iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Sorry for the silence. Took a break to enjoy writing. Then a happy return to #spokenword supporting #RogerMcGough no less at @hastingsbookfest.bsky.social Maybe fate? The gods? New doors opened, gifting me love as a writer/poet/performer #ThoughtfulThursday #WriterLife #CripLit #DisabledLife

Penny is sitting in her wheelchair with her back to the camera. She has long red hair and is wearing a black and red net top. She is looking at poet Roger McGough, who is holding a copy of her poetry collection, Come Home Alive. This is a yellow book, with black writing on the back cover. Roger is smiling gently, sitting behind a book signing table in the White Rock Theatre, where both have just performed. There are a few other people in the background of this interior scene.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Still bouncy primed after Sunday’s world premier of the D-Punk film, at London’s BFI. Great to share a platform with such talent. Now boosted to get on with finishing the novel. Hint: Even among the dead, the disabled face barriers… #WriterLife #DisabledLife #Criplit #WritersWednesday #WIPWednesday

A group of diverse disabled people sit on a panel in a row in front of a movie size screen. The screen is a graphic bold image of lines and circles in purple, blue and green. It says in bold lettering WE CRIP FILM FESTIVAL. Penny is there wearing a tartan dress, black net top underneath. She is holding a blue folder and speaking. The vibe is upbeat and engaged.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Bouncy and Monday Motivated. After months as a writing hermit (goes together for me), FABULOUS to get to the wondrous We Crip Film Festival BFI at lively Southbank, for the premier of the documentary film D-punk film. Yes, I swear lots #MondayMotivation #WriterLife #DisabledLife #Crippunk

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Big thanks this #IndependentBookshopWeek to locals—here’s me outside my nearest #IndieBookshop #TheBookkeeper—lovely place of bookish treasures, even if too tiny for me to enter. Appreciate the copies of my books there. Keep the love going, everyone! #IBW2026 #FollowFriday #WriterLife #DisabledLife

Penny sits in her wheelchair leaning towards the outside shopfront of The Bookkeeper. On the left of the image, there are rows of books on shelves. On the second shelf down, amongst other books, are two copies of Penny’s memoir, First in the World Somewhere, lying flat, red covers with yellow writing, and one copy of her poetry collection, Come Home Alive, standing up, its yellow cover with punky detail facing outwards. Penny’s red hair is in a bun with a red bow, and she is wearing a warm grey winter scarf, a black winter coat and her hands are inside a pink leopard print muff. Penny has a gentle smile.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Monday motivation-latest Substack: a little shock taster: There I was, anti-establishment Penny with the Queen of England, with the King meeting and greeting in the background #WriterLife #CripLit #BritishRoyals #MondayMotivation pennypepper.substack.com/p/a-story-a-...

The image shows Penny sitting at the bottom of white steps which are cordoned off with red rope, at the back of Buckingham Palace, which is a brown and dull stately home building with tall windows and a centre half-dome with pillars. At the top of the steps are three figures in formal wear. It is a sunny day with light clouds. Penny is wearing a green dress and formal pink jacket as she sits in her wheelchair.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Embarrassed by the delay from life’s vagaries, but here’s my latest juicy Substack. Me with Queen Camilla looking at my memoir First in the World Somewhere & screenshot of recent flash fiction piece #WriterLife #CripLit #FridayFlash #Memoir #BritishRoyals pennypepper.substack.com/p/a-story-a-...

pennypepper.substack.com

A Story, a Crash and a Queen

When Life Gets Surreal and Oh So Dramatic...

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Thank you Marysia. And Litro magazine.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Realities of Writing Chapter near ending, But hesitation tangles Like broken branches. Stop. Start. Pause. Rewrite? The point of view side shifting – New flowers to bloom? It hovers, held up Between logic and instinct – Let this seed flourish! #WriterLife #DisabledLife #Haiku #WIPWednesday

A close-up of a small open notebook showing handwritten text. The writing is messy, with errors crossed out using a fineliner pen with black ink. The text is a haiku which reads ‘chapter near ending, but hesitation tangles like broken branches. Stop. Start. Pause. Rewrite? The point of view side shifting –new flowers to bloom? It hovers, held up between logic and instinct – let this seed flourish!’ Where the notebook opens there is a thin black pen. To the right there is a blue postcard with an arty image showing blocks and vertical lines in subtle blue tones. On top in one corner is a small box reading ‘metal compass’, and below is an ornate magnifying glass with beautiful pewter embellishment. Everything is on a pink background.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Back to the writing: Unexpected day – The pink punk on Palace lawns, Crip peasant in crowds. If we time-changed clothes, wore funny hats, brandished swords, Would judgments soften? Yet while cold grey clouds hung over the gathering my writer's mind burned hot. #WriterLife #DisabledLife #haiku

A photo of Penny in her black power chair in a hotel room. She is looking down thoughtfully wearing a long green cotton dress detailed with bright blue poppies and other wild flowers. Her jewellery, bright pink beads, and a longer chain of pearls. Her hair is up in a high bun with a row of flowers pinned behind her fringe which is very short. She wears transparent frame glasses with small pink hearts on each corner.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Oldie punk rebel meets #QueenConsort ?! Not in any multiverse could I have imagined I’d meet a member of the Royal Family. There I was, representing #DisabledWriters @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social at Buckingham Palace onTuesday. Surreal but proud to push the #UntoldStory #WriterLife #FollowFriday

A screenshot of a photo showing Penny meeting Queen Camilla at an outdoor garden party at Buckingham Palace. Queen Camilla wears a black and white hat and a white coat with black detail. She’s holding Penny’s memoir, First in the World Somewhere. Penny sits in her wheelchair, facing the Queen. She is wearing a pale pink jacket, and has flowers in her red hair. The image is bright, and in the background stands a man in a top hat.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Recovering from a car crash, working on new poetry pamphlet—OK not new, but this is poetry & healing slo-mo. Often obsessed with collared doves, singing in April breezes. But my work isn’t all birds & weather, you know me. There’s rants, political & pissy tales too #WriterLife #WIPWednesday #CripLit

An image of notebooks and pens on Penny’s desk. The notebooks are different sizes from larger A5 to slim pocket notebooks. A couple have paper covers with spindly leaves and orange flowers. One is larger with blue spirals showing and another is black with green and gold detail. A large exercise book in the right of the image reads tabs open, grey background with white text. On top of the notebooks is a wooden box with a glass lid. On the side it says pens in bold black capitals. On top are two pink pins, behind is a pink glass with two pink fountain pens and beside it a mini black anglepose desk lamp. To one side of the wooden box in the front there is a tiny black-and-white photo of Penny aged around for years old, smiling, sitting on the ground under a tree. The image is intriguing, colourful and suggestive of Penny’s work as a writer.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Was the victim of a car crash 10 ago hence silence. In pain, not quite myself. Emerging from woeful into hopeful. Gently. Endless emotions to draw on for writing. Poetry may suit? Do suggest a bright prompt. That’s my motivation today #MondayMotivation #WriterLife #Poetry #WritersCommunity #CripLit

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

Received my postal vote so sharing my Substack, originally commissioned by @bylinetimes.bsky.social Please share too, know that the right-wing are never friends of disabled people. #DisabledPeopleAgainstFascism #StandUpToRacism #DisabilityRights #Writerlife pennypepper.substack.com/p/the-tainte...

pennypepper.substack.com

The Tainted Allure of Reform UK

Dividing the Lines of the Disability Vote

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

'I take a pen and write some words To tell the stories I never found. Of poor kids, crip kids, kicking out. Where girls fly free and save the world. Adventures made for everyone. This is the world I’ll make in books.' bit of poem Bookworm for #InternationalChildrensBookDay #WorldAutismAwarenessDay

In a bold colourful cartoon like image, Penny is in a steampunk wheelchair, her head transposed onto the Botticelli Venus body, red hair flying wild. This is an image of the front cover of her poetry collection Come Home Alive. The background is a bold yellow and overall the theme is rebellious. The lettering is very sex pistols and there are splodges of bright pink. To one side it reads: ‘an incredibly strong political sexy candid real and important poetry explosion. - Liv Torc’ (Published 2019 by Burning Eye books)

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

1st April haiku for springy hopes. April Fools, spring rain Politicians ranting loud Me, I watch the sparrow. Global warming fear? Am I a mere April Fool To enjoy bright sun? Clocks now gone forward Lighter evenings at last Can moods be lifted? #AprilFools #LongerDays #WriterLife #haikuprompt

My black cat Pixie sitting with Spring flowers in the garden. Tiny Pink cyclamen, and pale pink white hellebore wide open flowers. It's outside and the shrubs behind her have few leaves.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

It's quiet out there! At least tomorrow morning there's happy sparrows. Doing better at getting on with it than many of us humans. #existentialcrisis #war #doomtimes #lookforhope

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Wrestling with headlines and doom scrolling, I found myself drawn back to a time of tangible foreboding for my latest Substack: Don’t Talk About War. To step back isn’t to lose humanity, but maybe to find strength to keep hold of it & fight another day. #writerLife #disableauthor

pennypepper.substack.com

Don’t Talk About War

I’m 19 and Doom Grows – as the Soviets Invade Afghanistan

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Could it be from you, great-great-grandad Tom O’Keefe, Why stories kiss me? Great Grandma, Cork born. Mary O’Callaghan unmarried, Fled the Hunger. Sailed to Liverpool, Lost God in London City Still my genes, write loud. #StPatricksDay2026 #NaomhPádraig #DisabledWriter #WriterLife #IrishHeritage

Penny, a power wheelchair user, is on a stone ramp, paddling her feet in the Irish Sea, in a little town south of Dublin. She wears a purple cardigan and blue leggings rolled up to the knees. Her hair is in a bun, brown and blonde. It’s a side view, and she’s smiling. Behind her is wall made of large grey stone blocks.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

Mum, 90 in November ❤️ / Thanks to lost daddy, here's you darling mum - and me blondie, baldy babe/ You, young soft curved cheeks- gold washed Kodak colour: A sixties beauty/ Count the many blinks, heartbreaks - solace coming slow. Yet mum, and child: thrived #haiku #mothersdayuk #motheringsunday

The image shows a colour photo, taken outdoors, of baby blonde Penny, in her mother's arms, eyes down. Mum has dark short hair, looks down with a soft smile. They both wear white clothes. It is a happy photo, warm golden and glowing taken by Penny’s father.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

#WorldBookDay, perspectives not heard in fiction? As disabled kid only had ‘invalids’ bratty Colin & Clara! A ‘cure’ meant ‘trying hard’! Check my Substack, support those telling our untold stories #DisabledAuthor #DisabilityLit #OwnVoices #WorldBookDay2026 open.substack.com/pub/pennypep...

open.substack.com

Where I Could Fit in the Realm of Story

For World Book Day 2026

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Fancy new stories, fresh perspectives rarely heard in fiction? It’s #WorldBookDay so going all out with a cheeky please to say support this #DisabledAuthor -and the many of us working to get the untold stories out there. Google me and see :) #WriterLife #DisabilityRepresentation #ThoughtfulThursday

Penny sits in front of her Living Archive and books for sale, which are on white shelving behind her to the left. The books we can see are Desires Reborn - a pink paperback with white lettering and a faint image of a disabled couple embracing, next to this is the hardback memoir First In The World Somewhere, it is a red cover with bright yellow lettering and white text. In the lower third there is a graphic of lips outlined in black.
Below this shelf are many files and other books featuring Penny’s work. On top of the shelving there are two vintage suitcases, to the right of the image there’s a framed picture of Penny’s 1989 seven inch single, a black and white chalk effect image of a seated girl. Below this is another framed picture announcing Penny’s Living Archive. In the centre, Penny sits in her wheelchair. She wears glasses, has red hair, up in a bun and is wearing a headband made of twigs and crystals into the shape of antlers. Penny is wearing a leopard print dress and a cropped, dusky pink cardigan. She is holding a copy of her memoir and smiling. In front of her on a table is an arrangement of her books, flyers and postcards.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Standby... Tomorrow is #WorldBookDay. I'll be around. And with extras. Might share some teasy lines from my latest novel (out on subs!) #folkhorror #paranormal with shocker #disability #narrative... The Widow of... #writerlife #disabled

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Illness tries to crush me & world news is grim. I keep defiant, lifted by happier memories #RAH, There’s my #folkhorror to finish. Yes, there’s a central disabled character. Fiction transmutes us–we all deserve spaces to tell our stories. #WriterLife #WritersWednesday, #WIPWednesday #DisabledAuthor

Penny, a wheelchair user, with red hair, in a bun, is on stage at the Royal Albert Hall. She is bathed in a purple light including over her dress, as she sits beside a large green plant with huge leaves. She is smiling and raising her arm slightly. A graphic in the shape of a think bubble says MY DISABLED LIFE... Lined in red, and a background of pink.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

A tricky week of health challenges. But cheering myself up with this cheeky sneak of some rare handwritten scribbles for my latest novel (2nd draft!). My happy place & in a favourite notebook. Well, for this week! #FictionFriday #WriterLife #GothicHorror #DisabledAuthor #DisabilityRepresentation

A small red notebook with a black edge and two graphics of blue/black mackerel fish. Black heads, black stripy lines and fins, white blue spotty belly. Printed text reads. In block white, MACKEREL. Black text: in tomato & basil sauce. Skinless and boneless. There’s a black pen across the handwritten title to hide it and a giant gold paper clip on the right.

A close up of rough handwritten words in black ink on ruled white paper. Blurred words read - plot points - W dreams - disturbed - treasure - searching…

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Looking at the grey sky turning happy blue by the sea, poems blooming like my nervy mini daffodils, hoping to pick up some #Firehorseenergy this weekend as we’re in the #ChineseNewYear2026. Some light amid the global gloom! Please? #Haikus maybe? #PoetryInMotion #thursdaythrowback #disabledauthor

A beautiful timeless photograph of young Penny aged about five years old. Shown from the waist up, Penny holds a small dark bird in one hand, as it nestles on her palm. She is wearing a handmade dress, dark blue with pale blue cornflowers and a very cute lace trimmed collar. Her brown hair is cut in a bob with an unruly fringe. She's looking down and smiling at the bird. In the background there is dark green foliage

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Look what’s popped up – me, My Writing Life, for @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social Humbled/excited to work with a great organisation that supports writers & to stand alongside some mighty talent as one of their beneficiaries incl. #MargaretBusby #AnnaBurns #DHLawrence #MoniqueRoffey #writerlife ✍🏻

royalliteraryfund.substack.com

My Writing Life: Penny Pepper

"Patience is everything, in parallel with accepting the hard graft and resisting the fantasy of fast, overnight success stories."

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

#Valentines, so close! Forget the push to overspend, leave off doom. Get real instead with some juicy representation in stories of #CripLitLove. Pop by to hear readings of sad, saucy, silly snippets from my work on Insta & TikTok. #writerslife✍🏻#DesiresReborn #SpicyReads #DisabledAndCute #MyMemoir

A photo showing a close-up of Penny's white hands holding open a copy of her book Desires Reborn. She has small fingers, pinky lilac painted nails and wears silver rings. The pages are open, plain creamy white with black text. There is a pink background of Penny's table and we can see Penny is wearing a brown black cream leopard print top.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Give me cheeky stories 🙂 annoying stories? Once, on a first date I managed to spill a jug of milk over my date's lap.... #valentines #criplit #writerlife

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Valentines dawns: time to thank you for loyalty & love! Usual challenges of chronic ill health, barriers make posting hard! To my last I remain determined in telling the untold #DesiresReborn. Dare to share your Valentines, good and bad? #writerslife✍🏻 #CripLit #SpicyReads #followfriday

The image shows a book in shades of pink and red. In a centre square there is a bold graphic of a couple. One is a full lipped young woman in a wheelchair, with long funky hair, wearing stockings. She pulls a young man with short dark hair towards her as he kneels, his mouth slightly open as she tugs his bright yellow tie so their faces are close to touching. Their expressions are intense as they gaze into each other's eyes. The young man has his arms around her, one wrist in a splint. The white text along the top reads: Penny Pepper, and below the image, desires reborn explicit stories of disability, desire and love.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

There is love in the smallest second, and pleasure in shared connections that build friendship. I will not allow hatred and horror to infect me or defuse my belief in knowing there are good people, everywhere. Let us never forget, let truth not be buried. Always look for the light to get in.

together2012.org.uk

The Dark Door Opening by Penny Pepper | Together! 2012

Miss J called me a brain box. The other kids in class teased me about it, but I didn’t mind. Dad said I was clever, too, and I liked that. I was at Special School on the rural Hertfordshire side of the Chiltern Hills and overflowing with curiosity and nascent storytelling urges.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Despite what others anticipated was my fate as a disabled person, a 'useless eater', I've been blessed, and ultimately I will not allow hatred and horror to infect me or defuse my belief in knowing there are good people, everywhere.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

@together2012cic.bsky.social ❤️🙏🏻🙏🏽🙏🏾🙏🏿👩‍🦽‍➡️🌈

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Thank you so much Natalya. It's good you found joy, it brings me my own! Outside of much fighting and attack... We will prevail 😘 because disability is part of the human experience, others need reminding ❤️

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Maybe this should come with a trigger warning. It's a reminder about the intentional killing of disabled people. Today is Holocaust Memorial Day and I was commissioned by Together 2012 to write this piece I’m proud of. #HolocaustMemorialDay #DisabilityHistory #HMD2026 #RememberThePast #AktionT4

A photo of Penny taken by professional photographer JJ Waller recently. Sitting in front of a black background of white spots Penny has red brown wavy hair below her shoulders worn in a vintage 50s style with vintage style make up. She has a pink flower in her hair and stares directly at the camera with a half smile on her face. She wears a necklace which is a pair of mini red catseye glasses. The vibe is thoughtful.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Gloomy sunset looming. Cheering myself up with this happy memory – first on the bill at the launch of the Hastings anthology, Poet Town, Sept 2025. Here’s me with my wonderful pal, the writer Jake Arnott, as my ever faithful page turner! Believe me, he does it perfectly. #writerlife #tuesdaythoughts

Image shows Penny sitting in a wheelchair. She wears a bright pink dress, with white flowers and a thin orange cardigan tied at the front. She has brown-red hair up in a high bun with a pinky headband. She wears a string of white pearls and an Egyptian cross, an Ankh, which is a cruciform shape with the upper half shaped as an oval. In front of Penny on a small tray is a wooden book rest. To her side on the left of the image is Jake. He’s wearing a stripy T-Shirt in muted orange and dark navy and beige trousers. He has short cropped hair. They are both smiling, in a bright room with people behind them and dark curtains to the left. The vibe is relaxed and happy.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Thank you! I hope 2026 brings me more readers and juicy publishing contracts 🙂

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Saturday Caturday Haiku: Dull games, letterings! Dismissive she looks askance. Yet, she's a beauty! #catlady #writerlife #poem #haiku

A colourful lounge, with a pink orange wall, a barometer, a fabric wall hanging under house plant on a windowsill. On a table there's a black cat crouched down. She has green yellow eyes and is looking a little bit moody. In front of her is a Scrabble board with letters in a mess, a pen and paper.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

My health is wobbly & I remain in hermit mood. Here by the coast there's been torrential rain. Black ice - grumpy unhelpful weather. Still, I sense the world holding its breath. Sharing one of my 'babies'. Reminding myself of what I've done. Do share your plans and hopes for 2026. #writerlife

The image shows a copy of the hardback book of my memoir, First in the World Somewhere, published in 2017. It is a red cover with bright yellow lettering and white text. In the lower third there is a graphic of lips outlined in black. The text reads: a force of nature and a voice like no other… Brilliantly funny, brilliantly frank and brilliantly political - Liz Carr.
First in the World somewhere. The true adventures of a scribbler, silent, sauce pot and pioneer. Penny Pepper.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

New year, gentle hopes. Today I'm in London. Earlier I was caught in a snow storm on Tottenham Court Road. A sudden shiver of snowflakes that coated me in my black teddy coat. If I hadn't been so cold I would have relished this magical moment. Living through the dark & light. #Writerlife #poet #icy

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

The Penny Pepper tree is coming down now. Yes I always like to put my mark on the mid winter celebrations. But I like to be a bit ahead in knowing it's time to move on. Happy New year friends. What do you hope for the New year? #hny #2026 #writer #disabledwriter #poet #author #untoldstory

Against a pinky peach painted wall, my unique festive style tree is made up of skinny metallic pink branches with random baubles. There's also a cat popping out of a Christmas tree, a felt figure of frida Carlo, dressed in red with her signature mono brow, and black hair. The baubles are a mixture of shiny, ornate and handmade. Purples pinks golds, also some stars and gold suns. To the right on the wall behind the tree is a large green sprig of mistletoe with white berries. On the wall are small plates and placards of a decorative fifties feel nature.

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

We've reached the final installment/last door to open on my DIY Advent Calendar! I leave you with a little tale I hope you'll enjoy.. - Date in the Strand buff.ly/9QCy3hk #disabledwriter #shortstory #writerslife #adventcalendar

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

You know as a writer (and reader), I support this down to my marrow. I've written about our exclusion from literature so many times, most recently in The Bookseller and I'm exhausted. But still, the words keep coming. They must. @thebookseller.com @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social #untoldstories

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

It's the next part of my DIY Advent Calendar! It's a little teasy taster of my Desires Reborn 21st Anniversary edition - enjoy! buff.ly/A4he70j #writerslife #disabledwriter #eroticfiction

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Penny Pepper @penpep.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

UK Disability History Month is almost over. As the winter solstice draws close, here's some thoughts on my wintering. What do you do in these darker days? #writer #disabilityhistorymonth #storiestotell #whatnext #wintersolstice #longestnight #solstice

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