Teresa Jade LeYung's BLOG

Posts Tagged ‘Maxine Hong Kingston’

September 24, 2011  10:00am – 4:00pm

The Sonoma County Book Festival

Celebrating the Literary Arts & Promoting Literacy

Old Courthouse Square, Fourth Street and Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA

Please look for Women’s National Book Association and California Writers Club colleagues Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Margie Yee Webb, Kate Farrell at their booth #34 (on 4th Street near Mary’s Pizza Shack) and on the Redwood Reading Circle Stage orchestrated by Ana Manwaring.

Other WNBA/CWC members at the book festival: Leigh Anne Lindsey & Persia Wooley at Booth 54, Linda Joy Myers, Zoe FitzGerald Carter, Laurel Anne Hill at Booth 31, Lynn Goodwin & Marcia Canton at Booth 59, Linda Loveland Reid & Redwood Writers at Booths 79 & 80 Who else?

Also visit the Redwood Writers / Redwood Reading Circle Stage to look for Ana (orchestrating this stage), Laurel Anne, Kate, Margie, and me Teresa. We  are excited to be with luminaries including Belva Davis and Maxine Hong Kingston.

Amanda McTigue will be at Booth #20

Kay Mehl Miller, Ph.D. (author of Living with the Stranger in Me: An Exploration of Aging)  at  Bay Area Publishers Association booth

Who Will be on the Redwood Reading Circle Stage at Sonoma County Book Festival?

Kate Farrell on Redwood Reading Circle stage at Sonoma County Book Festival 2 years ago

Teresa LeYung-Ryan on Redwood Reading Circle stage at Sonoma County Book Festival 2 years ago

**  **

Melissa Kelley, Director of Sonoma County Book Festival

Ana Manwaring orchestrates Redwood Reading Circle Stage!

10:00-10:45 am        The Sitting Room – MC Clarise Stasz

10:45-11:00 am    Redwood Writers New books out: Linda McCabe & Robbi Sommers Bryant

11:00-11:30am    Broad Universe: Rapid Fire Readings –   MC  Ann Wilkes

1.                   Ann Wilkes

2.                   Emerian Rich

3.                   Laurel Anne Hill

4.                   Valerie Frankel

5.                   Camille Picott

11:30-12:00   Not Just the Facts: Journalism Today –  MC Robert Digitale

“Come hear journalists, the people who track down great stories.”

1.            Robert Digitale, blogger/journalist

2.            Carylon Alexander, editor, Travel Host Magazine

3.            Jane S. MacLean, journalism

4.            Arlene Miller, blogger/newsletters/educational writing

5.            Kay Mehl Miller, a journalist looks at aging

12:00-12:30pm Redwood Writers Memoir Contest Winners — MC Patsy Taylor

1^st Pat Tyler-Momma at the Swimming Hole

2nd        Jasmine Belenger-Looking for Jeasus

3^rd Jean Wong-Saving Catfish

12:30-1:00pm      Sisters in Crime MC  Malena Eljumaily

1.                   Clair M. Johnson

2.                   Darrell James

3.                   Patricia Morin

1:00-1:45 pm    California Writers Club–Vintage Voices Anthology    MC  Jeanne Miller

1.       Juanita J. Martin

2.       Jeanne Jusaitus

3.       Cindy Pavlinac

4.       Barbara Teboni

5.       Carol Collier

6.       Arlene Miller

7.       Mark Pavlichek

8.       Patsy Taylor

9.       Zara Rabb

10.   Susanna Solomon    Broccoli Dance

1:45-2:00 pm  WNBA (Women’s National Book Association) MC  Ana Manwaring

1.                    Margie  Yee Webb

2.                  Teresa LeYung-Ryan

2:00-2:45 pm        Wisdom has a Voice Anthology– MC   Susan Bono

1.       Kate Farrell

2.       Ana Manwaring- Not My Mother’s Child

3.       Jeanne Jusaitus- Liebestraum: A Daughter’s Reflection

4.       Clarice Stasz- Edgewood

5.       Barbara Teboni- A Moon Song

6.       Laura McHale Holland- Little Traveler

3:00-3:30 pm         BAIPA (Bay Area Independent Publishers Assn.) MC  Sandy Baker

1.  Sandy Baker

2.  Gary Turchin

3.  Carolyn C.J. Jones

4.  Carol Sheldon

5.  Eugene Miller

6.  Susan Pace-Koch

7.  Shelley Buck

8.  Margaret Murray

3:30-3:40pm Redwood Writers Short Story Contest Winners — MC   Elspeth Benton

1.  Jan Edwards

2.  Laura McHale Holland

3:40-4:00pm           Redwood Writers Raffle Winners MC   Linda Reid

* * * * * * *

La Rosa Restaurant Tequileria & Grille, 500 Fourth Street
2:30 Maxine Hong Kingston with the Veterans Writing Group

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa

Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: “I am so looking forward to this event! See you there !”

Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

$9.81 for ebook; $22 for print edition

Love Made of Heart inspiring adult children of mentally ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their families.

As a manuscript consultant, Teresa LeYung-Ryan loves helping writers identify their themes and archetypes.

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Teresa on facebook!  She’s also involved in Women’s National Book Association and California Writers Club.

Coach Teresa here.  I was looking for dates in September on the Chase Calendar of Events (because I have several friends who were born in September) when I found this:   National Suicide Prevention Week begins (Sept 4-10, 2011). 37th annual. See www.suicidology.org for history, factsheets and media kits. The goal of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is to understand and prevent suicide.

Chase Calendar for September 4 says:  Happy Birthday! Mitzi Gaynor, Judith Ivey, Beyoncé Knowles, Mike Piazza, Ione Skye, Tom Watson, Damon Wayans

Coach Teresa is adding “Happy Birthmonth! to Jonathan, Lakshmi Kerner, Marie Elena Gaspari and all friend & colleagues born in September!”

On Saturday September 24, 2011 please stop by and say hello if you are in or near Santa Rosa, CA.

The Sonoma County Book Festival,  Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa, CA

Please visit us at our booth

Also,  come by the Redwood Village Stage at the festival:

1:00pm Redwood Writers Vintage Voices

1:45-2:00pm Margie Yee Webb & Teresa LeYung-Ryan

2:00-2:45pm Kate Farrell

Maxine Hong Kingston will be on the main stage sometime between 2:30-4:00pm.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan uses Love Made of Heart to inspire adult children of mentally ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their families. She uses her workbook Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW to help writers of all genres gain a competitive edge before and after publication.

Margie Yee Webb is author/photographer of Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings: Insight and Inspiration for a Wonderful Life, a gift book for cat lovers and their finicky friends!

Kate Farrell is editor of Wisdom Has a Voice: Every Daughter’s Memories of Mother, an anthology that conveys the wisdom and meaning of the deeply bonded relationship.

Coach Teresa here also celebrates September as:

Animal Remembrance Month, World

Be Kind To Editors and Writers Month

Happy Cat Month

Library Card Sign-Up Month

Self-Awareness Month, Intl

September Is Healthy Aging Month

Women’s Friendship Month

Hispanic Heritage Month, Natl (Sept 15-Oct 15)

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan, writing career coach, manuscript consultant, and

author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW (customers of the workbook are saying that it’s useful for anyone who has anything to promote)

author of  Love Made of Heart (to inspire adult children of mentally ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their families)

Coach Teresa’s YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Look for Teresa on facebook!

Coach Teresa, when and where is the Sonoma County Book Festival 2011?

September 24, 2011  10:00am – 4:00pm

The Sonoma County Book Festival

Old Courthouse Square, Santa Rosa, CA

Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: “Special thanks to Kate Farrell, Ana Manwaring, Linda Loveland Reid and everyone at Redwood Writers! I’m so happy to return to the Sonoma County Book Festival this year, sharing a booth with Kate Farrell & Margie Yee Webb (two of my favorite colleagues from Women’s National Book Association and California Writers Club) and showcasing my new workbook Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days. Maxine Hong Kingston, the author who had inspired me to write my novel, will be there too! I use my novel Love Made of Heart to inspire adult children of mentally ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their families. Maxine plays a huge role in my workbook as well. Can’t wait to see her and be with all fellow literacy advocates. I love helping fiction & nonfiction authors attract agents, acquisition editors, publishers, readers, and media attention before and after publication. Please visit my blog http://writingcoachteresa.com for more resources. My motto: Reach out, not stress out, when pursuing your dreams.”

Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan (who helps writers build their platforms and fanbases) celebrates literacy -- photo by MKWL

“Coach Teresa, what should I do before hiring an editor?”

Look at Your Manuscript with an Editor’s Lens

By Teresa LeYung Ryan

Writing Career Coach; Manuscript Consultant; Author

Since writing a story with the intent to engage the reader is so much like meeting a stranger and wanting him/her to be interested in you, you’d want to hook the reader’s attention in the first quarter of your story (starting with the first page, oftentimes with the first line).

I love working with diligent writers who want to transform their manuscripts into page-turners. However, there are things you can do before you give your work to an editor. Let me show you how you can help yourself.

The big four elements to look for in your manuscript:

• Planting hook(s) or story-question(s);
• Grounding the reader with the three Ws (Who? When? Where?);
• Showing (not telling) what the protagonist wants;
• Paying attention to language and rules

Let’s learn from the pros.

Planting Hook or Story-Question:

In The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston hooks us with the first line: “You must not tell anyone,” my mother said, “what I am about to tell you…” Then, Ms. Kingston transitions into her story with: “Whenever she had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that ran like this one . . .”

Grounding the Reader with the Three Ws:

In Woven of Water, while the story timeline spans from 1957 to 2005, Californian author Luisa Adams brilliantly shows us who she was as a girl (not with a year-by-year narrative, but with a single exquisite chapter). Because she grounded us with “who, when, where,” we eagerly follow as she (the middle-aged woman) takes us into her enchanted world of a “cottage in the forest.”

Showing What the Protagonist Wants:

In The Other Mother, young Carol Schaefer wants to ask questions: “Was there any way to keep my baby? Was there anyone who would help me find a way to do that?”

Elizabeth Gilbert hooks us with “I wish Giovanni would kiss me…” in her memoir Eat, Pray, Love. Simple as that.  She’ll have other desires as her story moves forward, but, right there on page 1, she’s clear about what she wants.

In Love Made of Heart, protagonist Ruby Lin is thinking: What have I done?  I watch the uniformed police officers escort my mother from my apartment.

Paying Attention to Language and Rules:

Read the first five pages of Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and you will see how this wordsmith plays with language and rules. (You can “bend” the rules to create flow, but you must not ignore the rules.)

Are you saying: “Coach Teresa, that’s my style–I don’t like to use commas all that much. You might see typos but that’s your job right to correct them? I write like I talk. Okay.”

I say: “Read your manuscript out loud.  Do you really talk like that?  If you hear yourself pausing in a sentence, that’s probably where you’d put a comma. You are a writer; use correct spelling.  Do use vernacular that is indicative of your story-world; however, will your reader hear the differences in speech patterns in your characters OR will they hear just one voice in all the characters?”

Sentences Deserve Your Attention:

Remember Groucho Marx’s line “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas…”? That sentence got a lot of laughs. But, what if you didn’t want to be funny (ambiguous in this case)? Watch out for those misplaced modifiers.

How would you rewrite these poorly constructed sentences?

• He likes to fish near the Farallon Islands and they jump when they’re hungry at dawn or dusk.
• She insists on knowing when I come home and leave, not to be nosy, but for safety reasons.
• Being cautious as not to step on the dog’s tail, the children tip-toed away from him while sleeping.
• My husband still in bed snoring, I have always enjoyed rising before dawn and I eat my toast and drink my green tea on the terrace.

To improve your sentence structuring and other skills, I recommend these books:

• The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White
• Woe is I: Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O’Conner

More Advice:

• In all the stories referenced above, the authors present memorable experiences by employing authentic details, unusual story-worlds, and poetic language. You want to do the same for your story.
• Also, the stories have another vital component–all the plotlines have what Martha Alderson, author of Blockbuster Plots, Pure and Simple, calls “Cause and Effect” linked scenes. Another must-read blog: Plot Whisperer
• When you’re writing non-fiction and do not have the luxury of rearranging the sequence of events to create a page-turning plotline, you can engage the reader by using concise expositions to leap over blocks of time in order to focus on the core themes and fast-forward the story. A helpful website: Linda Joy Myer’s http://www.memoriesandmemoirs.com
• You the author must show the reader what the protagonist wants, even if the protagonist doesn’t know at first.
• We don’t have to “like” a protagonist, but, we do need to connect with him/her on an emotional level.
• Read my colleague Vicki Weiland’s “Vicki’s Four Questions” © on her blog: http://vickiweiland.wordpress.com/vickis-four-questions-%C2%A9/

In the fiercely competitive arena of the publishing world, how does one stand out in a crowd? Building relationships is one key to success in this business. Another key is to know how to translate the themes from your life to your writing and articulate those themes as community concerns. I want to see all hardworking writers realize their dreams.

My best wishes to you!

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan

Coach Teresa edits manuscripts for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers. She specializes in contemporary novels, thrillers, children’s & YA novels, memoirs, short stories, and anthologies.

22-Day Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan helps authors identify their themes to hook agents' and publishers' attention.

author of Love Made of  Heart

author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days

To comment on any of my columns (blog posts) or to contact me, just click on the blue title bar of the post, fill in the boxes and press “submit.”

What to do before hiring an editor for your manuscript?

My advice for narrative non-fiction writers is the same for fiction writers.

“Look at Your Manuscript with an Editor’s Lens”

by Teresa LeYung Ryan–Developmental Editor/Manuscript Consultant/Writing Career Coach

Since writing a story with the intent to engage the reader is so much like meeting a stranger and wanting him/her to be interested in us, I will focus on “how to make the first quarter of your story a compelling read.”

I love working with diligent writers who want to transform their manuscripts into page-turners. However, there are things you can do before you give your work to an editor. Let me show you how you can help yourself.

Does your manuscript pass these tests?

• Planting hook(s) or story-question(s);
• Grounding the reader with the three Ws and the big C (Who?  When?  Where? Circumstances);
• Showing (not telling) what the protagonist wants;
• Paying attention to language and rules

Let’s learn from the pros.

Planting Hook or Story-Question:

In The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston hooks us with the first line: “You must not tell anyone,” my mother said, “what I am about to tell you…”   Then, Ms. Kingston transitions into her story with:  “Whenever she had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that ran like this one . . .”

Grounding the Reader with the Three Ws and the big C:

In Woven of Water, while the story timeline spans from 1957 to 2005, Californian author Luisa Adams brilliantly shows us who she was as a girl (not with a year-by-year narrative, but with a single exquisite chapter).  Because she grounded us with “who, when, where” and the “circumstances” as to why she had left her love affair with water, we eagerly follow as she takes us into her enchanted world of a “cottage in the forest.”  Another device to ground the reader is the employment of sensory details (not long descriptions).  Sensory details put the reader in the scene/story world.  Re-read one of your favorite author’s books. Study from the masters.

Showing What the Protagonist Wants:

In The Other Mother, young Carol Schaefer wants to ask questions:  “Was there any way to keep my baby?  Was there anyone who would help me find a way to do that?”

In Eat, Pray, Love, Elisabeth Gilbert says: I wish Giovanni would kiss me.

In Love Made of Heart, my protagonist Ruby Lin prays: Please don’t end up like Grandmother (while witnessing police officers escorting her own mother out of her apartment).

Paying Attention to Language and Rules:

Read the first five pages of Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and you will see how this wordsmith plays with language and rules. (You can “bend” the rules to create flow, but you must not ignore them.)

In Bastard Out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison’s protagonist Bone is a girl.  Bone’s voice is convincing in dialogue and in internal monologue. Brilliant use of dialect.

Sentences Deserve Your Attention:

Remember Groucho Marx’s line “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas…”? That sentence got a lot of laughs.  But, what if you didn’t want to be funny (ambiguous in this case)?

How would you rewrite these sentences?  See the misplaced modifiers?

• He likes to fish near the Farallon Islands, they jump when they’re hungry at dawn or dusk. (the islands jump?)
• She insists on knowing when I come home and leave, not to be nosy, but for safety reasons. (who is not nosy?)
• Being cautious as not to step on the dog’s tail, the children tip-toed away from him while sleeping. (who’s sleeping?)

To improve your sentence structure and other skills, I recommend these books:

• The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White
• Woe is I: Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O’Conner

More Advice:

• In all the stories I referenced above, the authors present memorable experiences by employing authentic details, unusual story-worlds though real, and poetic language. You want to do the same for your story.
• Also, these stories have another vital component–all the plotlines have what Martha Alderson, author of Blockbuster Plots Pure and Simple, calls “Cause and Effect” linked scenes.  Another must-read blog:  http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/search?q=first+quarter
• When you’re writing non-fiction and you do not have the luxury of rearranging the sequence of events to create a page-turning plotline, you can engage the reader by using concise expositions to leap over blocks of time in order to focus on the core themes and fast-forward to the next scene.  A helpful website for memoir writers: http://www.memoriesandmemoirs.com
• You the author must show the reader what the protagonist wants, even if the protagonist doesn’t know at first.
• We don’t have to “like” a protagonist, but, we do need to connect with him/her on an emotional level. Perhaps what he/she wants is also what we want.
• Story-telling is a skill learned, practiced, and mastered. May you practice with joy.

In the fiercely competitive arena of the publishing world, how does one stand out in a crowd?  Building relationships is one key to success in this business. Another key is to know how to translate the themes from your life to your writing and articulate those themes as community concerns.  I want to see all hardworking writers realize their dreams. My best wishes to you!

To read other posts in my blog (about writing contests, publishing opportunities, more tips on platform-building), click on [ Home ] and scroll down  OR key in words in the search box to find specific posts. Example: if you key in the words: poetry anthology 2011 into my blog’s search box and click [search], you will see my post containing info about the  Las Positas College Anthology and other contests for other genres (Thank you, Poet Laureate Deborah Grossman!) To read the entire version of a post, click on the title bar of that post.

To see my website for all my books, go to:  http://writingcoachteresa.com

Reach out, not stress out!

Sincerely,

Build-Your-Writer’s-Platform Coach Teresa

Teresa LeYung Ryan–Developmental Editor/Manuscript Consultant, Writing Career Coach, Author, Publisher

Teresa specializes in editing fiction and narrative non-fiction with themes on the human condition.

She likes spunky protagonists in thrillers, women’s novels, memoirs, and children’s literature.

Love Made of Heart is:
• recommended by the California School Library Association and the California Reading Association

• read by students at Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, CCSF, and many other colleges and high schools.

• used in Advanced Composition English-as-a-Second-Language classes
• archived at the San Francisco History Center

Teresa says: “The more you read, the more your own writing will flow.”  
Please click here for my blog’s home page  http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/

My fun workbook is now available through Amazon!

BUILD YOUR WRITER’S PLATFORM & FANBASE IN 22 DAYS: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Writers-Platform-Fanbase/dp/0983010005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1297630400&sr=1-1

http://lovemadeofheart.com/BUILD-YOUR-WRITER%27S-PLATFORM-&-FANBASE-IN-22-DAYS.html

What Should I Do Before I Hire an Editor to Review My Manuscript?

The question is answered by Teresa LeYung Ryan–Book Doctor/Manuscript Consultant, Career Coach, Author

Nina Amir, creator of Write Nonfiction in November http://writenonfictioninnovember.com/ had invited me to be her guest-blogger in 2008, to help answer that question.  My advice for narrative non-fiction writers is the same for fiction writers.

“How to Look at Your Manuscript with an Editor’s Lens”

Since writing a story with the intent to engage the reader is so much like meeting a stranger and wanting him/her to be interested in you, I will focus on how to make the first quarter of your story a compelling read.

I love working with diligent writers who want to transform their manuscripts into page-turners. However, there are things you can do before you give your work to an editor. Let me show you how you can help yourself.

As an editor, the four biggest mistakes I encounter are manuscripts that are weak in these elements:

• Planting hook(s) or story-question(s);
• Grounding the reader with the three Ws (Who?  When?  Where?);
• Showing (not telling) what the protagonist wants;
• Paying attention to language and rules

Let’s learn from the pros.

Planting Hook or Story-Question:

In The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, Maxine Hong Kingston hooks us with the first line: “You must not tell anyone,” my mother said, “what I am about to tell you…”   Then, Ms. Kingston transitions into her story with:  “Whenever she had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that ran like this one . . .”

Grounding the Reader with the Three Ws:

In Woven of Water, while the story timeline spans from 1957 to 2005, Californian author Luisa Adams brilliantly shows us who she was as a girl (not with a year-by-year narrative, but with a single exquisite chapter).  Because she grounded us with “who, when, where,” we eagerly follow as she takes us into her enchanted world of a “cottage in the forest.”  Another device to ground the reader is the employment of sensory details (not long descriptions).  Sensory details put the reader in the scene/story world.  Re-read one of your favorite author’s books. Study from the masters.

Showing What the Protagonist Wants:

In The Other Mother, young Carol Schaefer wants to ask questions:  “Was there any way to keep my baby?  Was there anyone who would help me find a way to do that?”

Paying Attention to Language and Rules:

Read the first five pages of Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt and you will see how this wordsmith plays with language and rules. (You can “bend” the rules to create flow, but you must not ignore them.)

Sentences Deserve Your Attention:

Nina Amir’s post on her blog  http://writenonfictioninnovember.wordpress.com/2007/11/ is a must-read.

Remember Groucho Marx’s line “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas…”? That sentence got a lot of laughs.  But, what if you didn’t want to be funny (ambiguous in this case)?

How would you rewrite these poorly constructed sentences?

• He likes to fish near the Farallon Islands and they jump when they’re hungry at dawn or dusk.
• She insists on knowing when I come home and leave, not to be nosy, but for safety reasons.
• Being cautious as not to step on the dog’s tail, the children tip-toed away from him while sleeping.
• My husband still in bed snoring, I have always enjoyed rising before dawn and I eat my toast and drink my green tea on the terrace.

To improve your sentence structure and other skills, I recommend these books:

• The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White
• Woe is I: Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O’Conner

More Advice:

• In all four stories (The Woman Warrior, Woven of Water, The Other Mother, Angela’s Ashes), the authors present memorable experiences by employing authentic details, unusual story-worlds though real, and poetic language. You want to do the same for your story.
• Also, these stories have another vital component-all four plotlines have what Martha Alderson, author of Blockbuster Plots, Pure and Simple, calls “Cause and Effect” linked scenes.  Another must-read blog:  http://plotwhisperer.blogspot.com/search?q=first+quarter
• When you’re writing non-fiction and do not have the luxury of rearranging the sequence of events to create a page-turning plotline, you can engage the reader by using concise expositions to leap over blocks of time in order to focus on the core themes and fast-forward the story. A helpful website: http://www.memoriesandmemoirs.com
• You the author must show the reader what the protagonist wants, even if the protagonist doesn’t know at first.
• We don’t have to “like” a protagonist, but, we do need to connect with him/her on an emotional level.

In the fiercely competitive arena of the publishing world, how does one stand out in a crowd?  Building relationships is one key to success in this business. Another key is to know how to translate the themes from your life to your writing and articulate those themes as community concerns.  I want to see all hardworking writers realize their dreams. My best wishes to you!

Do you know a writer who wants to go to a writers’ conference but can’t afford it? Encourage her/him to ask family and friends to chip in (what better Christmas gift or birthday gift!).

For non-fiction authors: Writing for Change Conference http://www.sfwritingforchange.org/

For both fiction and non-fiction authors:  San Francisco Writers Conference http://sfwriters.org

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan

Book Doctor/Manuscript Consultant, Career Coach, Author, Publisher

Coach Teresa edits manuscripts for authors who want to attract agents  & publishers  OR  want to be their own publishers. She specializes in contemporary novels, thrillers, children’s & YA novels, memoirs, short stories, and anthologies. She likes spunky protagonists.

Love Made of Heart is:
• recommended by the California School Library Association and the California Reading Association

• read by students at Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, CCSF, and many other colleges and high schools.

• used in Advanced Composition English-as-a-Second-Language classes
• archived at the San Francisco History Center

GraceArt Publishing is the publisher of Build My Name, Beat the Game: 22 Days to Identify & Develop My Writer’s Platform to Attract Agents, Acquisition Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention.

Teresa says: “Reach out, not stress out, when building your writer’s name/platform.”  

To comment on any of my columns (blog posts), just click on the blue title bar of the post, fill in the boxes and press “submit.”  Please click here for my blog http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/

April is National Poetry Month but every day is poetry.  When I listen to songs, I tend to remember the lyrics before I can remember the melodies.  Commercials hook me when I hear poetry in them.

Here are poets I pay attention to.  They all wear many brilliant hats.

• Martha Clark Scala.   This YouTube video shows Martha the poet on April 2, 2010 at Escape from New York Pizza, San Francisco   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5e7v716WQ0 To see what other hats Martha wears, please visit  www.mcscala.com

• Joan Gelfand.  A powerful speaker.  http://joangelfand.com/listen http://joangelfand.com/main/ has the link to the video of Joan with Kim McMillon with Janice Edwards on Bay Area Vista.

• Deborah Grossman, City of Pleasanton Poet Laureate!   Delightful.  You can meet Deborah at events this summer, autumn and winter: http://www.ci.pleasanton.ca.us/community/arts/civic-arts-literary.html http://www.deborahgrossman.com/

• Yolande Barial, founder of Your Words Project.  You just have to meet Yolande and hear her poetry, her spoken word.  Please add audio to your blog.  http://yolandebarial.wordpress.com/

• Maxine Hong Kingston.  Her book The Woman Warrior had inspired me to write my stories which turned into Love Made of Heart the novel.    Lunch Poems: Maxine Hong Kingston.  She is SO funny!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeaOmyZk4U0 And mesmerizing.  Zen circles; Chinese 4 word poems.

My hat off to you, Martha, Joan, Deborah, Yolande, Maxine!

Sincerely,

Teresa

Writing Career Coach Teresa LeYung Ryan says: “Build your name, beat the game, be happily published.”  http://WritingCoachTeresa.com

To continue celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and AsianWeek (the voice of Asian America) I’m thinking about these books and authors:

Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

China Boy by Gus Lee

The Jade Rubies by Valerie Lee (I’m looking forward to reading this book this year)

Peony In Love by Lisa See

My Splendid Concubine by Lloyd Lofthouse

Wordsworth the Poet by Frances Kakugawa

My Half of the Sky by Jana McBurney-Lin

This Place Called Absence by Lydia Kwa (Ms. Kwa is Canadian)

Kiyo’s Story: A Japanese American Familys Quest for the American Dream by Kiyo Sato

Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston