A naughty, shiny little Pennybird comes over for some jelly tots

Penelope Hasler, as her blog attests in its very title, is a Naughty Little Writer. She is also in possession of a very large talent, and though she's refused to let me do any of the usual publicity things to introduce her, I'm just going to sneak in this link to her incredible contribution to Love Spanks, from the work in progress that I'm dying to read.

I call her Pennybird, because she honks like a goose sometimes. If you meet a Pennybird, be kind and give it some jelly tots. If you stroke its furry feathers, it will be your friend forever, and say smart things that make you smile, at an astonishing rate.

Why do you write?

Writing is part of who I am. I might never become very good at it, but that isn’t really the point: the desire to do it comes from within, and it feels good – it satisfies something that exists in its own right, beyond words or understanding – when that desire is listened to and an effort is made to meet it. People the world over have such desires, in many forms, and I love that. It’s where creativity and beautiful things come from, and it has a reality and a warmth that makes ‘creativity as a business’ stuff like Hollywood films look empty and ridiculous in comparison.

What's your desert-island fantasy? (If you were marooned on a desert-island with only a single fantasy to get off to for the rest of your life, what would you choose?)

Schoolgirl, always schoolgirl. Lessons, breaktimes, dorm room, detention... the structure allows for a ‘real’ life with different phases, like light and shade. And it allows such flexibility to interact within the fantasy, and (sort of) determine the treatment you receive. Some days I might want to escalate things; to keep compounding my misdemeanours until I am in a world of pain and trouble, bottom aflame, face soaked with tears of regret, dignity stripped as thoroughly as the pristinely white panties that once covered my bottom. Others I might want to be a model pupil and feel childish pride at being praised for my attentiveness. Most days I imagine I’d act up a bit, though, as punishments in schoolgirl mode are just FANTASTIC. But however good or bad my behaviour might be, I would always be immersed in a wonderful, liberating dream-reality that makes me feel safe and vital and just plain glad to be alive. Oh, and really, really turned on. But don’t tell matron that.

Do you think of BDSM and/or spankophilia as a practice or as an orientation, or as something else, and what does your answer mean to you?

I think orientation comes first, but it does overlap with practice as we necessarily ‘do’ things (physical and/or non-physical) and sometimes interact with other people. What does my answer mean to me? That I think kink is an inherent trait, a strange, beautiful thing that some of us are born with. I know it isn’t an original thought, but each person has a journey to understand this aspect of themselves, and the more we engage and feel and accept, the more we are given in return. I love that we can all (to some degree) express our kink, for it is simply an expression of ourselves, and of love, and it isn’t anything to feel the slightest bit ashamed of.

Who's a favorite character from your own work, and why?

I have a real soft spot for Eleanor DeBauchert (bitchy fashion editor who gets blackmailed and spanked by her long-suffering assistant). She’s a cartoon on the page, but she’s more rounded in my mind. She is brought down a great number of pegs, scolded and beaten and humiliated beyond anything she could imagine, and she is altered by the experience in a way that is endearing.

Who's a favorite character from someone else's work (erotic or non-erotic) and why?

I can’t stand the sonuvabitch but I will say Seth Pecksniff from Martin Chuzzlewit. He’s such a fawning, awful hypocrite, all virtue and obsequious concern on the surface but heartless and endlessly avaricious underneath. An archetype for all two-faced pole-climbers. It’s a sign of Dickens’ skill in drawing characters that I react so viscerally to him.

Thank you so much for your interesting answers to my questions, Pennybird! It's always a pleasure to get inside that little blonde head of yours. And thank you for sitting still so long. I know you have a busy schedule and a propensity to chase shiny things and geese.

Nature note: Pennybirds may be found eating jelly tots and thinking about spanking at practically any hour, in their natural (and very pink) blog habitat.