Denise Cassino

Denise Cassino is a baby-boomer from suburban Chicago. After earning a B.A. in English at Northern Illinois University, she moved to Denver, Colorado. Always a lover of the written word, she began writing in 2001. Her work has been published in such ezines as AboutTeens, Tapestry, Hackwriters, Ten Thousand Monkeys, Apollo's Lyre and in print magazines: Reminisce EXTRA, Garden and Hearth, Cottage Magazine, National Association of Women Writers, and in print anthologies: Passion, The Colour Gallery, and Taj Mahal Review. Her dream is to have her first novel published. In addition to her work with Long Story Short, an ezine for writers, Denise is also the Director of Production and Curriculum Coordinator at the Long Story Short School of Writing. Denise loves to travel, has back-packed through Europe, visited Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean along with 40 of the United States. Happily married after 27 years, Denise practices commercial real estate and resides in the mountains west of Denver. Contact Denise.

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Why do I write? I write because I love words. I love our language. I love the amazing images created from mere black ink on white paper. I have loved words all of my life. I started reading avidly as a child, utterly consumed by worlds and characters I would never see or meet but finally grew to know intimately. I fell in love with Rhett Butler. I discovered the Hidden Staircase with Nancy Drew and George and Bess. I am fascinated and awed by writers like Pat Conroy who make you smell the sea salt and taste the boiling shrimp; writers who can evoke images and emotions so profound and powerful that they linger in one’s mind forever. I love the characters that tug at you to return to them, to pick up the book and enter their realm again. I love that I yearn for those characters and places long after we’ve parted, as though homesick, wishing I could have just a few more moments with them. I love all what I learn from reading, the historical characters and events that I now know so well. I want so badly to be able to give to others what I have loved getting from others throughout my life – the joy of reading.

Denise's website: www.denisecassino.com

Favorite books:

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

The Bleeding Heart by Marilyn French

Family Pictures by Sue Miller

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

The Stand by Stephen King

Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk

Favorite movies:

Gone with the Wind

The Great Santini

Cannery Row

The Fortune

The Deer Hunter

National Lampoon's Vacation

Dirty Harry

When Harry Met Sally

Favorite Music:

The Beatles

Frank Sinatra

George Strait

Carly Simon

Les McCann

Randy Travis

Norah Jones

Cole Porter

Glenn Miller

Dean Martin

1. Short Story, “Sixty Seconds” published on Ten Thousand Monkeys

2. Short Story, “The Anti-Circle” published on Ten Thousand Monkeys

3. Short Story, “The Greatest Show on Earth” selected as story of the month on A Novel Approach to Writing

4. Short Story “Popularity Plus” published on AboutTeens

5. Short Story “Child’s Play” published on AboutTeens

6. Political opinion piece published in The Denver Post Newspaper

7. An Essay on Dr. Timothy Leary, "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out" published on Hackwriters

8. A How-To article, "My Submission System," published in National Association of Women Writers.

9. Short Story "Hirsute Village," published on AboutTeens

10. How-to Article, "Resurrecting Wicker Furniture," published in the June 2003 issue of Garden and Hearth,

11. Short Story, "Child's Play," published in the August, 2003 issue of the international print publication, PASSION, an Anthology of the World's Greatest Short Stories

12. A poem, "Who Knew" published in Tapestry

13. A poem, “The Woodland Ball,” published in the July 2003, issue of “Long Story Short, an ezine - not archived

14. Short story, “Ruby Ridinghood,” published in the October issue of AboutTeens, an ezine

15. Short story, “The Golden Seed,” published in the September issue of AboutTeens, an ezine

16. Short Story, “Fixer’s Fine Idea,” published in the June, 2003 issue of “Long Story Short.” - not archived.

17. Short Story, “Cruel and Unusual” published in August, 2003 on Long Story Short, an ezine, not archived

18. Short story, “A Day in the Life,” published in the August issue Tapestry, an ezine

19. Short story, “A Fitzgerald Family Christmas” published in the Christmas, 2003 issue of “Reminisce EXTRA Magazine” a print publication.

20. Short story, “European Vacation” published as Story of the Month in the September, 2003 issue of Long Story Short, an ezine - not archived

21. Flash Fiction, “Stunned” published in the September, 2003 issue of Long Story Short, an ezine - not archived

22. Essay, "Eyewitness," published in the November, 2003 issue of AboutTeens, an ezine

23. Short Story, "Daddy's Diary," published in the January, 2004 issue of Apollo's Lyre, an ezine.

24. A poem, "Heartache," published in the January, 2004 issue of Tapestry, an ezine

25. Short Story, "The Birth of Freedom," published in December, 2003 in a print anthology, Taj Mahal Review.

26. Short Story, "A Material Girl," published in August, 2003 in a print anthology, The Color Gallery.

27. An article, "The Lady Woodcutter" in Cottage Magazine, a print magazine published October, 2004.

28. Travel article, "European Vacation" published in Hostelworld.com inn December, 2004.

29. Short STory, "Ruby Ridinghood" published in Aboutteens.org

30. Short Non-Fiction, "My European Vacation in Trav.com

31. Short Non-Fiction, "My European Vacation" in HostelSpain.com

32. Short Non-Fiction, The White dove, in Authospot.com

33. Short Non-Fiction, Saving the Cabin, in Authospot.com

34. Article, Resurrecting Wicker Furniture, in Authospot.com

35. Article, Inexpensive Handmade Christmas Gifts, in Authspot.com

36. Non-Fiction, A Fifties Family Christmas, in Authspot.com

38. Article, The Healing Powers of Cinnamon, in Healthmad.com

39. Article, Take Care of Your Teeth, in Healthmad.com

40. Article, My Submission System, in Quazen.com