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One of My Favorite Scenes
*** I’ve been decorating a little bit today for the holidays. I’m feeling terrible, still trying to deal with a chronic health issue, but I’m trying to remain positive and optimistic. Evert time I break out my Christmas decorations, I always think about a particular scene in my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree. The scene unfolds at the holidays after ten years, when two former lovers and next door neighbors are reunited. After years of not speaking and feeling anger and guilt over a mistake that was made, the two come face-to-face in the driveway as Annabelle and her family return from getting a Christmas tree. Michael, home from…
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What Are You Missing Most Right Now?
Here’s the question: WHAT ARE YOU MISSING MOST RIGHT NOW? Most of us are probably missing the freedom we used to have to travel, being with those we love without social distancing, and seeing the world. Plus, as I am working on my syllabus for feature writing, I typically instruct and assign an article about travel writing. This morning I woke up realizing I may have to take this assignment out. How can I expect the students to travel and write about their local travel in these present circumstances? This semester is going to be unusual enough without now having to rethink assignments. I’m going to have to get creative.…
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The Madness of Writing a Novel (in my own words)
✨HOW DOES IT FEEL WHEN YOU’RE IN THE ZONE?✨ I’ve hit my stride, finally. As we are approaching mid-July, I’ve made some pretty good progress with reading and writing. I’m about to hit 26,000 words on my work in progress, and my goal this week is to make it to at least 30,000 words. As well, I’ve finished one book about bookstores and I’m on to another. My pile of these books is pretty tall, so I have a lot to work toward. I’m also finishing the last week of the master’s course I’m teaching, so it’s been a little busy. What do I mean when I ask how it…
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Meet Some of My Author Friends on #WritersWednesday
WELCOME TO WRITERS WEDNESDAY #writerswednesday One of the wonderful things about being on Instagram is connecting with other writers. During this time of being home and “flattening the curve” and trying to kick this coronavirus pandemic to the curb, I decided I wanted to do something positive with and for my fellow writers. As such, I’m featuring other writers that you can get to know here on the blog. All these ladies featured here today are contemporary fiction, contemporary romance, romance, or romantic-comedy writers…just like me! I was so glad to see them answer the call when I solicited writers for this new segment. We’ll see how it goes, but…
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Podcast 11 : Don’t Bring Negative To My Door
Combating negativity: this is a subject I could talk about forever. Maya Angelou said it best: “Don’t bring negative to my door.” When it comes to being an independent author, one of the things that absolutely DRIVES ME CRAZY are receiving negative comments and negative perspectives from others. It’s hard enough being an author; no one needs that BS in our writing world. So, today’s podcast is all about combating negativity. Let me know what you think and what you experience. 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…
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Unlost – Sharing a Short Story from The Postcard
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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Excited for an upcoming book talk in January…and how reading benefits us
I’m looking forward to being at the Severna Park Library in January on the 21st at 7 p.m. They are always so gracious to invite me whenever I release a new book (and there are three copies of Little Milestones in circulation there). Also, I have books on hand for $10 each (plus postage, if I have to mail) if you would like a copy for the holidays…simply message me at stephanie.verni@gmail.com and I’ll take care of it for you. Finally, a PSA: Be sure to support your local libraries and bookstores and keep kids reading! As a professor who teaches writing, I’m passionate about the ways reading positively affects…
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Launching LITTLE MILESTONES Today, my newest novel…
*** Okay, my friends, today, my newest novel, LITTLE MILESTONES is official and is on the market through Amazon (coming in days to Barnes & Noble). While this is not a true sequel to Inn Significant, it does tap into those characters as they become a part of Little Milestones and the lives of Olivia and Nan. The new book is set in beautiful St. Michaels, Maryland, and as you may have surmised, I have a slight obsession with the Eastern Shore. There are also some scenes in Annapolis because I love my home state so much. * I think of all the books I’ve written, this one has made…
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Fashion Friday: Summer Maxi Dresses & A Versatile Duster
* What is STYLE? 👠 How do you define the word? Here’s my take, for what it’s worth. Style isn’t about what you wear, it’s about how you feel about what you wear. Style also isn’t about labels and expensive clothes: you can look good in inexpensive clothes if you learn what cuts work best on your figure and body type. Sometimes I try something that’s really trendy because it looks so great on someone who is tall and thin, but on me, someone who is short and curvy, it just looks silly. I still like to look contemporary, but I know what’s within my zone. Occasionally, I do try…
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Borrowing Character Inspiration and Traits From People You Know
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 things from people we actually know or have heard of or have met along the way. There is typically some truth behind fiction, whether big or small, but as observers and keen admirers of the world and the people in it, we are apt to take a few notes here and there. So if you…
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Friday Fashion: The Commitment to Add More Color to My Wardrobe
*** Writers wear black. Lots of it. It’s kind of funny, actually, that as a lot, we’ve sort of taken this color and decided to claim it as our own. I’m not sure how this got started, perhaps because as a group we’re sort of identified as a deep-thinking with a dark side. But I don’t necessarily subscribe to that label, as some labels just simply aren’t true. Some of us are happy writers. Happy writers who wear a lot of black. So my mission this semester on campus as a professor is to liven up my wardrobe. Does this mean I will never wear black or combinations of it…
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Goodbyes. Gripping Pain. And a Giveaway.
*** Hi there! I feel as if I’ve been away from my blog for a while, and I actually have, although it’s been entirely unintentional. Today, I wanted to explain why, especially as I wanted to write about the past week, which has been somewhat momentous for my family. My son started his freshman year at a university, and it’s not the one where I teach. The preparation, though, was all that you’d expect. The day before he left, we were frantically getting everything together, making sure he had all he needed. We washed clothes and ran to Target. We created a checklist and began ticking things off. We organized…
