Pitching, submitting, and financial uncertainty: the writerly life isn’t easy before kids come into the mix, but as a writer-mom it’s even trickier. In today’s episode, Meagan chats with contributor and full-time professional writer Joanne Ruelos Diaz to talk all things writing. We discuss how we each landed in this career, how we balance motherhood and writing, our hopes for the future and some advice about how to dive in to this creative outlet, whether it’s for personal or professional goals. Enjoy!

About Our Sponsors

Scholastic, Inc.

Acorn books help build confident readers, and ultimately develop a lifelong love of reading. There’s a series for every reader, with themes like friendship, humor, magic, dragons and even horror-lite. Acorn books are available wherever books are sold!

Care.com

Care.com makes it easy to find local, experienced, and background-checked childcare to help manage your family’s ever-changing needs. Sign up at care.com/book and see why over 3 million families use this amazing platform

Pinna

Pinna is the only audio on-demand streaming service for kids 3-12, with podcasts, audiobooks, and music all in one safe place with no ads, and no staring at a screen. Just listening. Go to pinna.fm/promo and use the promo code THEMOMHOUR for 50% off your first annual payment

Hiya Health

Hiya is a daily children’s vitamin that’s stronger, cleaner, and tastier — made from a blend of 12 farm-fresh fruits and vegetables and 15 essential vitamins. For 50% OFF your first order go to hiyahealth.com/MOMHOUR or enter code MOMHOUR at checkout

Links We Mentioned (Or Should Have) In This Episode

• Meagan mentioned the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (this is an affiliate link).
• Meagan mentioned the book The Way Of The Fearless Writer by Beth Kempton.
• Want to learn more about Joanne? Follow her on Instagram, check out the work she’s done on her website, and order her book “The Little Book of Joy.” (This is an affiliate link)
• Check out some of the blog posts Joanne has written for The Mom Hour:
• How I’m Decluttering My Brain In 2023
• Emergency Room Visits With Kids: What I Wish I’d Known, Packed, Said & Done
• Fast Five: The Dinner-Table Game I Play To Connect With My Kids
• “This Is Too Hard!”: How I’m Showing My Kids The Importance Of Doing Hard Things
• Watching My Friends’ Teenagers On Instagram Led To The Stuffed Animal Olympics
• You can find more on Meagan’s writing projects below:
• Read some of Meagan’s personal writing on her website.
• Catch up on some articles from Meagan’s magazine Reinvent.
• Meagan wrote the book “The Happiest Mom: 10 Secrets To Enjoying Motherhood.”
• If you’re interested in reading more about midlife motherhood, you can purchase Meagan’s January/February Reinvent Magazine.
• If you’re looking for more information about writing, you may want to listen to More Than Mom: Writing, Motherhood & Creative Practice or read the blog post “How I Started Writing.”

Continue the conversation:

Instagram | Private Facebook Community (be sure to answer the membership questions!)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.