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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  • Unlost – Sharing a Short Story from The Postcard

    December 18, 2019 /

    Today, I’m sharing a short story I wrote that was published in my book of 2018 titled The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry. It’s set in London, a place I’ve only visited once, but loved. In striving to write about female friendships as I did in my new novel, Little Milestones, I guess you could say I practiced with this very short story. I love writing short pieces of fiction, as they test both your ability to tell a condensed story, as well as test your proclivity for further expanding the story. This one stayed put as a short story, but another one I wrote for that collection, Life with Nan, turned into…

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    Feminine, Sparkly Accessories For Fall

    August 28, 2015

    Deciding to Be A Hallmark Movie in Annapolis, Not Just Watch One

    December 9, 2018

    Opening The Door to Love or Closing the Door to Love

    February 12, 2016
  • An Update and the Plot Overview of Little Milestones – Coming Soon

    July 9, 2019 /

    Right now, my beta readers are looking over the draft of Little Milestones. I am reading the manuscript again, as well, for the hundredth time. As well, I’ve started to create some of my marketing materials for the book. For those of us in the trenches as independent authors, it’s a never-ending cycle of book promotion, writing, and editing. We’re at it all the time as we try to build our brand and find our niche of readers. I’m still at it and I haven’t given up. Today, I’m sharing the draft of the copy that goes on the outside of a book or inside a book jacket—you know, the…

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    In Honor of Teacher Appreciation Week & A Thank You to My Students

    May 6, 2016

    An Easter Contemplation About Grandparents

    April 11, 2020

    A Royal Lesson: Typing Class Came in Handy

    April 6, 2016
  • Writing About Women + Friendship in Little Milestones

    June 9, 2019 /

    For the past several years, I’ve watched a PBS show called Call the Midwife. It’s a series based on the memoirs entitled Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End by Jennifer Worth, a district nurse and midwife who was living in the East End of London during the 1950s. The show intermingles birth and birth issues experienced by a group of midwives consisting of nurses/midwives and nuns, with the theme of women friendships at the core of all these characters who live together in Nonnatus House. When I first came across this show, I was mesmerized. In my own life, I’d experienced some ill-fitting friendships and was…

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    Dear Fellow Writers

    March 6, 2020

    Vlogging about the Writing Life—Connecting Inn Significant & Little Milestones

    November 18, 2019
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    Fictography For Old Time’s Sake and as a Teaching Tool: Back Home

    March 12, 2019
  • Update on My (currently unnamed) WIP

    February 17, 2019 /

    On Friday night, I reached over 71,000 words on my #WIP (work in progress). I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love the direction change I made with this story back in December. Now, the novel has glue and a backbone and characters I wish were my friends. I still have a way to go, but it makes me so happy to sit down and write when I’m writing about places I love and I can live vicariously through my characters. I took this lovely photo back in September in Oxford when, in the name of research, I spent time in both #oxfordmd and #stmichaelsmd. I can’t…

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    An Easter Contemplation About Grandparents

    April 11, 2020

    Frocktober begins tomorrow & I’ve picked my charity

    September 30, 2020

    The Move to Online Learning and Its Benefits

    March 22, 2020
  • Thoughts on Missing Working in Baseball

    April 3, 2017 /

    It’s a question I get asked a lot. “Do you miss working in baseball?” Students ask me this often; then they ask what it was like to work in baseball, in sports, for a Major League baseball team. I have often blogged about how working in baseball changed my life in so many ways. I became a serious student when I got my job with the Orioles as a sophomore in college. I learned how to budget my time and work long hours. I loved every minute of it. I even roped my best friend and college roommate into working there during my second year when I supervised a small…

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    Why I Probably Shouldn’t Have Ridiculously Large Clocks in the House

    April 12, 2016

    Today’s Suggestion: Keep Dancing

    October 19, 2015

    A Writer’s Muse: Annapolis

    December 18, 2020
  • Fictography #9 — Susie’s & Katie’s Snowwoman

    February 28, 2014 /

    /FICTOGRAPHY/ def. — The intersection of photography (submitted by readers) and fiction (written by me!). This week’s selected photograph comes from a friend of mine, Kathy Binder. Kathy and I have known each other for years, and last year I visited Kathy’s book club and got to know her and her friends even better. What I love most about Kathy is that she has terrific taste. She and I are on Pinterest together, and are constantly pinning each other’s pins. Her photograph depicts the snow we’ve had this year, but I took it in a direction of two young friends, one with a disability. I hope you enjoy this one. Good…

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  • Wrapped Up in Love

    January 9, 2014 /

    Wrapped Up in Love—I used this particular phrase recently when I told my friend Sarah, whose father-in-law was visiting her over the holidays for a month (or more), that he must feel “all wrapped up in love” as he spends some quality time with her family. He lives far from them, and moved in for the weeks leading up to and through the Christmas holiday and New Year’s. This particular photograph that’s posted filled with words on a page is one that is going viral—I’ve seen it on all sorts of social media sights, and I’m not sure what the originating source is. I’m seeing lots of my friends post…

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  • 2013 Taught Me Much

    December 27, 2013 /

    Dear Readers, What is the best part of life? The ability to learn, day by day, about people, places and things. Our minds are incredible, and allow us to be lifelong learners. That is what we strive to teach our students at Stevenson University — that the element of curiosity should always stay with you, and that you should remain intrigued and interested in the world around you. We all learn things every day, from the smallest of things to grand-scheme lessons on life. As such, here are five things I took away from 2013. Some are good, some not so good, but in each case, they helped me grow…

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    Little Milestones Receives 5-Star Review from Readers’ Favorite

    July 17, 2020

    The Thing That Connects Us

    December 14, 2019

    Coming Up With A Book Title

    January 6, 2019
  • The True Meaning of Friendship

    September 8, 2013 /

    Last Friday night, I organized a reunion. It wasn’t a high school or college reunion. It was a reunion of people who worked together in Baltimore for a baseball team called the Orioles. Having spent many seasons as an employee of the club, and having many friends who did the same (some of them still there enjoying last year’s great season as well as this one), we decided it was time for a big get-together. Many folks may say that it sounds crazy that former colleagues want to get together—but the fact of the matter is—that’s where many of us “grew up” in our 20s and 30s when we were…

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    Podcast 17: The MFA Journey as a Writer (and a teacher of writing)

    May 27, 2020

    Random (And I Do Mean Random) Thoughts

    September 21, 2015

    Little Milestones Trailer – My New Book

    January 15, 2020
  • On slumps, in baseball and in writing…

    April 10, 2013 /

    Last night after my son’s baseball game and in the middle of a post-game, in-depth discussion about baseball bunting, I told my kids to hold it a second. “Let’s call Charles and ask him what he thinks about bunting.” I’m not a fan of bunting, though I do realize it has its benefits. I dialed Charles’s number, and he picked up. This, in itself, is miraculous. Sometimes he is just too busy to chat. Charles currently works for the Boston Red Sox, is a brilliant, creative mind, and happens to be one of my former bosses from my days at the Orioles.  He also is one of those dearest of…

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  • Weekly Photo Challenge: Kiss

    February 15, 2013 /

    This week’s weekly photo challenge comes from Sara Rosso at WordPress. The word is Kiss. In a new post specifically created for this challenge, share a picture which means KISS to you! I adore this photo. These are my friends Gui and Jenny; Gui is being silly by planting a KISS on Jenny’s cheek as we ham it up for the camera at the Michael Buble concert in Washington, D.C. My husband took the photo of us. We are all old friends who always have a great time whenever we get together. What I love about this photo is the pure innocence that’s captured as we laughed, talked, and caught…

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    Celebrating World Book Day 2019

    April 23, 2019

    My Newest Writing Project

    September 7, 2018

    Fashion Friday, Week 1

    February 1, 2019
  • The Reviews Are Rolling In & An Excerpt From The Book. What People Are Saying About “Beneath the Mimosa Tree.”

    April 9, 2012 /

    Dear Readers, Well, it’s been two weeks today since I let it go out into the world. So now what are people saying about my debut novel entitled “Beneath the Mimosa Tree?” I thought I’d let these lovely comments do all the talking, but before I do, I wanted to share an excerpt from the novel just to stir your interest if it hasn’t already been stirred. Then, enjoy reading what people are saying. We independent authors can use all the support we can get to spread the word about our work. For those of you who have liked the book, thanks for your kind recommendations to others. I can’t…

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    Baseball = Love : Reflections on Ripken, Gehrig, and 2131; Baseball Girl Receives an Award; and Thoughts on Moments in Time

    September 1, 2015
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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.
Happy 🐪 Day! Wednesdays are the longest days of the week for me, with meetings, classes, and the Shapiro/Rouse lecture happening this evening. I figured I’d break out one of my new dresses...totally inspired by some of the fashion in Emily in Paris. I love the sheer sleeves and polka dots as accents on this monochromatic color that can make those of us on the shorter side appear taller.
Sunshine.🌞
I remember how devastated I was a couple of years ago when I first hurt my back and had to toss all my high heels. I’m only 5’1”, and I loved wearing shoes that made me a little taller. But alas...those heels had to go...for a while.
Is it wrong to already be counting down the days until we get to stay in this gem?
By the time we hit mid-March, we are so ready for warmer weather. Every nice day gets me excited to uncover the porch furniture and get it set up for the season. This is also my absolute favorite spot to write my novels.🌸

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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