Peppur Chambers – Blooming Stories of Past and Present

Peppur Chambers 0:02
I would tell her write some more. Not just don’t give up, keep going. None of that. Just write some more. You have a lot to say. You have a lot of stories in you. And just get that pen out and write some more, make another book, make another book, write a short story. Write some more.

Claudia Henock 0:34
Hi, everyone. Welcome to Your Most Precious Thing, the show that talks about the stories about items we hold near and dear to our hearts. I’m your host, Claudia Henock, and let’s meet our guest for this week.

Claudia Henock 0:43
PEPPUR CHAMBERS is an international writer/producer/educator. An alum of Moving Arts MADLab, Circle X Emerging Playwrights Group, and Antaeus Playwrights Lab, she uses her voice to amplify women’s issues, social justice and love. Her radio plays The Fire In-Between, End of the Line, and Chester Higgensworth & The Boll Weevil can be found on podcast platforms. Her plays have been produced in LA and Prague. Her books Harlem’s Awakening and Harlem’s Last Dance (March 2023) can be found on Spaceboy Books, B&N, Amazon or ask at your local bookstore. Visit penandpeppur.com where she tells stories of heroes, including her own.

Claudia Henock 1:33
Hi Peppur, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?

Peppur Chambers 1:36
I’m fine. I’m great, actually. Thank you, Claudia. Nice to be here. Thanks for having me.

Claudia Henock 1:41
And I’m really glad to be here too. So to start, what would you say is your most precious thing?

Peppur Chambers 1:48
My most precious thing is my book. I’m holding it right now. It’s called The Life of a Flower. And I wrote it, it was a school project. And it was in 1982, I was 12. And it’s one of those projects where you get a piece of material. So this particular book has white material. And I use marker to draw a flower and some bumblebees and a butterfly. And it’s about how a flower lives. And I got a “Cute story!” on it from the teacher.

Claudia Henock 2:19
That’s awesome.

Peppur Chambers 2:21
Thanks!

Claudia Henock 2:21
So do you remember, I know, I know, it’s probably been many years, but do you remember why you decided to write a story about that when you were younger?

Peppur Chambers 2:30
That’s a great question. I think that the flower itself, I will tell you this, I remember that I’d love drawing flowers. I loved that, it was just like, Okay, this is simple. And I’m going to make this one had like three points on it. And then I would, every single flower even to this day, I make it the same way. So it’s kind of funny that I was like, “This is the formula for how you make a flower.” And I think I really enjoyed that. And I still as an adult love flowers. So I have a feeling that I had this affinity to, you know, the beauty of the flower and how individual they are and how exciting they are, so.

Claudia Henock 3:06
I think back at my parents house, in my old room, I have like a similar story about like space and planets made from like, I think cardboard paper just like with like finger paint. So like, so I can understand that as well.

Peppur Chambers 3:17
So nice.

Claudia Henock 3:19
Yeah. And so, so I did a little bit of research on you before our interview. Would you say that this story was kind of a, like a starting point into your creative career, essentially?

Peppur Chambers 3:31
I think it was honestly, I think that, I think that when we’re in that five years old, six years old age, I think that we already know who we want to be and who we’re going to be. It’s just like how the universe, and what information tells us. No, I think we have the information. And then all the things that come in is what keeps us on course or takes us off course. And so I think by the time that I was 12, I do think that I already knew that I loved words, I already knew that I wanted to be published and, you know, have this writing career. And it took a long time before my first book was published. But I did always write poetry and short stories and love to read and all of that stuff. So I do think that this and I think that’s why either my mom saved it or I saved it because it was like, “Oh my gosh, like it’s already happened. I’m already published.” You know. So yeah, I think that this is indicative of who I was always meant to be.

Claudia Henock 4:28
Can you tell my audience more about your first published book?

Peppur Chambers 4:30
Oh, sure. Thanks for asking. So my first book, published book, is called, my first fiction book is called Harlem’s Awakening. And that came out in 2013, it’s a novella, actually, and it’s about a young woman named Harlem. And she is basically trapped in a brothel and she has to get out of it, and she has to dance her way out. And so that came out in 2013. And then the new book, also the Harlem series, this one’s called Harlem’s last Dance, and that came out just in March of 2023. So those are my first published, like books. And then I had a short story, or I think a piece, I think an article in a magazine was my very first time being published, if I remember correctly.

Claudia Henock 5:11
That’s really awesome. Do you remember what was your like inspiration behind the book series?

Peppur Chambers 5:15
Oh, gosh, yeah. So I love the 40s. I love vintage. I love, I love the mystery in that era, you know, where things weren’t always what they seemed. So this particular story originated on stage, actually. So I had a burlesque dinner theater show that I did in Los Angeles that I started in 2005. And it was a story of a woman looking for love and all the wrong places. And I took that story of this young woman, and then the the fiction of like, “Oh, my gosh, what if you are trapped? And then what if these ladies, what if you’re you’re kidnapped, you know? And what do you do”, and I just, it’s just all these bits and pieces coming from different phases of my life that I put together in the story that I literally just saw, like, I write from characters speaking to me, like, I hear them speaking, and I just start writing. And then Claudia, I don’t know, like the world just came to me. And then within there are themes that are, I write about things that I’m afraid of, and things that scare me, things that make me angry. So sex trafficking and human trafficking are things that I’m like, “Oh, my goodness”, because it’s happening all around us all the time. So that was one thing where I wanted to, you know, when we see these people dancing, and they’re in the speakeasy, and you’re like, “But are they there because they want to be here, or because someone is keeping them there?” And so that was something that was, you know, heavy on my mind. And that and then the last thing about that is, I love sisterhood. I don’t have any sisters. Do you have any?

Claudia Henock 6:49
I only have one older brother who lives far away from me.

Peppur Chambers 6:52
There you go. Okay, so I have two brothers and no sisters. So always that, the camaraderie that I that I felt was sisterhood, and being on teams, I ran track and things like that, gymnastics. So that’s where I kind of cultivated that. And I enjoy that we get to have as friendships that come from the bonding of sisters. So that was also, that’s also heavy in the book.

Claudia Henock 7:15
Whenever I do, like, do these types of interviews, it’s always really fascinating, like to hear what people’s inspirations are behind their creative work. And it’s always really cool just to hear people stories, essentially.

Peppur Chambers 7:26
Yeah, thanks.

Claudia Henock 7:27
And so, so another question just like popped up too, you mentioned, your inspiration for the series was more focused on like, the vintage aesthetics, and 1940s? Did you do like elements of like, historical research with that, too?

Peppur Chambers 7:40
I did. Absolutely. I’m thankfully, my mom and I watched a lot of old movies. So I already had this sort of, you know, by osmosis by watching these films. So, but one thing that I talked about a lot is that, I had, my grandma’s still with us. And she’s in her 90s. And so I called her at one point, because I was looking at what women had in their purses. So I was going to write like, oh, the purse fell open and toppled out some keys and ID and I was like, hang on, the idea was like, “Wait a second. First of all, I think they were made out of paper. And I also don’t think that everyone got one”. And then grandma’s, like, women didn’t really get them. I mean, you could not that they couldn’t, but it wasn’t as common. So she said, you would basically have like, I don’t know, a coin for the, for the phone, and then maybe a comb and handkerchief. And that would be it, you know, and so I had to rewrite what I’d written because in my head, I went to this thing of what I thought I knew, then you have to go to, you know, kind of more this actual thing. So all the way down to fabric. If I was describing a dress, I had to research what dresses were popular in 45 vs 1942, because of with the war, you know, there were rations on material, so people didn’t get to wear certain clothes. So there’s a lot of research that I had to do, and I love to do even just to write a sentence. I mean, sometimes it’s just crazy. Just describe what could happen when you need to know like, was there cement, or was it a dirt road, you know, with an electronic clock or not, you know, things like that.

Claudia Henock 9:17
That’s totally understandable too. And it’s really, it’s really great that you still have your grandma here as well, because sometimes people who have lived through that time period are like a treasure trove of information. And the story about the purse thing reminded me about, I don’t know if you know the story, but there was some high school where they found like, a girl’s purse from like the 1950s. And so it was kind of like an accidental time capsule. And it just showed like the stuff like a teen, how a teenage girl had in the 1950s. So I always find those type of things pretty fascinating too. So in addition to your writing, can you tell me more about your other creative pursuits?

Peppur Chambers 9:56
Yes. So right now literally Just before you and I start, are speaking, I’m working on a one woman show. I’m in Chandler, Arizona, and I’m working on a one woman show that is based on an exhibit that’s at the Chandler Museum, which is about the dustbowl. So the 1930s. So I’m working on the story of migration. And by compiling it from historical narratives of people that migrated to Chandler. So I’m taking, and I have five different characters. And I’m, I’m kind of, you know, combining different stories in order to get to these five different people. And I’m literally working on that, that goes up in a couple of months. And so that is heavy on my mind. And more research, it’s we’re talking about is having to research a bunch of stuff. And then otherwise, I what am I working on Claudia. I’m always working on something, oh, I have a short film that we are in the midst of that I wrote and co-produced. And the director is working on final edits of that right now. And that film is about reparations, basically. And it’s the vintage feel to it. So those are, those are the main things I’ve got going on right now.

Claudia Henock 11:09
So I’m starting to see a theme with your work a lot, which is more focused on more the historical, the vintage aesthetic, what attracted you to, what attracted you to like that type of style?

Peppur Chambers 11:20
Well, it’s, you know, what, I, part of me, I laugh, I’m really giggling because I say that I’m reincarnated. I’m like, Oh my goodness, I must lived during that time, and I’m just reliving myself. But there’s that. And then there’s also this. I mean, part of it is, there is that mystery that I’m talking about? I just want to know, like, what was it, what was happening, and so much that happened, then because it’s closer to our time period now affects what we’re dealing with now. And so I really like to go back to that time period 30s 40s 50s a little bit, and see and kind of dig up these nuggets that are clues to, to some things that we’re we’re dealing with. And, and the rest of it is aesthetics. I love the clothes, I love. I just love how things looked and taste, you know, I don’t know how they tasted it. But I just liked the style of the furniture and the clothes and all that stuff. So yeah, that’s why and I’m forcing myself to also write more contemporary things so that I, just not stuck in that time period. I’ve written a couple plays that are more contemporary. But essentially, it’s kind of become my brand. I’m the vintage go to girl.

Claudia Henock 12:30
Well, that’s definitely a brand if I saw one too. Could you tell me more about some of your like contemporary, your contemporary? I can’t speak words today. Contemporary works.

Peppur Chambers 12:43
It’s funny words, right? Contemporary, okay, so I was thankful, I was lucky enough to be a part of some cohorts, playwriting cohorts over pandemic. And one of the plays that I wrote with Mad Labs, with Moving ATheatre in Los Angeles was called, formerly known as Meridian. And that one is about mental health. And Dance in my background, too. So I write about Dance quite a bit as well. So this is a young dancer who is kind of losing herself. So I have it formally known as, and the character’s name is Meridian. And she’s spiraling down into this place, and nobody can really help her. So that was, that’s modern day and another one on opposite spectrum is called Unexplained Infertility. And that one is about a woman who is dealing with, as it sounds like infertility, and, but that one is kind of a ghost story. So actually, I still go back in time, and I have a grandma character in there, like my grandma. And the character, the character is explaining her infertility due to the ghosts of the past. So you know how, you know how back in the day, and these 40s areas, people had 10 kids and stuff. And now we have like one and a half. And so I have it that the ghosts, that like her ancestors said, you are going to have a choice, you are not going to have any children, because we didn’t have a choice about all of these 10, you know, maybe one or two we wanted, but we didn’t have a choice about the others, so that the ancestors are the reasons why she has this unexplained infertility. So that one’s kind of bookending here, and now.

Claudia Henock 14:23
All those are really, really, really cool. And it’s really cool that you’re branching out to just essentially experiment with your writing as well, which is actually really cool.

Peppur Chambers 14:31
Yeah, thank you. Yeah, I hear, I enjoy hearing you say that because writing is just one of those, it’s so personal. But then to experiment with it. That’s where the guts come in. And that’s where the joy and excitement comes in. I love how you, how you describe that. Thank you.

Claudia Henock 14:47
You’re welcome. Because I’m a creative myself with both like audio, and essentially making costumes myself, and sometimes you just have to experiment. Sometimes it goes well, other times, “Oh no, I learned my lessons, but oh no.”

Peppur Chambers 15:04
And that we don’t know what that is.

Claudia Henock 15:08
So another question that just like, kind of like popped up is, do you ever get like a sense of like imposter syndrome when it comes to like your creative work?

Peppur Chambers 15:17
Yeah. All the time, all the time. So right now, the book, Harlem’s Last Dance that’s out now is published with a company called Spaceboy Books, which happens to be run by a fellow author. And who was kind enough, I say, kind to publish me. And part of that, in that, it’s a small press. And so that means a lot of that marketing falls on my shoulders, and kind of in a lovely way, and kind of in the way that we found each other. So I have to do a lot of work to get the word out there. And I find myself, like, oh, you know, you have these big dreams of like, oh, New York Times, or I should pitch to, you know, Washington Post or whatever, because why can’t I pitch? And then it goes time to write the email or find the thing? And I’m like, oh, no, nobody wants to hear. These are the thoughts. Nobody wants to hear about them. This book isn’t good enough. I’m never gonna, you know, or who do I think I am. And my goodness, the battle, and I cognitively know what I’m doing. And I cognitively understand what’s happening. And then sometimes, like, emotionally, I can, like, just do it just, you know, out there, Peppur, you know, and I can do it. And other times, the cognitive wins, and I just don’t do it. So I battle it a lot. And it’s still and it’s surprising, even, you know, you’re like, why is this happening? Like, you know, what it is you have, it’s not like, we’re not aware, we don’t have an awareness about what this feels like. But yeah, it’s it’s an uphill battle, that, you know, once you get on the top, and you’re like, “I pushed send,” you’re like, oh, no, I can celebrate, you know, and then start again. So it’s interesting cycle. But yeah, yeah, do you too like, how is it going?

Claudia Henock 17:05
As someone who struggles with like reaching out to people to have like, as guests on my show, I do kind of go through that same deal as well. But it kind of depends on like, the circles you run in the community, like, I guess it depends on the people you interact with in the field that you’re in as well. Like, for example, I’ve been really fortunate to have a few conversations with like, essentially, the founders and CEOs like podcasting companies, because that’s kind of like the route that I want to go into.

Peppur Chambers 17:36
You’re there.

Claudia Henock 17:37
Huh?

Peppur Chambers 17:38
I mean, you’re already there. You are a podcaster. Go on, I interrupted.

Claudia Henock 17:42
Yeah. But I think regardless of like, what type of like creative field that you’re in, you’re always gonna have like that little like that little annoying sense of doubt in your head, that you just, forgive my wording, you gotta like kick it out your ears, essentially. Because you know your skill set. You done really cool things. Keep doing really cool things.

Peppur Chambers 18:07
Exactly. My brother says that, he’s like, um, whenever I explained to him how I’m feeling, he’s like, “Have you looked at your resume? Have you looked at the things you’re doing? Have you looked at what you have done?” “Like, Yeah”, but he’s like, “yeah, no, but stop.”

Claudia Henock 18:23
So in speaking of lessons, imagine that you have first grade Peppur sitting right beside you right now, who has the book in her hand, like a smile wipes, proud of her three pointed flowers.

Peppur Chambers 18:36
Yes.

Claudia Henock 18:37
What advice would you give to her?

Peppur Chambers 18:39
Oh, trying to make me cry. Okay, so I would tell her, all right, let me get into it. I was an actor, so I know how to get into my body. Um, I would tell her write some more. Not just, don’t give up, don’t, keep going. None of that. Just write some more. You have a lot to say. You have a lot of stories in you. And just get that pen out and write some more, make another book, make another book, write short story. Just write some more.

Claudia Henock 19:20
When it comes to like creative journeys, sometimes you just have the look back at like, where you came from, essentially, and reflect from like, where you are.

Peppur Chambers 19:28
Yeah.

Claudia Henock 19:28
And essentially, your starting point was your book, your most precious thing.

Peppur Chambers 19:33
Yeah. Yeah. That’s beautiful. Thank you.

Claudia Henock 19:38
You’re welcome. Trust, trust me sometimes, like I don’t, to be completely honest with you. I don’t have these questions planned. They just come out on the fly. So sometimes, I say inspirational things. Other times. It’s just awkward.

Peppur Chambers 19:53
Both are delightful.

Claudia Henock 19:54
Absolutely. So in speaking of artists and advice, if, I do know, I’m friends with a lot of artists, regardless of their skill set, whether it’s audio, writing, acting, if there’s someone who’s a creative right now that’s struggling with just, I guess, struggling with impostor syndrome and just struggling with the desire of, I don’t know if I’m meant for this. What advice would you have for that person?

Peppur Chambers 20:23
Hmm, great question. I’m going to what, what hit me was, I don’t know if I’m right for this, that part of the question. So I’ll answer that first. And actually kind of goes back to that five year old thing where I started, if you can take that moment, take a moment to sort of just sit with yourself quietly. And think, man, what did I love? Like what? What was it? Was it playing in the dirt? Was it running? Was it talking to my grandma, you know, what was the thing that gave me so much joy that I would just do it forever and ever and ever? And? And that’s, that’s where the answer is. It might translate, you know, what I mean? Like the talking? Talking translates to podcasting. Talking translates to being a newscaster and like that, that stuff translates into different things. But that nugget is, is there, like that impulse and that desire, and that love is there. And I think if you can take that moment, or maybe go back to old journals, if you’re lucky enough to have them, or talk to people, you know, like, interview, if you whoever you have a round, you’re like, what was that thing that I would just do all the time? Or did I you know, and see if you can find it? And, and if you can find that, that is the answer. And that means do that, you know? And then, the other, the first part of your question, what was it? You remember?

Claudia Henock 21:49
Um, that’s actually, actually a good question. The question was talking about people, talking about creatives who are just struggling with impostor syndrome, they know they want to create, but they just don’t know how to, I guess, progress from, from that point?

Peppur Chambers 22:03
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then, okay, great. Thanks. And then that’s the other part is progressing. And that kind of goes back to the write more. So I do believe that we have to keep honing our skills, you know, in a way that, so for example, I was looking at a play that I wrote, 10 years ago, it was a web series, I wrote with a friend, and thank goodness, the friend came along, because man, what I wrote was not good. So, I, but at the time, it’s like, oh, man, I’m doing it, you know, because I just literally felt like, I was in Hollywood, and like, I’m writing a web series, I am writing a pilot. And the fact of doing it was satisfying for me.

Peppur Chambers 22:41
Now to go back and look at it, I’m like, Oh, my gosh, thank goodness, I have since taking writing classes, you know, and, and, like, sharpen my skills, because quality and like, even structure, you know, like things that are industry standards are not correct. So I think that for us, in order, you know, like in order to, to kind of combat the imposter, where you feel like, I don’t know what I’m doing, you have to keep doing what you’re doing. And then as you keep doing it, keep adding on more and more skill, take the classes, talk to people, I don’t know, explore, travel, like, do all the things that, that will inform your soul and your spirit and your mind and your body in a way that keeps you informed, you know, so that you can keep outputting this thing with some sort of conviction, you know, and I think conviction is just as much as having some sort of a degree, or being written up in a newspaper or anything like that, that comes as in this form of validation. So your inner conviction that comes from the fact that you have educated yourself is enough, and we can only get there if we keep doing what it is. You’re doing the thing that it is.

Claudia Henock 23:52
A lot of juicy nuggets of advice in there and I do really appreciate it. So Peppur, I want to say thank you again for being on my podcast. Where can my audience find you online?

Peppur Chambers 24:05
Claudia, you’re so kind. Thank you. I’ve been doing this a lot. Okay, so you can find me online. So my website is the best place. I have multiple, you know how it is when you’re creative, but the main one is peppurchambers.com. That’s P E P P U R chambers, CH A M B E R S.com. And on the socials I am peppur, @peppurthehotone. So it’s P EPP U R T H E H OT O N E, pepper the hot one. You can pretty much find me on all those places. Oh, and if you want to read any of my blog stuff, you can go to penandpeppur.com It’s p e n a n d and then peppur P E P P U R.com.

Claudia Henock 24:48
Awesome and I’ll definitely have all the information in the show notes and quick question, with the Chandler show. How soon will the Chandler show be premiering? I want to put that in the show notes as well.

Peppur Chambers 25:00
Okay, great, wasn’t sure. So that will be the last week in July. Last week in July, first week in August, I believe July 27 to 28th. Right in there. I should know by heart. I can look it up, or I can send it to you. But for the sake of audio, the last week of July, beginning of August,

Claudia Henock 25:21
That works perfectly, because your episode is coming up at the end of June. So I just want to be sure it’s still like timely a little bit.

Peppur Chambers 25:27
Totally. Yeah. Thank you.

Claudia Henock 25:29
You’re welcome.

Peppur Chambers 25:30
Thank you.

Claudia Henock 25:31
So Peppur, I wanted say it was a pleasure meeting you, and pleasure and talking with you today. You’ve been an awesome guest. And I hope you have an awesome night.

Peppur Chambers 25:39
Awesome. Thank you, Claudia. You’re amazing. And keep going. Keep doing what you’re doing.

Claudia Henock 25:44
Thank you again. Have a good night.

Peppur Chambers 25:46
You too. Thank you. Bye bye.

Peppur Chambers 25:48
Bye.

Claudia Henock 25:51
Thank you for listening to this episode of Your Most Precious Thing. If you want to support the show, you can leave a review on your favorite podcast platform and share your favorite episode with a friend. You can also contact me @claudiahenock on Instagram and Twitter, and Claudia Henock on LinkedIn. In addition, you can also contact me at claudiahenock1@gmail.com. You can also follow Your Most Precious Thing through my official website, www.claudiahenock.com, and anywhere where you listen to your podcasts. Intro and Outro music is Synapse by Shane Ivers and you can also listen to his music on silvermansound.com.