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
  • Books I’ve Enjoyed
  • Books I’ve Written

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  • Frocktober begins tomorrow & I’ve picked my charity

    September 30, 2020 /

    FROCKTOBER BEGINS TOMORROW… And I’m announcing the charity I have chosen for the next 31 days. What is FROCKTOBER? It’s a 31-day fashion challenge, whereby you post an outfit a day on Instagram, that calls attention to a charity of choice! As an educator, author, blogger, and reader, I am so happy to support and call attention to another woman of style’s organization that fosters reading: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Dolly’s nonprofit organization is a book gifting program that delivers free books to children from birth to age 5 in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Republic of Ireland. The organization was inspired by Dolly’s father’s inability to…

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    Stuff Those Stockings with Books

    December 4, 2015

    Fashion Friday, Week 1

    February 1, 2019

    The Colors of Autumn

    October 27, 2015
  • What I’m Writing Now (or my current WIP)

    May 14, 2020 /

    * Currently, I’m not writing anything, but next week, I will begin to dive deeply into novel number five, picking up with Chapter 3 where I left off before coronavirus intensified the nature of my working life. The novel is still to be named, which I hate, actually. I typically have to have a working title, but now that the premise of the book has morphed into something different, the working title “Four in a Year,” is just, well, not working. Wrapping up the semester leaves me time only to write this short blog post before getting my grades finalized and uploaded. I shouldn’t even be taking time to do…

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    Friday Fodder | It’s Been a Good Week

    September 4, 2015

    On the Road to Event Planning

    October 16, 2015

    A Few Updates On This Rainy Saturday

    September 12, 2015
  • Getting My Books in Order

    May 12, 2020 /

    This whole lockdown has been pretty strange. Not only are we getting sick of being in the house, we’re in front of our computer screens nonstop, with walking breaks stretched throughout the day to keep us sane. I thank goodness each day for the park/farm up the street and the odd little jobs we’ve been doing, in addition to watching Game of Thrones from the beginning all the way through with our kids (they had not seen my favorite all-time show before) as diversions from work. It’s truly been a whirlwind. One of the projects I decided to undertake was rearranging my bookshelves in both my office and piano room.…

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    An Easter Contemplation About Grandparents

    April 11, 2020

    One of My Favorite Scenes

    November 22, 2020

    Recipe of the Week: The 3-Ingredient Ice Cream Cake

    June 17, 2019
  • Podcast 13 – Ideas to Help Foster Creativity During This Crisis

    April 6, 2020 /

    It’s difficult to feel happy during a crisis when there is so much heartbreak happening on the front lines of this coronavirus pandemic. I know I’m feeling a little depressed by the situation and can only watch bits of news each day in order to carry on with the things I have to accomplish for my students and university as I teach from home. We are all doing the best we can, and being home hasn’t been all awful, but I do feel as if my creativity has been zapped a little. Do you feel the same way? Today’s Podcast 13 offers ideas for those of us writers who need…

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    Mercury Glass For A Touch of Sparkle

    July 30, 2015

    Podcast 6 – Joining a Writers Group

    February 18, 2020

    What Are You Missing Most Right Now?

    July 29, 2020
  • Podcast 10 – A Little About My Books & Storytelling to Help You Write Your Stories

    March 18, 2020 /

    *** So…in this podcast, I recorded it from my back porch, replete with airplanes flying overhead and a noisy crow in the background (I think I even got a little choked up—seriously—and coughed, only briefly). But that’s how we do it here on Steph’s Scribe: we keep it real. Real talk about real stuff with no edits. I thought I would take a moment to talk about my books and my storytelling. The intention here is to share how I got from point A to point B…and it is entirely meant to kick those of you who need it in the ass to get yourselves writing! So often we say…

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    Little Milestones Trailer – My New Book

    January 15, 2020

    A Writer’s Muse: Annapolis

    December 18, 2020
    body of water with people rowring on boat beside tall building

    Remembering Venice Through Poetry

    May 14, 2018
  • Dear Fellow Writers

    March 6, 2020 /

    Dear Fellow Writers, Here’s a list of the things we do as independent authors: -write our books -edit our books -publish our books -promote our books -attend book signings -attend book talks -visit book clubs -blog -enter writing contests -support other indie authors -build an author platform -curate social media posts -network with others -create a podcast -join a writing group -learn photography -begin a new story -start all over In addition, we also read a lot. And some of us have full-time and/or part-time jobs. Fellow writers, what am I missing? There’s so much that we do. The list is long, and quite diverse, But I’m sure I forgot…

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    Podcast 10 – A Little About My Books & Storytelling to Help You Write Your Stories

    March 18, 2020

    Capturing Moments

    November 12, 2020

    The Best Soup | A Family Favorite

    October 20, 2015
  • Dealing with Disappointment

    March 1, 2020 /

    After watching Brene Brown’s Ted Talks, other videos, and reading her books, I’ve decided to just be vulnerable (which isn’t my strong suit) and say that I’m dealing with a bit of disappointment over here. The world of being an independent author is not always kind, nor is it always fun. My latest book, Little Milestones, a follow-up book to Inn Significant, is not faring well at all on Amazon. I have two reviews. I work hard busting my butt on Instagram and Facebook to try to ascertain readers and ask for help with reviews online, but it can be tiring. Exhausting. It can depress the soul, to be frank.…

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    Podcast 11 : Don’t Bring Negative To My Door

    March 23, 2020

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

    December 11, 2018
    lady in beach silhouette during daytime photography

    When An Idea Hits You, You Jump [for joy]

    November 29, 2017
  • Podcast 5 – Clearing Your Head, Work Space, and Thinking About POV

    February 3, 2020 /

    Today’s Podcast #5 covers the need to clear your head before beginning a new project, along with the reasons to clear your workspace. I touch on these two motivators and then roll right into deciding how your narrative is going to take hold. Which point of view is right for your story? Sharing some thoughts on that and why you should think about this now…to avoid a lot of additional reworking down the road. Enjoy! Xx, Stephanie * Stephanie Verni is Professor of Communication at Stevenson University. She has authored five works of fiction and one academic text on Event Planning. Her character-driven books are typically set in Maryland to…

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    A Royal Lesson: Typing Class Came in Handy

    April 6, 2016

    Recounting Five Years of My Life As a Blogger

    April 17, 2016

    The Annual Birthday Post Turned Poem

    August 16, 2020
  • The Thing That Connects Us

    December 14, 2019 /

    *** I was sitting here staring at a blank cursor knowing what I wanted to write but not knowing exactly how to say it. Then I remembered studying writer James Baldwin during my first master’s degree, and thought of his quote: “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who are alive, who had ever been alive.” – James Baldwin I’ve been “officially” publishing fiction now since 2012. Fiction is the best outlet to tell…

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

    April 3, 2020

    The Case for Gelato

    April 16, 2017

    Autumn is Always a Good Time to Fall into a Story

    November 9, 2015
  • Saying Some ‘Thank Yous’ This Thanksgiving Season: A Reflection

    December 2, 2019 /

    Thoughts and a Reflection on Thanksgiving In my humble opinion, the best four days of the year have just passed. The four days of Thanksgiving weekend are always my favorite time of the year. We are permitted to just stop and reflect for a few days, spend time with family, and in our home, begin the Christmas traditions we set forth when the kids were babies of cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating for the holidays. For the last several years, I’ve cooked the Thanksgiving dinner, with sides provided by my mother and mother-in-law. This year, the pumpkin pie and apple crumb pie were ordered from Kirsten’s Cakery by…

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    Running Out of Time? You’re Not Alone.

    November 3, 2015

    What Blogging Has Meant to Me

    January 12, 2019

    Friday Fiction – The Beginning of a Love Story

    November 6, 2015
  • The Water Wheel: A Short Story

    November 25, 2019 /

    I promised myself I’d write ONE thing during this year’s 2019 NaNoWriMo, and today I hunkered down and did it. It’s not a novel or the 50,000 words required to “win” at NaNoWriMo, or even the 43,000 words of Little Milestones I wrote during last year’s NaNoWriMo. It’s just a short story about grief with a little bit of a twist. I’m not sure what, if anything, I will do with this piece of writing, but for some reason, I needed to write it. Today was the day, and here is the story. The Water Wheel by Stephanie Verni There were many ways he could show his appreciation for her.…

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    FROCKTOBER Fashion- Week 3 Recap

    October 22, 2018

    Playing with Photography and Memories

    January 19, 2016

    Writing About Women + Friendship in Little Milestones

    June 9, 2019
  • Vlogging about the Writing Life—Connecting Inn Significant & Little Milestones

    November 18, 2019 /

    After I published Inn Significant in 2017, I seriously considered a sequel. People were writing to me and asking me what happens to the characters. I began constructing the sequel and dabbled with about 13 chapters until I stopped writing it altogether. After I put it away for a while and took a break, a lightbulb went off in my head: what if I wrote a second book with a character with a somewhat parallel life and had them meet in the new novel? It would be more of a series rather than a sequel, and that appealed to me much more. Typically, sequels aren’t very good. There are exceptions…

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    Unlost – Sharing a Short Story from The Postcard

    December 18, 2019

    Podcast 16: Taking a Gander of What’s Out There Before You Write

    May 21, 2020

    A Valentine’s Poem

    February 13, 2019
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Happy Friday, everyone! Make it a good one!
Bittersweet today...presented my last workshop as a Faculty Fellow as my two-year fellowship ends in May. It has been an honor to be a part of the cohort that kicked off this new initiative as part of the Center for Teaching and Learning on campus. From the second I saw the call to apply, I was invigorated and wanted to be a part of it.
Throwing it back to Naples, Florida, and a quick getaway when our kids were younger.
When you see the words “market house” and get a glimpse of how charming it is, you immediately identify with this place. On a beautiful, sunny day, it calls for you to sit, grab a coffee and a pastry, and watch the boats go by across the street.
If Mondays are the pits, then this hat is, to use a 1940s term, a peach. 🍑 I’m not sure about my other friends out there in your forties, fifties, and sixties +, but I’ve already done some damage to my skin over the years, and I’d like to preserve my skin as I age.
Teachers look forward to summer break, too, right teachers????
If you haven’t been to #Annapolis in a while, it’s worth the trip. Merchants and restaurants have gone to great lengths to make the experience a good one for you. From decorating their outside windows, to setting up outside seating in the streets for diners, the city awaits your arrival.
Fashion Friday: Yesterday’s weather was spectacular. Wore my new Orioles orange dress in honor of opening day at Camden Yards. Despite not going to the game, I still support!
This is Eva’s house. Her partner/boyfriend of 10 years has left her for his high school sweetheart—a woman he reconnected with after many years on FB. Eva feels her life has been a fraud, and after throwing a bottle across the room and packing up all his crap to give to the Salvation Army, she has to find a way to pick up the pieces.
Happy first day of the Baseball Season! #tbt to when I was young, skinny, and worked in baseball. So many great things came from my 13 years with the #Orioles, including meeting my husband, making great friends, and learning a helluva lot about public relations, marketing, and publishing. And now, after many years, my husband is back with the ballclub. Happy Opening game!
I don’t know about you, but I can imagine sitting my butt in that chair with a good book. Care to join me?
Well, the annual Eastern Communication Association (ECA) Convention looked a whole lot different this year. Participating in a virtual conference has its benefits, but it’s nothing like being there in person. However, Leeanne, Chip and I presented on two panels—one about event planning (on which we wrote a textbook) with colleagues from Chapman University and Ohio University. We also presented on a panel about reducing student anxiety with colleagues from Cornell University, UNC Wilmington, and Duquesne University. We had a great time and got to learn from our peers and exchange best practices and insights.

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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