Laurie Rozakis (born July 20, 1952) is a writer of the '' Complete Idiot's'' books and an expert on writing, grammar, usage, test preparation, and coaching writers.''Contemporary Authors Online'', Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...

in 1973; her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from Hofstra in 1975; and her PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1984."The Ubiquitous 'Idiots Guides' Are Not Being Written by Idiots." By Marjorie Kaufman. ''The New York Times'', September 21, 1997, p. 6 Long Island Section.

Career highlights

Rozakis got her start as a writer in 1981 when she published a review book on the Advanced Placement exam in English Literature with ARCO. To date, she has published more than 100 books and articles. In addition to writing, Rozakis has been teaching for 42 years. Rozakis's first work was a series of books for test preparation (The ''New GED, College English Placement and Proficiency Exam,'' ''Reading Power: Getting Started'', and ''Power Reading''.) She continued writing widely on test preparation, publishing three test prep books for elementary and middle-school students through Scholastic.

''Complete Idiot's Guides''

Between 1995 and 2003, Rozakis wrote more than a dozen books in the '' Complete Idiot's Guides'' series, including ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creative Writing'', ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Research Methods'' and ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Grammar and Style''. She has revised many of the books for subsequent editions.

Scholarship

Rozakis's early scholarship focused on writing, including articles on evaluating writing for ''SUNY Councils on Writing'', ''The Missouri English Bulletin'', ''Exercise Exchange'', and ''Kansas English''. Subsequently, she turned to early American literature, publishing "A New Source for Hawthorne's Hester Prynne" in ''American Transcendental Quarterly: A Journal of New England Writers'' (1986). This was followed by “Puritan Punishment for Adulterous Conduct” in ''The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review'' (1990). In 2004, she wrote essays on Louis Simpson and Alicia Ostriker for the ''Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature''. She wrote an analysis of classic American novels for the PBS televisions series ''The American Novel'' (2007).

Video instruction

Rozakis has combined her expertise with writing and speaking in a series of instructional videos. These include a 10 CD/video series: ''Upgrade Your Writing Skills'' (2006–07) and a four CD/video series: ''SAT Subject Test, English'' (2008) for Video Aided Instruction.

Writing coach

Rozakis also works as a writing coach for fiction (novels and short stories), academic writing, and memoirs, helping writers organize their ideas, craft their sentences and find their individual voice.

Speaking career

Rozakis has a career as a public speaker, giving frequent lectures, seminars, and interviews. Her television work includes serving as the "Vocabulary Judge" in the Word of the Day final contest on ''

Live with Regis and Kelly ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'', being a grammar expert on ''

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'', and being part of a panel on the CBS ''The Morning Show'' and another on the ''

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''. She has been interviewed for ''

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,'' the ''

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,'' ''

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,'' ''

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,'' the ''

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,''

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's ''Morning Edition,'' ''

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,'' ''

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,'' ''

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'' magazine, the ''

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,'' ''

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,'' and ''

,'' on grammar and test preparation,

Personal life

Rozakis is married to former comic book writer and editor Bob Rozakis, with whom she has collaborated on a few comic book stories, as well as ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Office Politics'' They have two children, son Charles "Chuck", who wrote his

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

thesis on the business viability of webcomics, and daughter Samantha "Sammi".

Honors and awards

Rozakis has received a number of noteworthy awards including being named the

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"Woman of Distinction" in the Arts (2008). She won The State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1994 and number of fellowships, including several Joint Labor/Management Committee Individual Development Awards, a Porter Fellowship, a Farmingdale College Foundation Faculty Merit Award, and an Empire State Challenger Fellowship.Rozakis profile at Farmingdale College website.
Her career and life are profiled in the reference books ''Contemporary Authors'' and ''Something About the Author''.

Bibliography (selected)

Books

* ''New GED, College English Placement and Proficiency Exam'' (ARCO) * ''Reading Power: Getting Started'' (ARCO) * ''Power Reading'' (ARCO) * ''Holistic Evaluation: A Primer,'' Kansas English (University of Topeka: Topeka, Kansas). * ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Office Politics'' (with Bob Rozakis) (Alpha Books, 1998) * ''The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Creative Writing'' (Alpha Books) * ''The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Research Methods'' (Alpha Books) * ''The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Grammar and Style'' (Alpha Books)

Articles

* “Holistic Evaluation of Writing: A Grading Practicum” ''Proceedings of the SUNY Council on Writing 3rd Annual Conference'' (pp. 97–112) * “To Change the Things that Can be Changed.” ''The Missouri English Bulletin''. * “A Placement Writing Program,” ''Exercise Exchange'' (Utah State University: Logan, Utah.) * “Establishing, Administering, and Holistically Scoring an English Placement Writing Assessment.” ''The Minnesota English Journal'' (St. Cloud State University, MN) * “A New Source for Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne,” ''American Transcendental Quarterly: A Journal of New England Writers'' (1986). * “Puritan Punishment for Adulterous Conduct” ''The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review'' (Vol. XV, No. 2, 1990). * Essays on Louis Simpson and Alicia Ostriker for ''Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature''. Greenwood Press, Emmanuel S. Nelson, ed. (2004).

Notes

References

*"COOL 2 KNOW." Caryn Eve Murray, Judith H. Bernstein. '' Knight Ridder Tribune Business News''. May 9, 2007. p. 1 *This Week's Festival Lineup; Fourth Edition ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

''. St. Louis, Mo.: Nov 4, 2007. p. F.9

External links

*
Laurie Rozakis
at Farmingdale State College {{DEFAULTSORT:Rozakis, Laurie 1952 births Living people 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women writers Female comics writers Hofstra University alumni Stony Brook University alumni