Marsha Ross - Writing Coach and Author

Editing With Fresh Eyes

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 02:43:24 +0000

I was asked by the Scholarship Committee of the AAUW Roseville-South Placer Branch to edit a flyer intended for students at Sierra Community College. Although I knew the details behind the flyer, I wanted to look at it with fresh eyes – as if I were a student reading this for the first time. I asked “Who is this conference for?” “Am I an appropriate candidate?” “What exactly will I learn?” As an editor, I look for ambiguous phrases, errors in spacing, wording, spelling. In this particular flyer I saw the term “financial advocacy” and wondered what that really meant. I noticed a discrepancy in the dates of the event. The national sponsor of the conference had been omitted.

As the editor and proofreader, I spent an hour on the phone with the creator of the flyer brainstorming how to re-phrase the text so that it would grab attention and clearly provide details of the conference. The creator of the flyer kept saying “I’ve proofread this a dozen times and didn’t see the mistakes.” Or, “I thought this was clear until you pointed it out.” Sometimes the writer assumes a reader will understand what is meant behind the words and phrases. It takes a fresh pair of eyes to bring clarity to the writing.

Createspace: So Easy To Use

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 02:13:03 +0000

Who do you turn to when you need assistance? Friends? Professionals? In order to publish my YA novel, Run or Flunk, successfully, I sought suggestions from another author, Velda Brotherton, who has published numerous books over the years. She advised me to use Smashword for short stories and Amazon.com for novels. The consultants at Createspace were thorough, professional, and on time. I could speak with the cover designer and swap ideas. The formatting of the book was done exactly as I asked and the turn-around time for each step in the process was fast. I’m providing you with my feedback and I am NOT being compensated in any way for what I write here. The cost of the service was reasonable which is a big plus for all of us. I intend to contract with Createspace for my next novel. Check them out!

My New Novel is Published

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:48:41 +0000

My new Young Adult novel, Run or Flunk is now on Amazon! Here’s the story line: Middle school is a constant challenge for Adam, Emily, David, and their friends. Each feels like life’s a never-ending race to keep up with friends, assignments, sports, and family problems. Adam and David, best friends and good students, compete against each other in class and on Little League. When David pulls a prank on Adam in class which sends him to the principal, Adam plots to make David pay. After a freakish sports-related accident, Adam assesses his physical damage and the damage to his dream of playing pro sports. While recuperating at home with his dog, Buddy, Adam finds new ways to be involved in baseball and NBA playoff games. But better yet, he creates a ‘no-fail’ plan of revenge on David.

Run or Flunk is a wholesome, entertaining novel for students. I am available as a guest author to schools. Students who read extensively and write creatively are headed for success.

Writing With Dorothy Allison

admin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 02:59:40 +0000

Some things are meant to be. Four days before the Wet Mountain Valley Writers’ Workshop, I received a call saying that there was a cancellation in Dorothy Allison’s writing workshop and would I like to attend. After shrieking “yes” I made my reservations to fly into Colorado Springs, paid my fees and submitted 12 pages of my writing to 11 others in the group. All this completed in two hours! I was jazzed.

I spent six days with 12 other writers under the guidance of a master. When it came my turn for my piece to be discussed, I felt naked as I sat listening to comments and suggestions from my peers and then from Dorothy.

I have spent 14 months working on a memoir – about 300 pages. I’m on my second draft where I am fiddling with voice and tense. Wonderful questions were tossed out. Who is my audience? What is at stake for my protagonist? What is the story arc? Where are the conflicts? What is the turning point? Why should someone read this book? Although I had given thought to these questions, I am now outlining my responses in order to be clear.

By the end of the week, I had made new friends, found support for my work, and was energized to keep my fanny in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard. I AM a writer and I have a story to tell.

Abigail Thomas, me, Dorothy Allison

Stopping To Chit Chat

admin — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 04:17:26 +0000

Living in a small town 35 miles from downtown Sacramento has its advantages – no freeway noise, no jets on a flight path to the airport and no tall buildings to block the view of the sky. However, small town living has a few drawbacks – no vegetarian restaurants, no chain stores and limited public transit.
Local strip malls advertise space for lease and two-story office buildings remain vacant. It’s a visual reminder of our economy. Our town doesn’t have large insurance companies or banks. Rather, tiny branch offices are scattered in the grocery store or next to a sandwich shop. The branch of my bank shared the same air conditioning system as Subway Sandwiches. So when I walked into my bank, I’d begin to salivate for a foot-long sub! The two tellers greeted me by name as I approached them to handle my transaction. We took a few minutes to talk about the leaky sprinkler system in front of the bank or about a local yard sale or the antique car show on the weekend. Hershey kisses were at each cashier’s window. I’d unwrap one and pop it in my mouth as we chatted.
This week, a friend of mine told me that her bank branch was closing and she’d have to drive eight miles to do business. I remarked that I was glad my little bank was staying put. Thinking about how nice my tellers were, I drove to my branch yesterday with the intention of telling them how much I enjoy their friendliness and service.
As I approached the glass door of the bank, I saw a white piece of paper taped on the inside of the door. I assumed that they were reminding me that they’d be closed for President’s Day. But the lights were off and black trash bags were stacked inside the entrance. The sign read “This branch has closed.” And it listed the nearest branch – eight miles down the road.
My first thought was about the two tellers. Were they sent to another branch or were their jobs terminated? Could I find them to say that I was sorry they were gone? And to tell them that their friendliness meant a lot to me? In the hustle of our days, stopping to chit chat and eat a Hershey kiss brightened my day. Banking online is not the same as being greeted by name when I walk through the door. A little piece of small town living is gone.

Dust

admin — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:32:00 +0000

The sun is up. I’m sitting in my recliner watching the Today Show. My eyes move from the TV to the glass coffee table covered in dust. The shelves on either side the flat screen are dusty.

Who has been in my house? I cleaned two days ago. I used a dust cloth with oil on it to catch all those little particles. Once I tried a microfiber cloth but the dust shifted from one end of the table to the other. My air filter is clean and the windows are shut to keep out the chill of the November air.

Where does dust come from? Does it grow like bacteria in a petrie dish? Does it have a magnetic attraction to pull dust in from the neighbor’s house? I don’t do aerobics in the living room to stir up dust hidden and compressed in the carpet.

I’d like to think this is fairy dust scattered here and there to bring me good luck or great riches.
I think I’ll sit back, watch TV and see if a fairy sneaks in to take her dust to someone else’s house.

Women Writers

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:10:00 +0000

There are times when I need a kick in the pants. I have a tendency to put off important things – like writing. In June, I decided to write a book but didn’t know how I would approach it. One blog led to another and I found my teacher and mentor – Jennifer Lauck in Portland, Oregon. She held a three day memoir writing intensive and I jumped at the opportunity to learn from her. This picture is all of us on the last day of the workshop – and we are all smiling. The work was detailed and what I needed. We all realized that we have a story to tell. Period. We are writing our truth. We are not writing in order to be published. One step at a time, Jennifer reminds us. On the third day of the intensive, we each signed a contract to get into the writing habit. This means we write 5 to 7 pages every day for 28 days. So far, I’m on track – although I keep looking at the page count and wondering if I’ll ever get my 7 pages done. Wish me luck!

Tomato Worm

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:26:00 +0000

All the little, tender ends of my one tomato plant are gone. I know why – the darn tomato worm has found my Patio tomato plant. How did it find my plant? I didn’t have a sign out on the street which might have said, “One small tomato plant in my back yard. Come now and feast on the leaves.”
Where do the worms go before and after they munch on my tomato plant?

I bend over and move the leaves around to find the green sucker. No luck. How can it do so much damage and I can’t see it? It must be a fat little bugger after eating half my plant. When does it feast? Should I patrol my plant in the middle of the night with a flashlight?

I Googled “tomato worm” and read that it had been a brown moth before it changed into the worm. So, now I know that it flew around the neighborhood, over the fences and around the bushes looking for new plants. Does the moth see or smell the tomato plants? Does it have a GPS system to mark the back yards that have the must succulent plants? Does it tell its other moth friends where to hang out for the summer?

I bought a large plastic pot in April. Used a whole bag of potting mix. Spent an hour putting in a drip line to the pot. Drip irrigation is hard to assemble with my arthritic hands. I did all that work so a worm could eat my plant? That wasn’t my plan. I’m not into sharing my plant with a worm. It’s decision time for me. Either I can abandon my plant to a lousy tomato worm and support the local farmers’ market or sit next to my plant with a magnifying glass searching for a worm in camouflage.

Sweet Corn and Tomatoes

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:47:00 +0000

Summer is really here when I can buy sweet corn at the farmer’s market. And that’s what I did early Sunday morning. I have a favorite farmer whose corn has been consistently delicious for years. The corn is in after a cool, wet spring. Four ears for $1.50. The price is up from last year when it was four for a dollar.

I cook the corn just like my mother did when I was a kid. Get the pot of water to a rolling boil, put in the ears and boil for 5 minutes. Slather each ear with butter and salt and eat while hot. We had a huge vegetable garden when I was little. My mother got the pot of water ready while my father picked and shucked the corn at the compost pile.

There are many ways to eat fresh corn. A few people cut the kernels off the cob making a pile on the plate. That looks no different than frozen corn from the grocery store. It’s a distancing from the experience of eating corn on the cob. Some people put little yellow plastic stabber/grabber things in the ends of the cob. I wonder why they don’t want to touch the cob. I wouldn’t want to use little plastic supports to eat a pear or an apricot or a stalk of celery. Why not hold the corn? What’s wrong with buttery fingers?

Buttering an ear of corn can be challenging. Some people balance a pat of butter on a knife and attempt to press the butter onto the hot kernels. The butter slips onto the plate and the warm knife jabs at the melting butter to put it back on the cob. Other people simplify the buttering. A cube of cold butter sits on a plate and the steaming cob is held and slid up and down the butter. The cube melts in the center but doesn’t slither away.

Once the ear is buttered, the ear is rotated so that salt covers the drippy corn. The sweet corn is ready to be eaten.

I eat corn in a specific pattern. The tip of the corn is held in my left hand, the fat end is in my right. I bite off the kernels going from left to right like the carriage on a typewriter. Reaching the right end of the cob, the ear is turned down and the next four rows are munched, again moving from left to right.

Years ago, folks from Minnesota told me that I was eating my corn incorrectly. They hold the ear and munch around the cob. Once they have devoured one section, they move to the right and eat another portion around the cob. That doesn’t feel right to me. I like the typewriter method.

Home grown or locally grown tomatoes can’t be beat. Each year I plant a few tomato plants in containers. Usually I’m not successful. the pots dry out and those dang tomato worms appear out of nowhere. Picking up a few tomatoes along with the corn and cukes at the farmer’s market works out better for me.

Summertime with fresh tomatoes is the only time of year to make tomato and cheese sandwiches for lunch. I like to use marbled rye bread. I slice a juicy tomato and lay the thick slices on the bread. I sprinkle Penzey’s Greek seasoning on the tomatoes and place two slices of Swiss or Provolone cheese on top. A few minutes under the broiler to melt the cheese…and I’ve got a tasty summer sandwich.

Sweet corn and tomatoes…that’s what summer is about.

Headache

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:21:00 +0000

I’ve never been prone to headaches. A twinge once in a while but nothing I needed a Tylenol for. But 102 days ago I got a headache that didn’t stop at all- 24/7. It was a strange one – only on the left side; the other half was fine. How do I describe the pain? Like ripping my brains out. Sometimes it was a butcher knife in my brain. Always pressure like my brain was pushing out against my skull. Lovely.

If the physical pain wasn’t enough, the medical system created a headaches on top of the one I had. My doc sent me for an X-ray and to physical therapy. she prescribed muscle relaxers. The X-ray showed I had bad arthritis in my neck. The physical therapist said my muscles were in knots. No relief. The doc’s assistant prescribed Demerol and ordered an MRA and MRI. I laid still for 2 and a half hours in the MRI tube. The MRI showed a cerebral anuerysm. I went to my rheumatologist who diagnosed the headaches as a result of stopping my anti-depressant. She took me off Demerol and prescribed Elavil and said that everyone over 60 has arthritis. No relief. The physical therapist said I needed to strengthen my shoulders and neck to support my head. I wanted to rip off my head.

Totally confused, I returned to my primary care doc who took me off the Elavil and prescribed Neurontin. she referred me to a physiatrist (pain management doc). I imagined that he would have me meditate or do bio-feedback or pray. Meanwhile, I was scheduled to see a neurosurgeon for the aneurysm. Everyone in my family had died from an aneurysm so I didn’t want to be the next. I still wanted to rip off my head.

When I finally got the see the pain management doc, he took a peek at my films and said that the radiologists had missed seeing a herniated disk in my neck. At that moment, I wanted to rip off the heads of the neurologists. In order to postpone surgery, I was referred to a doc who will inject my neck with cortisone to provide relief.

I was elated to learn that the pain wasn’t just “in my head.” The following day after receiving the new diagnosis, I had my appointment with the neurosurgeon. After he told me that my aneurysm had to enlarge before he could treat me, he declared that my herniated disk in no way could cause my headaches. Hardly able to comprehend his pronouncement, I asked him, “So, what is causing me my 24/7 headache?” In a nonchalant manner, he replied, “I have no idea.”

Today I will have the injection in my neck. If I’m lucky, my headache will stop at day 102. I hope the headache of the BP oil spill stops before day 102.