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The Way to a Character’s Heart
Confession: When I’m diving into characters and trying to get at the heart of them, I sometimes write poetry as my characters to get inside their heads. For example, if a character faces heartbreak or loss or a hardship, along with character sketches, I may write a little poem or two from various characters’ perspectives. It would be as if they would write the poem themselves. I’ve always written poetry for fun, and I enjoy writing poems that uncover emotion. And while I’ve only published one small collection of poems to date in The Postcard, I continue to write them and keep them to myself…just for these purposes. Today, I’m…
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The Annual Birthday Post Turned Poem
The Annual Birthday Post Turned Poem The hour has finally arrived, my friends Another birthday is here I’d love to scream with joy and glee But aging’s what I fear Growing old’s a gift, it’s true To live your life in full It should be sunshine and roses But a lot of it’s just bull Aging isn’t always bliss My back’s a pain in the ass It’s taking away from me having fun And affecting all of my sass The lines on my face do show some wear And I jiggle way more than I’d like The greys in my hair are plentiful, too So I escape when I can…
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The Annual Birthday Post – A Poem
It’s my birthday, and you know what that means…the annual snarky birthday post. I’m celebrating this year’s birthday with a poem…Dr. Seuss style. Enjoy! Thanks for reading Steph’s Scribe! Happy Birthday Poem Another year has passed me by I could laugh but I want to cry For time has flown without a hitch This growing old thing is surely a bitch. One kid off to college—so fully grown To explore and call the world his own. The other in high school – independent and bold With her, we truly broke the mold. But with aging comes aches and pains You feels some losses, you feel some gains You hang on…
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A Sneak Peak at What’s Coming Next Week…The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry
If you’ve read Jojo Moyes’s book, Paris for One and Other Short Stories, or Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Blue Bedroom, then you’ll have an idea of what’s coming in my new book The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry. Heavily influenced by Rosamunde Pilcher as a young woman, and loving every story she wrote for The Blue Bedroom, I think I fell head-over-heals in love with writing—and wanting to tell stories—after reading her work. Her novels that followed such as The Shell Seekers, Coming Home, and September all inspired me to write stories where relationships and setting are the main drivers of the work. Likewise, Jojo Moyes has been a…
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The Postcard & Other Short Stories – Promotion
So while I’m super excited about this upcoming work, I made a mistake in my previous blog post and attached the work in progress jpg file of this teaser and not the corrected version. A good lesson to always double check your stuff. Sometimes we make mistakes as indie authors when we do it all and have a million things on our plate. But the good news? It’s all fixable. Here is the right promo. 🙂
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The Things He Cherished
*** I suppose I’ve always had a fascination for living near the water, and it shows up in my writing. Inn Significant, my latest novel, is set in an Inn on the Tred Avon River in Oxford, Maryland, and features a love story within a love story. There’s something wholly romantic about living near the water, the peacefulness of it all, and the sentimental feelings I have about it come out in my storytelling. Today, I thought I’d feature the first poem I ever had published a few years ago. I’ve been writing poetry for ages (I think my earliest poem dates back to 6th grade), but I don’t often…
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Opening The Door to Love or Closing the Door to Love
* * * In celebration of Valentine’s Day this weekend, instead of a little Friday Fiction, I’m featuring two poems I wrote. I don’t write poetry as much as I did when I was younger, but every once in a while I’m moved to write something. The first poem is about opening up to love in Dr. Seuss rhyming style, and the second is about closing the door to love and being brokenhearted in prose style. I figured I’d cover both bases. Hope yours is rather more like the former and less like the latter. Happy Valentine’s Weekend… If Only You Dare | by S. Verni Love can grow from…
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Come with Me to Touch the Sky
Come with me to touch the sky, You need not travel far and wide. I’m here, with you, wherever you go— Though this you probably already know. No words are needed for you and I, We’ve said our hellos; we’ve said our goodbyes— But on the rare chance that you can’t fly, Just look above, and touch the sky. I wrote this poem a while ago. Some folks despise rhyming poetry and prefer the more free-flowing style. While I enjoy that type of poetry as well, I’m a big fan of the rhyme—it’s probably all those years I was in love with Dr. Seuss as a child and the poetry…
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Okay. Okay. I’ll Come.
* * * I know what Maya Angelou meant here. There are times when you sit down to write and nothing comes. Then, there are times when your fingers can’t type as quickly as your brain is working, and the fingers have trouble keeping up with the thoughts that barrel through you. We lost a great sage, writing influence, and someone with limitless amounts of creativity. Her influence will be missed. * * * * * * In Memory of Maya Angelou, A Poem The ideas don’t flow the way they should; Noise litters your head— An angry word, a moment of doubt— Insecurities pounding, wanting to come in. Yet…
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The Best Advice You Ever Got
The best advice you ever got— And over the years you’ve heard a lot— Didn’t come in the way of a bang and pop! Didn’t come among a fertile crop. It didn’t call out in the dead of night When creepy crawlers come out to bite. It wasn’t seen among the stars— The moon, Jupiter or dusty Mars. It didn’t have legs and walk away, It stayed to face interminable days. It helped you survive the bleakest clouds, When you wanted to quit, but then said aloud, That what you’ve lost wasn’t meant to be, In pain, you cry, the dichotomy. One side, like a coin; do not to toss…
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Morning Thoughts
Morning Thoughts In the quiet of the morning Yet not so quiet— The hum of 100 always awake— I sit and realize all is about to change. With change, comes good: Good for the soul; Good for the mind; Good for us all. To leave behind some ills Some love and wonderment and memories, Yet forge ahead to tomorrow. The dawn of a new day. Moving forward, yet going home. Finding a place to just Be.
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For Valentine’s Day: Text Messages Are Not Substitutes For Cards
*** As Valentine’s Day approaches, let’s just set the record straight—and not just for Valentine’s Day, but as a year-round clarification. Sending “lovey-dovey” text messages are not permitted as a substitute for sending a heartfelt card or letter to someone you care a great deal for this holiday. There, I’ve said it. (And I promise you, I do not work for Hallmark, nor am I employed by the U.S. Postal Service). Months ago I offered instructions on how to write a love letter (click here to see it). How often do we really take the time to pen something in our own hand, scrawl heart-felt words on paper, and give…
