Archive for the ‘About Teresa Jade LeYung aka Teresa LeYung Ryan’ Category

Thank you, California Writers Club colleagues, for quoting beloved Maya Angelou!

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.”  –Maya Angelou, 1928-2014

Pursuing what we love doing is what is happening at the San Mateo County Fair June 7 to June 14, 2014, at monthly meetings, at open mic, and other events featuring or orchestrated by California Writers Club members.

San Francisco Peninsula Branch of California Writers Club

Dates to Remember

June 7-14th, 2014

https://sanmateocountyfair.com/contests/departments/literary-arts

“Carry the Light of Creativity”

Literary Arts Stage (created by Bardi Rosman Koodrin & Boris Koodrin), Fine Arts Galleria, San Mateo County Fair, San Mateo, CA

Tuesday June 10, 4:00-5:00  yours truly Teresa LeYung-Ryan will join Ollie Mae Trost Welch and David Hirzel – “3 playwrights, 3 short plays, plus interviews by Darlene Frank” – click here for more info.

• Teresa will be performing “What Am I Going to Do Now?” on the Literary Arts Stage at San Mateo County Fair; the 10-minute play is a new monologue (about a beyond-middle-age woman at a loss when her therapist is on vacation) from Teresa’s “Talking to My Dead Mom” series

Saturday, June 21st, 2014, 10:00am-12pm

Mary-Rose Hayes  “Memoir Into Fiction–Setting Your Characters Free”

at the Belmont Library, 1110 Alameda De Las Pulgas, Belmont, CA

Wednesday, June 25th, 2014, 7:30pm

Open Mic at Reach and Teach (aka Dove and Olive)

144 W. 25th Ave, San Mateo, CA

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San Francisco Peninsula Branch of California Writers Club

President: Christopher Wachlin

Vice-President: Max Tomlinson

Treasurer & State Board Rep: Carole Bumpus

Membership Chair: Elise Frances Miller

Reservations Chair: Ann Foster

Parliamentarian: Martin Shane Dowd

Publicity Chair: Maurine Killough

Open Mic: Jim Hanna

Fault Zone Anthology Editor: Audrey Kalman

Webmaster: Wendy Walter

Board member: Bardi Rosman-Koodrin

Newsletter Editor: LJ Anderson

VOLUNTEER TO HELP YOUR WRITERS’ CLUB!

Open positions:

-secretary

-blog administrator

Visit our website at http://www.cwc-peninsula.org for more information, articles and links to writers and great sites.
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CWC Annual Picnic for members http://calwriters.org/cwc-annual-picnic-2014/

Saturday, July 19th, 2014 from 1-4pm at Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, CA

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For links to websites of all the branches of California Writers Club http://calwriters.org

Cheers to writers for practicing beloved Maya Angelou’s mantra: “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love.”

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan is the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW. Click here for print edition. Click here for Kindle edition. “Reach out, not stress out.”

Teresa’s novel Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby is used in college courses and archived at the San Francisco History Center.

Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog” Click here to start.

For other posts in my blog, please go to: https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

If you’re looking for my blog posts pertaining to our Beautiful Brains and Neuroplasticity… https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog  look at right side of screen, you’ll see the category “Beautiful Brains Neuroplasticity”.  Please click on that category to get those posts.

Memorial Day. May everyone create peace inward and outward.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary . . . Memorial Day : the last Monday in May that is a national holiday in the U.S. honoring members of the armed forces who died in wars. Originally held (1868) in commemoration of soldiers killed in the American Civil War, its observance later extended to all U.S. war dead.

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan applauds writers and readers for honoring peace and Memorial Day every day and every way. Thank you, everyone!

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Teresa LeYung-Ryan thanks immigrant and award-winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales for honoring the immigrant experience through children’s stories AND Women’s National Book Association/San Francisco Chapter officers and board members for their vital role in this event.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014  
San Francisco Main Library, Civic Center
Reception, 5 – 6 pm in the Children’s Center, 2^nd Floor
Lecture, 6 – 8 pm in the Koret Auditorium, Lower Level
Free and open to the public! Guest Lecturer: Yuyi Morales

Join the Fisher Children’s Center, the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, and the Women’s National Book Association/San Francisco Chapter, as they present special guest lecturer, award-winning author and illustrator Yuyi Morales, who will deliver the 18th annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture in Children’s Literature.  The theme of Yuyi Morales’s talk will be “Creating Children’s Books: An Immigrant’s Story”

As a Spanish-speaking immigrant and new mother who migrated to the U.S. from Mexico, Yuyi struggled with English and adapting to a new home. She found support in neighborhood libraries, where she and her son practiced English by reading children’s books. There she found her life passion writing and illustrating children’s stories, such as Just a Minute; A Trickster Tale and Counting Book; Little Night / Nochecita; Just in Case, and the 2013 Niño Wrestles the World. She is the first children’s book illustrator of Mexican descent to reach the New York Times Best Sellers List.

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What else is WNBA-SF Chapter doing? 

This year the Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, sponsored a Book Drive to benefit the Living Room, Santa Rosa, CA  -  a daytime drop-in center that provides a safe haven to ease the adversity of homelessness for women. In January 2014, WNBA-SF launched an early literacy activity at the Living Room, using donated books for picture book storytelling—part of the Living Room’s Mother and Child program.  Cheers to WNBA fellow-members!

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June 7-14, 2014 Meet California Writers Club members and have fun at the San Mateo County Fair’s Literary Arts Stage (in Fine Arts Galleria) created by Bardi Rosman Koodrin and Boris Koodrin. Cheers to CWC fellow-members!  Events on Literary Arts Stage are free and open to the public; fees to enter the fair; June 10 Seniors n for free; parking fee is separate.

June 10, 2014, 4:00-5:00pm California – Teresa LeYung-Ryan will read her latest monologue from her “Talking to My Dead Mom” series at  “3 Short Plays and 3 Interviews hosted by Darlene Frank” at the San Mateo County Fair’s Literary Arts Stage.

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Saturday, June 21, 2014  22-Day Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan presents “Build/Fortify Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase” at California Writers Club – Tri-Valley Branch in Pleasanton, California.

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 Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan is on the “My Writing Process” Blog Tour.

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Project Read San Francisco

Through Project Read, the adult literacy program of the San Francisco Public Library, professionally trained volunteer tutors provide free one-on-one tutoring to English-speaking adults who want to improve their basic reading and writing skills. Activities for enrolled adult learners with young children are offered through the Project Read Families for Literacy Program.

Links for other programs http://sfpl.org/index.php?pg=2000027301

Look for Project Read/Public Library programs in your cities.

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Also at the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library – The Daniel E. Koshland San Francisco History Center

This tremendous resource contains a research collection of books, newspapers and magazines, photographs, maps, posters, archives and manuscript collections, and ephemera, documenting all aspects of San Francisco life and history. The Center is also the archives for the City and County of San Francisco.

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Honoring peace and Memorial Day every day and every way through literacy!

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan is the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW. Click here for print edition. Click here for Kindle edition. “Reach out, not stress out.”

Teresa’s novel Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby is used in college courses and archived at the San Francisco History Center.

Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog” Click here to start.

Author and 22-Day Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan on “My Writing Process” Blog Tour

Thank you, writer and poet Michelle Wing, for inviting me to the “My Writing Process” blog tour. Hearty congratulations to you and your collection of poetry, Body on the Wall, debuted just yesterday on May 15, 2014!  Everyone, please check out Michelle’s blog www.thepoemwhisperer.com  (about finding the words!), and http://michellewing.com/ . And, here’s her post http://thepoemwhisperer.com/my-writing-process-blog-tour/

Michelle Wing

Author & 22-Day Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: "Work on your craft and build your name at the same time, with ease."--photo by author Lynn Scott

I am delighted to be on this blog tour. My turn to answer the 4 questions about my writing process.

1)      “What are you working on?” 

Teresa LeYung-Ryan:   I’m smiling as I answer this question.  I am working on two projects.  A prescriptive nonfiction project – Build Your Writing Life In 22 Days (the second workbook in my 22-Day series); and a narrative nonfiction project – I’m actually writing my first memoir.  No more hiding behind the protagonist in my first novel Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby.  By the way . . . the working title of my memoir is Moon Crone Driving Without a Steering Wheel: How this Writer Journeyed Through Early Menopause, Depression, and Love.

Looking at my own blog posts, I see that the muse for my memoir first appeared in October 2012:

http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/coach-teresa-says-please-do-not-give-up-on-yourself-and-your-writing/

http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/authorwriting-coach-teresa-leyung-ryan-says-talking-about-depression-and-mental-illness-does-not-scare-me-anymore/

http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/author-teresa-leyung-ryan-says-transforming-depression-into-my-writers-muse/

http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/helpful-websites-resources-for-mental-health-mental-illness-depression/

2)      How does your work differ from others of its genre? 

Teresa LeYung-Ryan:   There must be other authors who have written/are writing about being a writer, surviving menopause, and living with depression. Probably my work carries a distinctive voice because I am a female Chinese-American immigrant from Hong Kong with these experiences  – lived with a beautiful mother who suffered mental illness and the cruel stigmas; escaped from violence when I was a young woman; worked in a government agency, a public agency, as well as in the private sector; blessed with a caring community of extended family members, colleagues and friends; use all my literary works (fiction and nonfiction) to inspire adult-children of mentally-ill parents to speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their loved ones AND to speak out against injustice and violent behavior.

3)      Why do you write the subject matters you write about? 

Teresa LeYung-Ryan:   How can I not write about mental illness, stigmas, rejection, joys and sorrows, the immigrant experience, poverty, and saying NO to everyday meanness, injustice, and violence?  The act of writing is the way I express my memories, observations and intentions.  An artist might employ paint, canvas, wood, and metal to do her/his work. I am a writer; therefore I employ words (choice and placement of words) to do mine.

4) What is your writing process? 

Teresa LeYung-Ryan:   As I tell my friends . . . I am pregnant with a memoir.  I write every day.  At bus stops, on public transportation, in waiting rooms (including jury assembly room). I journal to track authentic details, sometimes at the beginning of the day, sometimes at the end.  With the help of Martha Alderson and her Blockbuster Plots and Plot Whisperer books, I am replotting my story. I’ve begun writing scenes and rereading memoirs (including Woven of Water by Luisa Adams)  [ A note to self and all memoirists:  when writing nonfiction, we cannot change the sequence of events for dramatic effect; we cannot embellish or diminish the details; if we do not follow these rules, then we cannot label our work nonfiction. ]

Also, I write editorial memos for manuscript clients and coaching notes for my fanbase-building clients.  I blog as the 22-Day Writing and Platform and Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa. http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/  I love the act of composing/rewriting/restructuring/more rewriting –  these practices help me to really “reach out, not stress out.”  http://writingcoachTeresa.com

And, I rewrite/update my presentations.  For example, on June 10, 2014, 4:00-5:00om I’ll be in California at the San Mateo County Fair’s Literary Arts Stage  as a feature guest on “3 Short Plays with 3 Playwrights hosted by Darlene Frank” with the other two feature guests Ollie Mae Trost Welch and David Hirzel. I’ll be performing “What Am I Going to Do Now?” which is a new monologue for my “Talking to My Dead Mom” series.

Then on Saturday, June 21, 2014  I morph into Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan when I present “Build/Fortify Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase” at California Writers Club – Tri-Valley Branch in Pleasanton, California.

Soon, I shall be working on presentations for the San Francisco Writers Conference!

Please click here for more info about my events. Please click here for resources for writers – including links to California Writers Club and Women’s National Book Association.

My darling friends/colleagues give me writing retreats – I get so much done when I’m with dear hearts, especially the past two years with Elisa Sasa Southard, Margie Yee Webb, Vicki Weiland, Mary E. Knippel, and Lynn Scott. Thank you writing-sisters!

Also, in June, I’ll be with California Writers’ Club colleagues/mentors including Winifred McCaffrey, Margaret Davis, Diane Warner, Darlene Frank, Bardi Rosman Koodrin, Laurel Anne Hill, Christopher Wachlin (president of SF Peninsula Branch), Mary E. Knippel, and thirty other talented writers. Click here for schedule of literary events with CWC members at the San Mateo County Fair.

Click here for a list of my appearances/workshops (including June 10, 2014 at San Mateo County Fair’s Literary Arts Stage;  June 21, 2014 at California Writers’ Club Tri-Valley Branch in Pleasanton, CA)

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Now I pass the torch to two fabulous colleagues – Mary E. Knippel and Yolande Barial – who will be on the “My Writing Process” blog tour, so, please visit them at their blogs on and after Friday, May 23, 2014.

Yolande Barial

Yolande Barial is the proud mother of three remarkable children. She is known as the sensually spiritual poet/writer/blogger and columnist, and, has performed spoken word in venues (including Starbucks) throughout the SF-Oakland Bay Area from 2003 to present. Yolande is a contributing author in 3 anthologies – If Women Ruled the World; Oakland’s Neighborhoods; More of Life’s Spices: Seasoned Sistahs Keepin’ It Real.  Also, she is playwright and director of “Images of the King: A Child’s Dream” (a children’s play), a Red Room author, and contributor to the “Stockton Motherhood” column for Examiner.com. Yolande’s column “Mothers Corner” appears monthly in the Tracy Press newspaper. Visit Yolande Barial’s blog http://just-a-mom.us/

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Mary E. Knippel

Mary E. Knippel, author, speaker and writing mentor, is fiercely committed to guiding aspiring authors and entrepreneurs to polish their words so that they sparkle and shine; her clients come to her to get help when they feel paralyzed about where to begin, what to say, and how to make sense of the life-changing messages. A journal writer since the age of eleven, Mary knows the enormous power of the written word. As a two-time breast cancer survivor, she herself relied on writing in her own recovery. Her upcoming book, The Secret Artist: Give Yourself Permission to Let Your Creativity Shine, chronicles the healing results. Check out her online writing classes, writing tips, workshops, upcoming book, and blog http://yourwritingmentor.com

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan is the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW. Click here for print edition. Click here for Kindle edition. “Reach out, not stress out.”

Teresa’s novel Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby is used in college courses and archived at the San Francisco History Center.

Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog” Click here to start.

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here to wish all writers time to write, read, and support other writers.

I wrote a review for author Mary B. French.  She had sent me the link to her YouTube and Amazon pages.

Teaching Children How to be a Good Friend, Go after Their Dreams, and Love Themselves

Mary B. French‘s children’s book about Compass (a teddy bear who has special talents) and his human friend Molly (whose parents are separated) teaches readers (young and old) how to be a good friend, go after our dreams, and love ourselves. Also, I learned a few things about English customs, and, how one would go about meeting the Queen. A sweet story!
Cheers to the author of Bear-ly There With Compass and all the protagonists in the story!
Sincerely, 22-day writing and fanbase-building coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

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 I am reading entries to “Immigrant Experience Writing Contest” which I am sponsoring for the San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Division and California Writers Club SF Peninsula Branch. Thank you, Bardi Rosman Koodrin, CWC, and everyone who support the many writing contests. Thank you, Professor Sheryl Fairchild, for being co-judge to the contest I’m sponsoring. Bravo to all contestants, for polishing your pieces and submitting to the various contests.

Advice to writers who will be entering their works to any writing contest:  follow guidelines to increase your chance of receiving an award. If the contest’s theme is battling mental illness, write about that; if the contest’s theme is about adopting a pet, write about that.

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Last performance The Year of Magical Thinking will be Sunday April 27, 2014.

Authors Mary E. Knippel, Lynn Scott and I are going to see the play The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (based on her memoir of the same title), directed by Craig A. Miller, starring Grace Kingsley.  Thank you, director Lennie Dean, for emailing this message:

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June 7-15, 2014 Meet California Writers Club members at Bardi Rosman Koodrin‘s Literary Arts Stage, Fine Arts Galleria, San Mateo County Fair. June 7, 2014 Writing Contests Awards Ceremony;

Tuesday June 10, 2014 Teresa LeYung-Ryan with other playwrights will deliver short works, hosted by Darlene Frank.

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Saturday, June 21, 2014 Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan will present “Build/Fortify Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase” at California Writers Club – Tri-Valley Branch in Pleasanton, California. Thank you, Paula Chinick  and Blake Heitzman, for inviting me!

 

Cheers from

22-Day Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

 

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan is the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW. Click here for print edition. Click here for Kindle edition. “Reach out, not stress out.”

Teresa’s novel Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby is used in college courses and archived at the San Francisco History Center.

Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog” Click here to start.

For other posts in my blog, please go to: https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

If you’re looking for my blog posts pertaining to our Beautiful Brains and Neuroplasticity… https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog  look at right side of screen, you’ll see the category “Beautiful Brains Neuroplasticity”.  Please click on that category to get those posts.

Dear Writers,

Thank you for getting my workbook and doing the exercises.

Here’s a question that is often asked by writers:

“Do I really have to blog?  I have a regular website, facebook page and Twitter.”

Here’s my response:

“You do not have to do anything that you do not want to do.  The ‘tags’ in blog posts function as index cards on cyberspace – those tags help new fans find you – enjoy the exercises in my workbook – you’ll see the power of consistent blogging for yourself.  Reach out, not stress out.”

Cheers!
22-Day Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan
http://writingcoachTeresa.com
the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog”  Click here to start.

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan answers question: "Do I really have to blog?"

Click on underscored text in this post to get to related websites . . .

Dear Writers who attended our sessions at San Francisco Writers Conference 2014,

Thank you so much for attending:

“From Hooks to Books: Grabbing the Attention of Agents and Editors with Your Talking Tagline & Platform” with Elisa Sasa Southard & Teresa LeYung-Ryan
OR
“Be Your Own Editor: Inject the 5 Ws and Core Theme Into Your Manuscript” with Teresa LeYung-Ryan and Mary E. Knippel
OR both !

Thank you for filling out our evaluation forms!

Writing Coach Teresa Recommends Contests, Meet the Agents and Editors, Conferences, Retreats, and Resources for Writers

Please help your writer-friends by sharing these events and opportunities:

• Writing Contests   3 groups of contests – through California Writers Club-Sacramento Branch, Literary Arts Division of the San Mateo County Fair, and WriterAdvice

• Meet the Agents and Editors for Pitch-O-Rama 2014!   Saturday, March 29, 2014, 8:00 am – 12:30 pm 

sponsored by San Francisco Chapter of Women’s National Book Association -  Space is limited! Cost: $65 WNBA members, $75 non-members
Mary E. Knippel & Catharine Bramkamp will be coaches at this event

• Check out my blog post  “Coach Teresa says: Who or What is the Antagonist in Your Story?“  before you send your manuscript to agents or a writing contest

• Redwood Writers “From Pen to Published” is an all-day writers’ conference on Saturday, April 26, 2014 at the Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA.  Craft, Genre, Publishing, Marketing: Select among four tracks with sixteen sessions.

• Click on Handout material from sessions or look inside your 2014 SFWC bag – PDFs of handouts are on the Smashwords flashdrive

• If a friend would like a CD or MP3 of sessions at SFWC – Go to VWTapes

• Women Writing in the Redwoods (retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains)–April 3-6, 2014

• Plotting workshops and retreats with Plot Whisperer Martha Alderson

• Elisa Sasa Southard interviewed on Good Day Sacramento “What is a talking-tagline?”  http://BreakThroughTheNoise.com

• Mary E. Knippel’s online classes and blog  http://yourwritingmentor.com

• Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan interviewed on Channel 5 “What is a writer’s platform?”  http://WritingCoachTeresa.com   Subscribe to Coach Teresa’s Blog which attracts thousands of writers who want to gain new connections while building their own fanbases.

I’m cheering for you!

22-Day Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://writingcoachTeresa.com 

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan is the author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW,  She helps clients identify their themes and archetypes   “Reach out, not stress out.”

Teresa’s novel Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby is used in college courses and archived at the San Francisco History Center.

Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog”  Click here to start.

• Click here for Short, Short Story Writing Contest sponsored by California Writers Club-Sacramento Branch up to 750 words; entries must be postmarked by March 31, 2014 (no online submissions). $10 fee per entry. Cheers to Branch President Margie Yee Webb, sponsors, judges, and all contestants!

• Click here for Writing Contests  through Literary Arts Division of the San Mateo County Fair – many genres (including novels, memoirs, short stories, fantasy, science fiction, essays, poetry, children’s, immigrant experience) – open worldwide – $10 per entry -  online entries due April 1, 2014   5:00pm Pacific Standard Time. Cheers to Literary Arts Director Bardi Rosman Koodrin, sponsors, judges, all contestants!

• Click here for WriterAdvice Flash Prose Contest entries must be submitted by April 18, 2014  Fiction and creative nonfiction!  $15 fee per entry.  Cheers to to B. Lynn Goodwin, sponsors, judges, and all contestants!

Check out my blog post  “Coach Teresa says: Who or What is the Antagonist in Your Story?“  before you send your manuscripts to agents, acquisition editors, or writing contests.

Remember that a story, even a short one, has a beginning, middle, and end.  A “snapshot” of an event is not a story.  A story must have a main character, even if that character is the only character.

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan cheers for Writing Contest Creators, Sponsors, Judges, and Contestants!

Today is International Women’s Day and we celebrate women and girls!

Yet, this kind of atrocity is happening all over the world, even in our backyards.

On a bus this morning, I saw this poster:

“Human Trafficking in Contra Costa is Real!  12 – 14 YEARS OLD.  AVERAGE AGE OF U.S. CHILDREN BEING FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION”

How do we stop these crimes on children? How do we spread awareness?

For the full story, click on Martinez News-Gazette

Excerpts from the article by Darya Esipova January 19, 2014

DA says human trafficking exists in Contra Costa County

District Attorney Mark Peterson told about 30 participants at the conference of the significance of human trafficking, and mentioned there are 16.5 million people throughout the world that become victims of labor exploitation every year – 65 percent of which are women used in slave labor.

Contra Costa County Prosecutor Nancy Georgiou said that since January 2011, the problem of trafficking started to become more and more obvious. In 2011 she had four cases to review, and in 2013, 32 cases, with a prosecution rate of 100 percent. In 2014 there are 10 cases on the waiting list.

Police officers and probation officers are trained to rescue human trafficking victims.

“It is vital for the general public to know the dynamics of human trafficking,” she said, “and to know that behind every girl there is a person that controls her: manages her transportation – where does she have to go, what clothing to wear and when to work. In 2013, the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors created a Human Trafficking Coalition, where community members, health service providers, law enforcement agencies and others collaborate with each other and exchange the information they have.”

Devorah Levine, Chair of Zero Tolerance for Human Trafficking, stated that their main message is that the public has an obligation not to tolerate trafficking as a kind of modern slavery in our county.

“If you are a victim of trafficking or if you suspect that someone may be being trafficked, we believe you and want you to come forward and to speak to people who can help, and the first step is to call hot-line number 211. There are many people standing behind that number that are ready to help – violence police officers, health services providers and many more,” explained Levine.

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Look Beneath the Surface - Human Trafficking is modern-day slavery. A victim of trafficking may look like many of the people you see everyday.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services  http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/programs/anti-trafficking

The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Program (ATIP) identifies and serves victims of human trafficking, assisting foreign trafficking victims in the United States to become eligible for public benefits and services to the same extent as refugees.  The program also raises awareness of human trafficking through the HHS Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking campaign.

Together we can help make this world a safe place for all children.

Happy Women’s History Month – March!

http://womenshistorymonth.gov/ is a website hosted by the Library of Congress

Happy International Women’s Day – March 8, 2014!

Click on names of organizations that empower women, girls, boys, men – I’ve hyperlinked so that one click sends you to that website while this blog post remains open.

Bay Area Impact making the world safer – one woman at a time

Women Rising (San Jose area) and their page “Global Movement”

Girl Rising  “One Girl with Courage is a Revolution”

Community Violence Solutions provides support services to child and adult victims of sexual assault and their families through seven main programs.

One Billion Rising (one billion women)

Afghan Women’s Writing Project – To Tell One’s Story Is a Human Right

Women’s National Book Association was established in 1917, before women in America even had the right to vote.

Stamp Out Stigma, a community advocacy and educational outreach program dedicated to eradicating the stigma associated with mental illness

Bring Change 2 Mind is a national anti-stigma campaign founded by Glenn Close, The Balanced Mind Foundation, Fountain House, and Garen & Shari Staglin of the International Mental Health Research Organization (IMHRO), aimed at removing misconceptions about mental illness.

NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Program (ATIP) identifies and serves victims of human trafficking, assisting foreign trafficking victims in the United States to become eligible for public benefits and services to the same extent as refugees.  The program also raises awareness of human trafficking through the HHS Rescue & Restore Victims of Human Trafficking campaign.

The Mission of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) is to organize for collective power by advancing transformative work, thinking and leadership of communities and individuals working to end the violence in our lives. NCADV strives to make issues relating to battered women and children one of the top ten political and legislative issues in the U.S.

The documentary FEMME: Women Healing the World – a celebration of women around the world actively transforming and healing our global society. Sharon Stone and leading experts in religion, science, history, politics and entertainment, discuss solutions to the multiple crises we are faced with. FEMME focuses on utilizing a feminine approach with nurturing energy to inspire a new hope for the future.

My dear colleague Margie Yee Webb is one of the producers of this extraordinary project.

There are thousands of organizations celebrating women and girls – may they all grow and grow and grow!

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Bardi Rosman Koodrin welcomes audience to Literary Arts stage San Mateo County Fair

Look at the many writing contests offered through the Literary Arts Division of the San Mateo County Fair!  Go to https://sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2014/literary_arts_14.pdf  and review rules and guidelines carefully.    All entries due April 1, 2014 by 5pm Pacific Standard Time

Entry Fees: $10.00 per entry       NO MAXIMUM ENTRY FEE

Writing Contests through the Literary Arts Division of the San Mateo County Fair include “Immigrant Experience Writing Contest” !

For a list of all writing contests, please go to: https://sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2014/literary_arts_14.pdf