In this helpful book titled Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, Christina Katz offers solid advice with good humor to show beginning writers who happen to be moms how to achieve their career goals.

The book is divided into four main parts: Preparation, Practice, Professionalism, and Balance. Katz fills these sections with a healthy balance of advice and inspiration. She uses sidebars to guide the reader on such matters as blogging, keeping multiple posts in circulation, and utilizing contacts. Most of Katz’s strategies for breaking into the world of independent journalism are sound. However, her take on the ten minute power nap (“des-nap” as she calls it) is suspect. She recommends “[L]that is, face up, close your eyes and rest for a minute. Set a timer nearby to wake you up in ten minutes and not fall into a deep sleep. ”Unfortunately, as any mom knows, this technique is undone with a touch of the snooze button.

Katz, who is herself a mother, uses analogies that moms can easily identify with. For example, compare the ups and downs of a race to a game of Chutes and Ladders. In the section titled “Seventeen Ways to Avoid the Writer Mama Burnout,” Katz gives moms tips for managing a writing career without driving everyone crazy. Particularly revealing is his suggestion to read for fun. A self-employed mother can easily forget the joy of reading when she is burdened with homework. Taking a break to relax with a good book is the perfect solution for a concerned mother.

In the “Imitate the Attitude of Professional Writer Moms” section, Katz focuses on the qualities and traits that make writing moms successful. Most importantly, it explains “[y]You are a self-directed mom when you don’t need someone else to tell you what to do to achieve your goals. ”In short, any woman who exhibits the determination, altruism, and grace to be a good mother is equally well suited to achieving her career goals. With that in mind, if you dream of being a writer mom, grab this book and get started.