Writing about Joan Didion for California Writers Club

The current CWC quarterly bulletin features my spotlight on Joan Didion – in advance of speaking on a special panel dedicated to her life and art at the upcoming 29 Palms Book Festival.

I taught Joan Didion’s magnificent memoir The Year of Magical Thinking for years at Los Angeles City College in the classrooms of adult students primarily from East Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Surprisingly, or not, despite the wide gulfs in socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, my students connected with her.

As a memoirist, I am deeply influenced by her writing, as in my own memoir, I tell a story of a modern, i.e., multicultural LGBTQ California family facing a zeitgeist brought on by fundamental dysfunctions in California’s child welfare system. Like Didion, I spotlight deep social issues via personal experience and extensive research.

You can read my CWC article here. (It is a shorter version of the article I wrote for the book festival catalogue.) This is my third article published by the club quarterly.

Founded in 1909, California Writers Club is one of the nation’s oldest professional clubs for writers. With 22 branches throughout the state offering workshops, contests, and conferences, CWC “is dedicated to educating writers of all levels and disciplines in the craft of writing and in the marketing of their work.”

On Spirit Talk Show: Bedtime Stories for Grown-Ups

This was a very special interview, as Doyle isn’t just a great conversationalist, he affirms the stories he chooses to profile on his show. A very warm and supportive interview.

Listen here.

Spirit Talk Show
Season 7, Ep. 14

Description

There is a kind of love that asks you to give yourself completely to something that is not yet given to you. Foster parents know this love. It is patient in a way most love does not have to be. It is brave in a way most love never has to be asked to be. And it does not make headlines — it just keeps showing up in the dark, in the kitchen, at three in the morning, holding a small person and refusing to let the uncertainty in the room become the uncertainty in the embrace.

That is the love Lane Igoudin has lived.

In this episode, Lane and I talk about what it really means to parent through uncertainty, the moment that almost broke him, what he has learned about loving children whose future is decided by strangers on a timeline you do not control, and why he believes the foster system as it stands does not serve the kids it claims to protect.

He will tell you he is not a hero. I will let you decide that for yourself.

Find Lane and his book A Family, Maybe.

Now go make a story worth telling. Goodnight.

Thank you for listening.

AILA 2027 talk proposal accepted

“Embodying the Politic: Autoethnographic and Dialogic Inquiry in Queer Parenting Memoir”

22nd World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA 2027)

Vancouver, BC, Canada | August 9-13, 2027

Paper Presentation #431

Strand E32 Applied Linguistics Methods and Methodologies / Narrative Analysis

Abstract

The present study applies the critical autoethnographic approach to the presenter’s LGBTQ parenting memoir A Family, Maybe to elucidate multiple meaning perspectives affecting the writer’s memoiristic narrative as well as dialogical relationships between the narrator and himself as subject, witness, and activist, and between his personal experience and social context.

Proposal

Interweaving personal testimony and social observation, a memoir can provide space for autoethnographic and storytelling inquiries. While writing his gay parenting memoir A Family Maybe (Ooligan Press, Portland State U., 2024; Ophel Press, 2026), the researcher acted out multiple roles as a narrator, subject, witness, social critic, activist, and ethnographer. His book documented the formation of a new family type in the U.S. in the early 2000s – an out LGBTQ family – and the LGBTQ community’s struggle for equal rights during that time, with which the narrator’s family formation narrative was intertwined. His memoir also exposed related social issues such as systemic dysfunctions in the US child welfare and juvenile dependency court systems.

The present study, which appeared in Gabor, Georgina O. (ed.), Writing as Performance, Cambridge Scholars, 2024, analyzes the presenter’s memoir from a secondary, autoethnographic standpoint (Ellis & Bochner 2000, Goode, Lumsden, & Bradford (eds.) 2023, Lapadat 2017). In doing so, it elucidates multiple meaning perspectives (liberal, queer, social reformist, and so on) affecting his memoiristic narrative. This approach also exposes critical dialogical relationships (Blommaert 2015, The Cambridge Introduction to Bakhtin 2021) forming between the narrator and the subject, as well as between the narrated personal experience and its social context.

LACC Collegian Times features my book – and my life

Los Angeles City College’s annual glossy magazine dedicated the centerfold to my adoptive Dad journey. The writer Erica Martinez ably captured its essence, yet she also dug into other areas of my life, specfically about how my refugee background brought me into teaching academic English to non-English speakers and advocating for them. I’d never spoken about it publicly, though I do write about it in my memoir.

I am very impressed with the work the Collegian Times team – professionally-guided LACC journalism students – put into this article. It will remain a meaningful keepsake of my teaching career.

Read the article here.

At the Indie Author Summit

Delighted to share successful strategies for debut authors, drawing on my 3-year media+event promotion campaign for A Family, Maybe.

I divided my workshop-style presentation into pre-launch, launch, and post-publication steps – with specific tips and links. This was my 2nd book marketing talk this one, the previous one being at Southwest Manuscripters, and both times, I had to stay past the given timeslot to answer quesions. Participants also told me that they liked the handout provided with the talk.

This ticketed event was in-person in Ohio and live on Zoom. Many thanks to The Anna Jinja Show (find it on PBS and Pacifica radio affiliates, and in the podcast universe), which hosted the summit and had my book available on site.

My next book marketing talk will be in-person at The 29 Palms Book Festival in November.

It’s a Wrap with Rap podcast interview

“Navigating the Journey of Gay Parenting and Foster Adoption” is the title of the 1-hour episode on which the seasoned podcaster Ron Rapaport interviews me on his “podcast of overcomers and of useful information to better our lives and mental spirit.”

In the episode notes, Ron writes: “Lane’s story is not only inspiring but also serves as a resource for those considering adoption, offering hope and guidance to prospective parents facing similar paths.”

Listen to the episode here.

Episode description:

“Navigating the Journey of Gay Parenting and Foster Adoption”

In this episode of It’s a Wrap with Wrap, Lane Igoudin shares his personal experience as a gay parent navigating the foster-to-adopt process, highlighting the challenges, legal battles, and heartwarming moments he and his husband faced while building their family. Lane talks candidly about his memoir A Family, Maybe, which documents his trials and triumphs of adopting kids from the largest foster care system in the United States. He also provides insights into the societal shifts regarding LGBTQ families and the evolving landscape of adoption laws.

Listeners will gain understanding about the foster adoption process, the importance of having realistic expectations, and the role community support plays in adopting children. Lane’s story is not only inspiring but also serves as a resource for those considering adoption, offering hope and guidance to prospective parents facing similar paths.

On Healthy Mind, Healthy Life podcast

A fulfilling conversation with Avik Chakraborty on his podcast featuring “real stories from humans who’ve walked through something and come back with something worth sharing.”

Listen here.

Episode Summary

“In this heartfelt episode of Healthy Mind, Healthy Life, Lane Igoudin, PhD, an advocate for foster adoption and mindful parenting, recounts his transformative journey navigating the unpredictable foster–adoptive process while emphasizing that true family is built on love, commitment, and shared growth. He discusses the challenges of the adoption system, the importance of nurturing the partnership between parents, and how children can teach us about compassion and self-reflection.

Drawing from personal experience and his book A Family, Maybe, Lane offers actionable insights on embracing uncertainty, building community, and honoring each child’s unique identity.

His wisdom encourages parents to pause, truly observe their children, and invest in what makes them naturally thrive, thereby creating a resilient, loving home.”

Listen here.

Live interview on KLBP-FM

This was my 44th media interview, but the first one done live in a studio, with a microphone dangling in front of me, no breaks for an hour, no edits, so still a new experience.

We taped it live in the KLBP studio in downtown Long Beach on July 5, 2026, on “Tea Time with Cinnamon Rivera: Positive Loving Interviews Live.”

An hour flew by as Cinnamon, her co-host Breeze, and I chatted for about our families, our communities, coming out, and, of course, my book A Family, Maybe.

Cinnamon chose the theme song, “Papa Don’t Preach,” which is ultimately about the choice to be a parent.

The repeat of the show will run on KLBP at 9 am on July 10, 2026, and will likely air again in the future. In the meantime, listen to the interview recording here and let me know what you think!

Pride Month Author Talk at Alpert JCC

Honored to be invited to speak about our family journey and Jewish parenting values at the beautfiul Alpert JCC in Long Beach as their LGBTQ Pride Month speaker.

The JCC did an outstanding job publicizing the talk and provided the space and the refreshments. We had good attendance.

This was my 3rd talk about Jewish parenting in four months, highlighting a particular aspect of the book.

In my presentation, I focused on our family story, representative of the first generation of out LGBTQ families, but also on distinct challenges – and blessings – of being a multicultural, adoptive gay family. I included insights from Jewish cultural and religious texts, with handouts to take home, read excerpts from my book, did the Q&A and book signings – we went on for almost 2 hours!

Thank you for bringing me in to share our story, Jewish Long Beach! And Happy Pride🏳️‍🌈!

Speaking at a Temple Beth Am / IKAR event

I had some pretty big shoes to fill last night.

My talk about raising adoptive kids Jewish was scheduled alongside four others, immediately following a plenary featuring LA’s two most distinguished rabbis: Rabbi Elliot Dorff and Rabbi Sharon Brous.

I was nervous, but I came prepared with an assortment of sources from classical Jewish texts addressing adoption and Jewish parenting, augmenting them with stories from our hands-on experience and passages from my book. My talk was part of the TBALA/IKAR lineup for Shavuot: the Jewish holiday in which we celebrate the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai with an all-night study of holy and relevant texts.

I had a good group of attendees who brought much to the discussion, and in the end, it was exactly what it was meant to be: an intense learning experience.