PAULA WHYMAN
Writes of Passage, forthcoming in spring from Ivan R. Dee
Selected Works
Fiction
A young woman struggles with an unplanned pregnancy.
Sexual and racial tensions in a classroom threaten to explode as a young teen faces choices that will haunt her in adulthood. ORDER HERE
Two American teens go on their first European trip and get into trouble.
A young girl in Thailand is sold into prostitution by her mother.
A woman is haunted by events from the past that threaten to disturb her domestic life.
A man battles neighbors to build his dream house, while his son resists the pull of the family heritage.
A psychologist confuses fantasy and reality as she travels alone for the first time after her divorce.
Humor
Dining out with dietary issues, and Twizzlers. From the Washington Post.
KITCHEN SINK LINKS
Washington Independent Review of Books
Washington's nonprofit online book review
Semi-Charmed Life: Surviving at the Center of the Universe
first-person column on absurdities of suburban life
Bethesda World News
Bethesda's own parody newspaper
When the Menu Is a Minefield
Washington Post Food section, on dining out with dietary issues
Ode to the Hand Dryers of La Guardia
guest post for Susan Coll's blog
Rumpus Mini-Interview #19
I interview visual artist Tim Guthrie about his unusual anti-war project.
Work-in-Progress: A blog by Leslie Pietrzyk
Explores the Creative Process
Alternate Sides: A blog by Susan Coll
Adventures Along the Northeast Corridor
Finding Josephine
Writer Dionne Ford's blog
Poetry in the Arts
Publisher of the poetry journal, Ardent! - and fine books of poetry by invitation.
Driver's Education
Excerpt...
The Simple Safe Solution Driving School offered classes at numerous satellite locations in order to serve a larger geographic area. Our classroom was at the end of a deserted corridor in the basement of the Mackleby-Warner department store. At first I thought the basement looked like the set of a slasher movie: The gray tub filled with naked mannequins and spare body parts was the place where the killer hid his victims. Empty plastic hangers stacked to the ceiling on tall, metal poles, and straight pins covering the floor were instruments of torture. If you stepped on the pins just right, they could go through the sole of your shoe. The main level of the store was like the part of the house visitors were allowed to see, everything clean and perfect, with no indication of what might be amiss (ominous music swelling in the background) just One. Floor. Below.
On the first night of class, I sat next to Kevin Thorpe by accident, and after that I always sat next to Kevin Thorpe because sitting anywhere else would seem like a slight. And whenever I arrived in class first, he sat down next to me, which made me perspire in the armpits. He was my ideal: blond curly hair, blue eyes, golden tan—California surfer-boy, far from home—and a pimply nose just to make him seem real.
Winner Washington Writing Prize in Short Fiction
Excerpted from The Hudson Review
Reviews of Writes of Passage:
"Its many artful...selections...will offer satisfactions and revelations to readers of all ages." – Michael Cart, Booklist
"I can speak from experience that these works can motivate and inspire students to see literature in personal, interesting, and fun ways. Elise Juska's 'Northeast Pilly Girls,' Jacqueline W. Brown's 'Willie,' Paula Whyman's 'Driver's Education,' and Jan Ellison's 'The Color of Wheat in Winter' are a permanent part of our curriculum. These beautifully crafted and moving stories speak volumes to my students year after year…. The Writes of Passage should be a required anthology for all high school students. The stories inside this precious book will get teachers and students thinking, speaking, and feeling." – Afonso S. Albergaria Jr. (English teacher, The Young Women’s Leadership School,
Harlem, NY)
The Simple Safe Solution Driving School offered classes at numerous satellite locations in order to serve a larger geographic area. Our classroom was at the end of a deserted corridor in the basement of the Mackleby-Warner department store. At first I thought the basement looked like the set of a slasher movie: The gray tub filled with naked mannequins and spare body parts was the place where the killer hid his victims. Empty plastic hangers stacked to the ceiling on tall, metal poles, and straight pins covering the floor were instruments of torture. If you stepped on the pins just right, they could go through the sole of your shoe. The main level of the store was like the part of the house visitors were allowed to see, everything clean and perfect, with no indication of what might be amiss (ominous music swelling in the background) just One. Floor. Below.
On the first night of class, I sat next to Kevin Thorpe by accident, and after that I always sat next to Kevin Thorpe because sitting anywhere else would seem like a slight. And whenever I arrived in class first, he sat down next to me, which made me perspire in the armpits. He was my ideal: blond curly hair, blue eyes, golden tan—California surfer-boy, far from home—and a pimply nose just to make him seem real.
Winner Washington Writing Prize in Short Fiction
Excerpted from The Hudson Review
Reviews of Writes of Passage:
"Its many artful...selections...will offer satisfactions and revelations to readers of all ages." – Michael Cart, Booklist
"I can speak from experience that these works can motivate and inspire students to see literature in personal, interesting, and fun ways. Elise Juska's 'Northeast Pilly Girls,' Jacqueline W. Brown's 'Willie,' Paula Whyman's 'Driver's Education,' and Jan Ellison's 'The Color of Wheat in Winter' are a permanent part of our curriculum. These beautifully crafted and moving stories speak volumes to my students year after year…. The Writes of Passage should be a required anthology for all high school students. The stories inside this precious book will get teachers and students thinking, speaking, and feeling." – Afonso S. Albergaria Jr. (English teacher, The Young Women’s Leadership School,
Harlem, NY)