Steph's Scribe

The Website of Author & Professor Stephanie Parrillo Verni

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  • About Me
  • PRESS KIT
  • Podcasts from Steph’s Scribe 2020
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  • Early This Morning

    June 1, 2020 /

    *✨EARLY THIS MORNING ✨ I was awakened by the sound of knocking on our house. After looking around and finding nothing, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I’m still not sure what it was. A freak of nature. A bird. A phantom ghost. Who knows. But I got up, made myself a cup of coffee and began to tackle the long, laundry list of items I have to accomplish today..Today is also my daughter’s virtual high school graduation, followed by her actual graduation that will take place on Wednesday. People keep asking my husband and me how we are feeling about “almost” being empty nesters. I tease and say it’s…

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    Frocktober begins tomorrow & I’ve picked my charity

    September 30, 2020

    Some Quick Book Recommendations

    March 2, 2016

    Friday Fiction: A Short About Reincarnation & Love (and in need of feedback)

    April 3, 2020
  • Times Flies & Simple Goals for 2020

    December 29, 2019 /

    *** When I think of how many years I’ve walked these streets in Annapolis and then actually count them, I can get a little uncomfortable with the passing of time. I moved to the Annapolis area when I was 13. Now, I’m in my fifties. Time flies. We all grow older, I understand that. Seeing lines on my face or under my eyes grow deeper reminds me of time slipping away. And, as I’ve had some health issues this year, I’m more aware than ever that time is fleeting. One kid in college. Another going off to college in 2020. The years begin to meld and you count your lucky…

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    What Blogging Has Meant to Me

    January 12, 2019

    The Slump: A Short Story in the Absence of Baseball for Fiction Friday

    March 27, 2020

    Writing About Baseball: The Slump from The Postcard & Other Short Stories

    December 11, 2018
  • Dear Wrinkles: I’m Looking at You in a Whole New Way

    December 6, 2017 /

    Dear Wrinkles, That’s it. I’ve had it. I’m tired of looking in the mirror, seeing you, Wrinkles, and not liking you very much. Wrinkles, you and I have been at war with one another for a while now. As you know, at 52, I refuse to get Botox, so I do what I can to help keep my skin fresh. I wash my face with gentle soap; I use a ton of moisturizer and under eye cream (helps keep the skin moist and hydrated); I try to drink a lot of water; and I get facials when I can. I wear concealer and foundation with SPF every day, and I…

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    Fifty Shades of…Shades

    January 20, 2016

    The Colors of Autumn

    October 27, 2015

    Friday Fiction: Writing the Prologue & Baseball Girl

    April 15, 2016
  • Grocery Store Bonding and Singing in Safeway: Two Stories

    August 17, 2017 /

    I’m going to attempt to tell these stories as they happened, exactly as they happened. I live in the town of Severna Park, and the closest grocery store is Safeway, which is walkable. I’m over there constantly, as I’m not a big “do the grocery load for the week” kind of person. I pretty much figure out each day what we will eat, and run over and get whatever I need since it’s so convenient. In the last several months, I’ve had two hilarious Safeway Moments, as I shall call them. The first happened a few months ago when I was standing in line to pick up a prescription. The…

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    All The Books We Want to Read | Building Your Summer Reading List

    March 18, 2016

    Acceptable “B” Words for a BETTER You

    January 8, 2016

    Opening The Door to Love or Closing the Door to Love

    February 12, 2016
  • Vintage 1965: Today’s Annual Snarky Birthday Blog Post

    August 16, 2016 /

    It can be a little daunting watching celebrities who are born in your birth year or a year or two ahead of you grow old along with you but show no signs of wrinkles and aging. Their endless use of Botox, plastic surgeries, and hours in the gym cause you to compare yourself to them and wonder why you haven’t considered going under the knife or injection needle yourself (working out is quite possible if you set your mind to it). As much as I want to look as if I’m in my thirties, that isn’t quite realistic any more. It’s time to come to grips with aging and simply…

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    Prettiness & Priorities

    January 6, 2016

    5 Sure-Fire Ways To Boost Creativity

    March 16, 2016

    Suggestions for Helping Kids (and Adults) Enjoy Reading

    October 2, 2015
  • Kissing My 40s Goodbye

    August 16, 2015 /

    All day you’ve been thinking about this blog post and what you will write. It’s your birthday, and it’s tradition that you write something snarky about aging. Some people will tell you they love growing older–maturing, growing up, watching their kids grow, maybe even becoming grandparents. It’s a lovely thought—growing old(er) naturally—as if we actually have a say in holding on to youth and beating Father Time. We don’t. Aging is not fun. So your birthday looms. It’s the big 5-0. You think about it for weeks. It practically consumes you. You notice every grey hair, ever extra mile you have to walk to shed .001 pounds, and each line…

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    The Way the Rain Smells

    February 23, 2016

    The Colors of Autumn

    October 27, 2015

    Podcast 6 – Joining a Writers Group

    February 18, 2020
  • 6 Ways to Wear Makeup That Doesn’t Age You

    July 23, 2015 /

    * * * You can probably tell if you scroll through my past posts over that last few years that I’m kind of dreading turning 50 next month (I just lied…I am absolutely dreading turning 50 next month. Yikes.). I’m not quite sure how I got here, but alas, it is about to happen. You can control some things, but you can’t control aging. So, without turning to Botox or plastic surgery, I have to resort to other tactics that will help me feel beautiful and fresh (and young), and they pretty much revolve around using makeup to my advantage. I’ve heard people say that makeup ages you. This is…

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    A Writer’s Muse: Annapolis

    December 18, 2020

    Love and The Orioles

    March 11, 2020

    FROCKTOBER Fashion- Week 3 Recap

    October 22, 2018
  • Reflections on Turning 30, 40, and—oh, God—50.

    February 20, 2015 /

    I remember when I was little and I looked at someone who was nearing 50 and thought—Jeez, you’re old. You will be dead soon. You are half a century. Ten years ago when I was about to turn 40 I had a meltdown–of epic proportions. Things weren’t going too well for me at that time, but luckily, I was able to turn it around. I lost a bit of myself. I thought turning 40 was bad. And it was. The 30s had been so good to me. I loved the way I felt, had babies with my husband, and had supportive girlfriends who were experiencing the same things I was.…

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    Playing with Photography and Memories

    January 19, 2016

    Friday Fiction: A Short About Reincarnation & Love (and in need of feedback)

    April 3, 2020

    Campus Book Talk Tonight and Some Monday Inspiration

    April 18, 2016
  • It’s Your Birthday. You’re only mildly old. Can you read the bottom line?

    August 16, 2014 /

    The morning went something like this. You got up early to be at the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA)  by 8:30 a.m. to have your license, which expires tomorrow (on your birthday) renewed. You waited until the last minute to get it done. There were too many other things to do this week, like drive your kid to golf many times and take your daughter to the movies. You’ve been writing all week–not Baseball Girl–but the textbook you’re working on with your brilliant colleagues. Nevertheless, you left it to the last minute, as you usually do, and thus suffered the consequences of waiting for almost an hour and a half until…

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    On This Valentine’s Day, LOVE

    February 14, 2020

    Stuff Those Stockings with Books

    December 4, 2015

    Little Milestones Receives 5-Star Review from Readers’ Favorite

    July 17, 2020
  • Beyond Wrinkles: Appreciating The Lines On Our Faces

    May 21, 2014 /

    If you’ve followed my blog or know me personally, you have probably deduced that I am definitely not down with aging. The thought of it is frightening to me. But something happened to me this past weekend. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I may have a new approach to embracing growing older. I happened to be around a lot of folks who were my age or older this past weekend, most of them with wrinkles. You heard me. I said that taboo word: wrinkles. Something clicked for me. I appreciated the wisdom that they shared. I comprehended their stories. I saw beyond the wrinkles. I found…

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  • The Truth About Being In Your Forties

    March 3, 2014 /

    Last night as my friends and I gathered around to watch the Oscars, all but one of us in our 40s (the one who is not is the Samantha Jones of our group…older, not by much, but very much young at heart), I realized how fabulous all of us look. We may not be movie-star perfect, but we’ve kept it together despite having careers that require us to work a lot, children, husbands, doctors appointments and school commitments, nightly dinner decisions, and house projects that never end. No, we may not be accepting Oscars and wearing designer clothing (“Versace made this for me,” said Jada Pinkett-Smith), but you know what…

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  • Shoulda Woulda Coulda — Daily Prompt

    February 13, 2013 /

    Today’s WordPress Daily Prompt entitled Shoulda Woulda Coulda asks us to tell about something you should do…but don’t. * * * So…here goes…complete honesty… I was going to write this post today and call it something else, but then I saw the Daily Post prompt, and I knew it was perfect for me. What I should do, but don’t do, is stop worrying about aging. Seriously. I think about it every day. It can often consume me. I’m not a fan of getting older, and the thought of the number 50 is just daunting. It’s two and a half years away for me, but I’m not at all enamored with…

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    Some Updates on Some things

    September 8, 2020

    Fiction Friday | A Not-So-Happy Story of Love

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    When You Quit Something Cold Turkey

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Well, we made it to Friday🥳With so much uncertainty still floating all around us, sometimes you just gotta toss your head back and laugh. My wish for you today is that you have people around you who can make you belly-laugh. You know the kind of laughing I mean, right? The kind where you snort or cry or can’t catch your breath because it’s so damn funny????
Venice. 💕 #tbt
Annapolis has a lot of cool neighborhoods, and there are many on the water...including homes on rivers, creeks, and the Chesapeake Bay. I took this shot of Sherwood Forest from the boat in the fall. It was a beautiful day, and my camera was ready to capture the colors that were all around us.
Tired of being here, here in the cold,
FINALLY! Woo-hoo! An edited and complete manuscript is DONE and ready for beta readers!
Yesterday, I was able to get to the 100-page mark of editing my new novel (in stories). There were a couple of points where I got a little choked up reading the story—not at all expecting myself to react that way, as I wrote the words. Again, as I said last week, that’s what can happen when you put a little distance between yourself and the work.
Any other tea lovers out there? I’ve been watching a bunch of British movies lately, and it reminded me of all the high teas we enjoyed in London. You can probably guess from my posts that I’m going a bit stir crazy and I’m totally dreaming of our next trip. Until then, we’ll have to make our tea at home and watch shows/movies set around the world. Some recent favorites include: Emily in Paris, Cider with Rosie, Love and Friendship, Photograph, Island at War, Finding Joy, Grantchester, The Last Post, and Call the Midwife. #tbt
The truth about empty nest syndrome:
Wherever you go, go with all your heart. - Oliver Wendell Holmes
How It Started vs. How It’s Going—Hello, friends. 🤗 Well, I said I was going to finish editing my completed manuscript this weekend, and I did. Feeling relieved and happy to move on to the next phase.😏
Just a reminder that a handwritten love note or a homemade Valentine is a very special way to remind someone how you feel about them. 🥰🥰🥰🥰 Be creative✍🏻🌈🌟
Among my many teaching duties on the docket for today, I also plan on editing more of my novel. That said, I thought I’d share a tip with writers. Some of the pages I am editing today I haven’t read since late fall. I put a lot of distance between the work and myself, and I can’t even begin to tell you how beneficial that is. To read it months later with new eyes helps writers correct things that need fixing. It also allows you to attack the work more objectively. When we get too close to our masterpieces, sometimes we can’t see what’s not clicking right in front of our face. It has also allowed me to appreciate the story thus far. And while it still needs some finessing, I feel certain I’m on the right track with this story and these characters. I’m quite fond of them.

Recent Blog Posts

  • Show recommendations to binge-watch January 7, 2021
  • Here’s Hoping for a Brighter 2021 December 31, 2020
  • Ending 2020 with a Manuscript and Some Thoughts December 30, 2020
  • A Writer’s Muse: Annapolis December 18, 2020
  • Give the Gift of Books December 15, 2020
  • One of My Favorite Scenes November 22, 2020
  • My 5th Novel Has a Name (at least for now) November 15, 2020
  • Capturing Moments November 12, 2020
  • The 6 a.m Pledge for My Health November 4, 2020
  • Reading, Writing, and an Empath for November November 1, 2020

Steph’s Scribe is the blog of Stephanie Parrillo Verni, professor, author and blogger. Copyright 2021.

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