Happy Birthday, Mudroom!
Today marks the 8th birthday of The Mudroom, which came into being in my mind in 2014. I was part of the now-defunct Influence Network, founded by Zondervan authors Jess Connolly and Hayley Morgan, who believed in my vision and sponsored our domain the first year. I wanted it to be a place where everyone was welcome; beginner and seasoned writers, especially those women who didn’t fit into other Christian spaces. I scoured the internet for profound and creative writing and collected a few women who threw in their lot with mine and The Mudroom was launched on February 2, 2015. If you’d like to hear more of the story, check out my podcast: “How Our Longings Lead Us Home.”
That first month hosted a number of incredible writers on the theme of New Leaves and Clean Breaks: Esther Emery, Abby Norman, Ashley Hales, Emily McFarlan Miller, Cara Strickland, and Andrea (Aundi) Kolber. Their trust and investment in this adventure gave me the confidence and motivation I needed to move forward. Every year I was sure it was going to be the last, but every February we were still around.
Eight years in we have built a close-knit community of gifted writers and I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together. Thank you, my readers and writers, for your continued time, attention, submissions, shares, and comments.
Some Mudroom Highlights
A number of our former and current writers have published books; Ashley Hales, Alia Joy, Carolina Hinojosa-Cisneros, Cara Meredith, Karen Gonzalez, Marlena Graves, and Dorothy Greco. Other writers have contributed to anthologies; Myself, Nicole T. Walters, Tanya Marlow, Vina Mogg, Nichole Woo, and Prasanta Verma (who’s putting the finishing touches on her first book with IVP now!)
Top 20 Posts from 2015-2023
This is incredibly powerful writing that you need to read! The titles alone should pull you in.
What Enneagram Type Was Jesus? By Tanya Marlow
When You’re an Enneagram Eight and Don’t Fit the Christian Woman Ideal by Karen Gonzalez
This is Why I’m Single by Melissa Zaldivar
To the Pastor’s Wives Whose Marriages Are Quietly Falling Apart by Ashley Haes
The Regrets of a Middle-Aged Virgin by Anonymous
You’re Marriage Doesn’t Have to Look Like Anyone Else’s by Melanie Dale
When You Feel Like You’re Losing Your Faith by Tanya Marlow
I’m Mentally Ill but It’s Not My Fault by Tammy Perlmutter
Same-Sex Attraction and Me by Tammy Perlmutter
Mourning the Life You Thought You Would Have by Kristel Acevedo
Can a Christian Woman be Hot for Sex? By Heather Walker Peterson
I’m Not Going to Preach About Josh Duggar by Esther Emery
When I Am Bipolar by Alia Joy
I Did Not Want to Go to My Grandmother’s Funeral by Heather Caliri
Masturbation: Difficult Conversations that We Need to Have with Our Children by Dorothy Greco
The Mudroom Podcast
Nichole Woo and I launched The Mudroom Podcast last January; a challenging and laborious project that has brought us so much joy. We hosted some amazing women and were blown away by the beauty we generated together. Check it out here:
Here’s to another year of fantastic writing!
- Announcing our Fall Themes!! - August 29, 2023
- The Good Catastrophe - April 7, 2023
- Do You Want to Get Well? - March 2, 2023