Do you feel it, the desire to tiptoe into the New Year, lest you wake a new giant that might confront you with another endurance test of our humanity, our environment, our peace? Yet it was with unexpected joy I opened my mailbox this holiday season to find a reminder...
As many of you know, I'm writing a historical novel inspired by family stories my Mexican-Chinese grandma used to tell me: tales of secret immigrants and mixed races, family loyalties and betrayals. I'm also involved in the world of live personal storytelling, and The...
Almost nobody would publish my funny little ditty, Never Kill A Dog Or Cat In Your Novel, because they found it a tad too disturbing. Cue Slackjaw, a humor journal that specializes in over-the-top weirdness. Thank you, Slackjaw, because without you I'd be forced to...
Wish you could run away from Pandemic 2020? Try escaping into a book! I've been reading books by other authors—turns out most books are by other authors. But if you haven't read mine yet, then please check out They Only Eat Their Husbands. It's my memoir of how I ran...
I recently received a request from a blogger to answer a question he has asked more than 1000 people he characterizes as leaders, thinkers, writers, writers, researchers, elders, artists, CEOs, laymen, etc: What is the meaning of life? Although I don't believe this is...
I’ve just completed a final revision of my novel—though let’s face it, it ain’t over till the fat publishing contract sings. The twinned elation and depression of completion puts me in the mood to share something. If you read the novel, you'll find this out sooner or...
You can listen to my sexy flash-fiction story, The Afternoon Sleepwalk, in the latest No Extra Words Podcast, Episode #81: You Looking at Me? This episode features three fun stories, plus two writers describing their cool writing spaces. But, just FYI, I read my story...
Happy 453rd Birthday to the Bard, who has given our language so much. A few of my favorites: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on..." - The Tempest "Though this be madness, yet there's method in't..." - Hamlet "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once...
By Cara Lopez Lee I’ve been getting rid of them this week. The extra words. I often say too much. My obsessive compulsive disorder makes this so hard to control that sometimes it feels like I only have two options: say everything or nothing at all. Sometimes I write a...
In this month's edition of Long Story Short, I take a personal look at a sacred yet strange space, the marriage bed: "...when you spend years sleeping with one person everything that happens in bed is too much information." Please check out Smelly Make This Bed (if...
Cara Lopez Lee is the author of They Only Eat Their Husbands. She’s a winner of The Moth StorySLAM and performs in many storytelling shows, including Unheard L.A., and Strong Words. Her writing appears in such publications as Los Angeles Times, Manifest-Station, and Writing for Peace. She’s a traveler, swing dancer, and baker of pies. Cara and her husband live in the beach-town of Ventura, California, where they enjoy tending their Certified Wildlife Habitat full of birds.
