The Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between) Tour in Chelan, Washington!

The talented mamas of Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between) (ME2Z) are heating things up in sunny Lake Chelan, Washington on August 1st! ME2Z is a literary and arts performance tour of moms, grandmas, and would-be moms whose mission is to celebrate motherhood and passionate creativity of women.

Pack up your beach blankets and festival chairs, because the mamas are bringing their “mamapalooza” to Chelan’s Riverwalk Park Pavilion. Presented by the Historic Downtown Chelan Association, the outdoor venue is free to the public and has plenty of lawn to lounge on while you take in the show.

This summer’s event will open with music by Two Wannabe Divas and One Real One, the “divalicious” trio comprised of CherylAnn Ellingson, Jeannie Kappple and Kathryn Castrodale, starting at 6:00 p.m.

From 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., enjoy readings by Corbin Lewars of Reality Mom Zine, Rosie Weagant Norton of Riot Mama, The Gonzo Mama’s Christina-Marie Wright, Christy Cuellar-Wentz of Mommy-Muse.com, and more.

Writer/actor/director Laura Leon Freeman will perform reader’s theater segments, and attendees will be treated to the indie folk rock stylings of Ilka Haley of Small Town Girl Productions.

Dance has been a staple of ME2Z performances since the group’s creation, and the Chelan tour will offer belly dance performances by Christy Cuellar-Wentz, Heartfelt Fitness belly dance students, and special sword-dancing and roller-dance segments by Laura Folsom of Heartfelt Fitness.

The Historic Downtown Chelan Association will provide a wine garden with wines from Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards and is planning for a fun mix of vendors during the event. More performers are being added to the program as confirmations roll in, so keep up to date by visiting MotherhoodEggtoZine.com.

For more information, call Christina-Marie at 509-670-8823 or email motherhood@motherhoodeggtozine.com.

Seeking Submissions for Volume 2, Issue 1

The theme of the upcoming issue is "The Great Outdoors."

Send in your greatest tales of surviving parenthood in the out-of-doors... but please, for my sake (and yours), read the submission guidelines first!

We are also looking for black and white drawings and photos for this issue! Artwork may be emailed with the subject line "ART SUBMISSION - GONZO PARENTING" and attached as a jpg file.

Please note that we must have a resolution of 300 dpi for commercial printing purposes. No more, no less.

Photo by Monroe's Dragonfly

Gonzo Parenting: Now Available in Green!

If you're like us, you're trying to do your part to reduce, reduce, reduce.

You've made phone calls to stop receiving junk mail. You've gone to online billing for your utilities and services. You've *gasp* cut back on your magazine and newspaper subscriptions in an effort to reduce your paper consumption and the fossil fuels burned to deliver said paper.

We hear ya.

That's why we are now offering an electronic version of Gonzo Parenting, starting with our most current issue, "Public Spectacle."

This little e-gem is formatted for web viewing and is happily waiting for you to download it here.

What are you waiting for? Go save the Earth, and support Gonzo Parenting!

Volume 1, Issue 4: Public Spectacle

It's finally done! Here it is, in all its glory...
Volume 1, Issue 4 is truly a train wreck of public spectacle, and includes:

• Cover art graphics by GonZo Jenny
• "One Happy Tale, One Not So Happy" by Laura Freeman
• Artwork by Christine Stoddard
• "Before I Knew About Child Locks on Cars" by Miryam Gordon
• "My Little Fairy Man" and photography by Rose Norton
• "Oboe and the Tooth Fairy" by Jim Strickland
• "Aspirations of a Soccer Mom" by Robin Gedman
• "I Want THAT!" by the Bliesner Family
• "Curse of the Mothers," "Stirring the Great American Melting Pot," and photography by publisher Christina-Marie Wright
• Photography by Greg Wright

C'mon... you know you want it! Get your three bucks and click on this:

Get Your Submissions in for Issue 4!

The theme is "Public Spectacle."

Go crazy with the theme! Brownie points will be awarded for photos! Deadline is looming, so don't dally!

The Publisher Guest-Blogs on LipstickDaily.com!

I am so honored to announce The Gonzo Mama's first guest-blogger gig...

It all went down at LipstickDaily.com. Kate and Elaine, the MIC (that's Mamas In Charge) at LipstickDaily are constantly making my days a little more enlightened, a little more enjoyable, and a lot more giggly with their posts on love, careers, motherhood and life.

Imagine how excited I was when my favorite bloggers asked me - ME - to do a guest post! I squealed. I actually, honestly, loudly squealed. And then... then, I developed a case of blogger's block. I couldn't think of anything to write about.

Fortunately, I got into a fight with my husband.

What? What's that you say? I know... since when is it a fortunate thing to get into a fight with one's husband? Well... it spelled the end of my blogger's block...

"Makeup sex!" It's not what you think! Read it here, and click around LipstickDaily after you check it out... Get to know and love Kate and Elaine like I do! Tell 'em I sent ya!

New subscribers, new Wenatchee location, new column and more!

Greetings, Gonzo friends!

With the new issue of Gonzo Parenting out, it's time for updates.

New Reader Alert!
Thanks to Dan and Dennis of Seattle, and others who picked up copies of Volume 1, Issues 1, 2 and 3 at the Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between) performance at the Richard Hugo House.

Congratulations to Ashley of Kennewick, WA and Billie of North Plains, OR... Melody of Entiat, WA purchased each of them a gift subscription to Gonzo Parenting!

Now in Wenatchee!
Gonzo Parenting is pleased to announce its presence at Hastings in Wenatchee, WA! Stop on in to pick up the latest copy, and have a mocha and a muffin at the Hardback Cafe!

Upcoming Issue
Coming up next... the "Public Spectacle" issue of Gonzo Parenting! Do you have a story about your kids (or you) making a public scene of sorts? Send your story! Please read our submission guidelines first.

Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between)
If you haven't already, click on over to Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between) to read some of motherhood's best writers! (Your charming publisher is a co-founder!)

The Gonzo Mama
Can't wait for the next issue of Gonzo Parenting to read hilarious stories about surviving parenthood? Click on over to TheGonzoMama.com to read (almost) absolutely true tales of "extreme parenting!"

Stay Gonzo,
Christina-Marie

Gonzo Parenting Zine Updates!

Happy New Year, Gonzo friends!

The new issue of Gonzo Parenting is hot off the press! Volume 1, Issue 3 (It's All About the Image) includes fantastic essays and artwork, such as:

"The Good, Bad and Confusing," by Corbin Lewars of realitymomzine.blogspot.com
"Body Image," by Christina Yother of mamaneena.com
"Mommy Makeover," by yours truly
"Daddy Brain Naps," by Denis Sheehan of askewreviews.com and boneprint.com
"How the Phone Thwarted My Birth Control," by lil' old me
"Mommy's Girl," by veteran Gonzo contributor Jim Strickland
"I Left My Son Alone in the Tub and Various Other Places," by Tennille-Lynn Millo of boardwalkbabies.blogspot.com
Artwork by TheAllKnowingHead of myspace.com/mmwc

You can now order Gonzo directly online with PayPal! Visit our new home on the web at GonzoParentingZine.com to get yours today!

In other Gonzo news:

The Gonzo Mama is now online!

Christina-Marie Wright (oh, yeah... that's me!) has launched a bi-weekly column, chronicling her adventures in "extreme parenting." With seven children underfoot, a political geek for a husband, and a writing career to manage, there's never a dull moment. The Gonzo Mama is quasi-hip, ultra-neurotic, chaos-juggling fun, delivered in a tasty little 300- to 700-word package. Read the archives at TheGonzoMama.com. Comments are encouraged and appreciated!

Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between)

Your publisher has helped to found an inspiring literary performance group and online "blogzine" for intelligent parents, and those who want to be. Get the skinny at MotherhoodEggtoZine.com and, if you are in the Seattle area, come to our very first performances on Saturday, January 24th. Read all about it here.

More news to come soon...

Stay Gonzo,
Christina-Marie Wright
Publisher/Editor, Gonzo Parenting Zine

Motherhood: Egg to Zine founder publishes new e-book

Check out Christy Cuellar-Wentz's new e-book! You go, Mama!

Motherhood: From Egg to Zine: Motherhood's newest author!

Introducing Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between) ONLINE!

This brand-spankin' new website is home to some of the coolest mamas, grandmamas, soon-to-be mamas, and would-be mamas around!

Subscribe to the blog and watch it grow as members of the Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between) tour post their work. Get to know them. Tell your friends. Get in good with them now, because they're taking over the world...

MotherhoodEggtoZine.com

Save the date! January 24th - Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between) hits Seattle!

What do a hippie nudist turned reclusive writer, a goat-milking belly dancer, a hip-hop loving, booty shaking realist and a woman who "conceived" six children over the phone have in common?

They are all in different stages of motherhood, and each have a story to tell.

Corbin Lewars, Christy Cuellar-Wentz, Monica LeMoine and Christina-Marie Wright are the founding members of Motherhood: From Egg to Zine (and everything in between), an inspiring literary performance group for thinking parents, and those who want to be. They are also respectively the nudist, goat milker, booty shaker and child magnet. The foursome will tell all and share their views on motherhood and creativity at two performances on Saturday, January 24, 2009.

Play Matters (www.playmattersseattle.com), located at 7720 Greenwood Avenue North, will host the group for readings and "Q & A" at 2:00 p.m. (Children are welcome!) A second, expanded performance will take place at the Richard Hugo House (www.hugohouse.org), located at 1634 – 11^th Avenue, at 7:00 p.m., where other area zinesters, writers and musicians will be joining the cast. The show will feature belly dancing and music, as well as readings.

Additions to the troupe for the Hugo House appearance include Nina Packebush of The Edgy-catin' Mama, Granny Chronicles and The True Adventures of the Feminist Snails zines; playwright Ann Teplick; Pushcart Prize winner Kristin King; juggling poet Courtney Putnam and more.

For more information, contact Christina-Marie at christinamarie@gonzoparentingzine.com.

About the Founders:

Hailing from Oroville, Washington, Christy Cuellar-Wentz, M.A. is an author and registered mental health counselor specializing in providing postpartum support for the unique demands of new parenthood. When she first became a mother, Christy was shocked to discover herself in the midst of a tremendous challenge. Since then, she's learned that new motherhood is often the most difficult part of a woman's life. She co-founded Mommy-Muse.com to offer empowering information gained not only from years of helping others in online and face-to-face therapy, but from her own experiences with baby blues and postpartum depression. Christy is the host of the internet talk radio show, The Mommy Muse is In: Empowering Your Journey into Motherhood on the VoiceAmerica.com Health & Wellness Network. Her books include The Essential Mommy-Muse Toolkit: 11 Empowering Keys for Your Journey into Motherhood, and The Belly Dance Prescription: Shake Your Hips & Depression, available on Mommy-Muse.com. Christy can be reached at christy AT mommy-muse DOT com.

Monica LeMoine is a Seattle-area community college instructor, blogger and founder and editor of Exhale (www.exhalezine.com), a unique new online literary zine for "intelligent people who have lost babies, or can't figure out how to make one in the first place." After losing a male fetus to four-month miscarriage in 2006 and a subsequent son to stillbirth in 2007, Monica decided that the "Sperm + Vajayjay = Baybay" theory is really just a lie fabricated by her 4^th grade Catholic school teacher to keep girls away from boys and their sperm-shooting, life-ruining penises. Monica is working on her humorous stillbirth memoir, Knocked Up, Knocked Down; channeling pent-up mothering energy into her spoiled puppy and amazing husband; and sending rays of wistful affection up to her two boys, who now live the high life in the Mad Cool MTV Realworld Penthouse for Bitchin' Stillborn and Miscarried Babes. Her work has been published in Mamazine and Hip Mama. She can be reached at monica AT exhalezine DOT com.

Corbin Lewars wrote her first book, The Nosy Puppy, at the age of five. Years later, she traded her markers and staples in for a laptop and wrote the memoir Creating a Life and the sexy mommy-lit book Swings (both out for submission). Her work has appeared in Mothering, Hip Mama and Midwifery Today, as well as many bathroom stalls. She is the editor of Mamaphiles 3 and the creator of the zine Reality Mom (www.realitymomzine.blogspot.com). She lives in Seattle with her family, who have learned never to ask the dreaded question: "When will your books be published?" Corbin can be reached at corbinlew AT clearwire DOT net.

Christina-Marie Wright is the publisher and editor of the print zine, Gonzo Parenting (gonzoparentingzine.com), which provides a forum for sharing stories about parenting in the real world. According to Gonzo Parenting's motto, "sometimes, parenthood is all about surviving it." When Wright found herself the "unexpectant" mother of seven children, she learned that mainstream, glossy parenting magazines provided little support for uniquely-crafted families and the challenges they face. "My family isn't blended," she insists. "It's puréed." Her desire to share her personal parenting stories – and those of others – take tangible form in her zine. Christina-Marie is a freelance editor and writer near Lake Chelan, where she is the author of a bi-weekly column called The Gonzo Mama (TheGonzoMama.com). She is currently at work on her first novel, a "chick-litty adventure filled with tasty bits of neuroticism" titled Miranda Writes. Christina-Marie can be reached at christinamarie@gonzoparentingzine.com.