Jenny the Penslayer

There are many reasons she is called the Penslayer.

But the title suits her...or at least, it suits her writing. And it is only through her writing that I know her. Through her blog and her two published books.

What is it that she slays? There are many things, no doubt, slain by her pen. But tonight I came to realize that she slays my chains.

Chains of fear.

There is a part of me that shrinks back from being seen. How can I share my deepest philosophies? Who would understand them? How can I speak the poetry that beats in my soul? What if people laugh at it? Or a Mrs. Barry is offended by my Anne-speak?

I don't know exactly how Jenny slays these fears. All I know is that there is a depth in her writing that speaks to me, calls out to my most inner thoughts. And when I pick up my pen again, the fears are gone -- at least for a little while.

I do not agree with everything she writes. And maybe she doesn't agree with everything I write. But I do know that she somehow spurs me on to be a better writer, in a way that no one else ever has. And while I never want to write exactly like her, I do hope someday to be a penslayer in my own way.

Three cheers for the Penslayer.

May she always pursue excellence in her writing

and call out excellence in ours.

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The Pen of a Ready Writer

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