We seek to showcase work that will invite the audience to a deeper understanding of our corner of the State of Virginia whether it be fiction, nonfiction, poetry or artwork. We want to produce, and promote, redemptive literature with a Hampton Roads flavor. 


Our definition of Redemptive: Serving to redeem or save. Stories that value a higher cause than ourselves or serve to point in that direction. Stories that do not glorify depravity. 



Abigail Putnam, editor-in-chief, is from Tidewater, VA where the humidity just might kill you and the nearest museum keeps a hundred-year-old ham on display. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University and her fiction has appeared in Maudlin House, Five on the Fifth, and Frostfire Worlds. She likes weird fiction and isn't afraid to say so. Anything that makes her cringe or laugh, preferably both at the same time. Are you a hundred-year-old ham or do you have a story about one? If so, she wants to hear it. She wants to hear all the odd tales with that Virginia flare that you can muster.

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For Martha Putnam, non-fiction and poetry editor, the place where you live can mean as little or as much as you determine it to. It can be home or it can be hell. As a military brat, she struggled to answer the question, “Where are you from?” She became by forfeit and by fortune a Virginia resident of over thirty years. Some would concur that makes her a Virginian, while others would decry it. What matters is that she has come to appreciate and embrace the Old Dominion, especially Hampton Roads, in all its quirky and quixotic variety. She loves exploring the side roads and traveling the highways. This corner of the literary scene called Penultimate Peanut is her attempt to take you there by word. Is the pen mightier than the sword? It is if it’s Pen - ultimate!

Rebekah Adams, social media manager for the Penultimate Peanut, is a lifelong native of Portsmouth, Virginia. When she is not studying mathematics or working as a tutor at Regent University, she enjoys pursuits such as knitting, sewing, and writing poetry. She is always down for creativity, adventure, and enjoying Virginia scenery.

Sean Putnam, the art editor, is an enigma.

Justin Hunter, fiction reader, 

received his MFA from Arcadia University. He realized he was a writer at the age of seven when he penned the classic, Jacques Cousteau and the Underwater Robot Octopus. A gold star to anyone who tracks down a copy of that gem. When he's not writing, Justin is probably doing things that actually pay the bills. That, or he's watching baseball. Or he's at the bottom of a doggie-pile made of up children and, well, dogs. 

Kelsey West, fiction reader, is a blog extraordinaire. She is currently studying for her BS in Exercise Science at ODU and she has a black belt in Shorin Ryu, Goshin Jutsu, and Chutoku Ryu Karate. Yeah, she's pretty awesome. She also has a penchant for any sort of story with lots of action, strong female protagonists, and brooding plots. Also, dogs. She loves dogs.