-
Reflections on 2131 after ESPN Aired the Game Last Night
* Last night as I was grading papers and preparing a lecture for online delivery, my husband called me into the family room. “ESPN is airing the full 2131 game,” he said. He was referring to Cal Ripken’s historic night at Camden Yards with the Baltimore Orioles when he surpassed Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak record, a record we will most likely never see broken again. The quality of the video wasn’t good, and my husband and I watched Mike Mussina on the mound. A wave of nostalgia came over me. I was on the field that night, as an employee of the ballclub, executing my duties. That was a…
-
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 *** I consider myself pretty lucky that I get the opportunity to do two things I love on a daily basis: teach and write. I’m a proud professor here at Stevenson University and also an independent author. I’m an independent author and write novels for two main reasons: (1) because I believe it’s my duty…
-
5 Sure-Fire Ways To Boost Creativity
*** In the textbook I co-authored with Dr. Leeanne Bell McManus and Chip Rouse about Event Planning, we have an entire chapter dedicated to creativity. This is one of my absolute favorite topics to discuss—with friends, with fellow writers, with students, with my children, and with colleagues. Maintaining a sense of creativity is important in so many careers; in fact, there are very few careers that do not value some sort of creativity and innovation. However, the tricky part comes in when we, as people who can often be stretched balancing work and family/friends life, find ourselves zapped of creative impulses and notions. If this describes you right now, don’t…
-
Orioles Magic, Old & New
* * * It was 1995. Cal was set to tie—and then break—Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak record. I worked for the Orioles as the Director of Publishing. It was a great year to be a member of the Orioles front office. In about seven weeks, we put together Cal’s Commemorative Book, a publication created by our organization that celebrated Cal and his accomplishments that was sold on September 6, 1995. Besides my debut novel that was released in March, it’s the only other print publication I’m immensely proud to have been a part of, and it was an honor to serve as its editor. On the evening of 2131,…
