If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. – Cicero * No matter how big or how small a library is, I love the feeling of walking inside and sensing the books call to me. I’m also amazed at the 19% of Americans who say they have NEVER visited a…
Tag: stories
7 Takeaways from Blogging on the 8th Anniversary of Steph’s Scribe
I was sitting in my office approving students for registration when I saw an alert from WordPress, my blogging platform. It said, “Happy Anniversary.” It hadn’t even occurred to me what today was because I’ve been so busy and in so much pain recently due to my herniated disc, but I can’t talk about that…
Writing About Baseball: The Slump from The Postcard & Other Short Stories
I’ll always have a little bit of baseball in my soul, even all these years later after having worked for the Orioles. The truth is, I grew up in baseball. I did. From the age of 19 through my early 30s, I learned so much from working for the Baltimore Orioles organization. That experience molded…
Reflections on Feeling a Loss of Hope
* I woke up officially down in the dumps. It’s probably pretty shocking to some of you who follow my blog, a “safe space” for positivity and a place where lifting up others is standard operation. It’s always been my goal for Steph’s Scribe to inject a dose of inspiration into people’s lives. But today,…
Let’s Do This Thing
I’m back to motivate you. Are you open to it? Do you have an idea for a novel, memoir, nonfiction story, or a collection of short stories that you need to give some time to this month? You’re in luck. Welcome to National Novel Writing Month, or as we call it for short, #nanowrimo. We’re…
Getting in the Write Frame of Mind
I can equate the feeling of getting in the right frame of mind for yoga to getting in the right frame of mind for writing. It’s time to stop finally stop saying you’re going to write it and actually do it. All I can do is strongly encourage you to write, to tell the…
Fiction Friday – 30 Years Later
THIRTY YEARS LATER Kate crossed her legs and swallowed hard. She looked at her feet and wondered if the shoes were right. She played with the bracelet around her wrist and looked around the smokey bar, the sound of a cheesy Bryan Adams song filling in where conversations dragged. She wondered why she had ever…
A Previous Life – A Short Story
Last night at dinner with my friend, Elizabeth, she mentioned that she enjoys reading my short prompts and short stories on the blog. I haven’t written one in a long while, so this morning, I found a prompt that I decided to tackle. It goes like this: Write a scene whereby two people think that…
Setting #Goals – The First Step in Turning the Invisible to the Visible
I use a lot of prompts in my writing classes. Today’s in-class writing prompt was this: Write about a goal you are trying to achieve. This can be a personal goal, an educational goal, or a professional goal. No more than 350 words. I decided to write along with my class this morning, as I…
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…
“Beautiful. Brilliant. A Work of Literary Art.” – Summer Book Giveaway on Amazon
*** A couple of good things have happened over the last two weeks. First, Inn Significant received a Finalist Award from the National Indie Excellence Awards. Second, Inn Significant received a 5-Star review from Readers’ Favorite. I think those two honors warrant another giveaway for the book, don’t you? To enter to win a book…
A Really Short Story Told in Text Messages—Friday Fiction
Leaving She picked up the cellphone. The text message simply said, “Very clever.” It was his response to the previous text she had sent which stated, “It took me all this time to lose my mind…what on earth made you think I would want a piece of yours?” She could picture him standing there holding…
