Category Archives: Penned Up

Okay, I’ll admit it.  If you mention Pulp Fiction to me, I immediately think of the movie with John Travolta and some other people.  To be honest, I fall in the I hate it category.  I couldn’t watch it – not because of some moralistic stand, but because it jumped around and didn’t hold my attention or make me care about the characters.  So, if you say Pulp Fiction, I often tune out.  However, I learned some things this past weekend at MidSouthCon.  One of the things I learned about was Pulp Fiction – true Pulp Fiction.

At it’s earliest, Pulp Fiction referred to the type of paper the fiction was printed on.  Pulp paper was the paper that was left over after you made high quality paper.  It was cheap, the ink often smeared, and the pages were a bit yellow.  And on those yellowed pages, what was considered the dross of the literary world was printed.  However, you would be surprised at the names you hear mentioned in the world of Pulp: H.P Lovecraft, Ian Fleming, and Louis L’Amour to name a few.  Today the idea of Pulp Fiction has morphed from meaning things printed on low quality paper to representing a style of story that is fast-paced with larger-than-life characters – a style reminiscent of that found in those yellowed pages.

If you’d like to learn more about Pulp Fiction you can go to Pro Se Press, where you will find information on New Pulp that is being published and a Pulp Obscura page to help you learn about some of the old characters that have been lost to today’s culture.

Today, I am going to MidSouth Con to attend the writers conference.  To say I’m scared would be understating things greatly.  I am also very excited by it.  Thanks to my wonderful friend, Lisa M. Collins, I am on my way.  So, what do I hope to accomplish.  I hope to rid myself of a lot of my fears by really learning from the authors and editors what I need to do in order to give myself a chance in the writing market.

I go with the hopes of being inspired.  And I go with the hopes of making new contacts and friends who will also encourage me in my literary endeavors.  It’s all part of putting my feet to the pavement.  I must learn more about this craft and actively pursue it if it is my dream.  And it is.

So, stay tuned my friends.  There should be some changes a’ comin’!

I’ve shared some poems that others have written in previous Otter blogs, but today I want to share a blog that I LOVE. It is called Fluent Self and is written by Havi Brooks and her business partner Selma. (I suggest ignoring the rest of this blog and following the previously provided link to her blog. But if you want to know what you’ll find, read on.) When I first found this site, I sighed a big sigh of relief and thought, “Finally! Someone knows what I struggle with.” She has creative and fun ways to talk about things that keep you from “the thing, you know THE THING” – whatever it is that you want, desire, plan, or wish you could do. You know the thing that you’re always saying you are going to do some day. Yes, that’s it. She talks about Destuckification and Biggification.

She works at a Playground and is a Pirate Queen. She has a First Mate and a whole crew, who help her out. When she gets stuck it is usually a problem with one of her monsters, so she sits down to talk with her monster. She teaches you how you too can do these things. If you read and study her blog without much comment, you’re considered a lurker mouse – and she loves and encourages her mice. In face, that’s what I love most about her blog is how encouraged and loved you feel just reading the blog even though she doesn’t know who you are. It’s quite a gift.

Now if you’re reading this and you think it sounds absurd, don’t go. You’re probably not the right person for her and really she doesn’t want the negativity. However, if it sounds cute, creative, fun, interesting, or wonderfully bizarre, go and check it out. I don’t fawn much or often, but I love this blog.

Oh, I forget. There are some of you who will look at the blog and wonder if I’ve become a Shivanaut and wonder what that even is. The answer is no. That is not for me, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t glean from all the wonderful knowledge that she shares. Also, I believe that dance and/or movement can open the creative side of your mind just as much as any other creative activity can also help exercise that part of your brain. Of course with dance, you get all the benefits of physical exercise as well.

My wonderful husband decided this weekend to give up his office and make it into a writing/creative room for me. This has led to paint, and curtains, and furniture rearrangements. He is being supportive of my desire to write and to create. This also comes about a week or two after a friend and I discussed the importance of my committing time and space in my life for writing. When I told my dear friend, she began to pray that this would come about. Be wary when faithful friends pray for you, things begin to change.

Well, I now have a friend praying for my writing and my husband creating a place for me to write. The only thing left is to become committed to my own goal. Yes, it is possible to have a goal and not commit to it. If you’ve ever broken a New Year’s Resolution or cheated on your weight loss plan, you understand. The passage of time is often my biggest motivator. Well, today I had a little awakening. I’ve been “planning” to write a book since I could hold a pencil. I’m about to turn 38, which puts me just a few years from 40. I still have not finished a book!! It is WAY past time. I do not want to be 40 without a book written whether it’s been accepted or rejected is irrelevant (although I can hope for the former).

So now I have a room to write, accountability to write, and a deadline! I think it’s time for me to write.