Geralyn Broder Murray
Author + Essayist
Writing about family, identity & connection
ABOUT GERALYN
Geralyn Broder Murray is the creator of the illustated Pea to Pumpkin pregnancy and baby journals (Sourcebooks), which together have sold over 125,000 copies. Her essays on home, motherhood, aging and lifelong friendship have appeared in Huffington Post, Newsweek, USA Today, The Sacramento Bee and other publications. Geralyn's 2024 Huffington Post essay reached more than 55,000 readers and was subsequently featured by BuzzFeed and Yahoo. Before becoming an executive communications writer, she was an advertising copywriter and associate creative director for over 25 years.
She received a 2025 Creative Growth Grant from the City of Sacramento, and her fiction was named a semifinalist for UCLA Extension’s 2026 Allegra Johnson Prize. Geralyn lives in Sacramento with her husband, close to their two young-adult children. When she isn't writing or drawing, she's usually walking her dog Archie or running late to yoga.
Geralyn is represented by Rachel Neumann of Wave Literary.
BOOKS
THE PEA TO PUMPKIN PREGNANCY AND BABY JOURNALS
Published by Sourcebooks, the Pea to Pumpkin pregnancy and baby journals are illustrated keepsakes designed to capture the moments of pregnancy and early parenthood. The pregnancy journal follows a baby’s growth week by week—from pea to pumpkin—while its companion baby journal carries the story through the first year with prompts for milestones, memories and photos. The journals have sold over 100,000 copies.
SELECTED WRITING
HUFFINGTON POST, March 2024
My father came back into my life via the post office.
"During the summer I turned 14, I came home to a typewritten letter waiting for me on my bedspread. My dad had entered a drug treatment program — part of his rehabilitation was writing to his family about what he’d been through, and to apologize if necessary. Apologies were necessary."
GROWN & FLOWN, November 2020
Whoever said 50 is the new 40, was not considering my neck.
"I've had more panic attacks and crying spells this year than ever before – and none of it had to do with turning 50. With the pandemic, civil unrest and the fires here in California, rounding the corner on five decades barely merited a cold sweat – or even a hot flash (not yet, at least).
THE JEWISH JOURNAL, December 2021
"Beverlywood Bakery is where my grandmother — my Bubby — and I got off the public bus after shopping at the May Company department store every Saturday of my childhood. I always got a free rainbow sprinkled cookie if I was quiet while Bubbie selected her goods: challah (medium-sliced), marble loaf, rye bread (thin-sliced) and always, chocolate chip rolls."
SACRAMENTO BEE, January 2024
In a divided world, sometimes the best place to connect is on the road.
"Whether it’s the absence of the distractions of normal life or simply a gift from the universe, the people placed in my path on these travels have uniquely expanded my world, and their impact has stayed with me long after the trips are a distant memory."
USA TODAY, January 2022
Sex and the City's "And Just Like That" gets longtime friendship right
"My own group of besties have gone through divorce and sickness, big wins and life-changing losses. Unlike the "Sex and the City" ladies, we do not share the same city or even the same state, but we stay connected in all the ways we can. We stretch our 30-year friendship across ourselves like a cozy blanket on a cold night."
NEWSWEEK, May 2021
Science supports Biden's plan for Federal Family Leave
"When I heard about the proposal, what immediately came to mind was an old photograph I discovered recently of my mother lovingly holding my newborn self; seeing it had been a revelation—and a confirmation of why I'd always known how much I was loved, despite having a difficult childhood. I'd previously thought the degree of my mother's love helped cushion me from the impact of an absent father, an angry stepfather and an awkward teenage-hood; now it made me wonder about the power of love as protection."