Cindy Marsch - Editor

I am an author of historical, biographical, literary fiction and short stories thus far, with plans for cozy mysteries and contemporary fiction in the years to come. I have recently begun offering professional editorial services and found immediate enthusiastic acceptance from small presses and individual authors as soon as they saw what I could do for them. One special offering is what I call instructional editing or book coaching, like developmental editing but designed to be done a chapter or two at a time, the writer applying each segment's evaluation and improvements to the work of later drafts.

Developed and taught Composition 2 to students in grades 8-12 for this online school, helping students learn grammar, style, and basic essay forms for description, persuasion, comparison, and narrative. In our online live class meetings I managed groups of up to 22 students, engaging them in discussion, writing exercises, peer critique, and imitation of great writing samples. Much of my instruction was in the form of individual essay evaluation in extensive comments for each student.

As a young mother watching the growth of homeschooling all around me and hearing the desires of homeschooling parents for quality writing instruction for their older children, I began teaching online when the technology allowed only exchange of simple files and emails. I developed many writing courses using the Great Books, ancient rhetoric exercises (Progymnasmata), and other high-quality resources, and in time I became a consultant for many private schools for their writing programs. It is wonderful to work with students throughout their secondary education and then watch many of them go on to become important writers, educators, and other professional in their own right.

In these different colleges, taught courses including remedial writing lab, freshman composition, freshman article and essay workshop, sophomore literature, written business communications, and business report writing part time (FSU, TCC, LPC) or full time (Auburn University) intermittently through these years.

Blizzard: A Story of Dakota Territory

Cindy Rinaman Marsch

A homesteading farmer, his pregnant wife, their daughter, and the grandmother wake to a beautiful winter morning on the prairie. And then it descends upon them - the infamous Children's Blizzard of 1888. Who will survive? With characters from Rosette: A Novel of Pioneer Michigan, “Blizzard: A Story of Dakota Territory” captures in one sod shanty the dramatic effects of a storm on the bodies an... read more

A homesteading farmer, his pregnant wife, their daughter, and the grandmother wake to a beautiful winter morning on the prairie. And then it descends upon them - the infamous Children's Blizzard of 1888. Who will survive? With characters from Rosette: A Novel of Pioneer Michigan, “Blizzard: A Story of Dakota Territory” captures in one sod shanty the dramatic effects of a storm on the bodies an... read more

Stories of Inspiration: Historical Fiction Edition, Volume 1: Historical Fiction Writers Trace Their Journeys from Starting Point to Finished Work

Suzanne Fox

Writers of historical fiction face a daunting creative challenge: that of shaping fresh and original stories from a verifiable and sometimes familiar past. Again and again, today's gifted historical fiction authors meet that challenge brilliantly. But readers rarely get to see how they tackle such an intricate task, or what happens to transform the first glimmer of an idea and a set of histori... read more

Writers of historical fiction face a daunting creative challenge: that of shaping fresh and original stories from a verifiable and sometimes familiar past. Again and again, today's gifted historical fiction authors meet that challenge brilliantly. But readers rarely get to see how they tackle such an intricate task, or what happens to transform the first glimmer of an idea and a set of histori... read more

Cry for Jerusalem - Book 1 63-66 CE: Resisting Tyranny

Ward Sanford

Was it fate, destiny, or some divine plan that brought four very different travelers together in their struggle to survive what should have been a routine trip to Rome? Driven by events, these new friends and their family members found themselves playing pivotal roles at a focal point in the history of western civilization. For winds that had spread a great fire across Rome also carried embers... read more

Was it fate, destiny, or some divine plan that brought four very different travelers together in their struggle to survive what should have been a routine trip to Rome? Driven by events, these new friends and their family members found themselves playing pivotal roles at a focal point in the history of western civilization. For winds that had spread a great fire across Rome also carried embers... read more

The Gift of the Seer

K.B. Laugheed

Katie O’Toole’s epic adventure began in The Spirit Keeper (Plume 2013) when she was rescued from a 1747 frontier massacre in Pennsylvania only to find herself chosen as the “Spirit Keeper” of a dying Indian Seer. She hesitated to accept this mysterious obligation until she fell in love with the Seer’s bodyguard, an Indian man she called Hector.In The Gift of the Seer, Katie and Hector continue... read more

Katie O’Toole’s epic adventure began in The Spirit Keeper (Plume 2013) when she was rescued from a 1747 frontier massacre in Pennsylvania only to find herself chosen as the “Spirit Keeper” of a dying Indian Seer. She hesitated to accept this mysterious obligation until she fell in love with the Seer’s bodyguard, an Indian man she called Hector.In The Gift of the Seer, Katie and Hector continue... read more

Nzinga: African Warrior Queen

Moses L. Howard

Across the savannah and into the green mountains, people shouted her name: “Nzinga, Nzinga, Child of the Flame!” “Nzinga, Daughter of the Old Ngola, Savior of Ndongo!” In the governor’s palace Luanda, the Portuguese courtiers whisper in shock: A woman! Sent to make a treaty with the invaders, Nzinga of Angola is swept into world history, a generation after Elizabeth I ruled England. For forty ... read more

Across the savannah and into the green mountains, people shouted her name: “Nzinga, Nzinga, Child of the Flame!” “Nzinga, Daughter of the Old Ngola, Savior of Ndongo!” In the governor’s palace Luanda, the Portuguese courtiers whisper in shock: A woman! Sent to make a treaty with the invaders, Nzinga of Angola is swept into world history, a generation after Elizabeth I ruled England. For forty ... read more

A Kindom Divided: Books 1 - 3 in S.C. Stokes' Epic Fantasy Adventure

Samuel Stokes, S.C. Stokes

Watching from the window, Tristan screamed, “Father!” Tears streamed down his face as he fell to his knees. Without mercy the bandits closed in, torches blazing against the night sky. Tristan watched in terror as the Manor caught fire…with him inside it.With his home in ashes and his world on fire, Tristan has to make a choice…Fight or die. Tyranny and civil war threaten to consume the island ... read more

Watching from the window, Tristan screamed, “Father!” Tears streamed down his face as he fell to his knees. Without mercy the bandits closed in, torches blazing against the night sky. Tristan watched in terror as the Manor caught fire…with him inside it.With his home in ashes and his world on fire, Tristan has to make a choice…Fight or die. Tyranny and civil war threaten to consume the island ... read more

Bring Me Back Home

D. R. Thatcher

D. R. Thatcher is recently retired with a loving wife and grown children. Adjusting to a different pace of life, he yearns to reconnect with his childhood memories. His Mom, Dad, and only bother have passed away leaving a lingering sense of regret and the realization that maybe life’s priorities should have been different. In his retrospective memoir, Douglas reflects on the experiences he had... read more

D. R. Thatcher is recently retired with a loving wife and grown children. Adjusting to a different pace of life, he yearns to reconnect with his childhood memories. His Mom, Dad, and only bother have passed away leaving a lingering sense of regret and the realization that maybe life’s priorities should have been different. In his retrospective memoir, Douglas reflects on the experiences he had... read more

Bringing Mom Home: How Two Sisters Moved Their Mother Out of Assisted Living to Care For Her Under One Amazingly Large Roof

Susan Soesbe

Sisters Claire and Susan have been noticing their independent, introverted mother is sort of… off. Discreet investigation reveals the appalling truth: Mom can’t find her way home, pay her bills or even get to the toilet anymore. The move to an assisted living facility only further highlights the many aspects of her life that have quietly fallen through the cracks. Assisted living doesn’t rende... read more

Sisters Claire and Susan have been noticing their independent, introverted mother is sort of… off. Discreet investigation reveals the appalling truth: Mom can’t find her way home, pay her bills or even get to the toilet anymore. The move to an assisted living facility only further highlights the many aspects of her life that have quietly fallen through the cracks. Assisted living doesn’t rende... read more

The Years of Wandering

N.T.

The book intertwines the stories of three professionals from different countries who cross paths in Asia, against the backdrop of the landscape of globalization—the diverse countries, cultures, and international businesses which are the fabric of the novel. It addresses the various ways people deal with the pressures of a career, with the loneliness of living in a foreign place, and with the n... read more

The book intertwines the stories of three professionals from different countries who cross paths in Asia, against the backdrop of the landscape of globalization—the diverse countries, cultures, and international businesses which are the fabric of the novel. It addresses the various ways people deal with the pressures of a career, with the loneliness of living in a foreign place, and with the n... read more

1 Photo 50 Authors 100 Words: Flash Fiction

Madison Woods

100-word flash fiction stories by 50 authors from around the globe, all based on one photo prompt. Compiled by Madison Woods. Authors include Stephanie Ayers, Holly Suzanne Beckman-Filbert, Sarah Paige Berling, Vincent J Bracco, JK Bradley, Jan Brown, Michelle Bunt, Sandra Crook, Marilyn Kay Dennis, Phyllis Anne Duncan, Sean Fallon, Nathan Filbert, Michael B. Fishman, Abraham Gumba, Sarah Ann ... read more

100-word flash fiction stories by 50 authors from around the globe, all based on one photo prompt. Compiled by Madison Woods. Authors include Stephanie Ayers, Holly Suzanne Beckman-Filbert, Sarah Paige Berling, Vincent J Bracco, JK Bradley, Jan Brown, Michelle Bunt, Sandra Crook, Marilyn Kay Dennis, Phyllis Anne Duncan, Sean Fallon, Nathan Filbert, Michael B. Fishman, Abraham Gumba, Sarah Ann ... read more

The Mentor That Matters: Stories of Transformational Teachers, Role Models and Heroes, Volume 1

Suzanne Fox, Laura Steward Atchison

In every life, there is at least one “mentor that matters”: a person whose insights spark change and whose influence endures. It might be an educator whose knowledge ignites new passion. A family member whose wisdom steers us away from irreparable mistakes or encourages our boldest dreams. An expert whose training spurs us to do more than we could have imagined. A leader who elicits strength o... read more

In every life, there is at least one “mentor that matters”: a person whose insights spark change and whose influence endures. It might be an educator whose knowledge ignites new passion. A family member whose wisdom steers us away from irreparable mistakes or encourages our boldest dreams. An expert whose training spurs us to do more than we could have imagined. A leader who elicits strength o... read more

The Worming of America, Or, An Answer to the Arraignment of Women

Autumn Leaf

Like all good Awakenings and revolutions, the Great Awakening and the American Revolution started with a good conversation. But when and with whom did that good conversation start? New England Transcendentalism started somewhere, but where and how? The seed of Civil Disobedience was planted by someone in Massachusetts, but by who and why? In the polemic spirit of Jane Anger’s The Protection fo... read more

Like all good Awakenings and revolutions, the Great Awakening and the American Revolution started with a good conversation. But when and with whom did that good conversation start? New England Transcendentalism started somewhere, but where and how? The seed of Civil Disobedience was planted by someone in Massachusetts, but by who and why? In the polemic spirit of Jane Anger’s The Protection fo... read more

Stuck in Manistique

Dennis Cuesta

Near the midpoint of the Upper Peninsula, along a Lake Michigan bend of shore, is the town of Manistique, Michigan. Mark had never heard of Manistique before the death of his estranged aunt, but as sole beneficiary of Vivian's estate, he travels there to settle her affairs. As Mark tours his aunt's house for the first time, the doorbell rings.Days after graduating medical school, Dr. Emily Dav... read more

Near the midpoint of the Upper Peninsula, along a Lake Michigan bend of shore, is the town of Manistique, Michigan. Mark had never heard of Manistique before the death of his estranged aunt, but as sole beneficiary of Vivian's estate, he travels there to settle her affairs. As Mark tours his aunt's house for the first time, the doorbell rings.Days after graduating medical school, Dr. Emily Dav... read more