CLASS OF 2005
Odyssey Class of 2005
“There’s a story in that”
Back Row: Steve Rasnic Tem (Writer-in-Residence), Jason Ridler, Kate Marshall, Scott Andrews, Maggie Della Rocca, Jennifer Brinn, Jeanne Cavelos (Director), Sherry Peters, Brian Scott Hiebert, Jeff Howell, Michele Korri, Daniel Akselrod, Justin Howe
Front Row: Shara Saunsaucie, Susan Abel Sullivan, Cathy Perdue, Erin Hoffman, Michael J. DeLuca, Melanie Tem (Writer-in-Residence)
Daniel Akselrod
If you want to read and write the most insane, ridiculous (in a good way), wild, imaginative, hilarious stories under the tutelage of a great teacher, then Odyssey’s your home.
Scott Andrews
Jennifer Brinn
I now understand not only what tools I have as a writer but how to use them.
Maggie Della Rocca
Odyssey exceeded my expectations about what the overall experience would be like. Jeanne’s lectures and critiques taught me skills that I didn’t even know I needed. She provided a consistent and helpful curriculum that could never be duplicated by a college or university writing course. If aspiring writers have the means to attend Odyssey, they should do so.
Michael J. DeLuca
I took a total of four creative writing courses in college and belonged to one in-person workshop and several online ones. Never have I received more in-depth, incisive, insightful critiques than from Jeanne Cavelos. I’ve had a lot of writing teachers, great people to whom I owe a great deal. I don’t think any of them have helped me as much, either with skill or self-esteem.
Brian Scott Hiebert
Even if you think you know much about writing, five minutes in Jeanne’s class will show how little you do know. The amount and quality of information is tremendous, enlightening, frightening, and humbling. And it makes all the difference.
Erin Hoffman
Odyssey was the single most valuable thing I ever did for my writing and the most valuable thing I believe I will ever do. I feel intensely grateful to have had the opportunity. I now feel prepared to take on the life of a writer in ways I never expected. I can’t say enough good things about the experience. I met friends I hope to have for a lifetime and emerged with the raw material and skill to drive my career forward by leaps and bounds. What hasn’t been said in the blurbs enough is that so much of this is due to Jeanne’s effort. Her mentorship, time, and experience are priceless assets for an apprentice writer.
Justin Howe
The effects of Odyssey will ripple throughout the rest of my life. Odyssey not only gave me better tools to bring to my craft—but also the knowledge of how to make it better.
Jeff Howell
Michele Korri
Kate Marshall
Cathy Perdue
What a marvelous experience this has been. I’ve grown enormously as a writer. I strongly recommend this program. Working with Jeanne has been a delight.
Sherry Peters
I’ve learned how to silence my inner editor and often obnoxious critic, and allow myself to write the story that needs to be written: without flinching. Odyssey is a great place to learn from Jeanne and from colleagues. It is a safe place to experiment with your writing and know that you will receive helpful feedback. Odyssey has made me a much stronger writer. Going through Odyssey is like going through the Refiner’s Fire—life altering.
Shara Saunsaucie
Working with Jeanne is worth its weight in gold. She’s an excellent critic, cheerleader, and instructor. Very positive and very constructive. My writing would be so empty without her guidance.
Susan Abel Sullivan
Jason Ridler
Odyssey will destroy your hubris, replace it with sage humility, and leave you an exhausted and better writer. If you have got courage, strength, discipline, and faith in your skills and talent, take the Odyssey challenge. If you survive, you’ll thank me.
Memorable Quotes from the Class of 2005
“I guess he’s dead, and he doesn’t have to come to work on Monday.”
—Jeff Howell
“I thought she was a bit obsessive/compulsive . . . but in a good way.”
—Sherry Peters
“Then there’s a bunch of stuff I Googled, but I mixed it all up so it wouldn’t make sense.”
—Justin Howe
“It was a good kind of confusion.”
—Scott Andrews
“If there are thousands who are dead, I would like to smell them.”
—Jason Ridler
“I just love being messed with.”
—Maggie Della Rocca
“You blew right through that with a completely inevitable surprise, where she killed completely different people.”
—Scott Andrews
“Don’t let your lack of plot stop you.”
—Justin Howe
“To me he was not John Lennon; he was Britney Spears.”
—Scott Andrews
“I was nonplussed.”
—Michael DeLuca
“I’m sorry to be the one to stab the baby.”
—Jeff Howell
“I don’t know if it’s brilliant. It might be.”
—Steve Rasnic Tem
“It might be accidentally brilliant.”
—Melanie Tem
“I almost feel stupider now.”
—Michele Korri
“Damn you for writing something I’m interested in reading in the cozy field.”
—Jason Ridler
“Like that, but more.”
—Sherry Peters
“It’s rats versus bats.”
—Jeff Howell
“I’m a big fan of the slow train to nowhere.”
—Justin Howe
“If you could just have a cliff and have the guy dangling, screaming, ‘No! . . .'”
—Kate Marshall
“She was creeping me out.”
—Brian Scott Hiebert
“I don’t like angels.”
—Susan Sullivan
“I started to get grossed out by the armpits.”
—Michael DeLuca
“I agree with the too much armpit party.”
—Jeff Howell
“The whole armpit thing . . . messed me up.”
—Jennifer Brinn
“I was glad the guys didn’t know the itchy armpit thing.”
—Cathy Perdue
“I’ll be in the armpit thing. I never understood itching armpits.”
—Brian Scott Hiebert
“So I was reading the whole story going, ‘What the hell?'”
—Shara Saunsaucie
“You don’t want your most complicated image on your first page.”
—Steve Rasnic Tem
“I like the idea of killing the dad. . . . I will consider killing him.”
—Maggie Della Rocca
“I don’t want two impossible things before breakfast.”
—Sheila Williams
“I love stories where people are fleeing their homes.”
—Sherry Peters
“I was really disappointed because I was waiting for a body.”
—Susan Abel Sullivan
“He was a sentimental asshole.”
—Daniel Akselrod
“I kind of agreed with the evil corporation.”
—Kate Marshall
“We’ve got to throw away our toaster again!”
—Michael DeLuca
“I wanted to see the sex stuff.”
—Jennifer Brinn
“I thought the idea of fortune telling in dipspit was genius.”
—Scott Andrews
“No need to hold back. You’re probably going to hell already.”
—Brian Scott Hiebert
“The ‘As you know, God.'”
—Jeff Howell
“So I wondered how you would make scrambled eggs in zero gravity.”
—Susan Sullivan
“I think this is a fantasy but I don’t know where the fantasy is.”
—Justin Howe
“If there are little ponies there, girls are going to be on them in milliseconds.”
—Kate Marshall
“I don’t like the word perky in general.”
—Michael DeLuca
“You killed a tree. Go sit in the corner.”
—P. D. Cacek
“I went back and forth between thinking this is really great to thinking what the *@#! is he doing! . . . It was a love/hate thing.”
—Justin Howe
“Ocular perversion would mean my eyes have turned into boobies.”
—Michael DeLuca
“You pulled the rug from underneath my feet. I didn’t mind falling on my ass.”
—Jason Ridler
“I want you to use your powers for good.”
—Justin Howe
“It felt like eating cotton candy. It was very nice, but I wasn’t full.”
—Kate Marshall
“Why does he like this woman who cuddles with kittens? I want her to die and go to hell.”
—Michael DeLuca
“It’s like the best use of the F-word I’ve ever seen.”
—Jennifer Brinn
“I don’t think you dipped into your weirdness budget at all. I think there’s a lot of money left in there.”
—Justin Howe
“Here comes the tsunami. They’re screwed. They can play the flute all day.”
—Scott Andrews
“I wasn’t sure if they made a sound or if you just had apostrophe disease.”
—Kate Marshall
“I don’t understand why races are always hot for the elf chicks.”
—Maggie Della Rocca