The million dollar question writers are asked at book talks is this: How much of your characters are you or someone you know? It’s the question that has intrigued readers with every book or story they read. So, how does one answer this question? Very carefully. We can’t help it as writers if we borrow…
Tag: fiction
Friday Fiction : I Hate You (a flash fiction story)
On Fridays we write. Answering a prompt is a good way to stay in touch with your writing, storytelling, and creativity. In this flash fiction piece, the goal was to “write a story with the word ‘hate’ in it.” Simple parameter. I write a lot about relationships, mostly happy ones, and sometimes ones that are…
Fiction Friday – 30 Years Later
THIRTY YEARS LATER Kate crossed her legs and swallowed hard. She looked at her feet and wondered if the shoes were right. She played with the bracelet around her wrist and looked around the smokey bar, the sound of a cheesy Bryan Adams song filling in where conversations dragged. She wondered why she had ever…
Setting #Goals – The First Step in Turning the Invisible to the Visible
I use a lot of prompts in my writing classes. Today’s in-class writing prompt was this: Write about a goal you are trying to achieve. This can be a personal goal, an educational goal, or a professional goal. No more than 350 words. I decided to write along with my class this morning, as I…
Rolling Out An Ad Campaign for The Postcard
One of the things I didn’t do well when I launched my three prior books was to create a social media ad campaign. Nowadays, it’s imperative that we do this–to help spread the word about our work. And as my fellow writers who undertake this challenge can attest, it’s about writing, editing, producing, and then…
Giving Away Some LOVE…stories. An Amazon Book Giveaway—Inn Significant
* * * Want to enter to win a copy of INN SIGNIFICANT? See this #AmazonGiveaway for a chance to win: Inn Significant: A Novel. https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/1363f40b123b3f2a NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Ends the earlier of Feb 11, 2018 11:59 PM PST, or when all prizes are claimed. See Official Rules http://amzn.to/GArules. *** Stephanie Verni is Professor of Business Communication at…
Prompt & Podcast – Day 3 #nanowrimo
Happy Friday afternoon! I hope you are doing well AND doing well with your writing. As it’s Friday and the weekend is ahead of us, maybe finding some time to write won’t be as challenging for us as it is during the week. Today’s PODCAST is about THEMES. I share with you some thoughts about…
The Truth About Burnout, Steps to Rejuvenation, and A Cup of Candor
I know this post is coming sooner than you or I expected it to come, so let me explain. Earlier this week, I experienced something unfamiliar. It came out of nowhere and yet came from everywhere. I imagined myself in the image of an old wind-up toy that had hit a wall; I was marching…
How Pieces of You and People You Know End Up in Your Characters
*** Luckily, for some people I know, I don’t write a lot of villains into my novels. As I do in real life, I try to not let nasty, uncaring, judgmental, ridiculously competitive and fake people seep into my world too often. However, in the short stories I write, I let them in because I…
Hometown Press for Inn Significant
I’m always thankful for a little press about my novels, and today is no different. A big thank you goes to the Capital Gazette (which I still lovingly call the Annapolis Capital) for giving me a shout out yesterday on #WorldBook Day for Inn Signficant. It’s always appreciated. For more about my books, click here…
Coming in February: Inn Significant, A Novel
*** INN SIGNIFICANT by Stephanie Verni…Coming in January. What if three weeks after suffering a miscarriage, you faint and find yourself on the floor of your own home’s cold foyer, and as you regain consciousness, you have to acknowledge the horrible news that was relayed to you moments ago by two police officers: that your…
The Friday Random Thoughts Roundup
I haven’t been blogging much lately, and I’m feeling badly about it. I’ve been incredibly busy with two kids in high school, teaching at the university, volunteering for things, and serving on committees, in addition to actually trying to fit my new mentality of health and fitness into my daily regime. I wish I could…
