“What The Man In 17-B Wanted”  Part 1

When my papa was admitted to the nursing home, the folks in Social Services asked me to complete a half-inch-thick packet. A lot of it was reading material. There was this sheet of paper asking for name of mortuary.

Why? In straight language, when a resident “expires” (dies), the nursing home must remove “the remains” (the dead body) out of the facilities within four hours of death.

Since there are three residents in a room, you just can’t leave a deceased person in his bed as though he were in a private home.

I remember the night when my papa called me, to tell me that his roommate died, that he was afraid to sleep in the room and wanted me to go over there and take him to a hotel. I explained that he himself is a fall risk, I couldn’t just put him in a taxi and send him to a hotel. I suggested that he stay near the nurse’s station. Later that evening when I called his nurse, she said that he was in the hallway, fell asleep in his wheelchair. Later after his deceased roommate had been taken away, his CNA helped him back to bed.

Back to this sheet of paper … If this document isn’t filled out, then, at time of death, the dead body would be transported to the mortuary that the nursing home has a contract with. If that mortuary is not the one that the deceased or the deceased’s representative wanted, then, the representative would have to pay the “transfer” cost (moving dead body from first mortuary to second mortuary) in addition to the transport cost (the original ride from nursing home to the first mortuary).

The dollar amount of the transportation cost would come close to about 50 taxi rides to go half-way across town in San Francisco; double that if a “transfer” fee is incurred.

Every three or four months, the kindhearted staff would remind me about “that” sheet of paper.

Truthfully, I would like to know what my father wants. Does he want to be cremated or buried?  I can’t ask him.  The look on his face – when I dare to utter any word related to the subject of death – says: “Aah, daughter, so, that is why you are leaving me here.”

Most days, I say to myself: He’s so afraid of dying, he’ll be around another 15 years. I’ll probably die before he does.

[ Separate matter – regarding “Arbitration Agreement”  Thanks to two friends and the honesty of a staff member at the nursing home who spoke frankly…”If you don’t want to sign this…just write ‘decline to sign’ and date it.” http://www.canhr.org/arbitration/index.html  California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) says: “Don’t sign Arbitration Agreements in nursing homes and residential care facilities” ]

Sincerely,

Teresa_Jade_LeYung_in_Paris_photo_by_Sasa_or_Nan

Teresa Jade LeYung

an alumna of A Place of Her Own 2018

Teresa Jade LeYung of Love Made Of Heart says: “When I’m in Paris, I know I have come home.”

As an award-winning author,  theme consultant and writing coach, Teresa empowers writers to transform their dearest dreams into reality.

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.

Please share this news with friends who might be interested in my “Immigrant Experience Writing Contest” or any of the writing contests offered through The Literary Stage at the San Mateo County Fair.

Good luck to everyone!

Sincerely,

Theme Consultant and Writers’ Platform-Building Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan

photo by Lynn Scott

2018    SCHEDULE OF LITERARY STAGE “EVENTS WITHIN THE EVENT”

Monday, April 2, 2018, 11:59pm  ALL LITERARY ARTS ENTRIES DUE  including the Notre Dame de Namur Scholarship and Anthology Book Cover contest for artists  https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2018/exhibits/literary_18.pdf

https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/literary-arts

HOW TO ENTER ONLINE  https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2018/exhibits/how_to_enter_18.pdf

REGISTRATION FORM AND FEES: http://sanmat.fairwire.com/

The contest description is on page 60 of the 2018 San Mateo County Fair Literary Arts Contest Book

https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2018/exhibits/literary_18.pdf

2018 Immigrant Experience Writing Contest, created by Author Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Please share this news with friends who might be interested in my “Immigrant Experience Writing Contest” or any of the writing contests offered through The Literary Stage at the San Mateo County Fair. All entries are due Monday, April 3, 2017, 11:59pm.  Please read all rules https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2017/literary_17.pdf

Literary Director Bardi Rosman Koodrin says: “The San Francisco Peninsula Writers is the only California Writers Club branch in the state utilizing a weeklong, 18,000 sq. ft. Fine Arts Galleria with a stage and seating for 125. Now entering our 9th year, we’ve conducted over 150 free “events within the event” on our Literary Stage: workshops, panels, author presentations, one-act plays, and interviews, annual author day book sales, poetry readings, musical groups, and individual song and dance performances.”

Please go to https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2017/literary_17.pdf

Top half of page 68 of the 2017 Literary Arts Contest Book Information

is  description of DIVISION 336

Entry for Literary Arts  https://sanmateocountyfair.com/literary-arts

click on

• What You Need To Know
• Online Entry
• How to Submit Your Online Entry and Questions & Answers

Q: Do I have to register online to enter my work in the Literary Arts Contests?

Yes, it’s the ONLY way to participate.

Q: Does my file need to be PDF format?

YES you must convert your document into PDF format and upload that. If you upload

anything other than a PDF, the document will not submit to the fair.

Wishing all contest entrants a joyful experience through the Literary Stage!

Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s “Immigrant Experience Writing Contest” and Other Contests through 2017 Literary Stage at San Mateo County Fair

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: “I can help you identity your themes – to make rewriting your first draft and building your writer’s platform joyful tasks. Make your name stand for something—to attract target consumers who are likely to buy what you have to sell. Reach out, not stress out. I cheer for you!“

http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/teresa-leyung-ryans-events/
Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan who says “Reach out, not stress out!” will present “Where Are YOU & Your THEMES on Your Writer’s Platform- Building Journey?” for:

• California Writers Club-SF Peninsula Branch (March 18, 2017 Redwood City, CA)

• The Writer’s Life Conference sponsored by California Writers Club–Marin Branch  (April 2, 2017 at Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA)

• SacramentoSuburban Writers Club (July 10, 2017 Fair Oaks, CA)

The workbook:
Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days: Attract Agents, Editors, Publishers, Readers, and Media Attention NOW – available at http://www.laurelbookstore.com in Oakland, CA and http://www.bookpassage.com in Corte Madera, CA and on Amazon – print edition and Kindle edition!

I remember feeling hopeful when I entered the first five pages of my novel to the Jack London Writers Conference Writing Contest 1997 and the thrill when I heard my name announced as a winner. That recognition gave me confidence when I wrote query letters to literary agents. That manuscript became Love Made of Heart (published in October 2002).

So, when Bardi Rosman Koodrin (Literary Director of the Fine Arts Galleria at San Mateo County Fair) asked me to sponsor a writing contest, I had to say “Yes!”

Other sponsors said “Yes!” too.  For information about all the contests, please click on the headline below for my March 7, 2013 post:

Writing Contests – Novel, Memoir, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Story, Mystery, Essay, Poetry, Monologue, Children’s Novel, and More !

The deadline for all literary contests, including the NDNU scholarship opportunity as well as the two book cover art contests, is Monday April 1, 2013 at 5:00pm California time, no exceptions. $10 per entry.

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Writing Contests – Novel, Memoir, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Short Story, Mystery, Essay, Poetry, Monologue, Children’s Novel, and more !

Hi everyone,

The deadline for all literary contests, including the NDNU scholarship opportunity as well as the two book cover art contests, is Monday April 1, 2013 at 5:00pm California time, no exceptions.  ALERT:  Ignore the deadline date of May 8 on the entry form; all literary contests are due APRIL 1!

List and descriptions of contests and rules: https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2013/literary_13.pdf

How to submit your entries: https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/pdf/2013/literary_submit.pdf

We’re offering several new contests, and the NDNU scholarship opportunity is now open to any full-time student, so make sure you read all the material.  Just like last year, we require a two-step entry process:

1)   you must register and pay for each entry through the online process www.sanmateocountyfair.com Click on [Contests] tab, then click on Entry form. $10 per entry.  April 1st (not May 8th) for Literary Arts Contests.

2)   email each submission separately to literary@smeventcenter.com so we can publish our second volume of the Carry the Light anthology.  You can also send questions to that email address.

We look forward to receiving your literary submissions to the 2013 San Mateo County Fair.  Check back soon to see all of our free “events within the event” that will be offered on the literary stage throughout the fair June 8-16, 2013 at www.sanmateocountyfair.com/contests/departments/literary-arts

Good luck with the contests and I look forward to seeing all of you at the 2013 Fair!

Best,

Bardi Rosman Koodrin

Literary Director of the Fine Arts Galleria

San Mateo County Fair

Yours truly is sponsoring:

Thank you, Bardi Rosman Koodrin, all sponsors, members of California Writers Club, and, of course the folks at San Mateo County Fair! Good luck to all contestants!

Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan cheering for you!

Writing Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan cares about helping fiction and nonfiction writers build their platforms and work on their craft simultaneously with ease.  She says: “Wear the dual hats as promoter and writer and be happily published. Reach out, not stress out, to materialize your dearest dreams.”

http://writingcoachTeresa.com

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Coach Teresa says: “You can write any genre that hooks you. Just write.”

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Just recently I remembered that in a college English class, the teacher gave us this assignment… to write about any book or story we had read in class. She had said: “No rules. Just give me a 3-page paper.”  I didn’t want to write a summary or a book report, so, I wrote a monologue (a speech–what I would have said if I were Othello on Judgment Day). The teacher gave me a B and wrote next to it “Creative.”

That was three decades ago.

Since then . . . I have:

• taken a 10-week course “Writing Children’s Literature” and have written 2 children’s stories; someday I’ll publish them. [ rewards: learned how to craft a story for any age group; formed a critique group with 3 classmates--we met twice each month for 10 years ]

• taking my counselor’s recommendation to read Maxine Hong Kingston’s memoir

• received an award for my fiction [ rewards: joined California Writers Club which opened my networking world ]

• found my agent for my novel Love Made of Heart and she landed a contract for me with Kensington Publishing Corp. New York [ rewards: being represented by respected experts in the book industry and receiving advance praise from celebrated authors before publication of my novel]

• written and delivered keynote speeches for Denim Day and Take Back the Night during Sexual-Violence-Awareness-Month on behalf of the folks at Community Violence Solutions [ rewards: making my name synonymous with subject matters I write about; speaking out for folks who cannot speak for themselves;  ]

• writing President’s Message for monthly newsletter of California Writers Club-San Francisco Peninsula Branch [ rewards: building my name as writing-career-coach and advocate for writers  ]

• sold my signature article “The Perfect Pitch” to Writer’s Digest [ rewards:  gaining recognition as an expert on how to pitch to agents, acquisition editors and publishers ]

• submitting short pieces and getting published in San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle [ rewards: making my name visible to general readership ]

• started my own publishing company and launched my workbook Build Your Name Beat the Game which a year later became Build Your Writer’s Platform & Fanbase In 22 Days [ rewards: being Coach Teresa who provides a 22-day program for writers to make their names synonymous with issues they write about ]

• on January 8, 2012 when I presented”Writing-Career-Make-Over with Coach Teresa” at California Writers Club– Redwood Branch, I heard that  Linda Loveland Reid was sponsoring the 3rd annual Redwood Writers Playwriting Contest.  The entries had to be 10-minute pieces.  Hmm… I would like to write a 10-minute play.  So, the following week . . . I wrote the play in 30 minutes, but, it took several weeks to rewrite (after receiving critique from Lynn Scott).  Answer Me Now (a 10-minute monologue) is about a middle-aged woman asking her dead mom a question. [ rewards: I will get to hang out with directors, actors, producers, set designers, theater folks and theater supporters ]

Playwright Teresa LeYung-Ryan and Creator of Redwood Writers Play Contest & Festival / Playwright / Novelist Linda Loveland Reid. Thank you, Linda!

Teresa LeYung-Ryan says: "Thank you, Elisa Sasa Southard, for going to awards ceremony with me even though you have so much to do after having led Washington D.C. and New York City tours for students!"

Thank you, Sasa!  I’m on Cloud Nine and I plan to stay there/here . . .  long after the performances at the Redwood Writers Play Festival of  June 29, 30 and July 1, 2012.

The 4 shows will be at the 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, CA:

June 29, Friday at 8pm; June 30, Saturday at 2pm and 8pm; and July 1, Sunday at 2pm.  Tickets will be on sale starting May 1st, 2012.  $16 per person.

the 9 contest winners: Elaine Maikovska, Harry Reid, Jean Wong, Amanda McTigue, Nancy Lockard Gallop, Malena Eljumaily, Elizabeth VanPatten, Teresa LeYung-Ryan; Gene Griffith was not at awards ceremony

Again, thank you, Linda Loveland Reid, contest judges Lennie Dean, Natasha Carter-Yim, Michael Fontaine (who couldn’t attend the awards ceremony), Redwood Writers, fellow playwrights, Lynn Scott, Elisa Sasa Southard, my MaMa, and my friends who send me good wishes.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan and Redwood Writers Playwriting Contest Judge & Playwright Natasha Carter Yim. Thank you, Natasha!

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Redwood Writers Playwriting Contest Judge & Festival Director Lennie Dean tells Teresa LeYung-Ryan which symbolism in Teresa's play touched her. Thank you, Lennie!

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Redwood Writers Play Festival Director Lennie Dean with Playwright/Writing Coach/Story Consultant Teresa LeYung-Ryan and Travel Writer/Certified Tour Director Elisa Sasa Southard

Teresa,

Congratulations! Answer Me Now is a beautiful sojourn of the mother/daughter soul affinity. I continually seek to be the best of the best of my mother: your play is a tribute to that ongoing relationship of mind, heart and healing spirit. Thank you.

As Festival Director, I am thrilled at the announcement of the collaboration between Redwood Writers President Linda Loveland Reid  and 6th Street Playhouse – Craig Miller, Artistic and Education Director. This match will bring the best of both worlds to serve in the enrichment of our community. It is sure to be an event of the year!

I will update as the process of the creation of this event unfolds!

Lennie Dean

Thank you so much, Lennie!

Thinking back to that monologue (Othello on judgment day) I had written for that English class. . . I wonder where that paper is.

You can write any genre that hooks you. Just write.

Thank you, Elisa Sasa Southard, for helping me (Teresa LeYung-Ryan) do advance publicity for Redwood Writers Play Festival at 6th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa, CA

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.”

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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!