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    • Book Pages Wreath
    • Heart Pages Wreath
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    • From Humbug to Humble: The Transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge – Personalized & Signed
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  • Travel Writing: My Articles

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  • Sorry, I Just Think It’s Weird—House of the Dragon, updates on a new book, a reunion & Italy

    September 28, 2022 /

    Thoughts on House of the Dragon’s Casting Last Sunday night on House of the Dragon, they replaced the two actresses who played Raenyra (Milly Alcock) and Alicent (Emily Carey) with two other actresses as ten years had passed between the previous episode and Sunday night’s. The switch was jarring—they didn’t look or act like the previous characters. I’m sorry, I just think it’s weird in today’s era of movie making that they would choose to do this—films age characters all the time. What’s even stranger is that Matt Smith who plays Daemon, continues in his role, looking no older than before despite the passage of 10 years. As well, Paddy…

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    That First Sentence

    September 9, 2015

    Podcast 18: Blogging 101

    June 11, 2020

    7 Takeaways from Blogging on the 8th Anniversary of Steph’s Scribe

    April 10, 2019
  • Escape to Italy and Meet Anna, Matteo, and Nicolo

    January 28, 2022 /

    Anna in Tuscany – A Valentine’s Read .99 on Kindle You’ve suffered through two failed relationships. You’re not sure you believe in love anymore. Then, as a travel writer, your editor sends you to Italy for a year to write about the regions. When you arrive, you meet Matteo, an older gentleman who has lost his wife. In search of a story for your first assignment about Valentine’s Day in Italy, you begin to uncover a love story that changes the way you feel about love. And maybe a little love walks into your life, as well. Such is the premise of ANNA IN TUSCANY, a little novelette to put…

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    A Valentine’s Poem

    February 13, 2019

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    May 17, 2020

    Is the Power of Positive Thinking Real?

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  • Finding Italy…and Paris

    April 27, 2021 /

    It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Italy. I’ve never been to Paris. The closest I came to speaking French in another country was a visit to Quebec when I was in 7th grade. I began taking French classes that year—in 7th grade. Later, in high school, Mademoiselle Hammerstrom had our class read Les Misérables in French. In college, I took French classes as well. Last week, my husband and I started watching Stanley Tucci’s program Searching for Italy. My passport is updated and I’m ready to go. When it’s safe to travel again, I need to go to both of these countries. I make my father-in-law laugh…

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    Podcast 5 – Clearing Your Head, Work Space, and Thinking About POV

    February 3, 2020

    Podcast 12: Creating An Author Platform and Press Kit

    March 31, 2020

    Iberostar Grand Bavaro: A Truly Memorable Place

    June 6, 2022
  • photo of building exterior during daytime

    Franco and The Blonde: Fiction Friday

    April 17, 2020 /

    Today, I’m trying my hand at a bit of short fiction. This piece of flash fiction is under 600 words at 595 words. This scene popped into my head last night, perhaps because at dinner, our family was talking about our Italian heritage and the legacies we leave behind (I know…a little heavy for a dinner conversation during a coronavirus crisis). Nonetheless, I knew I was going to write this scene when I went to bed last night, and I banged it out this morning, just to touch base with my creativity. I’m so immersed in teaching 4 online courses right now, that I have little time for something like…

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    A Suggestion for Your Kids: Write About The Pandemic

    July 23, 2020

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    January 19, 2020

    Happy World Book Day

    April 23, 2020
  • My Experience of Teaching a Travel Writing Course

    October 25, 2018 /

    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. To be able to teach travel writing as a semester-long, intensive 400-level course is something I treasure. The students in my class are required to each pick a location relatively local to our region. Some explore cities or towns in Maryland, some in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Washington, D.C. or any other destination that they…

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    Inspired by Joanna Gaines and Fixer Upper on HGTV

    April 4, 2016

    Go Ahead—Call Me Corny

    December 18, 2015

    Life Philosophies, Not Resolutions This Year

    December 31, 2018
  • body of water with people rowring on boat beside tall building

    Remembering Venice Through Poetry

    May 14, 2018 /

    I think of Venice often, even though it’s been many years since I’ve been there. It was the most unique and amazing place I have ever visited; Italy in general holds a special place in my heart because both my family and my husband’s family are of Italian heritage. Many people say the Grand Canal is the most beautiful street in the world; I think they may be right. Last year, in my Poetry class, we were asked to write a haibun and a haiku that flowed together. As we could choose any subject to write about, Venice was my choice. When I travel, I keep a copious journal, so…

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    Go Ahead—Call Me Corny

    December 18, 2015

    Book Review: A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

    January 31, 2019

    Pretty Things, Poetry, and Handmade Valentines

    January 27, 2016
  • Home Inspiration: How To Display Collections From Your Travels

    December 12, 2016 /

    Traveling is one of the best gifts you can give yourself and your loved ones. Experiencing things together builds memories that you all will cherish forever. No one can take those remarkable moments from you. There are some places, however, that you visit whereby you may want to bring home a physical remembrance of the place. In those instances, items may collect in your home in a pile unless you know exactly how you will display or use them. My husband and I don’t mind having things from our trips as long as we know exactly what we will do with them and that they won’t just sit in a…

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    Hip, Hip, Hooray: From one Great Birthday Gift to Another, the Annual Birthday Blog Post

    August 16, 2021

    Dear Fellow Writers

    March 6, 2020

    Let Scrooge In This Holiday Season

    December 3, 2015
  • Meeting People Makes Travel Magical

    May 2, 2016 /

      My husband and I were sitting in a restaurant in London one night trying to get in touch with his Italian cousin who is a surgeon in the city. We were there for vacation, but we had promised Massimo and his wife that we would get together during our stay for dinner. In our effort to contact him at work, we were failing miserably. The people at the table next to us recognized that we were struggling with the phone and our attempt at communication with the hospital and promptly invited us to their table. When we explained that the hospital said he was in “theatre” we assumed he…

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    A Suggestion for Your Kids: Write About The Pandemic

    July 23, 2020

    My Favorite Villain

    March 25, 2022

    Dear Fellow Writers

    March 6, 2020
  • A Good Book Will Never Let You Down

    April 11, 2016 /

    I’m about to finish Adriana Trigiani’s touching and inspiring novel entitled The Shoemaker’s Wife. I’ve enjoyed reading this sweeping story of Italian immigrants loosely based on the history of the author’s own grandparents. From the mountains of the Italian Alps to New York City to a small town in Minnesota, the characters and sights covered in this novel will allow you to become a part of a different time and place when the world was a different place, America was growing, and World War I loomed. The truth of the matter is this: a good book will never let you down. As I’ve become older, wiser, and more finicky about…

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    Frocktober begins tomorrow & I’ve picked my charity

    September 30, 2020

    Playing with Photography and Memories

    January 19, 2016

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    March 25, 2022
  • When You Realize What Makes You Happy

    March 25, 2015 /

    Picture this: It’s Sunday morning, the last day of your academic spring break, whereby you spent most of the time working, doing some aspect of your full-time job or your writing hobby that you do. You are tangled up in all of the stresses that make up your everyday life when all of a sudden … magically … it … appears … whether it is divine providence or by the hand of your own Fairy Godmother (why should Cinderella be the only one?). There it is, literally, in black and white. Bippity, boppity, BOOM. You breathe. Like a thunderbolt from the sky, Tom Muha, and his Sunday article in The…

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    Thankfulness, Doug Flutie, and The Power of Love

    November 19, 2015

    Writing Can’t Be ‘Thin Love’

    January 21, 2016
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    Two Exercises for Teaching Description and Using The Five Senses in Writing

    May 22, 2020
  • Fictography #22—Vivi’s Summer

    June 20, 2014 /

    * * * * * * /FICTOGRAPHY/ def. — The intersection of photography (submitted by readers) and fiction (written by me!). The above photograph was taken by a dear friend of mine, Chrissie Werzinsky, in Rome at Piazza Navona. Chrissie works for the Baltimore Orioles, and has for years, which is how we met many moons ago. Chrissie and I have a lot in common; we both love the Hallmark Channel, Pinterest, baseball, our Orioles friends, and novels that make you feel good. Luckily, my husband and I traveled to Rome before we had children, so I got to spend time visiting Piazza Navona. I was excited to see the…

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    Stephanie Verni 2 Comments
  • Travel Journaling: You Won’t Regret It

    October 16, 2011 /

    “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read on the train.” ~ Oscar Wilde “The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.” ~ G.K. Chesterton View from Giudecca. Photo Credit: italyheaven.com.uk My students have been assigned a travel writing piece next. There is a difference between travel journalism and travel writing. In travel journalism, the writer gives the reader good instructional information about where to go, what to do, what to see. In travel writing, the writer takes the reader on a journey with him (or her) and allows us to “see” the place through the writer’s…

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    Stephanie Verni 2 Comments
Welcome to my website! I'm Stephanie Verni, author of 8 works of fiction, adjunct professor of communication, and part-time travel writer. I love sharing my work, travels, and experiences with you. Thanks for stopping by!

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