Magic Life is an interactive online community for (alt-)parents to share stories, ask questions, and support one another in the never-dull, sometimes-harrowing journey of raising our kids. To foster this community, here’s what you’ll find:

• Each month, the blog focuses on a different parenting topic—from nuts-and-bolts stuff like the adoption process and behavior management strategies, to larger issues around defining family and feeling other.
• Each week, I’ll post an excerpt from Magic Lessons related to the current topic.
• Most important, I’ll open the floor for anyone to post their own stories or ask questions related to the current topic. We’ll occasionally have guest contributors, other parents eager to share and promote the discussion.
• Every quarter, anyone who submits a story or question (and includes their email address) will be entered to win a signed copy of Magic Lessons.

There are three ways to submit a story:

• Informally, by leaving a comment on an existing post.
• More formally, by creating a Google Doc and sharing it with me (joe@jmswordsmith.com). I’ll copy the content into a post that week.
• Most formally, by being a guest contributor for the main weekly post. I have a Google Sheet with all the monthly topics, and you can sign up to be that week’s main story. Contact me at joe@jmswordsmith for details.