LOVE LETTER FROM LESLIE LEHR

Why You Should Join the Pulpwood Queen Family

Why do I love the International Pulpwood Queens & Timber Guys Book Club? Let me count the ways…. Fourteen years. Three Girlfriend Weekends. An enormous family of friends. Riding the rollercoaster of being a writer through the ups and downs of agents, publishers, divorce, motherhood, remarriage, cancer, and Covid, there is one thing that helped me hang on: my tiara.

When I first discovered Beauty and the Book in 2007, the hot pink website matched the new paint on my sad single mom-trying-to-be-sexy bedroom walls. I already had a tiara and pink feathered boa, required by a friend who dragged me to my first post-divorce New Year’s Eve party. I also had a new novel, Wife Goes On, about how friends make all the difference. So I read The Pulpwood Queens Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to Life, emailed Kathy L. Murphy, and joined the club. It was a match made in book heaven.

Does anyone know how Kathy does it all? Is she solar powered or super-powered? By 2009, when I treated myself as a birthday present to fly from California to Louisiana, drive a rental car to Texas, and book an adorable room at the Delta Inn B&B to attend my first Girlfriends Weekend in the tiny town of Jefferson, we had emailed at least 68 times. (That’s how many I saved, anyway.) We traded personal stories of mothers & daughters and professional tales of business & books. And it wasn’t just me who felt special. That weekend - the first time I saw crocodile on a restaurant menu - I met authors River Jordan, Melanie Benjamin, Barbara Claypool White, Karin Gillespie, and so many more who all felt special. And now, they were all special to me.

I arrived at Girlfriends Weekend without knowing anyone except Kathy, whom I’d never actually met. But our tiaras made us all royalty, readers and authors alike. Jane Porter shared her sweet social media person, who helped me for years. Kaya McLaren stopped on a road trip to visit me in LA and taught me about eating organic. Local members started a monthly meet-up. So many new friends! And oh, so many good books to read and recommend!

I couldn’t resist encouraging Caroline Leavitt, a hardcore vegetarian New Yorker, to brave this crazy southern weekend soon after. We’d met years earlier while teaching in the Writers Program at UCLA, and she was always generous. In fact, she may have been the one who pointed out the original Beauty & the Book website. But she had never attended…. and she loved it. After that, I was sick for a few years. When I started going to conferences in a wig to promote my new novel, What A Mother Knows, I met Marci Nault. We became roommates at the Girlfriend Weekend in 2014, dressed as bobby-soxers to serve the traditional Friday night dinner. With a head covered in Chemo Curls, I had a blast playing Audrey Hepburn to Jamie Ford’s Hunter Thompson at the Saturday night Gala. From the Elvis impersonator to book clubs in matching costumes, the theme is always fun.

The mood remained long after unpacking my tiara at home. When North Carolinian, Denise Kiernan was in LA unexpectedly, I wasn’t able to see her. But I was pleased to offer her my home office for the afternoon; this is the level of trust between “girlfriends.” Becky Aikman and her husband, now bicoastal, double date with my husband and me whenever they’re in town. Julie Cantrell and I share a close personal friendship despite the distance between us. Pulpwood Queens support each other like family.

When A Boob’s Life; How America’s Obsession Shaped Me… And You got a publishing deal on the eve of the Covid-19 lockdown, I was both elated and deflated. Gone was any chance of a book tour, public speaking, or traditional promotion. I’d spent five years on this book, switched agents and publishers, and was attracting attention from producer Salma Hayek for HBO Max. They needed to view the project as important. It wasn’t important at all compared to the mortal risk of a pandemic. Yet in the face of disaster, we must live on. So I put on my tiara. I contacted the friends I’d made on the Pulpwood path and traded reviews, events, even online interviews. And of course, I called Kathy. Not only did she immediately understand the message of my memoir, but she shared boob stories of her own.

Sure enough, our Queen was up to the challenge of celebrating life and literacy during lockdown. She created a Zoom Slumber Party for the 2021 International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Girlfriends Weekend that was not only fun, but serves as a template for international participation in the future. It was an honor to have A Boob’s Life featured as Book of the Month in May. And now there are new ways to share our mutual love of reading, from Breathless Bubbles & Books to the Books & Film Club to this fabulous magazine, Reading Nation. (And if you miss anything live, it’s all on Kathy’s Youtube channel.) I’m grateful to all the people who contribute so much time and effort, both behind the scenes and those I’ve had the pleasure of working with, from Jonathan Haupt to Mandy Haynes. As the world opens again, I am proud to label every book with a hot pink Pulpwood Queen sticker.

Let’s just agree that Kathy L. Murphy is gift to readers and writers. She is proof that one person can make a difference. The importance of literacy cannot be understated – it spreads entertainment, education and empathy. This is a path to world peace. And, lucky for us, it also creates a community of respect, friendship and love. Grab a tiara and join us!