Russet: 

       I told my first grade teacher about my father’s stories. She smiled at me. “Oh! He has such a great imagination!”

       

       She must have said something about it at the parent-teacher conference. I spent nine days in the basement. My dad cried when he let me out. He used to cry a lot. Punishing me hurt him. But they were watching us, he said. They would know if he wasn't trustworthy. 

      My memories are like riptides. I swim at an angle, work my way to the edge, then escape. I manage to stretch, refocus, stand up, then I catch my breath when I see a stranger in the mirror. 

Consultations and critiques

I have added a new level of consultation services this year, aimed specifically at authors who are getting requests for full manuscripts from agents and editors....and then receiving  a pile of  "Interesting premise but not quite ready" responses.  

This is me, after the National Book Award people called me, trying to believe that it happened.  

It is not a detailed, marked up, beginners' critique focused on craft. I read your book, whole, and respond with specific suggestions to make it impossible to put down. If you have skills that need sharpening to pull it off, we work with that. We will Skype or phone to go over everything real-time... I will ask what you meant to do, and help you do THAT.



I do this in my spare time....and there isn't a lot of that.  Two or three people a month, tops. So if you are interested:  Contact me:   kathleen duey at earthlink dot net

I don't like to quote final fees until we talk. I don't have a cookie-cutter approach to this. I want to focus on each writer's needs.

I do critiques of  smaller writing samples for people who need skill-help.  http://kathleenduey.blogspot.com/2012/09/skype.html

and this explains why I began helping writers outside my usual conference appearances:
http://kathleenduey.blogspot.com/2011/08/critiques-short-answer-is-yes-if-my-own.html