She perhaps contributed more to the ASS* community than anyone else ever has. She *definitely* was the most widely read person in ASS*, though she may not have posted a single story. From July, 1995, until December, 2000--380 issues worth--the Celestial Reviews were there. And often awaited with great trepidation. "Will Celeste review my story? Will she like it?"
Ask any of the writers who received 10,10,10 from Celeste if they valued that--perhaps a very few didn't, but most were thrilled. Ask those of us who came on the scene and wanted to find something good to read. Many of us will say, "I read the Celestial Reviews and looked up the stories which sounded good." *I* certainly did.
Celeste was far more than 'just' a reviewer though--she helped many writers improve. She wrote and posted two of the best grammar/usage pieces I've ever seen. Clear, to the point--and in language appropriate to ASS*. Celestial Grammar and Advanced Celestial Grammar were by no means her only remarks on the matter though. Especially in the first couple of years, she put many a mini-tutorial on this point or that in the Reviews.
Even those who disliked her and/or her reviews should be well-aware of the effect she had. I saw many, many threads begin with an issue of the CR--and these threads often went on and on. Sometimes 'fluff'--but more often, they discussed matters pertinent to writing.
-- Denny Wheeler
Though sometimes contorversial to some and somewhat biased where certain genre's were concerned (she was an individual though - with an individual's squicks - everyone has them). She did have a profound effect on the community and I believe her postings were always read by everyone in it.
Although I did not become active or post my first scribblings within the group until after her departure, I did exchange a few emails with Celeste during my lurking days. In her very first email she took the time to welcome me, explained and encouraged me in the auspices of her 'blow-job' principle and asked if I was an aspiring writer.
In her second email she encouraged me to 'go public' and join the madness (there was a minor flame war going on at the time and Hecate was scaring the shit out of me <g>), She also encouraged me to write something and submit it to the group and that there were those in the group who would gladly advise and help me. (I found Hecate to be 'one' of those people.)
So, folks ... you can partly blame Celeste for your now being saddled with me <g>
Whether you agreed with her opinions and postings or not .... Whether you were praising her ratings and judgements of your story accepting or rejecting her suggestions and recommendations or burning her in effigy .... Her support of the group was not something that was ever doubted.
-- Ray
I was one of Celeste's first victims, reviewed several times in those first editions of the Celestial Reviews. Fortunately, those stories have all been lost in the winds of net-time. In those days, good ASS writing was by far the exception, and the complete domination of poor writing led many of us to take the forum as being anything but serious. Why bother worrying about the quality of your story when no one else was? Hack it out and try again.
That, for me, was where Celeste made the biggest difference. In this pit of hot & horny readers who really only cared if the story turned them on, Celeste arose and told us that she, at least, did care if our participles were dangling and our climaxes resolved our conflicts. And the fact that a hundred readers might have told us we were fucking awesome didn't save us the shame of being told in public that our writing really and truly sucked. Celeste took us seriously when we did not and in doing so created a standard, a literary standard, for ASS erotic writing. Some of the writers took heed to her call, rising to the challenge she created. Her persistent commentary on the writing of ASS transformed it into a quasi-serious forum for a growing community of writers. And given the flak she took for her efforts, she should also be commended for her bravery. Writers can be such nasty beasts when someone picks on their work.
As with all critics, we often took exception to the subjective qualities and philosophy of her criticisms. But even those of us who largely ignored her reviews were affected by them, for as the quality of the writing improved due to her prodding, we were forced to take ourselves more and more seriously. The readers grew to expect more from us, and the writers expected more from each other. There is no question that others contributed strongly to the rise of this community (a bow to Lady Cyrrh, who had an equally influential role in our development) but for most of us Celeste was the ringmaster, cruelly flogging us into new and greater heights.
Celeste, I salute you.
-- Malinov
As the recipient of two triple 10s, there was no finer thrill than that!! The big thing as Malinov points out in an earlier response is that Celeste had standards, something that we sometimes don't pay much attention to today. Her Celestial Grammar rivals on Strunk and White as positive proof that one can teach good writing with a minimal amount of examples.
-- Alison George
People have suggested other reviewers who deserve HOF status. And I don't want to criticize any of these. But not one of them, indeed not all of them put together, contributed as much as Celeste did. (Indeed, did any of them publish as many reviews as Celeste did in her brief return phase?)
You think that there is a lot of junk now? You should have seen it when Celeste started (and, indeed, in the midpoint of Celeste's career).
What she did was make authors stop and think, "Somebody cares about grammar." So authors took more care with their grammar. So readers who cared about grammar could read ASS without vomiting. So there were more readers for grammatical stories. Which rewarded grammatical authors all the more.
And, what I've said about grammar up above could be said about plot originality or character development.
Authors, authors I respect, have said that one of the reasons they posted in ASS was to improve their writing through Celeste's response.
And this doesn't even bring in her sponsorship of proofreaders.
-- Uther Pendragon
Celeste was in semi-retirement when I began lurking. People already questioned whether that retirement was permanent. I was one of those who used Celeste's reviews to find stories to read. I only exchanged a few e-mails with Celeste, and they were fan mail to her.
Although she wrote reviews rather than stories, Celeste will always be one of my favorite authors.
-- Gary Jordan