Today at The Blood-Red Pencil, I share my recent experience baring my soul before a Los Angeles audience without a book, notes, or any written material in hand. I thought author readings were nerve-wracking, but those are nothing compared to a StorySlam and Stage...
Pangyrus, a Boston-based literary journal, has published my flash nonfiction piece Tiny Destroyer of Worlds. It's the story of a nine-year-old pyromaniac (that would be me) who discovers the thrilling power to destroy. I'm dedicating it posthumously to my friend and...
You don't have to travel far to discover other worlds within our world. I met former librarian Karen Levi-Lausa when she coordinated my book party at Denver's Bookbar, and we got to talking about her program that brings books to prisoners, Words Beyond Bars....
Welcome to Day 3 of my 2014 blog book tour! Please join me through October 15 as I celebrate Conundrum Press releasing the new edition of my memoir, They Only Eat Their Husbands: Love, Travel, and the Power of Running Away. Today I visit The Paper Tiger, the blog of...
As a writing instructor, I yearn to take credit for the ingenious, creative, perceptive stories my students create. They’re kids, mostly middle-schoolers, and I yearn to point at their work and say, “They know how to do that because I taught them how.” But I believe...
The sharing economy is increasing opportunities for travelers who want to explore what the world has to offer, with less damage to their pocketbook and the environment. A woman who works for a new car-sharing program called RelayRides has asked me to share one of my...
My twin passions for travel and stories are no longer about escape. Instead, they have taught me a lot about finding something to appreciate every day, wherever I am. Every place I travel is somebody else’s home, so it stands to reason that my home should have its own...
I teach dance in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and one of my Khmer friends from work asked me to present a contemporary dance duet at her wedding. Leak was having two weddings: one for her family in Battambang and one in Phnom Penh. I asked one of my dance students, Dara, to...
To me, life is one (hopefully) long journey, full of dirt roads, blind alleys, and exhilarating straightaways. Some people pick a target and spend their days marching inexorably towards it, while others zig and zag, trying to see as much as possible. It’s doubtful...
Why is it that the humblest gifts always conjure the most priceless magic? My 20-something stepsister teaches at an inner-city school in L.A., so since I was limited on funds this Christmas, instead of sending her a personal gift, I sent a few basic school supplies. I...
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.
