The 20th Anniversary of the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend
Why would an isolative writer pack her tiara, hot pink tee, and leopard tunic, leave her husband and three codependent dogs, and drive five hundred miles in a driving rainstorm? There is only one answer, of course: to attend the 20th Anniversary of The Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend. As the original Pulpwood Queen, Kathy L. Murphy, says, “Where TIARAS are mandatory and reading our good books is the ONLY rule!”
The Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guys Book Club is the brainchild of Kathy L. Murphy who opened the first beauty shop/bookstore in Jefferson, Texas in 2000. Although the shop has closed its doors, the book club has evolved into an international phenomenon with over 750 chapters. Each January, the weekend before Martin Luther King Day, the annual Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend takes over Jefferson, Texas.
As I drove down the gravel drive to begin my journey from a small town in the Texas Hill Country to a small town in East Texas, the first raindrops hit my windshield. Then the deluge hit, breaking a six-month drought. The first two hours of poor visibility and lack of progress almost made me turn back, but I persisted. I hadn’t been more than sixty miles from our home in six years, but there I was, driving to Jefferson, Texas, solo.
I knew only one person who was attending the three-hundred-person event, an author I had met at a book signing and who has become a friend and mentor. But I had many Facebook author friends who were featured at the convention. Attendees were not only authors, but avid readers and members from the chapters of The Pulpwood Queen Book Club. They flew in from both coasts or drove hundreds of miles to be a part of Kathy L. Murphy’s event.
The Jefferson Texas Convention Center was a hive of activity. The auditorium, ringed with vendors of books, leather goods, clothing, and book-related items, buzzed with good energy. My first impression: there was lots of hot pink and lots of leopard print. I was dressed in jeans and a denim shirt. My only leopard print garment was earmarked for the Big Hair Ball on Saturday night. “The higher the hair, the closer to God.” Immediately, I headed to a vendor and purchased a multi-colored leopard print kimono—the flowing garment had it all, pink, blue that picked the denim, and most importantly, leopard spots. I wore the topper all day Friday and Saturday.
As I searched for a seat, I walked past the stage and Kathy L. Murphy gave me a dazzling smile and a welcome wave. The atmosphere was warm and accepting, and I didn’t think twice about setting myself at a table with complete strangers.
There were panels of authors Friday and Saturday with autographing sessions after each session. Through the generosity of several authors and publishers, the entire assembly was gifted with three books. And I now have a lifetime supply of lovely, colorful bookmarks.
But the essence of the experience was the joy and camaraderie. I felt like I had found my tribe. The love of books, reading, and the authors was palpable, and I drank it in. Losing my inhibitions, I introduced myself to the authors I knew only through Facebook. I made many friends and value their support and encouragement as I launch my debut novel, Sweet Jane.
The weekend was sprinkled with special events: a hilarious Dolly Parton look-alike contest, a barbecue where the authors, dressed as lumberjacks, served the guests, a silent auction to benefit the Pat Conroy Literacy Center, and several keynote speakers including Cassandra King Conroy.
The culmination was the Big Hair Ball with costumes inspired by the theme “Take it to the Limit.” I put my hair up but had no hope to achieve the award for highest hair. The music was fast-paced, and I danced like I hadn’t in years. My knees paid the price the next day, but it was worth it. In fact, the thousand-mile drive and absence from my home was worth it.
More about PULPWOOD QUEENS : https://www.thepulpwoodqueens.com/
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SWEET JANE is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and from the publisher.
Joanne Kukanza Easley, born in Chicago, Illinois, has adopted Texas as her home. She lives in the Texas Hill Country on a small ranch with her husband, three rescue terriers, and abundant wildlife. Retired from a career in nursing—with dual specialties in the cold, clinical operating room, and the intense, emotional world of psychiatric nursing, she devotes her time to writing fiction. Her debut novel, SWEET JANE, published on March 19, 2020 by Black Rose Writing, a small independent publisher. She is hard at work editing her next novel, JUST ONE LOOK, set in her native Chicago, and looking forward to her next project, LAUREN EATON, based on a character in SWEET JANE.
https://www.facebook.com/J.Easleywrites/
https://tinyurl.com/sweet-jane-on-amazon
SWEET JANE, Joanne Kukanza Easley
2019 Faulkner/Wisdom Writing Award Finalist
A drunken mother makes childhood ugly. Jane runs away at sixteen, determined to leave her fraught upbringing in the rearview. Vowing never to return, she hitchhikes to California, right on time for the Summer of Love. Seventeen years later, she looks good on paper: married, grad school, sober, but her carefully constructed life is crumbling. When Mama dies, Jane returns for the funeral, leaving her husband in the dark about her history. Seeing her childhood home and significant people from her youth catapults Jane back to the events that made her the woman she is. She faces down her past and the ghosts that shaped her family. A stunning discovery helps Jane see her problems through a new lens.
BUY THE BOOK HERE
Category: On Writing
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I just joined this Facebook group. Very zany but fun group.