Writing & Speaking

Sharing my personal story - be it as an author or speaker - didn’t happen over night. In fact, it took years and over 100,000 words writing it all down before sharing it with the world. But I’m so glad I did.

Because when we share our stories, we are given not just the opportunity to see our own as worthy of voice and love, but we also give others the opportunity to see how worthy theirs is.

  • Nuance doesn’t make for good political slogans. So, complex concepts are trimmed into neat and tidy sound bites. But perhaps we need to consider the expense more. The language we use matters, and when the words we use fail to represent the truth we feel, we become emotionally disoriented. Internal chaos is created — which in turn exacerbates political chaos.

    — Laurel Marlantes, The Washington Post

  • Giving birth to death forces you to come to psychological terms with the fullness of life and hold, in one singular moment, the diversity and complexity of the human experience. Finding peace with this seeming impossibility required my brain and soul to stretch wider than I ever knew I could. Although the experience is horrific, it is holy.

    — Laurel Marlantes, The New York Times

  • Look, no one has the answers to the big questions. Is there a soul? When does it enter the body? When does life begin? It’s all so much more than just about a woman’s sovereignty over her own body. Yes – don’t get me wrong, that is and should be – enough. But it’s about sovereignty over your spiritual beliefs, too. The right to get to come up with your own answers to the Big Questions.

    — Laurel Marlantes, The A Chronicles

  • "Women are expected to do and be a million things and execute them all flawlessly," says Laurel Marlantes, a moon circle facilitator in Bainbridge Island, WA. "Our culture still rewards business, but being busy doesn't allow for going deep or connecting with others in a really meaningful way." That's where moon circles come in. "They put it on the calendar for you and give you the opportunity to dive into these spaces that daily life doesn't always have time for."

    — Rachel Kohna, Shape Magazine

  • Writing my story allowed me first to find my truth and now to stand comfortably in it. It's helped me emerge our of a dark night of the soul into a sense of groundedness I never thought possible. It's given me the unforseen gift of becoming my own witness.

    — Laurel Marlantes, “Seasons of Grief”

Media Contributions

Washington Post: OP-ED | I had a late-term abortion. But saying I’m ‘pro-choice’ is a problem.

An Op-Ed I wrote sharing my personal experience and opinion in how the language we use in the abortion debate falls short.
Read Here

Voice of America: TV Interview

Interviewed by Laurel Bowman from Voice of America for her piece on life in America post Roe v Wade.
Watch Here

Nighttime Talk with Niall Boylan: Radio Interview

I join Naill Blylan on his popular podcast Nighttime Talk to share my story and discuss why abortion is such a charged topic, both here in America and in Ireland.
Listen Here

New York Times: Stillbirth – Your Stories

A contribution to a collection of stories on stillbirth written shortly after the stillbirth of my son and under my married name.
Read Here

See More

Work in Progress

Almost six months pregnant, due to emergency medical complications, I released my first pregnancy. It was a choice that came from the greatest love I have ever experienced.

Scared of being misunderstood and raised to never make others uncomfortable though, I kept silent about the truth behind my baby’s stillbirth for years.

Until that is, I began this work in progress, a 76,000-word literary memoir less about abortion and more about what happens after – surviving loss, developing your own spiritual compass, and what it takes to step fully into your truth. Own your story. 

Written with heart, humor, and deep reflection this completed manuscript takes the reader on a mystical, healing love story, giving the complex topic of late-term abortion a new voice.

COMPLETED MANUSCRIPT AVAILABLE FOR AGENTS & PUBLISHERS UPON REQUEST

Request Query/ Submission Here

Early Reader Praise

Laurel has both poetry in her writing and gives the sense that she is just a friend, telling you her story. She brings deep insights to the experiences of her life — most of which I found incredibly relatable and helpful to understanding myself more. She also is a master of her own nervous system and shares her spontaneous techniques as memoir. I found myself joining her as she inhaled and exhaled on this journey to becoming a fuller version of herself. This was a profound read”

— Genevieve P.; Writer & Mother

“Laurel’s writing captures the raw, honest emotion from life’s unimaginable events. The reader can feel the depth and many dimensions of grief, yet simultaneously the sense of hope and peace that comes with acceptance and healing.”

— Michelle M.; Engineer & Mother