Memoir, Mental Illness, and Comedy: Excavating the Mother in Maria. In February 2025, I had the chance to have a powerful conversation with Maria Bamford about her brilliant memoir, Sure I’ll Join Your Cult . In the aftermath of the Eaton Fire, this interview feels like a bittersweet postscript to an era. After meeting through the vibrant community in Altadena we had the pleasure of orbiting each other for a while. We discuss our mothers, our favorite authors tackling nuance

On Sunday, May 16th I read an excerpt of A Room With a Darker View for LitFest Pasadena's livestreamed program of readings, poetry, film, panel discussions, and more. The program was diverse, ranging in conversations about social justice, cultural equity, race relations" to great words from author activists touching on "inclusivity in graphic novels, writing the SoCal experience, writing complicated families, speculative fiction, true crime, podcasting and 2020." This short