Steph's Scribe

The Website of Author & Professor Stephanie Parrillo Verni

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  • Podcasts from Steph’s Scribe 2020
  • Books I’ve Enjoyed
  • Books I’ve Written
  • About Me
  • PRESS KIT
  • Podcasts from Steph’s Scribe 2020
  • Books I’ve Enjoyed
  • Books I’ve Written

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  • The Loss of George

    July 10, 2020 /

    * This week, I learned much too late of the passing of my favorite professor and one of the best people I knew, George Friedman. He passed away in late February. Every once in a while someone comes along and makes an impression on your life. That person, for me, came in the form of Dr. George Friedman, professor of English at Towson University. George, as I came to call him, was the singular inspiration for my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree, which began as a short story in George’s class—Writing Creative Short Fiction—during my first master’s degree. When he returned a short story I wrote, and verbally told…

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    Go Ahead—Call Me Corny

    December 18, 2015

    Meeting People at Baltimore Book Festival

    September 28, 2015

    Box Stores and the Internet Killing the Local Bookstores? Not So Fast.

    February 15, 2016
  • Podcast #3 – Writing the Preliminary Synopsis

    January 20, 2020 /

    Podcast #3 further explores inspiration and focuses on writing that initial synopsis of what your book will be about. Check it out below, and let me know how you’re doing! 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 showcase the beauty of her state. Connect with her on Instagram at stephanie.verni or on Twitter at @stephverni. Or, visit her Amazon page at Stephanie Verni, Author.

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    Podcast 4 – Addressing Some Questions From Last Week’s Book Talk

    January 27, 2020

    Some Quick Book Recommendations

    March 2, 2016

    One of My Favorite Scenes

    November 22, 2020
  • How Reading and Writing Inspires Me

    November 7, 2018 /

    There are few things that give me more pleasure than totally immersing myself in (a) reading a book, and (b) writing a book. Reading has saved me in many ways. It’s made me smarter, more empathetic, more worldly, and a better writer. It’s given me a sense of purpose. As a youngster, I was too busy playing all the time and being active; I didn’t really fall in love with reading until my senior year of high school, when I read a novel that opened up my world. From that point on, I became a reader. Reading has allowed me to visit places and see things I have yet to…

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    A Really Short Story Told in Text Messages—Friday Fiction

    March 11, 2016

    Go Ahead—Call Me Corny

    December 18, 2015

    For the Love of Postcards (and other written correspondence)

    January 14, 2019
  • When An Idea Hits You, You Jump [for joy]

    November 29, 2017 /

    Hi You All, I’m glad you’re still here reading my blogs. I’m so thankful and happy about that. As you’ve been with me for a while, you know that this summer I experienced what we might call burnout, or the feelings of being a little tired from all that has occurred over the last several years with my writing and the promotion of my writing. Since 2012, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind, and I’m not complaining at all. It’s all been wonderful and crazy and fun. It’s been non-stop high energy as I’ve turned out three fiction books and a textbook all within the span of five years…

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    Midnight Madness in Annapolis

    December 11, 2015

    Franco and The Blonde: Fiction Friday

    April 17, 2020

    Podcast 9 – Building Your Story

    March 10, 2020
  • The Case for Teaching: Inspiring Students AND Inspired by Students

    July 30, 2017 /

    It’s Sunday morning, and I’m sitting on my porch writing this post and looking at this glorious day sipping my cup of coffee from my Yeti (which keeps it INCREDIBLY hot, let me just say). In a little while, my daughter and I will head to my parents’ house and sit by their pool and spend time with my brother and his family who are visiting. My son and husband will go play golf–a ritual they’ve tried to do on one day of the weekend. I love that they do this, as my son has one year left of high school before he enters college. I love my summers; they…

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    The Unending Appeal of The Book Store & Wine Bar

    March 15, 2016

    Times Flies & Simple Goals for 2020

    December 29, 2019

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

    June 17, 2019
  • A Cup of Candor’s Dose of Inspiration – From Princess Diana & the HBO Special

    July 26, 2017 /

    * Two nights ago, I couldn’t sleep. I don’t watch a lot of television, but that night, I watched a movie with my kids, then got caught up in another, and then, finally, landed on HBO and watched Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy, the documentary about Princess Diana as told by her two sons, William and Harry. To be clear about my affinity for this woman I must tell you a couple of things. First, I had my hair cut like her iconic hair for my own wedding. Second, she was only a few years older than I am, and she was our contemporary role model in almost…

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

    April 12, 2016

    Friday Fiction: Writing the Prologue & Baseball Girl

    April 15, 2016

    Recounting Five Years of My Life As a Blogger

    April 17, 2016
  • Answering the Question: How Many Books Have You Sold?

    March 26, 2017 /

    How many books have you sold? It’s the question people like to ask me about my recently released novel entitled Inn Significant. It seems to be the question people have on their minds as the marker that indicates how successful the book has been thus far. The funny thing is, I liken the question to someone asking me about my age, how much I make, or how robust my sex life is. Sometimes we are focused too much on the results and not on the process. At least that’s what my husband and I try to teach our kids. The most important aspect revolves around the process that helps us…

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    Times Flies & Simple Goals for 2020

    December 29, 2019

    What Blogging Has Meant to Me

    January 12, 2019

    Kissing My 40s Goodbye

    August 16, 2015
  • Inn-spiration in Inn Significant | Photo Inspiration When Writing Description

    February 24, 2017 /

    The students in both sections of my Magazine Writing classes can tell attest to what we worked on this week: (1) writing description and detail, (2) storytelling, and (3) finding your voice in your writing. I think about these three things constantly when I write, and as you read in my previous post about being inspired by actual places, the same is true when writing description—you have to “see” in your own imagination what things look like in order to relay them properly to your readers. I work hard at this every time I write something. I never want readers to feel as if they cannot imagine the setting themselves.…

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

    May 21, 2020

    The Merriest Season and a Week of Joy

    December 24, 2019

    What Blogging Has Meant to Me

    January 12, 2019
  • Don’t Put Limitations on Yourself: Inspiration to Achieve the Goals You Set for Yourself

    August 5, 2016 /

    * Writer and director James Cameron (Titantic, Avatar, and the Terminator) says it best at the end of his Ted Talk on Ted.com: Don’t put limitations on yourself; other people will do that for you. I typically show this Ted Talk to my university feature writing students each fall after they read a piece about the iconic director. We discuss the profile article, the writing style, the use of feature techniques, and then we talk about James Cameron—as he is portrayed in the article. You see, when you read an article about someone, it’s from that one person’s perspective. And sometimes, he or she doesn’t get all the details, facts,…

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

    May 6, 2016

    Please Don’t Squeeze the Charmin or Do Any of THESE Things

    March 20, 2016

    Nobody Has Ever Loved Me As Much As I Loved Him—Friday Fiction

    March 4, 2016
  • Walking for Mind, Body, Spirit…AND To Improve Creativity

    June 10, 2016 /

    *** It’s 1:35 p.m. on a sunny, gorgeous Friday here in Maryland where the temps are a stunning 79 degrees, and I’ve just returned from an hour-long walk. There are no excuses when the weather is this spectacular. As someone who admittedly has not taken very good care of herself over the last few years and has put other things and other people first, I’ve committed the summer to my overall physical and mental well-being. From reading to writing to exercising daily and eating better, it’s time for me to get serious about my lifestyle. I’m not hear to preach about your health; Weight Watchers, your doctor, and your own…

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    Thankfulness, Doug Flutie, and The Power of Love

    November 19, 2015

    Kissing My 40s Goodbye

    August 16, 2015

    Some Sentiments About 20 Years at Stevenson

    October 4, 2020
  • Campus Book Talk Tonight and Some Monday Inspiration

    April 18, 2016 /

    I’m excited to talk to students tonight about the self-publishing world. Faculty in the Halls, a program at Stevenson University, has asked me to speak to students about the path of publishing your own book. As I’ve published two novels this way, I’m excited to share my knowledge of the growing arm of publishing, how you can make this work for you, and the pros and cons of doing it on your own. I’ll be talking about both Beneath the Mimosa Tree and Baseball Girl, and I hope to inspire some folks to give it a whirl. It’s by no means easy, but it is something that, given enough drive…

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    Baseball Nostalgia and Baseball Fiction

    May 17, 2020

    And Then Inspiration Comes: Start Writing | Hints and Tips for Writers and Bloggers

    February 18, 2016

    The Case for Gelato

    April 16, 2017
  • And Then Inspiration Comes: Start Writing | Hints and Tips for Writers and Bloggers

    February 18, 2016 /

    You want to write. Writing is in your blood. You bloggers know this is true. You novelists know this is true. Magazine writers, newspaper writers, nonfiction writers, script writers—it’s part of who you are; it makes up your very existence. You can’t imagine life without it. And yet, some days it’s difficult to find inspiration. Some weeks, it’s difficult to find inspiration. Some years, well, you get the point. The problem is, if it’s part of who you are, you can’t let inspiration fall by the wayside. You need constant inspiration. These little pieces of inspiration are vital to your success; they help you nurture your creative side, but that…

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    Thank You, Readers! I’m Flattered.

    November 6, 2019

    The Madness of Writing a Novel (in my own words)

    July 8, 2020

    Happy Easter!

    April 12, 2020
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Recent Blog Posts

  • Short Stories Can Lead to Bigger Creative Endeavors January 16, 2021
  • 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

The Works of Steph’s Scribe

Steph’s Scribe is the blog of Stephanie Parrillo Verni, author and blogger. All written articles must be used with permission. Contact via email at stephanie.verni@gmail.com. Copyright 2021.

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