Photo by Nathan Cote

The Mindful Musings of Libby Walkup

By Paul Hankel
Contributing Writer

Writer, blogger, poet, aspiring novelist, American expat. These are just a few of the creative paths that Libby Walkup, a former High Plains Reader staff writer, has chosen to take throughout her literary career. A published author, Walkup has several literary works that are in progress. Her current works feature daily interludes, topical ruminations and poems, and quirky, entertaining anecdotes that stem from past experiences.

From Fargo, Walkup studied literature, publishing, and creative writing at Minnesota State University-Moorhead. Shortly after, she attended Bath Spa University in Bath, England, and received a Master’s in creative writing.

A self-described “ginger piglet lover,” Walkup draws largely from her life experiences and creative writing skills to employ a free-flowing, superlative style that has the aura of modern nuance and thought provocation.

HIGH PLAINS READER: There are probably as many styles of writers as there are words in existence. Describe your personal style.

LIBBY WALKUP: I write primarily flash (between 300 and 1000 words, give or take) in the form of fiction and nonfiction. But I’m starting an unwieldy MFA program where experimentation is encouraged, so we’ll see where it takes me.

HPR: What made you begin blogging?

LW: I started blogging, rather intermittently, from early on. High school or early 20s. I hate to say everyone was doing it, but everyone was doing it. It was a transfer from journaling for me. I guess I’ve always had a desire to put words and thoughts out there. A natural progression.

HPR: How did you come up with the names for your blog and publication?

LW: I chose the title for my personal blog because of my inclination to write small things. However I’m erratic and flaky and I haven’t found, say, a niche yet. It’s more of a creative nonfiction bit of my life. Ginger Piglet was chosen for the magazine because I met some ginger piglets once and they were cute and hopeful and I knew that would end when they got to the slaughterhouse and that’s sort of like writing. We have to be hopeful with every submission we send and every cover letter we send to an agent, and every rejection is the slaughterhouse. But we can’t let it get us down. Keep on truckin’ as they say.

HPR: There are millions of blogs out there, what makes yours unique?

LW: The only thing that makes either of the blogs unique is the same thing that makes any blogs unique: I’m the only person that can write that entry. My blogs are the only place where those particular stories are being told in that particular way. That’s really the only thing we can hope for as writers today, that someone likes the way we tell a particular story well enough to want to publish it. Nothing’s totally new. We’re building off what has already been done, same with music, same with art. And it’s okay. We put our own thing on it.

HPR: Are your writings general musings, introspections, life stories?

LW: All of the above. Like I said, I’m flaky, I like to think of it as a creative nonfiction experiment in 1000 words or less; essays about anything that comes to my head. In theory my personal blog would be about my life, my move to Chicago, some pop culture musings, and writing, and Ginger Piglet’s blog would be about writing and publishing, but we’ll see. I’m about to get very busy.

HPR: In your opinion, how has blogging changed writing as we know it?

LW: Loaded question. Blogging can either start a career or it can progress a career. There are stories of folks who seem to be an overnight success after publishing on their own, but something’s missed. These folks very likely built a following via their blogs and twitter first. The next thing you know they are being contacted by Random House or Knopf. Then there’s the story in reverse: well-published writers reverting to blogging and self-publishing and making more money than they were with big publishing.

It’s hard to say how blogging has changed things, without the bigger picture of the Internet changing everything. Everything. And we hardly realize it. Caller ID came out when I was in junior high. My friend Lisa was the only person I knew with a computer. Three or four of us would sit around her computer and sign into AOL chat rooms on Friday nights. It was still a social thing, the Internet. Dial up. Now it’s where we date people, meet people, network with people. We’re categorized by how many ‘friend’s’ we have. And I am well aware that there is a good chance my Facebook friends are the only folks who will buy my book should I ever publish one. They are certainly the only people who read my blogs.

HPR: Are there any negatives that have come about due to the growth of blogging?

LW: Three negative aspects: a lot of bad writing, bad information, and too much free writing. It’s harder to be a paid writer today and I think the internet has a lot to do with that.

With a wealth of talent and literary ability and a unique reflective view of the world and its daily goings-on, Walkup is poised to broaden her literary horizons with a venture into publishing. Her publications will feature her own works as well as submissions penned by other authors.

A sign of progression, Walkup is currently working on a novel that is set in Fargo. She stated that
the novel “explores the dilemma many of us face in small-town America: should I stay or should I go now?”

Walkup’s first issue of the Ginger Piglet entitled “Conversations over Coffee” is available to order online at http://www.gingerpiglet.magcloud.com and can be viewed digitally or in print form. Also, be sure to visit gingerpigletpress.wordpress.com for her frequent musings or Walkup’s blog at libbywalkup.wordpress.com.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)