Amici:
My friend Cindy is so way cool, amici, I’m doing my own intro right here. We met at the dorms back when Cindy first started (my 2nd semester in the SNHU MFA program). It was up at the beautiful Mountain Grand View Hotel in the White Mountains of New Hampshire … we chatted a few times at breakfast … became friendly … and I’m pretty sure it took her two more semesters before she bothered to tell me just how prolific (and published) she was. She has a list of books she’s penned that have been published (click on link) …
Cindy and I hung out as much as our schedules allowed … she’s a dynamite person with a GREAT father (I got to meet him during one of the residencies) … and her work in the program is about as good as it gets. So, without further ado, amici, here’s Cindy Littlefield, author and recent SNHU MFA graduate.
Cindy Littlefield is a freelance writer and editor who has authored seven children’s activities books, including Awesome Ocean Science!, which won a Parents’ Choice Silver Honor Award. A former parenting magazine editor, she currently develops online content for the Disney Internet Group. But when it comes to writing, her true passion is fiction. Her short stories have been published in online journals, and she was a past finalist in Glimmer Train’s Short Story Award for New Writers. Her thesis, To The Wind, is about a young desk clerk working at a hotel off the coast of New England. Feeling betrayed by her father when she discovers the truth surrounding her mother’s death, she agrees to sail south with a charismatic but troubled islander who eventually abandons her at sea.
From her mentor, Wiley Cash (author of NY Times Bestseller, A Land More Kind Than Home) …
If you know Cindy Littlefield you won´t be surprised that such an honest, brilliant woman has written such an honest, brilliant book. "To the Wind" is the story of a young woman named Liza who exiles herself to an island off the coast of New England to spend a summer with a group of total misfits. Sound familiar? But during the summer and over the course of telling her story, Liza finds her voice. I would argue that Cindy Littlefield has found her voice too.
From 2nd Staff Reader, Mark Sundeen (author of critically acclaimed, The Man Who Quit Money)…
I had the pleasure of being the second reader: poignant aching depiction of love and longing and a certain innocence that fear and dread elation when you know you want the wrong person, but you can’t stop it. The book is as lonely and beautiful as the sea.
Congratulations Cindy! You rock!
And here’s a sneak peek at The Diamond Collar …
The Diamond Collar … oh, baby, just one more week to the premier of the new reality show on the Oprah Network (OWN) … a good friend of mine, James “Head” Guiliani, is featured in this story about redemption old school style … James went through some bad times, including drug and alcohol addictions … and he was once a street enforcer for the Gambino crime family … and he did 2 years inside … but first a woman (Lena) and then a dog (Bruno) turned his life around forever … James now runs one of the preeminent animal rescue shelters in New York (Keno's Animal Rescue) and he’s being featured alongside the best veterinarian in the world, Salvatore Pernice (he saved our Rigoletto a few years back when we still lived in Brooklyn) … it’s gonna be a beautiful thing, amici … check it out next Friday, January 17, 2014 … at 10:00 p.m. on the OWN network.
Seriously, dudes and dudettes, which would you rather have protecting your pets … some electronic fence or a former mob enforcer? The Diamond Collar … redemption is a beautiful thing.
The Playoffs … wow, did this come on fast or what? I was kind of shocked to see how badly the Kansas City Chiefs gave that 38-10 cushion away to the Indianapolis Colts, but having seen Luck perform at the level he did in the second half, one can only hope he has it again this weekend up in Foxboro where he’ll not only have to deal with the weather conditions, he’ll have to contend with refs who give at least 1 pass interference call a “drive” to Tom Brady/Robert Kraft (and their never ending circus of jumping-up-after-an-incomplete-pass-waiving-for-a-flag-receivers. We wish Mr. Luck all the Luck in the world.
I wasn’t surprised at Cincinnati losing, but I was pissed off (as their fans should be). You know what they can do with the Red Rifle, right? As for Philip Rivers, between him and Jay Cutler, I’m not sure there are two more overrated QB’s in the league (maybe Dalton before his disastrous performance last week). Rivers was given credit for playing a great game last week. What he did was not throw interceptions, which for him is more than great, but the reality is they ran the ball well enough for him to keep his hands in his pockets (or on his hips). To be fair, he made the plays he had to make and his team won. Something tells me that win had a lot more to do with San Diego’s offensive and Defensive lines, and their running backs, than it did their QB.
That said, I hope he has a great game against the Broncettes, but falls short because I still think Denver will have a better shot at beating the Cheatriots at home than San Diego would on the road (should the Choketriots not choke against the Colts).
In the NFC, I still want San Francisco (shout out to my goombah on the west coast, David Corbett), but I don’t mind seeing any of the four advance … that said, I’d like to see Blackie Noir’s Panthers win one more … but none of these teams should win unless they can knock off the AFC team in the end, especially if it should be the Choketriots.
Oh, yous want my picks again, do yous?
Take the Sea Pigeons -8 in their 32-20 thrashing of the Aints.
Take the Colts and the 7.5 in their near miss against the Cheatriots (NE 35/Indy 31)
San Fran ends the Panthers great season, 24-17 (so lay the -1).
You’re gonna give away 9.5 to a team that already beat you? Good luck with that one. We like the Chargers getting 9.5 in a 7 point Denver win 31-24.
Asshole of the Week … look, we all get passionate about politics, religion, and whether the New England Patriots (a.k.a., Cheatriots, Choketriots) really ever won a super bowl (since all their rings came before they were caught cheating and they haven’t won anything since they were caught cheating) … but sometimes people get overzealous (myself included) and lash out. Whether it’s from frustration, having a bad day in general, or just being in a shitty mood, we say things/type things we probably wish we hadn’t. Normally, we apologize and move on with our lives, or at least try to do so … and sometimes some people are so friggin’ thick (and dumb), either they can’t realize how thick (and dumb) they are, and/or they don’t want to realize it. These are people who purposely opt for being offensive jerkoffs and the bullies on a keyboard they couldn’t be in real life (usually going for offensive at their keyboard in the safety of their basements).
Seriously, the asshole of this week is dumb-as-rocks-stupid and a pure hater.
Forgetting which side of the political aisle he waves his flag, because it really isn’t important, after calling a few women (and a few men) “douche bags” for not agreeing with him politically on his Facebook page, and for being a typical telephone/keyboard tough guy with balls no doubt the size of peas, this clown (and I mean clown), wins the asshole of the week (which starts the new year, so maybe this’ll be a recurring section in TK(?))
Well, we hope not to have to do this again, but if the asshole can somehow read this, aside from having his head up his ass regarding history, facts and general politeness, let me just say that he’s our grand prize winner today!
And this song is for him … Were you born an asshole or did you work it all your life?
—Knucks
Right on … left on … whatever on …
