My name is C.K.Gurin. I am a professional editor, author of
eight books, co-author of six others, and a resident of Florida. A native of
Miami, I attended Miami Dade College.
BACKGROUND: I have a diverse background with emphasis on writing, editing, creative
marketing, research, innovation, and logic. Some of my earliest professional
responsibilities (the way-back machine) included head teller (First National
Bay Harbor), a legal secretary, an executive secretary for Hewlett-Packard in
Miami Shores and Fort Lauderdale, a Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker and
appraiser (BK48019) a partner in Everglades Land & Development, and a Vice
President with The Morello Companies, luxury real estate.
APPRAISAL WORK: Until relocating to Europe for several years I was considered
one of Florida's top three appraisers of multi-million dollar residential properties.
I provided narrative appraisals which included not simply
detailed descriptions, cost analysis and comparable sales information, I also
made my appraisals interesting. I carefully researched property history, which
in Miami can be colorful, and on many occasions I left bank officers and mortgage
company underwriters rolling in the aisles. The fact that they found my work
accurate and informative as well as entertaining, encouraged them to specifically
request my services again and again. I do my homework.
PRIOR EUROPEAN RESIDENCY: When my husband, Dr. Robert Gurin, accepted the position
of Managing Director of a large Swiss company with extensive holdings throughout
Europe and the U.S. we moved to Europe for several years, (thus effectively
ending my appraisal career.) It is very difficult for an American executive
to obtain a work permit in Switzerland. By virtue of his Swiss ancestry, my
husband had one, I did not. I unofficially evaluated real estate contracts for
the company, and raised red flags when needed. I also used the time to begin
to write for pleasure.
Our home for the past twenty plus years has been in Stuart, Florida, about 45
minutes north of Palm Beach.
LITERACY ACTIVISM: Since its inception in 1996, I have functioned as pro-bono
managing editor for the Bedtime-Story Literacy Project. The Bedtime-Story site
under my direction has been featured by MSNBC, the BBC, MIT's Invention Dimension,
and earned the Readers Digest Editors Choice Award. My own short stories / children's
stories have been well received, and several educational publishers (Macmillan,
Scholastic, etc) have included passages from my tales in their nationally distributed
textbooks.
MARKETING EXPERTISE: I enjoy a reasonably respectable IQ, writing is my passion,
and I'm considered adept enough at marketing to have been featured in the Miami
Herald, Wall Street Journal and an assortment of other publications.
BUSINESS ACTIVITY: Upon our return from Europe, my husband and I invented, patented
and manufactured a number of products, including wired, mobile, lift enabled
computer furnishings entitled The Office™
and The Learning Station™, both of which sequentially took Grand Prize
at NeoCon, the World's Trade Fair for Interior Design, Facilities Management
& Communications, two years in a row.
I opened a small, well-regarded estate jewelry boutique
in Stuart, Florida in early 2001 and continued to provide pro-bono editing services
for the Bedtime-Story Literacy Project. In 2016 I closed the estate jewelry
company and shifted my focus to writing and editing professionally full time,
broadening my client base and working on virtually every kind of book, including
Mystery, Adventure, Science Fiction / Fantasy, Young Adult, Children, Romance,
Memoirs, War, LGBTQ, Business, Motivational Speaking, Substance Abuse, and a
particular favorite, Mountain Hawk, the wonderful story of a six year old boy
who overcame all odds and beat cancer.
WRITING SKILLS: I have edited hundreds of stories for all age groups and audiences.
I have also ghost-written a number of books for clients.
When ghost-writing, it is of paramount importance for me to be able to write
in my client's voice, to mimic his/her thought processes, his/her personality,
to understand not only what he/she has verbalized, but to intuit what is both
desired as well as needed. I listen to what is being said, I also listen to
what is not being said. In short, I have the ability to get into my client's
head. More often than not the client realizes that this is exactly what he/she
meant to say, doesn't remember saying it, but quite logically assumes that he/she
must have remembered to say it after all. As an aside, REV has always been one
of my more valuable tools.
Samples of my own writing and a representative selection of feedback from my
clients may be found on my author/editor website www.TheQuantumCat.com.
As an author, I have been represented by The Virginia Kidd Literary Agency,
one of the longest established science fiction specialized literary agencies
in the world.
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