The collaborative effort of thirty-four zine-making parents, this fourth issue of Mamaphiles takes on the wilder side of parenthood – from toddler-chasing to rabble-rousing. “Children are natural born hell-raisers,” wrote Henry Miller. And as Mamaphiles' writers can attest, raising them can be an act of revolution.

Corbin Lewars’ Creating a Life is about many things: surviving a miscarriage, confronting long-forgotten memories of rape, conceiving and seeing a second pregnancy to term, and eventually delivering a son, at home, and fulfilling her wish of becoming a mother and writer. But Corbin’s story is about more than overcoming her past and achieving the tangible milestones of pregnancy and new motherhood. It is about a women finding her own voice and gaining the strength to trust her feelings, instincts, and desires. And through learning to believe in herself, she gains the courage to become both a mother and a writer -- on her own terms.

Ever read one of those book or film reviews and think “That review is as much about the reviewer as anything else.” This is one of those reviews, but then as the mother of a daughter and the daughter of a mother, it would be dishonest to say I could approach Andrea N. Richesin’s Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond any other way.

Back in January, I promised to review Because I Love Her before Mother’s Day. By the time my advanced reading copy arrived in April, I was in the throes of selling my house, moving into a town home, grieving a long marriage and becoming a single mother. I stared at the book on my nightstand, the title in gentle pink over the black and white photograph of a smiling mother holding her wee daughter. I imagined all the stories of happy unadulterated bonding and sulked. One night insomnia and a sense of responsibility struck simultaneously and I opened the book randomly to the unexpected.

Fallen leaves
Blow like small tornadoes.
Twisting and turning,
Picking up dust along the way.

Sunshine strong in
A cloudless sky
Distorts sight.
But deep in darkness
The eyes must turn
Inward.
Self-reflection difficult
No impossible.

After 15 years, the print version of Hip Mama is getting a new editor!

The Spring '08 issue--the one I'm working on right now--is the last issue of print zine the Hip Mama I'll edit. I plan to stay on as Yo Mama & a consulting editor.

Susan: I've always liked reference books (I am, after all a librarian). When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was the Girl Guides Handbook (when we were in Canada) & later the Girl Scouts Handbook. I went back & read those even after I stopped doing the scouting thing. They were nice reference for all sorts of random things that struck my fancy & I could sit down & read a little bit then wander off to play & use what I just learned about (or not).

When I first found out I was to become a father, I was curious if there were any good books on fatherhood out there. Perhaps I was a little envious of my wife, who seemingly had a mountain of interesting, truthful, down-to-earth books on motherhood -- The Hipmama Survival Guide, The Mother Trip, Mothers Who Think, The Big Rumpus, and many others. I read all of these, but I wanted something of my own, something that talked about fatherhood in the language and experience of the world I lived in. But all I could find was Bill Cosby’s Fatherhood and related titles, and while I don’t have anything against the Coz, he just ain’t my style. He didn’t speak to me.

My new book, HOW TO BECOME A FAMOUS WRITER BEFORE YOU'RE DEAD, is available now – online (http://www.arielgore.com) or at your local independent.

Booklist says it's "One of the snappiest, most useful books a writer for hire is likely to read."

Includes interviews with Julia Alvarez, Ursula Le Guin, Margaret Cho, Dave Eggers, Michelle Tea, and others.

Ayun Halliday emailed to say: "I think it's fantastic, for aspiring and established writers alike!"

Susie Bright says: "Your book is WONDERFUL--encouraging and funny and right on."

And Erika Lopez says: "This book is kick ass! The next best thing to sitting down with some of these folks over beers and talking shop. I love it!"

Maybe you'll love it, too!

THE SUPER-PREGNANT SPRING TOUR STARTS APRIL 12! Please come to one of the shows... All free and kid-friendly! Dates inside...

Inconsolable: A Conversation with Marrit Ingman
By Stacey Greenberg

Marrit Ingman’s memoir on postpartum depression, Inconsolable: How I Threw My Mental Health Out with the Diapers, is on the shelves now. The book is smart, funny, and groundbreaking. She writes honestly about her struggle to effectively parent her high-needs child when all she wanted to do was drive off a highway overpass.

Stacey Greenberg, the creator of the zine Fertile Ground: For People who Dig Parenting recently talked with Marrit via email to discuss the book, talk about the current state of motherhood, and even make fun of Dr. Sears a little.

Reason to celebrate: Issue #2 of the best new zine of 2005 is coming out this week!

A friend brought me a copy of issue #1 of Rad Dad a few months ago & I've been meaning to spread the word. THIS ZINE ROCKS. It's the radical, anarchist, feminist zine by and for rad fathers we've been waiting for. Today I finally got 'round to emailing Tomas, the Rad Dad himself--because someone asked about resources for fathers yesterday when I was reading at the Green Festival in SF --and he wrote back with the good news! Issue #2 coming your way!

And he's looking for submissions for #3! If you identify as a papa, you must contribute!