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.