Cara Lopez Lee

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Cara Lopez Lee

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Born
in Los Angeles, The United States
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Member Since
July 2009

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Cara Lopez Lee is the author of the memoir They Only Eat Their Husbands (Conundrum Press) and coauthor of the veteran-acclaimed Unexpected Prisoner: Memoir of a Vietnam POW (with Robert Wideman, Graham Publishing Group). Her stories have appeared in such publications as Manifest-Station, Los Angeles Times, and SlackJaw. She’s a winner of The Moth StorySlam and performs in many storytelling shows, including Unheard L.A., RISK!, and Strong Words. She’s nuts about traveling, swing dancing, and hiking. Cara and her husband live in Ventura, California, where they enjoy gardening in their coastal wildlife habitat full of birds, bees, and butterflies. ...more

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Cara Lopez Lee I don't believe in writer's block. Sometimes I write tripe, but I can edit tripe. I can't edit a blank page. This isn't a talent so much as a survival…moreI don't believe in writer's block. Sometimes I write tripe, but I can edit tripe. I can't edit a blank page. This isn't a talent so much as a survival instinct. My early training took place in TV newsrooms, where writer’s block isn’t allowed. Reporters who miss deadlines get fired, so I developed the habit of writing whether I felt inspired or not.

Still, sometimes I struggle for the best words. When that happens, I go back to the basics: “See Dick Run. Run, Dick, Run!” If I write this way for a while, soon the logjam breaks and the words flow again. Later, I go back and rewrite the beginning: “Dick didn't run as if his life depended on it, but as if the lives of everyone he ever let down depended on it..." Or maybe, "See Dick Run" is just what the story needs. Simple, active, and enough to make readers wonder, "Who is Dick running from? What, oh what, did he do?" (less)
Cara Lopez Lee My most recent book is Unexpected Prisoner: Memoir of a Vietnam POW, and as you can tell from the subtitle it's not my story but a collaboration with …moreMy most recent book is Unexpected Prisoner: Memoir of a Vietnam POW, and as you can tell from the subtitle it's not my story but a collaboration with a Vietnam War veteran. Robert Wideman spent an astonishing six years as a prisoner of war. I grew up watching the Vietnam War unfold on TV, so I've always been fascinated with that piece of history. It was an enriching educational experience to learn his story in depth and get a feeling for an aspect of the war I knew little about. More than that, it was a privilege to become friends with the resilient, intelligent, thoughtful man who lived it, someone I would never have gotten to know if it weren't for the story he wanted to share. (less)
Average rating: 4.15 · 143 ratings · 35 reviews · 7 distinct works
25 Years in the Rearview Mi...

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3.98 avg rating — 56 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions
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Unexpected Prisoner: Memoir...

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They Only Eat Their Husband...

4.08 avg rating — 39 ratings — published 2010 — 8 editions
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Where There’s a Will

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings3 editions
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Back In The Real World

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4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions
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The Conundrum

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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
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Crying Out: Separation Anxi...

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More books by Cara Lopez Lee…

Ride the Neighborhood – Cara’s Bicycling Tale at The Otter Story Hour

Personal storytelling is back to the live onstage world, and what a gift to fully interact with storytellers and audiences again. Through the pandemic, I’ve been grateful to use Zoom and other online streaming platforms to stay engaged with community via the art of oral stories. I’ve connected with creative communities I might not otherwise […] Read more of this blog post »
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Published on April 27, 2022 19:48
Good Night, Irene
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Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea
Good Night, Irene
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Soul is Waterproof by Matthew L Moseley
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After the Rapture by Nancy Stohlman
After the Rapture
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Nancy Stohlman’s stories always accomplish my favorite kind of writing magic: upending my idea of what a story can be. After the Rapture reveals Stohlman at the top of her game, bringing to life variegated images, characters, and scenes in a dying wo ...more
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The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda
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Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
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After the Rapture by Nancy Stohlman
After the Rapture
by Nancy Stohlman (Goodreads Author)
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Nancy Stohlman’s stories always accomplish my favorite kind of writing magic: upending my idea of what a story can be. After the Rapture reveals Stohlman at the top of her game, bringing to life variegated images, characters, and scenes in a dying wo ...more
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How to Date a Flying Mexican by Daniel A. Olivas
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I’m going to miss the strange companionship Daniel Olivas’ short stories provided me the past few weeks, so much that I’ll keep his book handy to read again. How to Date a Flying Mexican is the best kind of weird: the stories explore unexpected premi ...more
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The Family Izquierdo by Ruben Degollado
The Family Izquierdo
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In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
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Michael Ondaatje writes the kind of lyrical prose that makes my heart ache: with sadness, or joy, or the yearning to write something so lush and abandoned. It was a treat to go back to his earlier work and meet characters from "The English Patient," ...more
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Everyone Dies Famous by Len Joy
Everyone Dies Famous
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Quotes by Cara Lopez Lee  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“The purpose of my life is not to get what I want. The purpose of my life is to become who I am.”
Cara Lopez Lee, They Only Eat Their Husbands
tags: memoir

“Running away is vastly underrated.”
Cara Lopez Lee, They Only Eat Their Husbands: Love, Travel, and the Power of Running Away
tags: memoir

“Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.”
Cormac McCarthy, The Road

“We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on my body when I am dead.”
Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient

“I don't understand this at all. I don't understand any of this. Why does a story have to be socio-anything? Politics... culture... history... aren't those natural ingredients in any story, if it's told well? I mean...' He looks around, sees hostile eyes, and realizes dimly that they see this as some sort of attack. Maybe it even is. They are thinking, he realizes, that maybe there is a sexist death merchant in their midst. 'I mean... can't you guys just let a story be a story?”
Stephen King, It

“An adventure is never an adventure when it happens. An adventure is simply physical and emotional discomfort recollected in tranquility.”
Tim Cahill

“For whatsoever from one place doth fall,
Is with the tide unto an other brought:
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.”
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene

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The friendliest group on Facebook is now on Goodreads! For all the good stuff and free books head over to https://www.facebook.com/groups/welovememoir ...more
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Comments (showing 1-8)    post a comment »
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message 8: by Cara

Cara Lee Join the "They Only Eat Their Husbands" book tour adventure today! I'm leaving in an hour for Cheyenne, Wyoming, first stop on a tour that will pass through Wyoming, Montana, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, California, & New Mexico. Check my website to see when I'm coming to you: http://www.caralopezlee.com/events.php


message 7: by Cara

Cara Lee Monday, December 6, you can listen in on my radio tour as I share travel tips and talk about "They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love, World Travel and the Power of Running Away." I'll be on the radio during morning drive-time from coast-to-coast. A couple of shows are national. Here's a rundown: http://www.caralopezlee.com/events.php


message 6: by Cara

Cara Lee This Friday is my book launch for "They Only Eat Their Husbands: A Memoir of Alaskan Love World Travel, and the Power of Running Away." Someone at the Lighthouse Writers Blog is already stalking me, and I couldn't be more thrilled: http://lighthousedenver.wordpress.com


message 5: by Cara

Cara Lee You can now order "They Only Eat Their Husbands" from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or http://www.CaraLopezLee.com/books.php .


message 4: by Cara (last edited Sep 23, 2010 10:44AM)

Cara Lee Want a peek into the life of an obsessive-compulsive author who can't stop writing even when she's talking? Check out my guest post today on Author Patricia Stoltey's blog: http://patriciastoltey.blogspot.com/2...


message 3: by Cara

Cara Lee Thanks for finding me, Penelope. I look forward to checking out what you're reading. Penelope wrote: "Thanks for adding me as a friend!"


Penelope Marzec Thanks for adding me as a friend!


message 1: by Jen

Jen Yay - I'm so glad you decided to take the plunge and join!


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