Deborah Prum began her writing career at age seven. Perched atop a chrome kitchen chair, she pecked out children’s stories on her mother’s Royal typewriter. Every plot contained a similar theme. At the onset, some disaster (plane crash, rampant disease, ravaging insects) took the lives of parents and all other authority figures. The kids had to collect wild berries to eat and skin rabbits to make clothing. Without exception, by the end of each tale, the sturdy little survivors had created a utopia and lived blissfully ever after.

Unfortunately, it did not occur to Deb’s parents to call a child therapist. So, by age twelve, her untreated psyche took an even darker and more angst-ridden turn. She penned this memorable story opener: Tragically beautiful, yet suddenly depressed, the charming and stately Octavia flung herself from a tall New York City skyscraper filled with valium.

(Okay, for you finicky editor-types, consider this: maybe that skyscraper housed a pharmaceutical company and was filled with valium!)

During the years since, Deborah Prum has written reviews, articles and humorous essays (The Writer, Ladies’ Home Journal, The Virginia Quarterly Review), critically acclaimed history for children (Rats, Bulls, and Flying Machines: A History of the Renaissance and Reformation) and prize-winning fiction for adults (Triage, Stanley in the Clouds). She lives in Charlottesville, VA with her family.

Honors:

The Hook Literary Contest, first prize for short fiction awarded at the opening ceremony of the Virginia Festival of the Book, March 2003.

North Carolina Association of American Mothers, Inc. Literature Contest, second place, short story division for Stanley in the Clouds, 1991.

Merriman Award, North Carolina Writer’s Network contest, first place in Stories for Children division, Jack’s Granny, 1991.

Judge, fiction entries, The Blue Ridge Anthology 2009: Poetry and Prose by Central Virginia Writers.

Judge, The Writer’s Eye Competition, a literary contest sponsored by the University of Virginia Art Museum, November, 2006.

Judge, The Hook Literary Contest, with George Garrett and Stephen Boykewich, at Virginia Festival of the Book, March 2004.

Affiliations:

Member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Virginia Writers Association and founding member of Moseley Writers Group.

Academic Background:

MALS, Dartmouth College. BA, University of Connecticut.

Contact:

Write to Deborah Prum at debprum@embarqmail.com