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Maridel

Maridel Bowes,M.A. Evolving Journey


In This Issue
May I Help You?
Free Coffee Consultation
A Bonus!


























































































Lavendar


Oh, the Perils of the Written Word!  
 Several years ago my mother, son and I set out on a still-dark, too-early morning trek from Idaho to Sacramento The car was quiet in the way that cars are when passengers are in a collective state of pre-caffeine consciousness. Suddenly, from the back seat came cackling hilarity. "Did you see that sign back there?" Gavin asked. He turned back to make sure he'd really seen what his eyes had believed. "It does! It says, 'As for God, His ways is perfect!'" Our laughter erupted again when we realized it was on the illuminated billboard of a publishing company!
 
More recently, my friend Candy and I made a trek to Dillon Beach. In Petaluma, we stopped at Whole Foods Market for supplies. On the restroom door, I was greeted by this sign: "It is store policy for customers not to shop out of their own bags."  Just below was this postscript: "Thank you for your co-operation." I read it three times waiting for the bell to ring in my befuddled brain when Candy arrived. "Read this," I said. And when she did, her look mirrored my own. "I have no idea if I'm cooperating or not!" I told her as we walked away.
 
En route home a few days later, we stopped at Whole Foods for lunch. Thanks to two days at the ocean, the sign had melted from memory. But this time its greeting threw me into paroxysms of laughter--and not just because of its nonsensical message. Back at the lunch counter, and still fully in the grip of my giggles, Candy smiled at me. "What's so funny? "she asked. "The sign, " I gasped, "It's ... it's ... laminated!"  Considerable effort had gone into making this message not only design-attractive, but nearly as indestructible as it was indecipherable.
 
In the following weeks, I conducted an informal poll with regard to the Whole Foods Restroom Sign Debacle, and got a heartening number of attempted explanations from those who had (or thought they had) some idea what it meant. But no one was willing to bet their pocket change.

May I Help You?

 

Along with invoking a few giggles, this newsletter has another intention: to introduce you to my writing service, The Write Path. Many writers don't make use of a simple course correction known as "peer review." That is, allowing someone else to read the thing before it gets laminated! (Or sent, printed, or published.)
 
Do you have a message or a story you'd like to get down on paper for posterity or publication? Does your business need an enticing newsletter or blog? Does your website content need a make-over? Do you need a website?  I am here to stand between you and the perils of the written word: to proof, edit, rewrite or ghost-write. Allow me to define.
 
Proof - I read your work and correct spelling and grammar, making sure your ideas are clear.
 
Edit - I go a step deeper, offering more specific and powerful ways to convey your message. This can involve cutting and moving passages, or suggesting a different ending or beginning to make the material more accessible and arresting. Some writers are geniuses who just need to restructure their genius.
 
Rewrite - In a rewrite, you write your piece--short or long--in your own words. I then work from your manuscript to create a finished product that maintains your voice, ideas and focus, but is enhanced by the creative language and style of professional writing.
 
Ghostwriting - You supply the information. I do the writing. We work together to create a story or book that reflects your voice and your individual experience.
 
While all work is collaborative in nature, the rewrite and the ghostwriting are joint projects that involve the passing back and forth of the material for true integration of author and writer. 
 

Free Consultation

Let's sit down with a cup or coffee or tea and talk about your writing possibilites for 2009. I would love to discuss your personal or business project and give you my thoughts about it. (And if you live outside the greater Sacramento area, we can talk by phone or Scype.) Call (916) 749-4228. For more information, visit my website, Evolving Journey. 
 
 A Bonus!

For those of you who made it all the way to the bottom of this newsletter ... the solved mystery of the Whole Foods Miscommuniuque!  When I told my son about this sign, he said, "Oh I know exactly what that means. At the co-op, I was using my recycled bags to put my items into as I shopped, and they asked me not to do that." Ah, a message only the uncooperative understand! But still, wouldn't that be shopping into your own bags instead of out of them?  And even then, I beg of you, Why on the restroom door?

 

 

 

© 2008 Evolving Journey. All Rights Reserved. Contact Maridel Bowes at maridelbowes@gmail.com.



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