Recent Publications
The Book
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Uphill Both Ways: Hiking Toward Happiness on the Colorado Trai
One grouchy husband. Three reluctant kids. Five hundred miles of wilderness. One and a half centuries of exploitation of natural resources. And one mom, determined to escape the humdrum existence of modern parenting and a toxic work environment for the family adventure of a lifetime.
If you put Terry Tempest Williams and Cheryl Strayed and Kelly Corrigan in a room together, this is the book they would write. I loved it. ~ Catherine Newman, author of CATASTROPHIC HAPPINESS In language both witty and lush, [Lani] vividly portrays this remarkable terrain while also sharing a personal story of self-examination and persistence. UPHILL BOTH WAYS gripped me from its hopeful start to its jubilant finish. ~ Aaron Hamburger, author of NIRVANA IS HERE |
Uphill Both Ways is a memoir about escaping the disappointments of midlife while forging connections with nature and family in the wilderness and confronting the damage humans have caused to the natural world.
Essays
- "Our River" Spire: The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability, Spring 2026
- "The Saltwater Cure" Echoes in the Fog: Literary Reflections on the Liminal Spaces of Maine's Coast, December 2025
- "Eight Kinds of Joy on the Colorado Trail" More than Hope: Lessons from the Colorado Trail, July 2025
- "Joyful Noise" Spelt Magazine, Issue 11, December 2024
- "Walking in Place" Still Point Arts Quarterly, Fall 2024
- "At Home in the Trees" Northern Woodlands, Summer 2024
- "Fledging Season" Labor of Love: A Literary Mama Staff Anthology, January 2024
- "Faith in a Seed" Rooted 2: The Best New Arboreal Nonfiction, Summer 2023 (reprint)
- "Inflection Point: The Birth of a Mother Writer" Literary Mama, March/April 2023
- "Five Hundred Miles" Deep Wild, July 2022 (reprint)
- "Alligator Pear" Stonecrop Review, June 2022
- "Stay Together, Learn the Flowers, Go Light" The Art of Everyone, May 2022
- "Faith in a Seed" Spire: The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability, April 2020
- "Persistence Is the Thing with Fins" A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis, Littoral Books, Dec 2019
- "Memento Vivere" Still Point Arts Quarterly, Winter 2018
- "The Sparrow's Song" The Sunlight Press, July 2018 (Pushcart Prize nominated)
- "Pugnacious Beasts" Zoomorphic, October 2017
- "Individuality, Mutuality, and a Game of Twister" Multiples Illuminated, Vol. II, August 2017
- "The World in Their Hands" The Maine Review, June 2017
- "Five Hundred Miles" Mothers Always Write, March 25, 2017
- "Post-Twin Stress Disorder" Multiples Illuminated, March 2017
- "No Fun" The Manifest Station, March 2017
- "I'll Be There For You" Grown and Flown, January 2017
- "Monarch Summers" Snowy Egret, Spring-Autumn 2016
- "How I Went from Domestic to Wild" Role Reboot, September 2016
- "The Big Night" Coffee + Crumbs, September 2016
- "Love Bugs" Mothers Always Write, May 2016
- "One Cake or Three?" Brain, Child, March 2016
- "The Chickens" Mutha Magazine, March 2016
- "The Twins and The Pendulum" Brain, Child, February 2015
- "A Place in Mind" Northern Woodlands, Winter 2014
- "Here Be Dragons" Motherlode: Essays on Parenthood, KY Story, October 2014
- "Memento Mori" Mutha Magazine, May 2014
- "The Place Where You Live" Orion, January/February 2014
- "Catch-22" About Place Journal, November 2013
- "This Good Field" Kindred, Fall 2013
- "Raising Private Milo" Brain, Child Magazine, Spring 2010 (Editor's Picks - 15 Favorite B,C Archives, March 2015)
Short Stories
- "The Rest of the Story" Finalist, CrimeFlash Fiction Contest, 2024 Maine Crime Wave, June 2024
- "Two Cent Bridge" Writing Waterville Chapbook, Waterville Creates, May 2024
- "The Quilt" Willows Wept Review, September 2020
- "Confluence" This Side of the Divide, Baobab Press, February 2019
- "Toy Story" If Mom's Happy, Cwtch Press, May 2017
- "Boy Trouble" Brain, Child, February 2016
- "Stars Come Down" Saltfront, Fall 2015
- "Measuring Rain" Literary Mama, October 2008
Freelance Writing
- "Hit the Beach this Winter" Green & Healthy Maine Winter 2025
- "People-Powered Science: How Volunteers Add to Our Understanding of the Natural World" Green & Healthy Maine Summer 2025
- "Oh, What a Night! Exploring Maine's Winter Wilds after Dark" Green & Healthy Maine Winter Guide, Winter 2024
- "Discover Maine's Undersea World" Green & Healthy Maine Summer Guide, Summer 2024
- "Stories in the Snow" Green & Healthy Maine Winter Guide, Winter 2023
- "Get to Know Maine’s Native Butterflies" Green & Healthy Maine Summer Guide, Summer 2023
- "Hidden Hazards: The Chemical Footprint of a Plastic Bottle" Defend Our Health, May 2023
- "River Revival: Clean Water Act 50th Anniversary" Green & Healthy Maine Summer Guide, Summer 2022
- "Citizen Scientists Key to Maine's Clean Lakes" Green & Healthy Maine Summer Guide, Summer 2022
- "10 of Maine's Best Lakes to Visit" Green & Healthy Maine Summer Guide, Summer 2022
- "Sled Dogs and Search and Rescue" Maine Wilderness Guide, Winter 2020
- "Sharing a Love of Wilderness" and "Naturalist's Notebook" Maine Wilderness Guide, Fall 2018
- "Jargon: Anatomy of a Mountain" TrailGroove, August 2018
- "Rachel Carson's Maine" Green & Healthy Maine Summer Guide, Summer 2018
- "Becoming a Trail Naturalist" TrailGroove, June 2018
- "Reduce, Recycle, Retire" Green & Healthy Maine Homes, Spring 2018
- "Thru-Hiking en Famille" TrailGroove, September 2017
- "Jargon: Mountain Pass" TrailGroove, June 2017
- "Family Outings for April Vacation," Whitefield News, April 2017
- "How Being a Mom Helped Me Hike 500 Miles" Parent Co., March 2017
- "Have your Snow and Eat it Too" Whitefield News, January 2017
- "Classic Children's Books for a Winter Day" Whitefield News, December 2016
- "The Family Guide to Getting Outside in Winter" Whitefield News, January 2016
- "Four Days at Russell Pond" TrailGroove, November 2014
- "Skinny Big Hill Hard Mountain: The Labor and Love of Hiking with Children" TrailGroove, October 2014
Writing about Writing
- "Writers on Not Writing" The Masters Review, May 2024
- "Finding Answers in Nature" Literary Mama blog, February 2024
- "Growing an Essay" Rooted 2 Substack, December 2023
- "From the Editor" Literary Mama, May/June 2022
- "100 Words of Writing Advice" Literary Mama blog, January 2022
- "From the Editor" Literary Mama, July/August 2021
- "From the Editor" Literary Mama, January/February 2021
- "From the Editor" Literary Mama, July/August 2020
- "From the Editor" Literary Mama, January 2019
- "From the Editor" Literary Mama, September 2018
- "How to Write with (or Despite) Kids" WOW! Women on Writing, March 2017
- "Advice to Writers from 80s Hair Bands" Beyond Your Blog, March 2016
- "Write in Your Car" Literary Mama, August 2015
- "Two Takes on AWP" Literary Mama, February 2015
- "The Mother as She Writes" Literary Mama, May 2014
- "Nature Journaling as Meditation" Rhythm of the Home, Winter 2010
Author Interviews and Book Reviews
- "The Ever-Evolving Journey: An Interview with Majka Burhardt" Literary Mama, September/October 2023
- "Where Are They Now? An Interview with Anne Liu Kellor" Literary Mama blog, March 2023
- "'Mother Brain' delves into the science of how our brains are rewired by parenthood" Maine Sunday Telegram, October 2022
- "A Review of World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil" Literary Mama, May/June 2021
- "A Review of The Beginning of Everything by Andrea J. Buchanan" Literary Mama, May 2020
- "A Conversation with Caitlin Shetterly" Literary Mama, January 2019
- "A Conversation with Tomas Moniz" Literary Mama, June 2017
- "Adopting a Son, Becoming a Mother: A Review of Susanne Antonetta’s Make Me a Mother" Literary Mama, March 2014
- "Father Nature: Two New Books on Dads, Kids, and the Natural World" Literary Mama, June 2013
- "Shake off the Stupor and Get to Work: A Review of Raising Elijah" Literary Mama, September 2011
- "Midlife Rebirth: A Review of Shamrock and Lotus and The Life You Imagined" Literary Mama, April 2011
Copyright © 2017 Andrea E. Lani. All rights reserved.