If you or a friend want to create engaging plotlines for your stories/books, go to Martha Alderson‘s class in San Francisco on February 13, 2014  (you do not have to attend the San Francisco Writers Conference for open enrollment classes) at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel.  Even if you are not writing for middle grade and young adult readers, learn how to plot from Martha.  I was trained to write literature for children; the teachers who taught that class were authors of middle grade and young adult book; once you learn how to hook attention from young readers, you’ll hook readers of any age.  Martha Alderson is the celebrated Plot Whisperer; she’s the guru who taught me how to use front story/back story. Thank you, Martha!

Writing Teacher Martha Alderson aka the Plot Whisperer in San Francisco February 13, 2014

Thursday, February 13, 2014  6:30 to 9:30 pm

Click here to register

PLOT FOR MIDDLE GRADE AND YOUNG ADULT STORIES:   –  Fee: $99
Plot Your Story Scene by Scene to Move Your Readers

This class will enable middle grade and young adult fiction writers to use their plots to keep their readers engaged. Every scene has to deliver on many levels at once. Compelling characters; exciting dramatic action; meaning, emotion, and depth are essential. You will learn how many subplots is too many and how many characters you need.

You will also learn:

• Strategies to give your scenes the greatest impact
• How to turn episodic events into cause and effect
• Foolproof techniques for developing complex characters
• What makes for compelling action
• How to keep the tension constantly rising

Martha Alderson, author of The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master, is known as “The Plot Whisperer” for the help she offers writers worldwide. She is the founder of the award-winning blog The Plot Whisperer; the vlog: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?; and the International PlotWriMo. Her books include The Plot Whisperer series. She has been teaching for SCBWI members for ten years.

For an additional $30, you may sign up for a 15-minute plot consultation with Martha during the conference.

For a list of all the classes on Feb. 13, 2014 and Feb. 17, 2014 (pre and post San Francisco Writers Conference), click here.  All classes will have handouts.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

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.

As author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW, Coach Teresa helps clients identify their themes and archetypes.

http://writingcoachTeresa.com   Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog”

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Thank you, dear Marlene Cullen, for asking me to be your guest-blogger this week.

Here’s how I had started the post for Marlene’s blog (The Write Spot Blog–Sharing the Light):

What do I have to be depressed about?

I am blessed with friends, writing colleagues, housemates, spouse, family members, coworkers, a half-time day job, health insurance, my intellectual properties . . .  and what friends call a sense of humor.  But I don’t feel like laughing in my condition, maybe later. I may have inherited the depression gene (or genes) from my loving mother.

While I sympathized with my mother’s illness (my novel Love Made of Heart was inspired by her), it would take experiencing the illness myself before I could gain empathy.

To read more . . .  please visit Marlene Cullen’s blog post by clicking on Transforming Depression Into My Writer’s Muse — by Teresa LeYung-Ryan

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For a list of resources, please visit my blog page Helpful Websites & Resources & Guides for Mental Health / Mental Illness / Depression.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

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.

As author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW, Coach Teresa helps clients identify their themes and archetypes.

http://writingcoachTeresa.com   Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog”

Any project or event that Kim McMillon is involved in is empowering!

I cheer for Kim McMillon and Everyone associated with 50 Years on the Black Arts Movement and Its Influences and the University of California, Merced!

Get tickets:  https://intelforms.ucmerced.edu/Form/Black_Arts_Movement

The conference is free for UC Merced students and Merced County youths, and $40 for the general public. To register or for more information about the conference, email Kim McMillon at kmcmillon@ucmerced.edu or go online.

Press inquiries should be directed to Scott Hernandez-Jason, shernandez-jason@ucmerced.edu

https://www.facebook.com/events/206503536195057/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Diaspora-Graduate-Student-Association/260735274051324

Gala Host Belva Davis! at  50 Years on the Black Arts Movement and Its Influences!

Conference to Explore Black Arts Movement, Influences

The International Conference on the Black Arts Movement and Legacies will be held on March 1-2, 2014 at the University of California, Merced.

An international two-day conference on the Black Arts Movement will draw world-renowned scholars, musicians and artists, and offer new scholarship and perspectives on the 1960s and 1970s movement.

The International Conference on the Black Arts Movement and Legacies, on March 1-2, 2014 at the University of California, Merced, will provide an opportunity to hear and appreciate the elders, activists and artists who proclaimed “Black is beautiful” in their art, music, poetry and writings, while also shedding light on recent assessments of the movement.

“UC Merced is excited to contribute to the growing body of scholarship on the Black Arts Movement,” said Professor Susan Amussen, who’s also the director of the Center for the Humanities. “We look forward both to the presence of so many outstanding artists on campus and to the exploration of the impact of this important movement on mainstream American culture.”

Scholarly panels, poetry, art, theatre presentations and workshops on a wide variety of topics from the state of black studies in America to the impact of the Black Arts Movement past and present will be discussed.

“The Black Arts Movement and this UC Merced Conference comprise one whopping piece long missing from the jigsaw puzzle of cultural America,” said Al Young, California’s Poet Laureate Emeritus.

Askia Toure, Ishmael Reed, Marvin X, Eugene Redmond, Umar Bin Hassan, Nathan Hare, Emory Douglas, Judy Juanita, Avotcja and other key writers, musicians and artists from the Black Arts and Black Power movements will discuss their work and perform at the conference.

“No discussion of the Black Arts Movement or the radical left can take place without mentioning the late Amiri Baraka,” said event organizer and UC Merced graduate student Kim McMillon. “His words and art represent the beginnings of the movement, birthing black identity. Black Americans in the 1960s and 1970s created a new vision of blackness, one that celebrated the uniqueness of black culture.”

“The work of the Black Arts movement served as inspiration for many later artists, especially those from marginalized communities, and thus has shaped the flowering of artistic work over the last 40 years,” McMillon said.

The conference is co-sponsored by Associated Students of UC Merced, African Diaspora Student Association, the Center for the Humanities, Merced County Arts Council, Merced County Office of Education, Office of Student Life and The California Endowment.

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Any project or event that Kim McMillon is involved in is empowering!

I cheer for Kim McMillon and Everyone associated with 50 Years on the Black Arts Movement and Its Influences and the University of California, Merced!

“The Chinese word for ‘love’ is made up of many brush strokes. In the center of the word ‘love’ is the word ‘heart.’ Love is made of heart…”

Please visit my Love Made Of Heart online store where you’ll find gift items for yourselves, women, children, moms and babies, grandmothers, friends and pets.

Purple heart inside pink love in Chinese word.

Happy shopping !  Thank you!

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Love Made of Heart and Happy Valentine’s Day for Babies, Cats, Doggies too!

Please click on the link below to get to the store:   

 http://www.cafepress.com/lovemadeofheart

Love Made of Heart Gift Items–notecards, journal, Teddy Bear, throw pillow, cups, coffee/tea mugs, beach tote bag, apron, baseball cap, mousepad, water bottle, gym bag

Love Made Of Heart for Babies, Infants, Toddlers–bibs, bodysuits, T-shirts–organic fabric, for little ones

Love Made Of Heart for Pets: Dog T-Shirt, food & water bowls

Love Made Of Heart Maternity, Women & Men: T-shirts, fitted T-shirts, sweatshirts, raglans, tank tops, zipped hoodies, long sleeve, short sleeve, Women’s Plus sizes, organic fabric available

Love Made Of Heart Children / Kids T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies organic fabric available; Love Made Of Heart Juniors & Teens: Raglan, Ringer T-Shirts, tank tops

Pink and purple Love Made of Heart gift items for  grandchildren, mothers, grandmothers, kids and babies, dogs, pets, teens & juniors, women, maternity, plus sizes, girlfriends, grandparents, grandkids.

Love Made of Heart Teddy Bear & other gifts

Sincerely,

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

author of Love Made of Heart

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

author of the “Talking to My Dead Mom” monologues

author of Coach Teresa’s Blog  http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

http://lovemadeofheart.com

 

 

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**  Here’s a short-short video of Teresa LeYung-Ryan & Elisa Sasa Southard inviting you to the San Francisco Writers Conference!  **

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What will be happening? Four days of 90+ sessions with major presenters, agents and editors; copious networking with the people who can advance your writing career, a glorious opening gala; evening Open Mic, poetry happenings, and pitch sessions…plus a SFWC writer’s bag, 2 keynote luncheons and 2 breakfasts are included.   Late Registration until February 12th, 2014 is $745.00. Walk-up price will be $795.00 if there is still room.

San Francisco Writers Conference

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Here’s the announcement from Linda L Reid, 2014 Play Contest Chair:

Cheers to Everyone!

So many sweet memories of friends and colleagues each year at San Francisco Writers Conference . . .

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And, I shall be with these friends and colleagues again, soon.  My heart is heavy though (as many other hearts are) missing Kathi Kamen Goldmark’s smile; perhaps she’ll be smiling on us at the conference.

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San Francisco Writers Conference

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Top Ten Reasons for Writers to Attend the 2014 San Francisco Writers Conference

• Launch your writing career–or take it to a more professional level–with direction from bestselling authors and publishing experts.
• Choose from a schedule of workshops, panels and sessions that fit your specific writing needs and goals.
• Get your questions answered at the Ask-a-Pro session featuring New York and California editors…included in your registration fee.
• Go to Speed Dating for Agents – Pitch your book ideas one-on-one in a room full of literary agents ($50 option for registered attendees)
• Receive free feedback on your work from freelance book editors.
• Kick back in Cafe Ferlinghetti with writers from all over the country…and foreign countries, too.
• Talk with exhibitors and find out what’s new for writers.
• Browse our onsite bookstore (produced by BookShop West Portal) and you can get the books you purchase autographed by the presenters.
• Jump into pitch contests, “Open Mic” readings, and socialize at our Gala Welcome party. This is just a sampling of SFWC’s over-the-top networking opportunities during the event.
• Stay awhile longer with our optional in-depth Pre Conference classes on Thursday, February 13th and Post Conference classes on Monday, February 17th to increase the value of the conference even more.

CONFERENCE registration fee includes four days of sessions & keynotes, two breakfasts/two lunches, a Welcome Gala, unlimited networking, and more!   CLICK HERE to register now.

Optional Pre & Post Event In-Depth Writing Classes on Thursday, February 13th in the evening and all day Monday, February 17th taught by some of the presenters. CLICK HERE

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Yours truly will be co-presenting 2 sessions

Friday, Feb. 14, 2014,  3:00-3:45pm at SFWC

Elisa “Sasa” Southard & Teresa LeYung-Ryan

present their interactive session

FROM HOOKS TO BOOKS: Grabbing the Attention of Agents and Editors with Your Talking Tagline & Platform

• create your talking-tagline (for query letter, book proposal, press releases) to hook agents, acquisition editors, readers, and the media
  

• make your name synonymous with the themes you write about
  

• have fun building your platform (for fiction and nonfiction writers)

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Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, 11:00-11:45am

Mary E. Knippel & Teresa LeYung-Ryan

present:

“BE YOUR OWN EDITOR:  Ensuring Agents and Editors Love Your Work”

Learn how to inject the “5 Ws & Core Theme” and take your fiction, narrative nonfiction or prescriptive-nonfiction manuscript to the next phase.

• even if you are in a critique group or preparing to hire an editor or a book doctor
• whether you are planning to be your own publisher or pitch to agents and acquisition editors
• save money and avoid headaches

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For full schedule:  http://sfwriters.org/conference-schedule/

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Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

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.

As author of Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW, Coach Teresa helps clients identify their themes and archetypes.

http://writingcoachTeresa.com   Subscribe to  “Coach Teresa’s blog”

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Dear Claudine,

Thank you for telling me about your benefit storytelling event this Saturday.

I’m cheering for you!  Thank you for raising awareness about mental illness in the Asian community.

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Thank You for Being Born

 Speaking the Truth About 

Mental Illness in the Asian Community

Claudine Woo

and

Kenny Yun

Click here:  Tips on How to Write a Winning Short Play by Linda Loveland Reid

http://redwoodwriters.org/

The deadline for submission to the Redwood Writers Play Contest was Dec 15, 2013.  Contest Chair Linda Loveland Reid will contact winners in January.  Awards will be presented to the winning playwrights at Redwood Writers Feb. 9, 2014 membership meeting, held at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa, CA. Please reserve that date and plan to be at the meeting if your play is selected.

Winning playwrights will receive a full staged production of their play at the fourth annual Redwood Writers Play Festival, in collaboration with Sonoma County’s premium theater, 6^th Street Playhouse, on May 15-25, 2014 over two weekends.

This is exciting and a huge reward for playwrights to see their work performed with professional actors and directors.

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If not already a member, Redwood Writers invites you to attend our monthly membership meetings held on 2^nd Sundays at Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa from 3-5pm.

We also have workshops and other contests.
Don’t miss our next Writers Conference on April 26, 2014, an all-day event held at Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) with seminars addressing every aspect of writing. Those who register are eligible to submit to the two Conference contests: Prose and Poetry.

Go to our website for all the info, to read our newsletter, view videos, check out our members, register for Conference and much more: www.redwoodwriters.org

Good luck and thank you for submitting to a Redwood Writer Contest.

Linda Loveland Reid, Contest Chair
www.lindalovelandreid.com

“I cheer for all contestants, contest chair and committee, and everyone involved in the contest, Redwood Writers, and 6th Street Playhouse!  I had a world of fun in 2012 when my monologue ‘Answer Me Now’ was one of the nine winning plays and produced at the playhouse. Here’s my blog post with photos.”

Teresa LeYung-Ryan is 22-Day Coach Teresa; author of Love Made of Heart: a Mother’s Mental Illness Forges Forgiveness in Daughter Ruby (novel used in college courses), Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days (workbook for all genres), “Talking to My Dead Mom” monologues , and Coach Teresa’s Blog http://writingcoachTeresa.com/

22-Day Writers’ Platform & Fanbase-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says:  San Francisco Writers Conference is a 4-day event – February 13-16, 2014. Attending a conference of this caliber leads to happiness. http://sfwriters.org

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan has been invited again to co-present 2 sessions (one with Mary E. Knippel; one with Elisa Sasa Southard); esteemed members from a master-mind group that Teresa LeYung-Ryan and Mary E. Knippel belonged to (Martha Alderson, Linda Lee)  will be presenting too.  These experts look forward to seeing their colleagues (especially Margie Yee Webb and Lori Noack) at SFWC!

Cheers to SFWC SuperTeam (Elizabeth Pomada, Michael Larsen,  Barbara Santos, Rich Santos, Linda Lee, Frances Caballo)!

Writing Mentor Mary E. Knippel and Manuscript Consultant Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Talking-Tagline Teacher Elisa Sasa Southard and 22-Day Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan say: "Help your own platform by helping other writers"--photo by Tessa Bertoldi

San Francisco Writers Conference