Hi, I'm Polly Frost. I'm an author, playwright, journalist and new media producer. Nearly everything I write, though, is based in humor.
My latest book is "With One Eye Open" (pictured at left). It's a collection of 25 of my humor pieces published in places like The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Grin & Tonic and Narrative Magazine.
How'd I get into writing humor?
Well, I was one of those kids who started writing at a very young age -- I ran my own little newspaper, wrote scripts for puppet shows and toiled over poems. However, if you're tempted to feel impressed, please don't be. Because, even though I didn't intend my creations to be funny, people laughed at every one of them. Maybe it was partly the fault of the titles I came up with. My newspaper was "The Daily Gumphing." One of my musicals was a starring vehicle for the family's Springer Spaniel called "Snoozy in Paris." (A tip to the critics: I include an homage to this bit of immortal theater in "My Life: A Proposal," a piece in this volume.) For the title of a novel I dreamed up about a duck, I came up with "Tugbarn." Inadvertent and unwanted laughter followed my efforts everywhere. I was the Edward D. Wood Jr. of child creators.
As a young adult, hoping to earn a place on the shelf alongside Chekhov and Dostoevsky, I signed up for a creative writing class. One fateful day I brought in a short story that I thought was sure to impress my fellow aspirants. (It was called "Untitled" -- I was in an avant garde phase, imagining myself to have been influenced by John Hawkes.) To my dismay, giggles started erupting from the other workshoppers the moment I began reading my story aloud to them.
Afterwards, the workshop's instructor took a trembling and indignant me aside and said, "You shouldn't waste your time trying to write literary fiction. But you might be able to do something with funny." After my feelings calmed down it occurred to me that he could be on to something. Perhaps I'd do better not to fight the laughter but to invite it instead.
I'm a slow learner but I can sometimes wise up, and I've been busying myself writing humor ever since.
My humor has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Scene4 Magazine, Identity Theory, Exquisite Corpse, Art Design Cafe and Narrative Magazine and it's been anthologized, including in two of The New Yorker’s “best of” collections, “Fierce Pajamas” and “Disquiet, Please,” in Rosalind Warren's anthologies "Women's Glib" and "Women's Glibber" and in "Humor Me" edited by Ian Frazier.
My latest book, "With One Eye Open," is a collection of 25 of my humor pieces.
In addition to humor, I've also written erotica -- although many of my relatives and friends prefer to pretend I haven't. “Deep Inside,” my collection of satirical erotic horror and sci fi stories, was published by Tor in 2007, and has been written about and reviewed over fifty times. It was praised by Ron Jeremy, and listed by Rachel Kramer Bussel as one of the ten best erotica books in Time Out New York. I wrote the stories in "Deep Inside" as monologues for actors to read. These stories were performed at Cornelia Street Cafe in NYC from 2003-2007.
I'm so fortunate to be married to Ray Sawhill. Together we co-wrote, directed and produced “Sex Scenes,” a theater project which was a popular regular event at Cornelia Street Cafe. A recording of “Sex Scenes” is available as a download and CD at http://rapturehouse.com. Together with the film director, Matt Lambert, Ray and I co-created the sci fi burlesque webseries “The Fold.”
Ray and I also co-wrote the play "The Last Artist in New York City" which was adapted from my short story of the same name (published in Narrative Magazine as a Story of the Week and in my humor collection "With One Eye Open.") It was selected for "Best American Short Plays 2008-2009."
I've also written erotica and horror, although some of my relatives like to pretend I haven't. My naughty book, "Deep Inside" (pictured at left) is a collection of erotic horror stories and was published by Tor in 2007. I'm pleased that "Deep Inside" has been written about and reviewed over fifty times, including praise from Ron Jeremy and erotica maven, Rachel Kramer Bussel, who listed it as one of the ten best erotica books in Time Out New York. I like to think that the stories in "Deep Inside" are also satirical and funny. And I'm pleased that readers have told me they gave "Deep Inside" to people they're involved with and that reading it together rekindled their passion. As an author, it's always great to hear that your helping relationships stay alive!
I hope you have a good time with my books.