Paula Ray

Pen Name: Paula Ray

I prefer to keep my real name private as I’m a teacher and my student’s know how to Google. Not all of my work is suitable for children.

I’m a musician; clarinet and saxophone are my primary instruments, but I do play many others. I’ve taught band as well as elementary music and middle school chorus. I’ve steered clear of high school band, because the enormous amount of time one must invest in half time shows would leave me no time to write. As it is now, I teach music to darling children and I’m home by 4:00pm everyday and eager to get my writing fix.

I’ve dabbled in a wide variety of genres and styles of writing, but the works that feel most “me” tend to be abstract and drenched in imagery and wordplay. These particular pieces seldom contain dialogue, nor do they have a typical “plot”. In my opinion, they are poetic snapshots or short text films that show the world through a musical lens. Often the overall tone is dark and moody and with deep undercurrents of emotion throughout. What I’ve found is that these extensions of my spirit in the form of poetic writings usually flow from me in a stream, one sitting, rarely taking more than twenty minutes to compose. I may edit the work after the basic structure is there, but I try not to tamper too much, because the organic feel gets lost when I do. I can’t say if my work is good or bad, I’m not sure I understand how one can define bad art anyway. I will say that to my great surprise and delight, I’ve recently had poetry nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Web. Apparently, someone out there enjoys my work, which makes me very happy.

You can find examples of my work in Weirdyear and Daily Love as well as many other zines. For a full listing, you may want to check out my blog: http://musicalpencil.blogspot.com



Likes: Sci-fi, steampunk, time-travel, fantasy, horror, poetry, music, songwriting, sculpture, painting, dancing, drama, puppetry, stained-glass, and all other forms of art.

Dislikes: Balancing my check book, driving, talking on the phone, reading instruction manuals, tallying grades, doing housework

Status: Married for eleven years and spoiled rotten