ALL PULP INTERVIEWS THE FACE OF NEW PULP-THE PULPTRESS!
AP:àIt is indeed a pleasure to have youàat ALL PULP today!àIâÂÂm fairly sure this will be a short answer, but can you tell us something about you personally?àSome background maybe?
PULPTRESS: (laughs) Sorry, but the mask is my free pass on most of that question.àLetâÂÂs see, IâÂÂm twenty somethingâ¦maybe.ààI have august red hairâ¦unless I donâÂÂt.ààMy eyes are brown with hints of greenâ¦except when they arenâÂÂt.àIâÂÂm just your every day average girlâ¦who can use any weapon put in her pretty porcelain hands.àI will say that I came into the world much like everyone else did, even though things changed dramatically not long after my auspicious beginnings.ààBut looking back on it, I donâÂÂt think IâÂÂd change a day.àExcept maybe one, my ninety third one, so IâÂÂve been told.
AP:àYourâ¦when you were three months old.àThat would be when your parentsâ¦
PULPTRESS:àYes, when they disappeared.àààThey were well known in the Pulp crime fighting circle, probably the best known.àI havenâÂÂt been told much about them, only that they had made a plan in case something likeâ¦.them disappearing happened.àWhich it did, so IâÂÂm thankful they planned ahead.
AP:àBest known?àMany people speculate that your parents werenâÂÂt just any crimefighters, but-
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| THE PULPTRESS as drawn by Rob Davis |
PULPTRESS:àAh, ah, ah. (shaking a single red nail tipped finger playfully) Not something to discuss on, off, or even to break a record.àI didnâÂÂt have them at all that I can remember, but they gave me the next best thing.àA family like none anyone has ever had.
AP:ÃÂ Yes, you had a particularly interesting raising.ÃÂ Can you talk about that at all?
PULPTRESS:àEnough just to tease your readers, certainly.àThe plan that my parents had devised in case of theirâ¦being unable to raise me was basically the next best possible option.àI was left with one of my parentsâ closest confidantes until I was able to walk and talk. At that point, my training began.àI have lived with Cherokee Indians, Inuit tribesmen, Shinto priests, and any other group of experts in anything you can think of.àIâÂÂve been taught every style of fighting by the fiercest warriors, academics by todayâÂÂs greatest minds, science and other disciplines by people that most only believe are legend and rumor.àFrom my first steps until my 18th birthday, I was steeped in disguise, strategy, espionage, and every learnable skill, field, and technique that the world had an expert in.ÃÂ
AP:ÃÂ Really?ÃÂ To what purpose?
PULPTRESS:àThatâÂÂs another thing wrapped in innuendo and smoke.àSome say that thereâÂÂs a greater good IâÂÂm being prepared for, something my parents knew I would have to be ready to face.àOthers say it wasnâÂÂt so grand, that they just wanted to groom me to follow in their footsteps.à(Chuckles)àThereâÂÂs a few who think that I was brought up that way because it was the only life my parents ever knew.àRegardless, I consider myself the luckiest gal in the world for the way I came up in the world.
AP:àAnd now that youâÂÂve survived until adulthood, you seem to actually have taken up where your parents left off.àWhy?
PULPTRESS:àNot just my parents, but most of my foster family as well.àAnd the why is fairly simple.àEven though I learned many different things from all the teachers and mentors I had around the world, they each imparted one common idea to me, almost a mantra.àâÂÂRegardless of how the world changes, it will always need a Hero.âÂÂàI had other options, choices I could have made.àAny career I wanted was an open door.àBut those words were etched in my heart and wear heavy on my mind every day.àAnd thereâÂÂs not a truer statement.àSo, yeah, thatâÂÂs why.
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| THE PULPTRESS as drawn by Ralf van der Hoeven |
AP:ÃÂ Interesting.ÃÂ All right, what is it you do, then?ÃÂ How do you describe your chosen vocation?
PULPTRESS:àAdventurer, Explorer, Problem Solver, a gal who likes a good fight and is good at fighting?àAll of those fit and a few more.àBasically IâÂÂm the person that Henry Fonda described even better than Steinbeck himself wrote it.àWherever someone is need, wherever someone is hurt and abused, wherever thereâÂÂs absolutely no chance to survive, no way out, no justice at all, I am there.àI do all I can to meet the need, fix the hurt, save all I can, cut a door where there isnâÂÂt any, and bring justice in the prettiest package ever.àThatâÂÂs what I do.
AP:ÃÂ And on top of that, you recently debuted asÃÂ the public face and voice for Pro Se Productions and even more than that, for the New Pulp Movement at the recent first PULP ARK Convention/Conference.ÃÂ ÃÂ How did that happen?
PULPTRESS:àHave you met Tommy Hancock?àThat man could talk the North Wind into blowing from the South if he wanted to.à(Laughs) Among many of the attributes that I picked up through the years was reading.àI often would rather read than eat and sleep and almost more than punching bad guys.à(Grins) Almost.ààIâÂÂve read thousands and thousands of volumes, tomes, and manifestos, but my favorite genre has always been Pulp.àI know, right?ààBut it has.àThe classic heroic fiction rendered by Gibson, Burroughs, Dent, and others has a special place in my heart.àPart of that has to do with it being so reminiscent of people I have known throughout my life, heroes who lived Pulp lives all their own.
When I got to know Tommy due to our paths crossing, and thatâÂÂs a tale someone should one day write, he exposed me to the writers and artists that have made New Pulp the force it is today.àAnd he brought up the fact that many consider me the New Pulp Heroine of the 21st Century and that New Pulp, while continuing the traditions established by the classics, is its own Movement, so thereâÂÂs a relationship of sorts between the two.àAnd it doesnâÂÂt hurt a girl, even one in a mask, to be associated with the best stories told today for the readers of tomorrow!
AP:ÃÂ So, you signed on just because you liked to read Pulp?ÃÂ Or is there more, does New Pulp have an importance all its own?
PULPTRESS:àOf course it does.àActually, itâÂÂs the same importance, the same mission that I feel like I have.àRegardless of how the world changes, it will always need stories about Heroes.àNew Pulp provides that in spades and aces.ààYou donâÂÂt just get a rapid action high adventure tale with New Pulp stories.àYou get ideals to reach, models to follow, and the reassuring fact that no matter how dark reality gets, the light eventually shines through.àYou canâÂÂt get more important than that.ÃÂ
AP:ÃÂ What about your stories?ÃÂ Any plans for a New Pulp writer to tackle the life and times of The Pulptress?ÃÂ Or are you more of a to yourself kind of girl?
PULPTRESS:àAre you kidding?àThe lady who, depending on what the adventure is, comes dressed as a cowgirl, a space explorer, pirate, or whatever fits being a to herself kind of girl?àYeah, right.àStories are not only underway, but multiple authors, like Barry Reese, Derrick Ferguson, Ron Fortier, and Robin Bailey, are already committed to a collection spotlighting me and my rollicking adventures. The collection, when ready, will be available from Pro Se Productions. And, on the ball as he is, Tommy has already completed one story about me in the Big Apple and is hard at work on another oneâ¦one about me at home.ÃÂ
àAP:àThat brings up a good final question.àWhere is home?àWho are you when you hang up the mask on the hook beside your fedora?àWho are you when youâÂÂre not The Pulptress?
PULPTRESS:àHome isâ¦the only place where The Pulptress isnâÂÂt.àOther than there, I canâÂÂt beâ¦donâÂÂt want to be anything other than The Pulptress.
AP:ÃÂ And the New Pulp Movement and the world are thankful for that.ÃÂ Thank you so much for taking time to talk to ALL PULP.
PULPTRESS:àHey, anytime.àItâÂÂs not often bullets stop flying and villains stop trying to conquer the world long enough for me just to visit. So thank you!
(Want to follow The Pulptress daily?ÃÂ Then join ‘The Pulptress’ Page on Facebook!!!ÃÂ And follow her here at ALL PULP, as well as at pulpmachine.blogspot.com and http://www.newpulpfiction.com/!)
(Want to follow The Pulptress daily?ÃÂ Then join ‘The Pulptress’ Page on Facebook!!!ÃÂ And follow her here at ALL PULP, as well as at pulpmachine.blogspot.com and http://www.newpulpfiction.com/!)
