CCL35's profile
AGE:
40
LOC: Wallingford, CT
GEN: Female
LAST LOGIN: February 27
LOC: Wallingford, CT
GEN: Female
LAST LOGIN: February 27
I earn my pennies writing and ghost-writing, occasionally editing, books in the Dummies series. I fell in love with the series in 1993 and refuse to relinquish my grip. My most “famous” works are the first editions of Wine For Dummies and Golf For Dummies. Both projects were challenging in their own way, but the lessons learned by editing them were invaluable.
I also dabble in creative writing. To see my latest forays, please drop by colleeninc.blogspot.com. That’s my personal blog, where I let down my guard and have a bit of fun doing what I love best --- writing (about me).
Items
Version 1
3 Reviews
4 Comments
Pots and pans crash in the kitchen. You are angry. Or you are noisy. I can’t tell anymore. Even when I shake the wrinkles from our dungarees, I am quiet. I am towels. You stop clanging pots. I finish folding laundry. Next week, the dishes neat in the cupboards, our clothes warm under the sun . . . We will walk arm in arm through Provincetown. We will buy art and meaningful jewelry. We will keep company with the ocean’s crash and retreat, its fantastic fortissimo and rotten dimin...
Ratings & Rankings
Version 1
3 Reviews
4 Comments
In 7th grade, Stacey Russo dumped frog guts on my head. I was bending to pick up my pencil, and she accidentally tipped her tray, and splash. My reputation was sealed. For a while. Stacey Russo, by the way, is a name I made up. I don’t remember the name of the girl who dumped formaldehyde and frog fat, probably an eye or two, in my hair. I just remember the laughter, and how I was called FrogGutHead for two months. I was also uninvited to Eva Selmi’s middle school graduatio...
Ratings & Rankings
Version 1
4 Reviews
4 Comments
I was lying in the tub yesterday nursing one of my all too common backaches when I called my husband into the room. Honey, I said, today, I think, maybe, is ten years to the day from when I was released from Community North. I can't know the date for sure -- I was released too soon because insurance stopped paying. But an anniversary is an anniversary. He asked whether I had any thoughts I'd like to reflect on with him. I told him the bare bones truth: I had accumulated no profound w...
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Reviews
Overall, this piece is just finding its stride, I think. The Prologue is still too cursory in its level of detail. Right off, for example, I want a visual image of Lan tying himself in knots. What does "tying his body in knots" mean? Do his elbows hyperextend? Does he cross his legs behind his head and walk on his hands (is this even possible)? The idea intrigues me, but without the detail to move it forward, the scene feels (or is) rushed. The details you choose should reinforce the theme of...
My attention is captured after the italic quotation, where the regular text begins. The trouble with the quotation, for me, is that I've heard it so many times that it fails to capture my imagination. To help propel readers forward, I suggest withholding a bit of detail until the end of sentences or paragraphs so that they don't think they have unlocked the whole story before you're ready to relinquish it. I can't tell whether you/the narrator is proud of his grandfather, or whether he consid...
I really, really enjoyed this essay. In fact, Urbis dumped me on page 26 last night, and I picked it up from the beginning this morning because I wanted to see what happened. My crit? The ending. Is the only thing the narrator/you were after is to kiss a beautiful girl? I was clear throughout that you wanted a girlfriend, but the kiss seemed more focused on the superficial beauty of the girl. Her character was not drawn out like the others. The whole piece took a rather dim view of women, but...
This piece should be much longer, I think. Rather than state details like "jaws of life," describe them. What noise did they make? How cold were they when/if they touched your skin. What was the conversation around you as you were being saved? Take time to "detail out" the narrative. Why don't you want me to do drugs? What I do like is the voice. I just wish I could experience the scene rather than be spared from it.
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