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Delight in the Little Things
Today’s card is a very simple, yet poignant quote from Rudyard Kipling, British short-story writer, novelist, poet, journalist, probably best known for his collection of stories in The Jungle Book and his poem Gunga Din. The quote reads: Delight in the little things. – Rudyard Kipling I can’t help but harken back to my younger days, when I was a child growing up in Bowie, Maryland. We lived in our ranch on Pointer Ridge Drive until I was 13 years old. What we learn as children can often inform our lives as we grow and age and work and then retire. The truth is, compared to now, life was simpler…
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A Recent Article in Shore Monthly About My Writing (yippee!)
*** I’m not sure why I’m slow in sharing this bit of publicity I received from Shore Monthly. As my two latest novels are set in Oxford, MD (Inn Significant) and St. Michaels, MD (Little Milestones) respectively, Shore Monthly ran an interview about my writing. The best part of the story is, a very talented former student of mine from Stevenson University, Ms. Dabrianna Green, wrote the piece. I was utterly flabbergasted when she told me she wanted to cover my newest novel, and I enjoyed a Saturday morning sitting in her office sharing stories of writing. She, too, is a writer, and is working on her first collection…
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Booking Remote Book Club Visits
*** As many of us are still in the “working remotely” phase of this pandemic, I’ve decided to promote virtual book club visits to help promote reading and our sanity! I’m currently booked for a book club in July and have a lot of openings for book clubs who might want to read my books and discuss them. As an author, one of my favorite things to do is to meet new people through book club discussions. As I have five books on the market, I’m happy to visit your book club virtually. I’m getting good at this, especially since the back half of the semester I just taught was…
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An Easter Contemplation About Grandparents
* Two days ago, my aunt posted the above photo of my grandparents on Facebook, wishing my grandmother (we called her Nanny) a happy birthday in Heaven. She’s been gone from us for quite some time, but seeing the photo, while we simultaneously fight this coronavirus pandemic and Easter is upon us, made me contemplate my pretty blessed life thus far. While no life is perfect, and my own family’s past year and half has been beyond weird and strange and sad and disruptive, I look back with joy on all that we have been blessed with in our lives. I was very fortunate to have all of my grandparents…
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Dealing with Disappointment
After watching Brene Brown’s Ted Talks, other videos, and reading her books, I’ve decided to just be vulnerable (which isn’t my strong suit) and say that I’m dealing with a bit of disappointment over here. The world of being an independent author is not always kind, nor is it always fun. My latest book, Little Milestones, a follow-up book to Inn Significant, is not faring well at all on Amazon. I have two reviews. I work hard busting my butt on Instagram and Facebook to try to ascertain readers and ask for help with reviews online, but it can be tiring. Exhausting. It can depress the soul, to be frank.…
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10 Random Thoughts for the First Friday of the New Year
Hello, there, readers. I haven’t seen you since last year, and you’re looking well! I hope the New Year is good to you. It seems that 2020 has a lot in store for us all… I thought I’d start off today with some random thoughts that I’ve had over the last couple of weeks to both get them off my mind and also keep this blog post moving along, so here we go… 1-My husband and I watched the film, Yesterday, the other night. I think it’s one of the more clever films of 2019. Fun, different, and creative, whether you like the Beatles or not, you’ll enjoy this tale…
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The Thing That Connects Us
*** I was sitting here staring at a blank cursor knowing what I wanted to write but not knowing exactly how to say it. Then I remembered studying writer James Baldwin during my first master’s degree, and thought of his quote: “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who are alive, who had ever been alive.” – James Baldwin I’ve been “officially” publishing fiction now since 2012. Fiction is the best outlet to tell…
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Saying Some ‘Thank Yous’ This Thanksgiving Season: A Reflection
Thoughts and a Reflection on Thanksgiving In my humble opinion, the best four days of the year have just passed. The four days of Thanksgiving weekend are always my favorite time of the year. We are permitted to just stop and reflect for a few days, spend time with family, and in our home, begin the Christmas traditions we set forth when the kids were babies of cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating for the holidays. For the last several years, I’ve cooked the Thanksgiving dinner, with sides provided by my mother and mother-in-law. This year, the pumpkin pie and apple crumb pie were ordered from Kirsten’s Cakery by…
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Vlogging about the Writing Life—Connecting Inn Significant & Little Milestones
After I published Inn Significant in 2017, I seriously considered a sequel. People were writing to me and asking me what happens to the characters. I began constructing the sequel and dabbled with about 13 chapters until I stopped writing it altogether. After I put it away for a while and took a break, a lightbulb went off in my head: what if I wrote a second book with a character with a somewhat parallel life and had them meet in the new novel? It would be more of a series rather than a sequel, and that appealed to me much more. Typically, sequels aren’t very good. There are exceptions…
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First Book Signing for Little Milestones Scheduled for Skipjack’s in St. Michaels, Nov 24th
Hooray! I am so excited about this! Skipjack’s in St. Michaels will be carrying my book, and has asked me to come and do a book signing. I can’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than meeting the folks in St. Michaels over coffee, treats, and a shared love of the town. St. Michaels has always been a special place, and it was an honor to set my novel there. I hope you can make it–and do some holiday shopping while you’re there! xx
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Thank You, Readers! I’m Flattered.
Today, I’m posting a quick THANK YOU to those of you wonderful readers who have purchased my book, attended my book launch last week, or tagged me in social media posts. It’s heartwarming to see so much interest in the book, and I’ve loved hearing from you and seeing the photos you’ve shared with your followers. I’m sharing some of the cool shots today with Steph’s Scribe readers! My newest book is available on Amazon.com and BN.com. Little Milestones, piggybacks onto my previous novel, Inn Significant, but can be read independently. However, if you loved Inn Significant, set in beautiful Oxford, Maryland, I hope you’ll enjoy Little Milestones, set in…
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Let Us Take You to St. Michaels – the setting of my new novel, LITTLE MILESTONES, with a video tour
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO One of the things I had on my “to do list” with Little Milestones, is to take you on a guided tour of the places and settings that inspired the writing of my novel, Little Milestones. I was patiently waiting for the perfect Saturday to go and shoot the footage, and that day came with blue skies, fall foliage, and a friend by my side to make it fun. Little Milestones is available on Amazon.com and BN.com. It’s a story of moving on, love, friendship, family, and forgiveness. It’s a light novel that takes you from Labor Day weekend through Christmas, and it’s set in this gorgeous…
