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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    Franco and The Blonde: Fiction Friday

    April 17, 2020 /

    Today, I’m trying my hand at a bit of short fiction. This piece of flash fiction is under 600 words at 595 words. This scene popped into my head last night, perhaps because at dinner, our family was talking about our Italian heritage and the legacies we leave behind (I know…a little heavy for a dinner conversation during a coronavirus crisis). Nonetheless, I knew I was going to write this scene when I went to bed last night, and I banged it out this morning, just to touch base with my creativity. I’m so immersed in teaching 4 online courses right now, that I have little time for something like…

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    The Beginning of a New Novel…or Not. What I’m Working On????

    January 30, 2020

    Podcast #3 – Writing the Preliminary Synopsis

    January 20, 2020

    What Blogging Has Meant to Me

    January 12, 2019
  • My Experience of Teaching a Travel Writing Course

    October 25, 2018 /

    I’ve been pretty fortunate to have the opportunity to teach a course called Special Topics in Travel Writing at Stevenson University, where I am a full-time professor. It’s one of my favorite courses to teach, and for years in another course I teach called Feature Writing, we cover travel writing as part of the curriculum. To be able to teach travel writing as a semester-long, intensive 400-level course is something I treasure. The students in my class are required to each pick a location relatively local to our region. Some explore cities or towns in Maryland, some in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Washington, D.C. or any other destination that they…

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    Autumn is Always a Good Time to Fall into a Story

    November 9, 2015

    Breathing in the Air and Tasting The Wines in Napa Valley

    April 27, 2016

    Coming Up With A Book Title

    January 6, 2019
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    Remembering Venice Through Poetry

    May 14, 2018 /

    I think of Venice often, even though it’s been many years since I’ve been there. It was the most unique and amazing place I have ever visited; Italy in general holds a special place in my heart because both my family and my husband’s family are of Italian heritage. Many people say the Grand Canal is the most beautiful street in the world; I think they may be right. Last year, in my Poetry class, we were asked to write a haibun and a haiku that flowed together. As we could choose any subject to write about, Venice was my choice. When I travel, I keep a copious journal, so…

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    Little Milestones Trailer – My New Book

    January 15, 2020

    The Thing That Connects Us

    December 14, 2019

    Happy World Book Day

    April 23, 2020
  • Home Inspiration: How To Display Collections From Your Travels

    December 12, 2016 /

    Traveling is one of the best gifts you can give yourself and your loved ones. Experiencing things together builds memories that you all will cherish forever. No one can take those remarkable moments from you. There are some places, however, that you visit whereby you may want to bring home a physical remembrance of the place. In those instances, items may collect in your home in a pile unless you know exactly how you will display or use them. My husband and I don’t mind having things from our trips as long as we know exactly what we will do with them and that they won’t just sit in a…

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    Opening The Door to Love or Closing the Door to Love

    February 12, 2016

    Breathing In the Air and Tasting the Wines in Napa Valley | Part Two

    April 29, 2016

    Weekly Recipe: Chicken, Turkey Sausage & Kale

    May 22, 2019
  • Meeting People Makes Travel Magical

    May 2, 2016 /

      My husband and I were sitting in a restaurant in London one night trying to get in touch with his Italian cousin who is a surgeon in the city. We were there for vacation, but we had promised Massimo and his wife that we would get together during our stay for dinner. In our effort to contact him at work, we were failing miserably. The people at the table next to us recognized that we were struggling with the phone and our attempt at communication with the hospital and promptly invited us to their table. When we explained that the hospital said he was in “theatre” we assumed he…

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

    March 18, 2020

    Breathing In the Air and Tasting the Wines in Napa Valley | Part Two

    April 29, 2016

    Podcast 12: Creating An Author Platform and Press Kit

    March 31, 2020
  • A Good Book Will Never Let You Down

    April 11, 2016 /

    I’m about to finish Adriana Trigiani’s touching and inspiring novel entitled The Shoemaker’s Wife. I’ve enjoyed reading this sweeping story of Italian immigrants loosely based on the history of the author’s own grandparents. From the mountains of the Italian Alps to New York City to a small town in Minnesota, the characters and sights covered in this novel will allow you to become a part of a different time and place when the world was a different place, America was growing, and World War I loomed. The truth of the matter is this: a good book will never let you down. As I’ve become older, wiser, and more finicky about…

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    What Blogging Has Meant to Me

    January 12, 2019

    12 Tips for Being a Successful College Student

    January 10, 2020

    Running Out of Time? You’re Not Alone.

    November 3, 2015
  • When You Realize What Makes You Happy

    March 25, 2015 /

    Picture this: It’s Sunday morning, the last day of your academic spring break, whereby you spent most of the time working, doing some aspect of your full-time job or your writing hobby that you do. You are tangled up in all of the stresses that make up your everyday life when all of a sudden … magically … it … appears … whether it is divine providence or by the hand of your own Fairy Godmother (why should Cinderella be the only one?). There it is, literally, in black and white. Bippity, boppity, BOOM. You breathe. Like a thunderbolt from the sky, Tom Muha, and his Sunday article in The…

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    No More Blues with Blue Skies

    March 29, 2016

    Springtime in Annapolis

    March 17, 2016

    The Move to Online Learning and Its Benefits

    March 22, 2020
  • Fictography #22—Vivi’s Summer

    June 20, 2014 /

    * * * * * * /FICTOGRAPHY/ def. — The intersection of photography (submitted by readers) and fiction (written by me!). The above photograph was taken by a dear friend of mine, Chrissie Werzinsky, in Rome at Piazza Navona. Chrissie works for the Baltimore Orioles, and has for years, which is how we met many moons ago. Chrissie and I have a lot in common; we both love the Hallmark Channel, Pinterest, baseball, our Orioles friends, and novels that make you feel good. Luckily, my husband and I traveled to Rome before we had children, so I got to spend time visiting Piazza Navona. I was excited to see the…

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  • Travel Journaling: You Won’t Regret It

    October 16, 2011 /

    “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train.” ~ Oscar Wilde “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” ~ G.K. Chesterton View from Giudecca. Photo Credit: italyheaven.com.uk My students have been assigned a travel writing piece next. There is a difference between travel journalism and travel writing. In travel journalism, the writer gives the reader good instructional information about where to go, what to do, what to see. In travel writing, the writer takes the reader on a journey with him (or her) and allows us to “see” the place through the writer’s…

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Steph’s Scribe – The Website of Author Stephanie Parrillo Verni

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I finally picked up my mail from campus and got the award I received in August for the work the Fellows did to help the university navigate the pandemic. As one of five Faculty Fellows for the newly established Center for Teaching and Learning, we created programming workshops to help faculty adjust to teaching during these challenging times.
Today, I'm trying to break the Monday blues by wearing an outfit inspired by the fashion on @emilyinparis. The character Camille wore a cute one-piece plaid jumper with a sheer-sleeved shirt (see my stories), and I tried to mimic that outfit in my own way.
Before you write something, do you have to get mentally prepared and inspired? I know I do. Getting in that head space and physical space to be ready to write can be hard sometimes.
My daughter and I were lucky enough to spend an afternoon in Monterey, CA. We had lunch at a restaurant that was on the Pacific Ocean that jutted out over the water. It was a cloudy day, but stunning, and the meal was delicious.
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:

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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