Heather and Margie met in a graduate writing class at Butler University in Indiana a million years ago, long before Heather’s son had a driver’s license and Margie’s oldest could tie his shoes. Heck, Margie’s youngest was still a bun in the oven back then. The two ladies bonded when a young classmate mocked the brilliance of Def Leppard in his writing. Both mamas came to the hair band’s defense and in that moment, they discovered they were the only students in the program who had danced to Def Leppard at junior rom and who could commiserate on the horrors of little boys and toilet seats. They quickly became pals. And, when the two learned they shared an insane love of children’s literature, their fate was sealed. They’ve been BFFs ever since.
However, the dynamic duo feared for their future, when Margie and her family relocated to New England for her husband’s job. That’s when Heather had the brilliant idea to turn their coffee klatch book chats and wine-fueled writing symposiums into a podcast. With three sons in three different age groups, the two ladies cover a lot of ground in homework reading alone. Add to that, Heather’s love for teaching pre-school and Margie’s long history as a middle school teacher and these Def-Leppard-loving broads have a lot to talk about.
With that said, please keep in mind that the mamas’ book recommendations and commentary are solely the opinions of the hosts. And, although they believe their opinions to be supreme, it’s perfectly fine to disagree. They’d love to hear from you as long as you’re not mean-spirited.
Two Lit Mamas’ Bios:
Margaret Özemet is drawn to the humor in everyday life which may be why she has a long history of laughing at inappropriate moments. She’s a teacher, writer, mother to two wild boys and wife to a crazy Turkish engineer whose insane ideas and projects provide more than enough writing material for her. If her family’s unbelievable antics weren’t enough, she has a geographical footprint that includes a farm in Iowa, urban Philadelphia, coastal Turkey, suburban Indianapolis and the south shore of Massachusetts from which to draw crazy tales.
Margie has spent more than 20 years as a middle school teacher, teaching a range of subjects, from art and theatre to science and special education, in four states and two countries. She’s an advocate for special education and educational equality, especially for Deaf and Hard of Hearing kids like her son. She’s also a die-hard proponent of progressive education.
Margie’s writing has been seen on numerous online sites and magazines as well as print journals including New Letters, Hippocampus, Dr. Oz Magazine, Redbook, and The Good Men Project, and anthologies like Knocked Up Abroad Again and Once Upon an Expat to name a few. Her middle grade novel Team Tenacious Versus the Spy Pod will be available on Amazon this summer. For true tales of her absurd, bi-cultural life on the shores of Massachusetts her husband The Turk and their modern-day Lucy and Ricky adventures, check out her blog, Laughter is Better Than Prozac –laughterisbetterthanprozac.wordpress.com.
Heather Kauffman-Peters is a history buff. She became one after hearing her grandpa’s stories of life in a one-room schoolhouse, surviving the Great Depression, and flying on missions as a belly gunner in WWII. Many of his stories took place on a farm in rural Illinois near where Heather grew up. As a farm girl, she could easily imagine the mischief her grandpa and his friends got into. She only wished she could’ve been there, a wish that inspired her to write so she could join in the fun through the magic of story.
After graduating from her own small-town school, Heather left the farm for big city life, attending college in southern California. After traveling the world and living in places across the U.S., she settled in Indianapolis where she lives today with her husband, son, and one spoiled labradoodle named Joy.
She has a master’s degree in creative writing and a bachelor’s degree in English/Journalism. She is the former editor of Turtle Magazine for Preschoolers, Humpty Dumpy magazine (for ages 5-8), and Jack and Jill magazine (for ages 8-12) and is the author of Blizzard on the Plains, a middle grade adventure novel (Available on Amazon). She also works part-time as a preschool teacher and serves on the Indiana state board for preschool cooperatives.