Hannah Kirkwood, a frustrated painter and writer, has been teaching at Keefer Community College in California for ten years. On her fortieth birthday, and the anniversary of her father's death, she is visited by his disapproving ghost during a class discussion of Hamlet. She then experiences a panic attack which causes her to walk out in the middle of class. As her father continues to visit her, Hannah seeks mental health advice from a slew of odd characters, including Crazy Larry, a jaded old veteran of the community college system, Elvira, a clerk at the Health Forever store, Rainbow, an off-balance yoga instructor, and Dr. Whitehouse, a lackluster therapist with problems of her own. Playing Hooky is about the anxiety we experience in middle age as we see our options dwindle and our dreams crescendo from a soft murmur to a deafening roar. It's about the promises we make to ourselves and the bargains we strike with others. Laura Austin Wiley has a B.A. in English from Columbia University and an M.A. in English from Holy Names University. She grew up in rural Indiana but now lives in northern California with her husband, Aaron, and five cats. Her writing has appeared in the Oakland Tribune, the Columbia Alumni Magazine, Conscious Choice Magazine, Zillah Quarterly, Wild Violet Literary Review and Wilderness House Review, among other publications. She is also an actor, jazz flutist and singer, with CDs available on Amazon and CD Baby. Her website is www.lauraaustinwiley.com
