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Lollygagging
Greetings, friends. It’s been a while. I’ve been lollygagging as it relates to my blog, that’s for sure. I’m kind of embarrassed about it, and I’m kind of not. I’ve needed time to recalibrate. Besides, I just wanted to title a blog post “Lollygagging.” Ever since the film Bull Durham, “lollygag” has been one of my favorite words. If you don’t know the clip I’m talking about, I’ve got it for you below. The truth is, I’m balancing a lot of stuff and hardly lollygagging at all. I’ve really become a juggler. When I went part time to teach, I didn’t realize I’d be developing so many courses from scratch,…
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Book Launch! The Letters in the Books Now Available
Good morning, sunshines! I have been waiting for weeks to be able to say that The Letters in the Books is now available. It’s also probably fair to say that I worked harder on this book than any of the previous ones. After two and a half years, I can finally say this project is done. Writing from the perspectives of five main characters–two men and three women–was cumbersome and a lot of fun. Setting the novel in Annapolis once again was a thrill. I can honestly say I don’t do this for the money, for any recognition, or for any other reason except that it fills a creative niche…
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Why I Wrote From Humbug to Humble about Ebenezer Scrooge and Upcoming Events
Here is a video that tells you more about my new novella, From Humbug to Humble: The Transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge. The novella is available on Amazon.com, BN.com and exclusively at my local bookstore, Park Books & Literacy Lab. I will also be (along with my husband in Dickens-era costumes) at the annual A Dickens of A Christmas in Chestertown, MD on December 4 in London Row from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. selling my books and handmade book pages wreaths. Hope to see you there! Stephanie
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PUBLICATION DAY for From Humbug to Humble, A Christmas Book to brighten your holidays
Yay!!! I’m so happy today! It’s RELEASE DAY for this little novella and labor of love. My new book, From Humbug to Humble, is on the market. If you love all things SCROOGE, I hope this will make you as happy reading it as it made me writing it. I’ve been feeling a bit “Scroogey” since the summer (only in the best of ways), and I’m thrilled that it’s finally arrived. As always, thank you for your support, for following along on this crazy journey of writing books, and for lifting me up. There are so many people to thank for helping me with this project, so as Scrooge says…
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A Pep Talk on How to Use NaNoWriMo to Your Advantage
Okay, listen up writers. I’m here to kick you into gear. I’m here to tell you it can be done. I’m here to tell you not to give up. November is here, and on this 5th day, let us remember that there are many more days in the month, and they shouldn’t go to waste if you are participating in NaNoWriMo, otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. Established many years ago, NaNoWriMo was created to encourage writers to complete 50,000 words of a novel or work of nonfiction by November 30. The word count of 50,000 words constitutes a short novel, or approximately 1,660 words a day. I’m here…
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Coming in November
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My 5th Novel Has a Name (at least for now)
Today, it’s official. I have a book title. I have a copyrighted ISBN number. I have a “mood” for the cover. And while I am going to seek traditional publishing this time around and solicit an agent to represent me, I still need to go through this process to help move in the right direction and keep me motivated should I venture down the self-publishing road again. The characters in this novel are not only in my head, but in my soul. Each one is a part of me, and a part of you, and a part of everyone we have met along the way. With five main characters, a…
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Not Quite There With 5 Days Remaining
It’s the 25th of November, and I’m still making progress, although it’s not moving as quickly as I would like. The goal for November was to complete 50,000 words (which is, in essence, a small novel). The problem is, this novel (Life with Nan) will more like 80,000+ words, I’m guessing. So, my friends, I have a way to go, but if that’s the case, then I’ll try to find some solace in the fact that I hit the halfway point by going over 40,000 words. Nan and my main character, Calista, still have more to uncover as their relationship of living together as granddaughter and grandmother continue, and as…
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Friday Fiction : I Hate You (a flash fiction story)
On Fridays we write. Answering a prompt is a good way to stay in touch with your writing, storytelling, and creativity. In this flash fiction piece, the goal was to “write a story with the word ‘hate’ in it.” Simple parameter. I write a lot about relationships, mostly happy ones, and sometimes ones that are on their way back from devastation. This is one of those. Here’s what I came up with for this week’s FICTION FRIDAY. *** I HATE YOU | Flash Fiction There was nothing left to say. The words hung in the night air as the sound of the sea pounced against the rocks. The breeze caught…
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The Downside of Being A Writer
While there are so many pluses to being a writer—namely that we have the privilege of passionately telling stories through our own lenses—there is a downside, at least from my perspective. The downside has become increasingly more clear to me the older I get. It makes me pause more than I used to. It leaves me with notebooks full of scribblings. The downside that I am talking about this morning, as this blog post came to me all at once (you know, with the lightbulb going off and all that jazz), is that when we are writers and intent on telling stories, we are also part psychologist, as we try…
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Flash Fiction from a Writing Prompt
* In the classes I teach at Stevenson University, students know that I have the propensity to use writing prompts in class to get them writing creatively and telling little stories. Their purpose? Simply to practice writing. Often, when I have the inclination to write something but am in-between novels, I use writing prompts a lot. There are three main reasons to use a writing prompt: It gets you writing (as stated above) and thinking creatively. It gets you thinking in way you may not have been thinking when you started staring at the blinking cursor and allows you to take a writing journey. It can turn into something wonderful.…
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A Short Story From A Writing Prompt
I’m feeling a little creative today and am in the mood to tackle something new and different. I searched for a prompt on Pinterest, and this is the one that struck my fancy. So, the way I see it, I will start my story with these words and see where it takes me. 500 words is my goal. Let’s see what happens…(I love this part of creativity…wherever will the story go?) * “This is my life now. I have climbed this hill, and now I will die upon it.” “Shut up,” I said. “We’ve only been hiking for twenty minutes.” I can talk to my grandmother like this because we…
