-
A Little Teaser for My Upcoming Novel: Little Milestones
*** Well, I’m officially getting excited! As I posted a few weeks ago, I finally decided upon the name of my fourth novel, LITTLE MILESTONES, and I have a first draft of the cover. When it gets to this point, it begins to feel as if things are coming together. I’m sharing the first cover design I’m considering. As I plan for a September release, LITTLE MILESTONES is a book that focuses on friendships among women with a little dash of romance thrown in, because as most of you loyal readers know, I’m a sucker for a good romance. I’ll also be taking you back with me to the Eastern…
-
Year 19 and the Spring Semester
It’s hard to believe sometimes that 19 years have passed, but then I remember I have a freshman in college. I’ve been teaching at Stevenson University since 2000, when I was pregnant with my first child. I remember getting the job and being excited to be teaching at a four-year institution. I’d been teaching at well-respected community colleges in the area, and had loved my time with them. But teaching at Stevenson University (then Villa Julie College) was something I wanted to try. I had come to crossroads in my life. I had been teaching as an adjunct since 1993 and had left a full-time job in Baltimore at the…
-
Coping With Your First Child Heading Off To College: A Mother’s Lament
*** This concept of a child going away to study at a university shouldn’t really phase me at all, right? I’m a college professor. I have been for years now. I’m the one smiling at other parents during Open Houses as I say all the right things to them about how their student will love college; how they will grow and flourish; and how they will have the time of their lives. This should be easy for me as I have a son who will start his freshman year at a university in Pennsylvania in a few weeks. I’ve been in this profession since 1993, long enough to know that…
-
Unveiling the Cover of My Newest Book! The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry
This is getting exciting! After years in the making, within hours, my latest work of fiction and poetry entitled The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry will be available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Today, I’m unveiling and telling the story of the cover. But first I have to say…I love this part of the process. The part where it all comes together. The part where you get to see your work come to fruition. When I worked at the Orioles and was the editor of Orioles Magazine, I loved going to the printer’s and watching the magazine come off the presses. My heart would pulsate as my…
-
5 Tips To Help Your Productivity
* When I give book talks, people who know I have a full-time, demanding job as a professor—along with an active family life—often ask me when and how I find time to write. I find that a question funny because we all have the same amount of hours in a day. Some people just use those hours more advantageously than others. I have to laugh because it’s not exactly as if I’m in a jungle in my safari hat fighting through the plants in search of time. If I were, I’d want more of it. We all would. Hence, this statement: I don’t FIND time to write; I MAKE time…
-
Prompt & Podcast – November 6 #nanowrimo
Hello, Friends! Today, I’ve got a PODCAST for you about WRITING CHARACTERS with my favorite tip about writing these characters. I think you’ll find it helpful if you don’t already do this. Writing Character Sketches Steph’s Scribe TODAY’S PROMPT Write 500 words | #nanowrimo | Choose one of the prompts below To go along with today’s PODCAST, write one of the two prompts below. For non-fiction writers: Write a short biography of your best friend(s) as a character sketch. Use all the information you know about him or her, from what they look like to their characteristics to their likes and dislikes. Try to write 500 words. For fiction writers:…
-
Every One of My Books Has Killed Me a Little More
*** You see the title there, and maybe that’s why you clicked over to see what’s going on here. If you did, please know I didn’t say that quote. It was said by the famous late writer, Norman Mailer. “Every one of my books has killed me a little more, ” he said. I didn’t know the man. I’m not on par with him as a writer. I am not as prolific a writer as he was. And I certainly don’t earn my primary income as a writer as he did. And yet, I can totally understand what he said. As some of you who follow my blog…
-
The Case for Teaching: Inspiring Students AND Inspired by Students
It’s Sunday morning, and I’m sitting on my porch writing this post and looking at this glorious day sipping my cup of coffee from my Yeti (which keeps it INCREDIBLY hot, let me just say). In a little while, my daughter and I will head to my parents’ house and sit by their pool and spend time with my brother and his family who are visiting. My son and husband will go play golf–a ritual they’ve tried to do on one day of the weekend. I love that they do this, as my son has one year left of high school before he enters college. I love my summers; they…
-
A Review of My Blog by The Villager
Well, I am absolutely flattered that Stevenson University’s newspaper, The Villager, reviewed Steph’s Scribe, and gave it a good review. I can honestly say, my blog has never been reviewed before, so that was exciting to see. Thank you to Chip Rouse, The Villager advisor, and writer Bri Buttner, for the great piece. I will say that I take great pride in my blog, and I do play around with it quite a bit. I like playing with the aesthetics, photography, and content, and I always try to mix it up. I’ve been consistently blogging since 2011, when I wrote my first post, and I’ve never stopped. I truly enjoy writing,…
-
Reconnecting with My Passion for Fashion
* Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve loved fashion. About 10 years ago now, I loved it so much, I decided to become a certified fashion consultant. At the time, I taught one communication course at Stevenson University as an adjunct professor. My children were small, and it was something that got me out of the house one morning on the weekend. I enrolled in a weekend-long intensive course in Virginia and became a local version of “Stacy London” of What Not to Wear fame. I would help women, mostly young moms who were returning to work, rebuild their professional wardrobes. I went in people’s closets and dissected their…
-
The Biggest Mistake Some College Students Make
One the eve of the beginning of the spring semester, I thought I’d share something that I’ve seen as the downfall of a lot of college students with regard to their academics. It’s not something earth-shattering, but it is something that is real. The good news is it’s something that can be rectified if taken seriously, and it can make their lives infinitely more manageable. The biggest mistake some college students make is that they do not budget their time properly. There are various reasons for the lack of time management. They are living on their own for the first time and are tasting a sense of freedom they’ve never…
-
White Hot and Passionate
I’m one of the lucky ones. Today, as it often happens when the semester begins, and as I was lecturing about feature writing and discussing the introductory chapter of our textbook, the reality of what I do for a living hit me. It often hits me over the head as a big, huge reminder of how lucky I am to have found my niche, my passion, and a sense of happiness that one doesn’t always feel from a job: I have a career I love. Helping students become better writers, more appreciative readers, and better analyzers of the written word makes me happy. As I presented the list of award-winning…
