It’s hard to believe sometimes that 19 years have passed, but then I remember I have a freshman in college. I’ve been teaching at Stevenson University since 2000, when I was pregnant with my first child. I remember getting the job and being excited to be teaching at a four-year institution. I’d been teaching at…
Tag: Stevenson University
My Travel Writing Class and Their Work: Feeling Like a Proud Momma
* Wow. It’s hard to believe we have come to the end of another semester. My group of writers in our travel writing class published their stories today on our WordPress site called MORE THAN MARYLAND that I set up as a place to house of all of my All-Star Travelers who have taken the…
My Experience of Teaching a Travel Writing Course
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….
National Novel Writing Month Kick-off Next Week
Writers get excited about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) like kids get excited about gifts at the holidays. It’s fun, it’s fulfilling, and it can be frenetic. Why? Because you’re trying to write a novel during the month of November. That’s 30 days, people. And if you can’t finish it, you can at least make…
Meeting Mitch Albom Was A Dream Come True For This Indie Author
My Bucket List of Writers I Would Like To Meet (in no particular order) Elizabeth Gilbert (heard her talk; did not meet) Jeannette Walls (heard her talk; did meet) Mitch Albom (heard him talk; did meet) Charles Dickens (impossible; dead) Jane Austen (impossible; dead) Rosamunde Pilcher (elderly, no longer writing or traveling) Steve Martin (still working…
Gearing Up for #Frocktober and #NaNoWriMo
October = #Frocktober November = #NaNoWriMo As this will be the third year Steph’s Scribe has participated in #Frocktober, and the second year we’re partnering with the Stevenson University Library to present #NaNoWriMo, we’ve got a lot of planning and work ahead of us. There are outfits to pick out and novels to work on….
To Write, You Must Fall In Love … With Words
The words in the heart above were made with love. And love was one of the favorite words selected as their favorite by some of my friends. When I put a call out on Facebook for people to tell me what their favorite word was, I received 67 responses. Not too bad for a quick…
Why You Should Always Follow Your Dreams
The Story Yesterday afternoon, I sat with my parents on their porch overlooking their spotless, inviting pool and their gardens that are in full bloom. It was just the three of us, and we got on the topic of graduation and what kids are studying in college, especially as my own son is off to…
What I’ve Been Up To
*** It’s Monday, November 20, and I’m not as far along with National Novel Writing Month (#nanowrimo) as I would like to be. I’ve hit over 12,000 words, but if one is trying to finish a novel in four weeks, one has to do better than that. But there’s been a slight problem. Father…
Steph’s Scribe & National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
This morning in my two sections of feature writing on campus, I had students engage in an activity for writing DESCRIPTION. We tapped into our senses of smell, touch, and taste, and I had the students smell different items and try to describe the scents (one was from my garden, one was a spice, and…
Perhaps It Was An Omen
Spiral notebook. ✓ New pencils. ✓ Planner. ✓ Pink rubber eraser. ✓ A folder with pockets. ✓ Highlighters. ✓ New outfit. ✓ Some things don’t change. I still have this checklist today. I was always excited at the prospect of starting a new school year. Ever since I read a book about a girl who…
Writing A Novel – The Speech I Gave Today
Today, I had the honor and privilege of being one of several faculty speakers sharing their passions at our Fall 2017 Faculty/Staff meeting at Stevenson University. Below you will find the speech I gave, which was about writing, being an author, and self-publishing. After all, it is one of my passions… *** Writing A Novel …
