Archive for the ‘Being an ESL Student / Speaker’ Category

More than ten years ago, if my super-agent Stacey Glick hadn’t landed a big publisher–Kensington in New York (insightful editor John Scognamiglio; good-energy publisher Laurie Perkin; Debbie Tobias was Sales Director; Lou Malcangi was art director, by the way . . . booksellers do judge a book by its cover; Libba Bray, who is now a New York Times bestselling author of young adult books, for book jacket copy; Jacquie Edwards for copy editing; and everyone at Kensington and their associates), I would not have had the opportunity to experience the publishing industry from that perspective . . .  which then gave me the credentials to talk about “who” really is the most qualified person to build the author’s platform and fanbase.

Love Made of Heart (a mother-daughter love story) by Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Also, ten years ago . . .  if not for independent sales reps (especially Nancy Suib and Anne Shulenberger), mentors at Kensington Publishing Corp. (especially Mary B. Morrison and Mary Monroe), booksellers (especially Anny Clevens at Borders, Luan Stauss of Laurel Books, Kate at Books, Inc., Mike and Tricia at Barnes & Noble), my husband, family and friends (from my personal circles, California Writers Club/Jack London Writers Conference, Women’s National Book Association, East Bay Regional Park District, Kim McMillon network, teachers, librarians, readers from far and near,  and advocates who cheered for me — whether they revealed themselves, or not, to me) . . . my mother-daughter love story Love Made of Heart would not have “seen” so many birthdays.  I am eternally grateful.

Happy Birthday, protagonist Ruby Lin!

Happy Birthday, Vivien Lin (Ruby’s mom)

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Nussbaum (Ruby’s neighbor / mentor)!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Gloria Thatcher (Ruby’s confidant)!

Happy Birthday, Emily, Vincent, and all supporting characters!

In other words . . .  Happy 10th Anniversary of Love Made of Heart (my first novel)!

I didn’t know it at the time;  my platform was in the closing statement to the audience every time I read a passage from my book Love Made of Heart (even before publication).  A year after the hardcover edition was released, my editor at Kensington told me that they were going to release the trade-paperback edition.  So, I wrote “Author’s Note to Reader” and Kensington added that page to the book.  I thank the dear readers who had read the hardcover edition and asked me what/who was my muse and why I wrote about tabooed subject matter.

“Author’s Note to Reader”

Thank you for letting me share Ruby Lin’s story with you.  Many readers have asked me what the characters in the novel have done for me.  My answer is this: I’ve learned that behind every face is a compelling story.

Please remember me as a writer who says YES! to compassion for mental illness, and, NO! to domestic violence and child abuse.

Who is Mrs. Nussbaum?  She lives in all our hearts.  Just as we have the “child within,” we also have the “wise elder within.”  May you always embrace your compelling story and allow your Mrs. Nussbaum to embrace you.

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung Ryan

Video on  Coach Teresa’s YouTube channel:  Platform & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan at Sonoma County Book Festival 2012

I was blessed with loyal supporters during the ten years writing the book. And, I am blessed with loyal supporters (so many big hearts) who continue to cheer for me, even now, ten years after publication.  I encourage every writer to “not give up” and “stay true to the self.”

Video on Bay Sunday’s Youtube channel:   Teresa LeYung-Ryan, author:  Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase in 22 Days

As I said to Bay Sunday Host Frank Mallicoat on CBS Channel 5 and to the writers at Kim McMillon’s “Writers On Writing” workshop . . .  “What I care about will turn into themes I write about. And, the themes I write about will attract my fans.”

So, the foundation of one’s platform-statement begins with three simple-yet-powerful words:  “I care about . . . ”  

You (the author) are the most qualified person to build your platform and fanbase.

Example: (as a writer of fiction, narrative nonfiction, including memoirs )

I am Teresa LeYung-Ryan, author of Love Made of Heart.  I care about helping adult-children (of mentally-ill parents) speak openly about the stigmas and find resources for their loved ones.

Example: (as a writer of prescriptive nonfiction  a.k.a. “how to” )

I am Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan, author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days.  I care about helping writers thrive in today’s publishing arena.

If Love Made of Heart didn’t get published (giving me a forum to learn about “staying alive and well” in the industry), I wouldn’t have developed the expertise to help other writers survive and thrive (through coaching and my workbook Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

To my dear friends, colleagues, mentors who inspire me and rally for me, please let me know how I can pay it forward.

I cheer for everyone who has a dream!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa

Coach Teresa’s definition of Writer’s Platform:  “Making your name stand for something—to attract targeted consumers—who are likely to buy what you have to sell.”

print edition ISBN: 978-0983010005

Kindle ebook edition ASIN: B005J9ZEIA

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Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan (a proud immigrant from Hong Kong, of Chinese heritage), here to cheer for author Laurel Anne Hill and everyone involved in the Shanghai Steam Anthology.

Shanghai Steam anthology, edited by Ace Jordyn, Calvin D. Jim and Renee Bennett; original artwork by James Ng; cover design by Janice Blaine

Laurel Anne tells me that Shanghai Steam Anthology will be launched November 1-4, 2012 at the World Fantasy Convention in Toronto, Canada.  So exciting!

If you had a role in creating this anthology, or, if you know any of the contributing authors, editors, art designers, please tell us by submitting a comment to this post.  Click on the blue header of this post, scroll down to get the boxes, fill in the boxes and press [submit comment] button.  Consider keeping a copy of your comment (before pressing submit-comment button) and use it in your own email signature-block and on other blogs.  Thank you!

Here’s Laurel Anne Hill’s blog post:

Steampunk, Wuxia and the Immigrant Experience
by Laurel Anne Hill

I stare at the crimson printing on my computer screen.  Crisp black lines frame electronic words of caution.  What is this, anyway?  The 1877 U.S. Senatorial report on Chinese immigration I Googled?  Or the “boxed warning” for a toxic drug?

The red letters form an introductory disclaimer of sorts, an alert regarding nineteenth-century political incorrectness.  The Senatorial report’s contents will reflect the attitudes of yesteryear’s Americans.  In other words, readers with sensitive ears, beware.  Still, I need to study sections of this 1,281-page document to blog about railroad workers from China.  My finger tabs through the report’s opening pages.

“There is a vast hive from which Chinese immigrants may swarm…,” the report indicates.  “They are cruel and indifferent to their sick…inferior in mental and moral qualities…”

Anger warms my face.  The historical report I prepare to read in depth is a verbal cesspool of toxic prejudice.  Worse than I expected.  Even the testimony of Charles Crocker–-the infamous railroad executive who respected the tremendous contribution of Chinese laborers in building the U.S. Transcontinental Railway–oozes stereotypes.  I just began this morning’s immigrant-experience research project and already my blood pressure soars.

Now please don’t consider me naïve.  Years ago, I learned about the anti-Chinese legislation passed in nineteenth-century America: The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (to keep “them” out) and various anti-miscegenation laws (to prevent interracial marriages).  U.S. immigration policy muddle-ups are not confined to the twenty-first century.  That’s one of several reasons why I wrote my new short story, “Moon-Flame Woman.”  I hope “Moon-Flame Woman” will help readers picture all immigrants as distinct individuals with gifts, fears, hopes and dreams.

The setting for “Moon-Flame Woman” is a North American railroad construction camp in 1866.  In my story, Cho Ting-Lam has lost self-respect.  She, a slave, has neither a husband nor sons.  Disguised as a man, Cho Ting-Lam uses explosives, crystal technology and Qi to bore railroad tunnels through the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  Then a prejudiced railroad superintendent endangers her and her people.

“Moon-Flame Woman,” is scheduled for publication in the upcoming Shanghai Steam Anthology (Absolute XPress, November 2012).  Shanghai Steam is a unique mashup of steampunk (advanced technology through steam-age mechanical devices) and the Chinese literary genre known as Wuxia (loosely translated as martial hero).

I invite you to visit the worlds within Shanghai Steam.  From ancient China to a future Mars, from the British Empire to the Old West, nineteen authors will show you worlds with alcohol-fueled dragons, philosophical automatons, and Qi-powered machines both wondrous and strange in tales of vengeance, paper lantern revolutions and flying monks.  I also wish to thank Teresa LeYung-Ryan for her pre-submission review of my “Moon-Flame Woman” manuscript.  Teresa provided valuable advice which strengthened my story.

Below, I list the Shanghai Steam table of contents.  For more information about the anthology and its authors, visit the Shanghai Steam Facebook page.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill
Author of Heroes Arise, an award-winning novel about breaking the cycle of vengeance.
http://www.laurelannehill.com

Shanghai Steam Anthology  edited by Ace Jordyn, Calvin D. Jim and Renee Bennett

Table of Contents

The Fivefold Proverbs of Zhen Xiaquan
Tim Ford

Qin Yun’s Mechanical Dragon and the Cricket Spies
Amanda Clark

Moon-Flame Woman
Laurel Anne Hill

Love and Rockets at the Siege of Peking
K. H. Vaughan

The Master and the Guest
Crystal Koo

Ming Jie and the Coffee Maker of Doom
Brent Nichols

A Hero Faces the Celestial Empire; A Death by Fire is Avenged by Water
Julia A. Rosenthal

Riding the Wind
William H. Keith

Mistress of the Pearl Dragon
Shen Braun

Song of My Heart
Jennifer Rahn

Last Flight of the Lóng Qíshì
Emily Mah

Protection from Assassins
Frances Pauli

Seeds of the Lotus
Camille Alexa

The Ability of Lightness
Tim Reynolds

Fire in the Sky
Ray Dean

The Legend of Wong Heng Li
Frank Larnerd

Flying Devils
Derwin Mak

Legend of the Secret Masterpiece
Nick Tramdack

Jing Ke Before the Principle of Order
Minsoo Kang

Hearty congratulations to my friend Laurel Anne Hill and all the contributing authors, editors, artwork designer, cover designer, and their advisors!

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Please visit Coach Teresa’s Events Page

http://WritingCoachTeresa.com  Click on “Coach Teresa’s Blog”

http://www.facebook.com/Teresa.LeYung.Ryan
http://www.youtube.com/teresaleyung

Coach Teresa on CBS Bay Sunday with Host Frank Mallicoat

Redwood Writers winning playwrights with directors and actors invite YOU to 10-minute plays June 29, 30, July 1, 2012 -- photo by Jonathan Hayden

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: ”I love being in the performing arts theater world!”

In a novel or a narrative nonfiction story, the author carries the sole responsibility to “show” what is happening on the pages.

In a script, while the playwright can include pertinent information unique to the play, the responsibility to “show” what is happening on stage falls on the director, the actors, and stage manager.

Answer Me Now (10-minute monologue)
Playwright: Teresa LeYung-Ryan
Director: Lennie Dean
Cast:  Stacey Marie Kerr (Woman)
What is Answer Me Now about?  Middle-aged woman asks her dead mother a question.

Here’s my author’s note and beginning lines in Answer Me Now:

[ Middle-aged woman sitting in front of her dressing table; she’s staring into space; shoulders slumped.  Her hair is uncombed; circles under her eyes. On the dressing table: hairbrush;  hair clips; lipstick;  jewelry box; a purse.  Her breathing is shallow.  She looks around the room.  She looks up toward ceiling.]

Woman:  MahMa, I’m going to ask you a question.  You must answer me now.    That year, when I thought I was going mad.  Were you haunting me?

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Director Lennie Dean’s stage directions:

Middle-aged woman (in high-back armchair)  almost in fetal position. She lifts herself up, takes a sip from a mug, returns mug to end table.  Woman pulls herself up, walks over to dressing table, looks at her reflection. Then, she takes a few steps toward corner of room, looks up toward ceiling.

Woman:  Mamey, I’m going to ask you a question.  You must answer me.    That year, when I thought I was going mad.  Were you haunting me?

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Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Linda Loveland Reid, Kim McMillon, Lennie Dean, Elaine Maikovska at party for playwrights on opening night of 2012 Redwood Writers 10-Minute Plays at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, CA

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community spirit Lisa Marie Keith, author Robbi Bryant, playwright Elaine Maikovska (The Play Is the Thang) in the audience on opening night

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Lisa Marie Keith, thank you so much for telling me how you connected with my 10-minute monologue Answer Me Now – your mother; San Francisco; mental illness; Greece.

actress Stacey Marie Kerr on the set for Answer Me Now (written by Teresa LeYung-Ryan; directed by Lennie Dean)

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actress Stacey Marie Kerr on the set for Answer Me Now (written by Teresa LeYung-Ryan; directed by Lennie Dean)

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epiphany scene - actress Stacey Marie Kerr on the set for Answer Me Now (written by Teresa LeYung-Ryan; directed by Lennie Dean)

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Editor & Writing Teacher Ana Manwaring & Mary True & playwright Elizabeth VanPatten attend opening night June 29, 2012

playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan (Answer Me Now) and Linda McCabe attend opening night of Redwood Writers Ten-Minute Plays

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Dear Stacey,

How are you doing?

Thank you for taking on the role.  I had no idea that my monologue was so “heavy” until I witnessed your work on stage. Thank you for “carrying” her.

What makes me smile is looking through the photos and seeing your joyful face.
With big gentle hugs,
Teresa

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playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan with director Lennie Dean and actress Stacey Marie Kerr for Answer Me Now at Opening Night of 10-Minute Play Festival

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After leaving the theater Friday night, Kim McMillon and I went back to Hotel La Rose (lovely rooms) to post photos on facebook. Who can sleep after opening night!  http://www.facebook.com/Teresa.LeYung.Ryan

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Charles M. Schulz's Snoopy & Charlie Brown in Santa Rosa get hugs from Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Saturday June 30, 2012 Before Kim McMillon got on AmTrak to go back to her own work (being host at Arts In The Valley), Margie Yee Webb, author of Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings: Insight and Inspiration for a Wonderful Life, arrived.

authors Judith Marshall, Margie Yee Webb, Lynn Scott, Carol Sheldon, Teresa LeYung-Ryan enjoy lunch at Jack and Tony's in Santa Rosa

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Luisa Adams (author Woven of Water) and her husband David arrive for Saturday matinee!

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Teresa LeYung-Ryan (shortest in height) cheered by pals / authors Lynn Scott, Judith Marshall, , Margie Yee Webb, Carol Sheldon, Luisa Adams at 6th Street Playhouse, Santa Rosa, CA

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authors Carol Sheldon, Teresa LeYung-Ryan and Margie Yee Webb enjoy dinner (and dessert) at Lo Coco's Cucina Rustica before catching Saturday evening performance of 10-minute plays

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author Margie Yee Webb, author/playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan, poet/columnist Yolande Barial at Saturday evening performance of Ten-Minute Plays--photo by Frank

Tracy Press Columnist Yolande Barial and Frank attend Saturday evening performance

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Authors Margie Yee Webb & Yolande Barial, Festival Director Lennie Dean, Playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan (Answer Me Now) cheer for all 9 playwrights, 6 directors and 15 actors

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author Margie Yee Webb, author/writing coach/playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan, super gardener Liz Bittner and pal Jackie at June 30, 2012 evening performance of 10-minute plays

actress Stacey Marie Kerr (as Woman in Teresa LeYung-Ryan's Answer Me Now) receives flowers from fans

Teresa LeYung-Ryan says:

“Thank you Director Lennie Dean and Actress Stacey Marie Kerr for turning my script Answer Me Now into a memorable live-theater experience!  Cheers to Festival Director Lennie Dean, Artistic & Education Director Craig A. Miller, Stage Manger Beulah Vega, Playwriting Contest Chair Linda Loveland Reid, all 9 playwrights, 6 directors, 15 actors taking on 24 characters, Redwood Writers, everyone at 6th Street Playhouse, audience members, dear friends/loved ones near and far, and everyone who promoted the festival!”

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author Margie Yee Webb enjoys warm evening at Railroad Square, Santa Rosa after attending 10-minute plays

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Sunday July 1, 2012

Festival Director Lennie Dean introduces master playwright Garret Jon Groenveld to 50 new students including Redwood Writers playwrights and actors

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Craig A. Miller chats with Rita Lakin about her play and memoir (Rita is author of the Gladdy Gold mystery series / writer of hit TV shows including Dr. Kildare and Dynasty). Rita Lakin attended Sunday matinee to cheer for playwrights Teresa LeYung-Ryan and Malena Eljumaily .

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Olga Malyj, Margie Yee Webb, Dennis & Sheryl Fairchild, Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Rita Lakin, Kate Farrell at July 1, 2012 matinee

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joyful actress Stacey Marie Kerr and playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan (Answer Me Now) at closing night

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author Margie Yee Webb witnessed 3 of the 4 performances; playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan thankful for friends who supported her in various ways; Women's Studies Teacher Sheryl Fairchild and husband Dennis cheered for Teresa

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Sunday July 1, 2012 audience stayed to ask playwrights questions; festival director Lennie Dean moderated

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Votes are in! Audiences say Best Play is Special Delivery (playwright: Malena Eljumaily - sitting, third seat from left; director: Linda Loveland Reid - standing; actors: Monica McKey as Miss Hobbs and Eyan Dean as Milo the Meals-on-Wheels guy). Fellow playwrights cheer for Malena, Linda, Monica, Eyan !!!! photo by Margie Yee Webb

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Actors Monica McKey and Eyan Dean called on stage as director Linda Loveland Reid and winning playwright Malena Eljumaily hug. Fellow playwrights cheer for Malena, Linda, Monica, Eyan !!!! - photo by Margie Yee Webb

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playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan (gifts her mother-daughter novel Love Made of Heart to director Lennie Dean) says fond farewell to Redwood Writers 10-Minute Play Festival -- photo by author Margie Yee Webb

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Ten-Minute Play Festival Director Lennie Dean and Actor Eyan Dean -- what a dynamic duo ! photo by Playwright / Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

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playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan goes home after memorable 3-day play festival; dear pal Olga Malyj at the wheel

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My heart is filled with light and joy.  Thank you, MaMa, for inspiring me to write Answer Me Now. Thank you,  Everyone, who cheered me on.

Sincerely,

Teresa

 Teresa LeYung-Ryan

“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan helps her clients identify themes, universal archetypes, front-story and back-story. As coach and author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days, she says: “Make your name synonymous with the issues you write about, whether  you’re writing fiction or nonfiction.”

Teresa has built her own platform happily;  her novel  Love Made of Heart and her short play Answer Me Now carry the themes closest to her heart:   mother-daughter relationship, and, speaking openly about stigmas attached to mental illness.

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.

A Weekend In the Life of this Writing-Career Coach

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here, wishing all writers new vitality to write and promote your work.

On the evening of May 2nd, 2012, I received my sister’s text-message “Nayati is home!” (kidnapped boy had been released, thank God!) I text’ed back “Get some rest” because I knew she must be  exhausted (joining forces and taking action to help find Nayati, conducting class, and comforting her own students).

That evening I got onto facebook to broadcast the news of Nayati’s safe return, called friends who don’t use facebook, and updated my webpage and blog posts. Thank you, Everyone, for your powerful prayers.

The next day (after a long sleep), I went about my day with a lighter heart.

So, I wrote cards (created by Rosemary C.) to Elaine M. (retired teacher), Luisa Adams (author of Woven of Water), Vicki Weiland (developmental editor of nonfiction books) and Lori Hope (author of Help Me Live)

I sent Bardi Rosman Koodrin scoring sheets for the “Immigrant Experience Writing Contest” which I created and sponsored. I understand that winners from all the writing contests through the San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Division will be published in Carry the Light San Mateo County Fair Literary Anthology 2012.

And, I continue to read Mary Jo McConahay‘s mesmerizing memoir Maya Roads: One Woman’s Journey Among the People of the Rainforest.

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Linda Joy Myers made it possible for me (Teresa LeYung-Ryan) to attend Lynn Cook Henriksen's book launch at Joyce Turley's, and, when we arrived, I was tickled to see Patricia Morin and my dear friend Lynn Scott (right)!

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Another dear friend to me and my sister!  Jonathan was able to go to Norway Day Festival to cheer for my client Carla Danziger too.

Jonathan and Teresa LeYung-Ryan at Fort Mason Center for Norway Day in San Francisco. Cheers to Carla Danziger!

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authors Irene Berman and Carla Danziger talk to fans at Norway Day Festival--photo by Coach Teresa

Carla Danziger, Julie K. Rose, Astrid Karlsen Scott, Norman Ronneberg at Norway Day Festival

Karin Stahl with Carla Danziger author of Hidden Falls

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Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan with featured author Carla Danziger and journalist Cindy Warner at Norway Day Festival

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Jonathan and Teresa LeYung-Ryan cheer for authors Irene Levin Berman and Carla Danziger at Norway Day

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Italian French Baking Company in North Beach, San Francisco

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Teresa LeYung-Ryan and pal Michelle enjoy dining at North Beach San Francisco

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   I emailed my publicity sheet to colleague Laurel Anne Hill who is helping Bardi Rosman Koodrin.  “Teresa LeYung-Ryan and California Writers Club colleagues will be at Author Day June 16, 2012 at the San Mateo County Fair“

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My pal Elisa Sasa Southard (travel writer and certified tour director) called to schedule our next work session. Our conversation reminded me to post these links:

http://valerieleeworks.wordpress.com Valerie Lee is the author of The Jade Rubies. Here’s a book review by Robert A. Garfinkle of Valerie Lee’s book The Jade Rubies.

Jonathan Fung‘s film Hark is a powerful story that will raise awareness of human trafficking and change lives.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/index.html Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of commercial sex or forced labor. They are young children, teenagers, men and women. Trafficking in persons occurs throughout the world, including in the United States.

http://www.polarisproject.org   Polaris Project’s client services department has been providing survivors of human trafficking with the support necessary to rebuild lives and regain hope for the future.

NPR’s Talk of the Nation

Polaris Project’s Executive Director Bradley Myles discusses human trafficking in the United States, the NHTRC and what you can do if you suspect some one is being trafficked.

Here’s my webpage with links to The Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Stamp Out Stigma, and BringChange2Mind.org

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says:
“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”
http://writingcoachteresa.com
Coach Teresa has helped over 1,000 writers.

As editor/story consultant, Teresa LeYung-Ryan identifies themes, universal archetypes, front-story & back-story in clients’ manuscripts.

• As author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW, she says: “Whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, make your name synonymous with the issues you write about.”
  

• Teresa has built her own platform happily. Her first novel Love Made of Heart is used in college composition classes; recommended by the California School Library Association and the California Reading Association; and archived at the San Francisco History Center

• Teresa’s 10-minute play Answer Me Now has been selected to be part of the 2012 Redwood Writers Play Festival. Tickets to June 29, 30 and July 1 performances will be on sale as of May 1st through the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, CA

Coach Teresa’s Blog is abundant resources for you.

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here, at Rose Garden Inn in Berkeley CA, with Carla Danziger (author of Hidden Falls) who is in the San Francisco Bay Area getting ready for her appearance at the annual Norway Day celebration of Norwegian Culture at Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco on the weekend of May 5 and 6, 2012.

Carla Danziger says: “Lots of Norwegian food,  art,  jewelry,  housewares, gifts, and cultural demonstrations and AUTHORS and book-signings!”

Go to http://norwayday.org  for details.  Velkommen!

On both days, authors Carla Danziger, Irene Levin Berman, Astrid Karlsen Scott, and Julie K. Rose.

In The Little Theater, Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco.  11:15am — 12:15pm a Special Program, ‘Norway and the Holocaust: The Untold Story,’ a talk by author Irene Levin Berman, sponsored by the Norwegian Consulate, San Francisco.

And  1:30 – 2:30pm (also in The Little Theater, left when you’ve gone through Festival Pavilion entrance ) Three Books, Three Authors–Astrid Karlsen Scott, Julie Rose, and Carla Danziger!

Also,  Irene Levin Berman and Carla Danziger will be at Booth #14 (far left wall from Festival Pavilion entrance, pass Little Theater, pass food court).

Festival Map:  http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz259/solabayarea/FestivalMap2012_sm.jpg

author of Hidden Falls--Carla Danziger, of Scandinavian descent, inspires soul-searching questions about justice

Watch Author View’s interview on Carla Danziger posted on YouTube.

See you at Norway Day celebrations May 5 and 6, 2012!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa

http://writingcoachteresa.com

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan encourages you to wear your many hats as a writer — work on the craft and your platform at the same time.  Pursue more and more resources . . . by visiting my website and this blog on a regular basis.  If you are not in the vicinity of the events I blog about . . . please look at the names of the people who are referenced in my posts, go to their websites by clicking on the links I provide or your keying their names in a search engine.  The people  I blog about will lead you to their colleagues, and so on.  More ways to build your platform?  See the exercises in Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days.  I can help you polish your manuscript (identify themes, universal archetypes, front-story & back-story) AND coach you on platform-building – click here.

May 2, 2012   Best  News!  Nayati is HOME!

 http://www.mkis.edu.my/  has updates

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0DOd47zFTQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlEi7rrVtaw

http://www.nst.com.my/top-news/gutsy-nayati-insists-on-walking-home-1.80924

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/4/nation/11230701&sec=nation

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/nayati-those-kidnappers-cant-beat-me

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/5/nation/11238032&sec=nation

Everyone,

Could you please please use your social media networks to help 12-year-old ( 7th grade) boy Nayati Shamelin Moodliar who was abducted April 27, 2012.

Even if you don’t know anyone in Asia . . . your friends may; your friends’ friends may.  Please Circulate NAYATI MOODLIAR’s photo & URL http://www.mkis.edu.my/.  Please use your mighty “facebook” voices & mouse clicks to help 12-year-old boy Nayati.

contact Mont'Kiara Int'l School Kuala Lumpur--HELP Nayati Shamelin Moodliar return to his parents

KIDNAPPED on 27 April 2012 on his way to school.

NAYATI MOODLIAR

from Mont’Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

12 years old,  4ft. 11 in. (1.5 m) height, dark brown hair and eyes

mixed origin of Indian and Caucasian.

Please circulate NAYATI’s photo, description and this URL: http://www.mkis.edu.my/

http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/43429-international-school-student-abducted-this-morning.html   has YouTube video of Nayati Shamelin Moodliar’s parents’ plea to help find their son.

http://www.mkis.edu.my/  has photo of Nayati Shamelin Moodliar

“If you have seen this child, call Malaysian Police 999, or Mont’Kiara International School, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia +60 3 2093 8604.

“In the abduction of Nayati Shamelin Moodliar (12-year-old boy, 7th grade student)  in Mont’Kiara, the auto used was a black Proton Gen 2. The tag number is WNH 1356. There were two Indian male occupants.

“Another Facebook post said that, at the time of the abduction, Nayati was wearing green shorts and a white polo t-shirt with the school’s emblem. It also said that Nayati was “on the way to school, corner of Jalan Kiara 1 & Jalan Kiara, white van took him. Any info to rescue him? Contact his parents Sham 019 233 3065 and Janice 012 365 6202.”  http://www.mkis.edu.my/

Thank you!

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

http://www.facebook.com/Teresa.LeYung.Ryan

Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s Play (monologue) a Winner of the 2012 Redwood Writers Playwriting Contest

3 April 2012

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here to share sweet news with you.

At 8:19pm this evening I received a phone call from Linda Loveland Reid, telling me that my 10-minute play Answer Me Now has been chosen as one of the nine plays to be produced.  I listened to Linda as she explained that directors will be selected, auditions will be scheduled, then casting, and rehearsals, and that the plays would be performed at the annual Redwood Writers Play Festival on June 29, 30 and July 1, 2012 in California.

Performances will be June 29, Friday at 8pm; June 30, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm; and July 1, Sunday at 2pm.  Tickets will be $16 per person.

at Santa Rosa’s premier theater, 6th Street Playhouse. The plays will be presented on 6th Street’s Studio stage.

I’m feeling proud and sad at the same time; my play is a monologue (middle-aged daughter talking to her mother); I miss my mom so much.

Thank you, Linda Loveland Reid, for your generosity in creating the annual Redwood Writers Playwriting Contest. Thank you, judges Natasha Carter-Yim, Michael Fontaine and Lennie Dean. Thank you to fellow playwrights and everyone involved in this project.

Thank you, dear Lynn Scott, for your editing my play.

Last week I had already asked dear Elisa Sasa Southard to attend the April 15, 2012 meeting with me, winning or not, so that we could cheer for all the playwrights. Tonight, after receiving the call from Linda . . . I called dear Luisa Adams.  Sasa could still be on her trip. It’s too late to call other pals, so, I write this blog post. Gotta email my sis (teaching abroad) and KB in Australia!

Kim McMillon, I’m thinking of you.  Your plays have inspired me so much!

Kathryn G. McCarty, thank you for inspiring me with your writing and directing plays, and for giving me the thrill to be on stage for the fundraiser performance of  Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues to benefit Community Violence Solutions.

Carol Sheldon, you have inspired me too.  I look forward to seeing your new play this month.

Chandra Garsson, I’m thinking of you too. Your films have inspired me so much!  Last month Chandra had offered to film me performing Answer Me Now so that I would have a Chandra Garsson production for my YouTube channel; I guess I better memorize my own lines… in addition to attending some of the rehearsals (as the playwright, not actor) when casting has been completed for the Redwood Writers Play Festival.

Screenwriter and screenwriting teacher Terrel Seltzer, thank you for having coached us on what a compelling story is.

Goodnight, Everyone!

Being a writer is a reward! Keep writing!

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

As editor/story consultant, Teresa LeYung-Ryan identifies themes and universal archetypes for clients. As author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW, she says: “Make your name synonymous with the issues you write about.” Teresa has built her own platform happily; her novel Love Made of Heart is used in college composition classes. She says her novel and her play Answer Me Now carry the theme closest to her heart: mother-daughter relationship.  http://writingcoachteresa.com for Coach Teresa’s Blog and other resources.  “Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”

Here’s the email that I just received from Linda.

2012 March 10 Kim McMillon Celebrates First Lady Michelle Obama with Music and Poetry

free to the public

Joyce Gordon Gallery in Oakland, CA

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Thank you, beloved Kim McMillon!

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Coach Teresa, what happened on Feb. 16, 2012 at San Francisco Writers Conference?

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan here . . . this is what happened from my point of view. Tell me and my colleagues your point of view by submitting comments to this blog post.  How? Click on the blue title bar of this post, scroll down to get the boxes, fill in boxes and click on “submit comment” button.

I took BART into The City and then MUNI #1 to meet co-presenter & colleague Mary E. Knippel.  At 6:00pm we were to deliver BE YOUR OWN EDITOR at the San Francisco Writers Conference at the Mark Hopkins Hotel at top of Nob Hill.

Authentic details for writers who want to get to the top of Nob Hill: If you off-board BART at Embarcadero station, come up to street level that is closest to Drumm Street. Walk northward on Drumm, then westward on Sacramento Street (a one-way street). At Sacramento St. (near Davis St.), you’d catch the MUNI #1 bus that travels westward on Sacramento Street. $2 fare (driver gives  y0u a transfer that’s good for 4 hours).

The ride is about 10 blocks or .7 mile (through Financial District and Chinatown, and up the hills).  If you’re concerned about not knowing how to push the bell or pull the cord to request your stop, ask the bus driver or fellow passengers to look out for you. Off-board at Mason; walk a block southward on Mason to get to California St. (California St. is parallel to Sacramento St.).  Wait for signals to cross the street.  There you are–at the International Mark Hopkins.

As soon as you step onto the bricked courtyard, courteous hotel employees will greet you.

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Linda Lee and Jane Glendinning among the first to arrive to help make SFWC THE writers conference

Story Consultant and Writers' Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan happy to present at SFWC again

presenters Mary E Knippel & Linda Lee solve mystery over their luggage at Mark Hopkins

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I saw Laurie McLean, Barbara Santos & Richard Santos, Nina Amir, Neal Sofman, dear mentors Michael Larsen & Elizabeth Pomada, Stephanie Chandler and other colleagues.  Our session was to begin at 6:00pm.  Among the writers who attended our session “Be Your Own Editor” were memoirist Jing Li,  journalist and novelist Don Hudson and Margie Yee Webb (author of Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings)!

Thank you, Patrick, for setting up the microphone–the room was long–without the microphone, the writers sitting in the back would have had difficulty hearing us.

Thank you to each writer in the room!  Here’s an offer to you if you were in our session on Feb. 16, 2012 –  I’ll be happy to read and give feedback to the first 2 pages (double spaced; pages numbered; manuscript title and your full name in the header) of your manuscript.  Email me: your full name; your project’s genre; list of your themes.  Then I’ll let you know when would be the best time to email me your first 2 pages. I’ll arrange my schedule so that I can focus on one writer a day.  My email address is at gmail.com  My User Name is:  WritingCoachTeresa

Session hand-out for Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s presentation BE YOUR OWN EDITOR

Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan
Being Your Own Editor
Ensure Your Manuscript 100% Ready For the Next Step
•    hire a book doctor/developmental editor OR
•     pitch to agents or acquisition editors OR
•     be  your own publisher

fiction / narrative nonfiction / prescriptive nonfiction (“how-to” books)

YOUR NAME: ______________________________ Your Project: ________________________________

Tool #1   Grounding Reader with the three Ws (Who? When? Where?)
Tool #2   Hooking Reader from first page to last with core theme and “What does Protagonist want?” (in prescriptive nonfiction “What does Reader need?”)
Tool #3     In Fiction & Narrative Nonfiction (both genres are forms of  “story-telling”) Who are your protagonist, antagonist, and other archetypes?
Tool #4    In Fiction & Narrative Nonfiction (front story / back story)
Tool #5    Foreshadows  Metaphors   Recurring Images
Tool #6    Authentic Details
Tool #7   Monologue   Dialogue   Vernacular
Tool #8   Misspelled words; misplaced modifiers; other frights

and 15 minutes for Questions & Answers

Thank you, dear mentors Michael Larsen & Elizabeth Pomada, for inviting Mary and me to deliver our signature presentation “Be Your Own Editor”!

Thank you, dear Birgit Soyka author of To Drink the Wild Air, for bringing your camera tripod!

Thank you, dear Margie Yee Webb, author of Cat Mulan’s Mindful Musings: Insight and Inspiration for a Wonderful Life, for introducing Mary and me, for taking photos, for having written the purr-fect gift book and letting me show in our session how every page of a prescriptive nonfiction book ought to contain inspiration, wisdom or a metaphor.

Thank you, Camille Thompson, columnist at SanRamonPatch.com, for your gracious help, making our session an enjoyable one.

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authors & story consultants Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan use classics to draw examples for BE YOUR OWN EDITOR at SFWC--photo by author Margie Yee Webb

authors & story consultants Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan give 8 tools at BE YOUR OWN EDITOR packed house session SFWC–photo by author Margie Yee Webb

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authors & story consultants Mary E Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan attract writers at BE YOUR OWN EDITOR packed house session SFWC-photo by author Margie Yee Webb

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testimonials from Mary E Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan's BE YOUR OWN EDITOR session

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Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: "Wearing your 2 hats as a writer---to polish your manuscript and to build your platform---can be as fun as riding a San Francisco cable car."

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Across the street at the Fairmont Hotel –  LEARNING & the BRAIN Conference–Connecting Educators to Neuroscientists and Researchers

Vehicular traffic was blocked off in the area because President Obama was to speak at the Masonic Auditorium that evening!

Coach Teresa here took the cable car to go home and pack for Day II of San Francisco Writers Conference.  Please see next post.

Sincerely

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams!”

http://writingcoachteresa.com
author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW

As editor/story consultant, Coach Teresa helps her clients polish their manuscripts by identifying themes and archetypes.

Her novel Love Made of Heart is used in college composition classes. Thank you, Teachers & Students!

Coach Teresa . . . so excited that San Francisco Writers Conference is only hours away! Bestselling authors Lisa See (Dreams of Joy, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan) & Lolly Winston (Good Grief and Happiness Sold Separately) will join legendary editor Alan Rinzler as keynote speakers.

The 2 events (free and open to the public) at the conference? Click here.

120+ presenters at SF Writers Conference!

Post Conference In Depth Writing Intensive Classes February 20, 2012 ! Go to http://www.sfwriters.org

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Author / teacher Prof. Victor Turks has informed me that . . . while San Francisco Writers Conference is happening at the Mark Hopkins, LEARNING & the BRAIN Conference–Connecting Educators to Neuroscientists and Researchers–will be across the street at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco!

Educating the Whole Child/Student:
Using Brain Science for Smarter, Happier and Healthier Learners

February 16-18, 2012 San Francisco Fairmont Hotel, atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, CA

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for SF Writers Conference, Mary and I have created a new interactive session:

Thursday, February  16, 2012, 6:00pm Barclay Room at SF Writers Conference

Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan

BEING YOUR OWN EDITOR: Ensuring Your Work is 100% Before Taking the Next Step

Attend this session if you want to Polish Your Manuscripts before:

•             hiring book doctor/developmental editor OR

•             pitching to agents or acquisition editors OR

•             self-publishing

for SF Writers Conference, Elisa “Sasa” and I have re-designed our signature session:

Friday, February  17, 2012, 9:00am California Room at SF Writers Conference

Elisa “Sasa” Southard & Teresa LeYung-Ryan

BLOWING UP YOUR BALLOON: Writing a Tagline That Will Sell You and Your Book

Attend this session if you want to:
• hook agents, acquisition editors, readers, media attention
• make your name synonymous with the themes you write about
• have fun building your writer’s platform & fanbase

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I belong to a MasterMind group of 7 members—Mary E. Knippel, Linda Lee, Rebecca Martin, Lori Noack, Martha Alderson, Luisa Adams and me (Teresa LeYung-Ryan).

I’m so happy that I’ll get to present “Be Your Own Editor” with Mary at the SF Writers Conference this year.

“I thank Web Guru Linda Lee for showing me how to have fun with WordPress 3 years ago. Now my blog is synonymous with my name and I get to help thousands of writers. Linda is so kind too!” Teresa LeYung-Ryan, author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days

Linda Lee will be presenting on Friday and she’ll be teaching a workshop on Monday Feb. 20, 2012

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012 noon – 1:00pm at the SFWC

A Blueprint for Writing and Selling Your First Novel  with Martha Alderson, author of The Plot Whisperer (Six Continental Room)

Even though I don’t present on Sunday, I’ll be at the conference that day to be with my buddy Martha.  After all, she’s the guru who taught me how to plot and really understand front-story and back-story in 1999. That year, I found my agent; next year an acquisition editor at a big New York publisher found me through my agent . . . all that would not have happened if I didn’t “get” plot.  Thank you, Plot Whisperer!

Lori Noack, talent extraordinare   www.vrbo.com/315213 and www.etsy.com/shop/VintageSanFrancisco

Rebecca Martin http://dearjane.info will you  be there?

Luisa Adams, author of Woven of Water:  Luisa cannot join us, but she’ll be there in spirit; Mary & I will be using her beautiful memoir when we show-and-tell in our presentation.
Sincerely

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

“Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams!”

http://writingcoachteresa.com
author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days

author of Love Made of Heart