint for a publishing company, I worked with several authors who wrote cozy mystery slash romance. Most writers had a blog where they’d post at least a few times a week and when all else failed, they’d stick a recipe up and call it good. That worked because their…
