The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate Twenty Years

Published by Brother Mockingbird and edited by Pulpwood Queen Author, Susan Cushman, this collection of essays by authors, book club members, and supporters of the Pulpwood Queens is a love letter to the founder and CEO, Kathy L. Murphy. An ode to the written word and the place that literature and reading play in all of our lives.

Thank you Brother Mockingbird Publishing for letting us share some stories!

As we’re getting ready for our 2022 Virtual Pulpwood Queen Book Club Convention/Girlfriend Weekend I thought this was the perfect time to share an excerpt from one of my favorites from The Pulpwood Queens Celebrate Twenty Years anthology - enjoy!

Where Stories and Storytellers Flourish by Julie Cantrell

….When that first novel hit shelves, I did not understand the “game” of publishing, as many have called it. Nor did I understand the cruelty that some people can dish out when a debut novel finds its way to the New York Times bestseller list. The words from a few fellow authors were harsh and unexpected, and while I have never told anyone about these heartbreaking blows, Kathy seemed to know they were par for the course. She hugged me and told me how much my story meant to her, and in her kind reassurances, she offered the balm I hadn’t even realized I had been seeking. In that one noble act, she made me believe I not only had delivered a story that had worth, she made me believe I had every right to be there with the “real authors,” and that yes, I had every right to be recognized as one of them too, just as much right as the other scribes in the room, even though I had never taken a writing class. Kathy dared to believe in me, and whether she knew it or not she gave me the confidence to start believing in myself. My admiration for her ran deep from the beginning, and she has served as a steady friend and mentor to me ever since. That first weekend proved life changing for me. Those authors and readers I met in Jefferson have shaped my spirit in ways I never could have imagined. Many of them have become some of my closest friends in the years since, and I now look forward to returning each January to Girlfriend Weekend, as if it’s a family reunion of sorts, a place for me to reconnect with my soul sisters. After my initial Girlfriend Weekend, I returned home with a new lens. This trip had been my first time to travel away from my family and it awakened me to an entirely new reality, one in which women could be completely, uninhibitedly free to express ourselves as intelligent, brave, creative spirits who loved to dance and laugh and dress in silly costumes just for the fun of it. There was no judgment allowed at Girlfriend Weekend. No shame. No criticisms. No condescending arrogance. No pressures to conform. All sorts of opinions were voiced, openly, and no one dared bat an eye as words flowed and ideas were shared. And that’s Kathy’s magic. She has this incredible ability to bring together people from all walks of life—from the most liberal-minded creatives to the most conservative minded southerners. People who have never roamed more than a few miles from where they were born to globetrotting internationals who are recognized as our nation’s literary elite. People who have never written anything and those who have stood on stages as one of the world’s most accomplished authors. She then puts us all together in feather boas and rhinestone tiaras and leopard skin leotards, dancing with us under a disco light where we all dare to celebrate our combined love of story. Story. That’s what it all comes down to in the end. The fact that every one of us has a story. And by writing and reading and sharing and listening, we learn to love one another through the power of story. Story heals us and inspires us and, ultimately, story unites us. Kathy took a gamble on me when I was fresh out of the chute. I was the underdog, the one with the unproven track record, the long shot. But Kathy believed in me because she believed in my story. And I know I’m not the only one she has supported whole heartedly through this crazy maze of publishing. Kathy not only dared to read my book, she dared to share my book with others by selecting it for one of her recommended book club reads. In doing so, she helped my novel find readers who likely would have never discovered my work otherwise. In the end, this little story that could launched my career as an author. And for each of my books published after Into the Free, Kathy has shown the same loyal support and enthusiasm. If there’s anything rare in this world anymore, it’s that kind of steady friendship that aims to elevate another soul while selflessly seeking nothing in return. That’s Kathy, and as we all know, such a positivity reverberates, and thus, the Pulpwood Queens as a whole exude this same kind of generosity where love one another is the only rule. If you ever get a chance to meet Kathy, you’ll be glad you did. And if you ever get a chance to join us at the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend