Mark Bloom Recently Edits a Published Book
Joseph Campbell’s Wisdom Hits Close to Home
Two Asheville locals “follow their bliss” to create an unusual yet meaningful book.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” – Joseph Campbell (1904–1987)
Mark Bloom and Linda Ray follow their bliss as the duo behind Ray Access. But both find other outlets for their creative and professional passions. For Mark, editing books (fiction and nonfiction) allows him to focus all his talent on a goal with two parts: helping an author create a marketable work and improving the author’s skill set.
Asheville author Dielle Ciesco took the words of mythologist Joseph Campbell to heart and started writing. Mark gave her words the heartbeat needed to make them come alive. By following their bliss, the two created a book that was accepted by the first publisher it was presented to. The results are apparent in the work, The Unknown Mother: A Magical Walk with the Goddess of Sound, published this month (January 2013) by Roundfire Books (ISBN: 978-1780996318).
The book personifies the kind of collaboration that makes Asheville a unique and thriving arts community. A vocal activist, healer, and teacher, Ciesco’s book is based on a lifetime exploring the mysteries and subtleties of the power of voice, the meaning of words, and the properties of sound. But writing the book became a journey in itself.
Ciesco at first tried to write an educational book to capture all the archaic research and practical experience she had acquired. After struggling with it for years, she had a brainstorm to turn the information into a novel.
“The book took on a life of its own,” Ciesco says. But the change to fiction also led to new challenges. Novels from unknown writers aren’t the easiest to get published. “I knew I had to present a very clean package and was willing to invest in that,” she says.
To realize her bliss in print, she turned to Asheville editor Mark Bloom, who does work for Ray Access, a local web content provider. Bloom’s passion lies in editing. His bliss led him through many careers, all involving the written word, including a stint editing at Lark Books.
“Working with Mark was easy,” Ciesco says. “He would take a sentence or paragraph and make it say exactly what I wanted with precision and flow. He had some really great ideas that made the book better.” When asked about the collaboration, she admits, “I really had no idea how deep the editing process could go. Mark made sure the story was unified and was a big support in making my characters more interesting.”
The book represents Ciesco’s life work, which is far from complete. “Going through the editing process has definitely made me a better writer,” she says. “I really internalized the things I learned from Mark, and that’s going into my second book right off the bat.”
About Dielle Ciesco: Dielle specializes in the transformational power of the voice to heal and connect us with our own Divinity. With over 18 years experience as a performer and healing facilitator, she teaches, writes, sings, creates art, and helps clients. Contact her at info at thevoiceoflife.com.
About Mark Bloom: A professional writer since 1989, Mark has contributed to five published books. As an editor, he loves guiding authors to improve their work and their skills. He has a number of projects in various stages of development. Contact him at mark at rayaccess.com.
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