Tracy Beckerman Finds Her Writing Voice While 'Lost in Suburbia'

Tracy Beckerman has a gift.

The numerous awards to her credit show that the gift is writing, the humorous prose that appears on her blog and in newspapers across the country. But Beckerman believes a big part of her gift is being able to find the humor in parenting in the first place.

The New Providence resident writes the syndicated humor column Lost in Suburbia, which is carried weekly by the NJN Publishing Group, the North Jersey Media Group, The Mahopac News, and the Gatehouse Media chain.  In total, her column is carried by more than 450 newspapers, more than 250 websites and reaches an audience of nearly 10 million readers in 25 states.

Her writing is about her life, her family, her kids, and the funny, sometimes embarrassing, bits of daily living that everyone can relate to. That, she says, is what has made her writing such a success.

“Before I started writing the column, I got bogged down in how hard it was to be a mom,” Beckerman says. “But then I realized just how funny they are. Kids are hilarious. If you can just stop and forget about the fact that you’re exhausted and covered in old food, you can appreciate the humor in it. When I did that, I learned how to enjoy being a mom so much more. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s really funny, too.”

In her pre-mom days, Beckerman was a writer and producer in the television industry for ten years, managing the Advertising and Promotion department at WCBS-TV New York, where she created award-winning TV and radio scripts for such clients as Lifetime Television, WCBS-TV, CBS and NBC.

“It was a great fit for me,” she says. “I absolutely loved doing it. We had no kids, we lived in the city, it was great.”

But when she got pregnant with her son, the Beckermans decided to move to the suburbs and Tracy would become a full-time mom.

“It was good in concept, but I didn’t realize how completely exhausting it was going to be,” she says. “I love being a mom and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. But after awhile, I found myself wanting to do something more creatively stimulating. I had done some writing in college, so I knew I had the skill, but I needed to find a way to apply it so that I could be home with the kids, write while they were in school, then be a full-time mom when they came home.”

It may sound like a pipe dream to some, but Beckerman made it work.

“My son came home from kindergarten one day and told me something funny that happened at school,” she says. “I wrote it up and sent it to the Independent Press, and they ran it. Later I wrote another one, and they ran it. Then they asked me if I had anymore, and I said 'sure.' That’s when I started doing it weekly.”

A couple of editors from the Independent Press’s sister papers contacted the Independent Press editors and asked if they could run the column, too.

“I thought, 'yippee, I’m syndicated!'” Beckerman says.

On the surface, it seemed she was well on the road to making her dream come true. But Beckerman found that there was one audience who wasn’t all that thrilled with what she was doing: her family.

“I write about being a mom in the suburbs,” she says. “At some point, my kids figured out what was going on, and that didn’t set too well. When my daughter was younger, I wrote a column about her sleeping with a blanky. Someone at school said something to her and she came home so upset with me. That’s when I realized I need to be more circumspect, but I still didn’t quite get it. But later, we were out shopping and a mom recognized me and stopped me to tell me how much she likes my writing. And as we start walking away, I heard my daughter say, ‘Another fan for the backstabber.’”

Beckerman said when she writes anything about her kids or her husband now, they have the right of first refusal.

“My husband says I’m not allowed to throw him under the bus,” she said. “My family is happy that I’m doing something I love, but they still aren’t all that thrilled I’m writing about them.”

While her newspaper success was flourishing, Beckerman decided to self-publish a book that is a collection of her columns. The book, "Rebel Without A Minivan," sold pretty well, and every time she did a speaking engagement, she would take some with her and would always sell out.

That success lead to her being invited to appear on "The Today Show," followed by other television shows. She was asked to speak at the "Erma Bombeck Humor Writers Conference," and when "CBS This Morning" did a piece on the conference, they decided to profile Beckerman. She was interviewed by writer and comedian Mo Rocca.

As her writing career really started to take off, Beckerman decided to get a literary agent. Once she found an agent, she wrote a book proposal and got an offer. Her “Momoir” is coming out in 2013.

“The book is going to be about how I used to be a cool city chick, then how I started driving the kids to school in my bathrobe, then how I got my cool back,” she explains. “After you get stopped by a cop in your bathrobe, you realize it’s time to make some changes.”

The dream job Beckerman created for herself so many years ago is in full bloom, and she says she’s happy.

As for her family, she says that while they aren’t thrilled to be her subject matter, they’re happy she’s doing something she loves.

“For the better part of their childhood, I’ve chronicled their lives,” she says. “I feel like I’ve kept a diary of all that happened. It may be self-aggrandizing, but I think I’m doing them a favor. It’s a gift to them and a gift to myself.”