The Power Of The Tiara

With two previous posts in WWWB in 2020 about Kathy L. Murphy’s International Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend, I’m not here to repeat all of the somewhat unbelievable details of this annual book extravaganza … all of which are in fact true, by the way! Rather, I am here to attest that no pandemic was going to keep the Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys down!

After hearing about this storied event for many years, I was delighted to receive an invitation to participate in 2021. My novel, Drawing Lessons, was chosen as a book club favourite and I was also invited to be part of an author panel hosted by interviewer extraordinaire Annie McDonnell of The Write Review. Annie devoted countless hours to working with the panel to create a spectacularly original presentation.  Topping all that off, my good friend Marilyn Simon Rothstein was to be one of the keynote speakers and I did not want to miss that. 

Of course I would go, I said! Why not? I would make the trek to Kathy’s hometown of Jefferson, Texas (population 2533 as of 2018) which had hosted the event for the past twenty years. I checked air travel from Toronto … complicated, but surely worth it.

And I would pack the requisite big hair wig, assorted animal print attire, and without fail … a tiara. 

The motto of the weekend has always been “Where TIARAS and CROWNS are mandatory and reading our good books is the ONLY rule!”

Marilyn Simon Rothstein had attended in 2020 and assured me I would be glad I went. She spoke in glowing terms about how much fun it had been to interact with author friends and meet new ones and to spend time with hundreds of readers from all over the United States. In between entertaining events like the Dolly Parton Lookalike contest, barbecues and line dancing, there were hours of excellent book-related events. Although, she always added, it was also the only time she had gone out in public wearing four bras (multi-coloured and not hers, she stressed) around her neck. Hmmm …

And then along came COVID-19. No conferences. No traveling. 

The Girlfriends Weekend was postponed to 2022. 

And then it wasn’t. 

C.E.O. and Founder, Kathy L. Murphy commands attention in the best possible manner and is nothing short of relentless in her dedication to supporting literacy in every way, shape, and form. Testimony to this are the over 800 book clubs across the USA and 20 other countries that she has organized under the auspices of The Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club Reading Nation.

Thus was born the International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club 2021 Girlfriend Weekend Zoomathon Slumber Party. Got that? It’s a lot to take in. But it happened.  In a big way! 

Once we were all organized, the four days kicked off and never let down. I thought I might pop in occasionally and of course for Annie’s entertaining panel along with Bette Lee Crosby, Nola Nash, Michelle Cox, Claire Fullerton, Diane Zinna, Laura Kemp and narrator/actor Chris Humphreys. Wrong! I was in there for four days straight! We wore our tiaras (always!) and lounging/sleeping attire for non-stop author interviews, book chats, writing workshops and author panels. Annie had organized our panel to the extent we actually wore matching pjs with a book pattern on them. It was a blast as Chris narrated excerpts from our novels and viewers guessed the titles.

Excellent writing/book information was shared during the day. Fun, laughter and engaging conversations were shared in the evenings. Throughout the weekend there was an online auction with all money raised going to support the Pat Conroy Literary Center, honouring one of the greatest American authors of Southern Fiction in the late 20th century. Conroy was also an ardent fan of the Pulpwood Queens Weekend and attended more than once.

And there were awards! Jonathan Haupt of the Conroy Center welcomed Annie McDonnell into the prestigious fellowship of Doug Marlette Literacy Award winners.  Kim Michele Richardson won the 2020 Pulpwood Queens Bonus Book of the Year for The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and Leila Meacham won Book of the Year for Dragonfly. 

This was as busy and interesting and entertaining a book event as any writers’ conference I have attended in person. With everything conducted on a carefully orchestrated schedule on Zoom, the four days went off without a hitch. Kudos to Kathy’s team who worked tirelessly to make it all happen.

There’s no question the electric excitement of the in-person book party in Texas cannot be replicated, and here’s hoping that will happen again. But these four days were positive proof there was more than enough activity to be celebrated as a virtual event. Everything is recorded and can be viewed after the fact on YouTube.

There’s so much more that could be said about the collegiality of the four days, the information and experiences shared, and the numerous excellent novels that were discussed and … and … 

So  I leave you to check out an abundance of more details provided in this intimate recounting of Barbara Linn Probst’s experience in 2020. It’s definitely worth the read! 

Thank you Kathy L. Murphy for proving to me there is power in wearing a tiara for four days. Particularly when you have a community of 80 authors/bloggers/reviewers sharing energy, enthusiasm and experiences all in celebration of the written word. 

“Few things linger longer or become more indwelling than that feeling of both completion and emptiness when a great book ends. That the book accompanies the reader forever from that day forward is part of literature’s profligate generosity.” 
― Pat Conroy, My Reading Life

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A confessed travel-addict, best-selling author Patricia Sands lives in The Blue Mountains, two hours north of Toronto, Canada, and calls the south of France her second home. She is the author of The Bridge Club, the bestselling Love In Provence trilogy, Drawing Lessons, and the Villa des Violettes series.  Represented by Pamela Harty of The Knight Agency, find Patricia at her Facebook or Amazon Author Page or her website where you can subscribe to her monthly newsletter.

THE BRIDGE CLUB, Patricia Sands

A re-release with added content to celebrate the tenth anniversary of The Bridge Club!

*2010 Foreword Reviews Book Of The Year (General Fiction)*

*2011 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (First Novel)*

*2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards (Womens Fiction)*

What starts as a monthly card game, turns into forty years that span a woman’s journey from youthful optimism to the challenges and opportunities presented as the years pass. The complexities of women’s friendships are played out through a maze of inevitable scenarios.

Laughter and tears lead to a crisis that challenges principles and proves the power of friendship.

The Bridge Club is a story for anyone who cares about friendship. Not simply the “Hi, how are you?” type, but the kind that weathers all storms, unselfishly celebrates triumphs, and hums along year after year with never an unkind word. It does exist.If you already share a friendship like this, you will relate to the women of The Bridge Club. If you don’t, perhaps the story will inspire you to find it.

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Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing