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The Process of Getting to a Book Cover
My newest novel, The Letters in the Books, is just weeks away from launching. I’m super excited about this one, as it was two full years in the making. Writing is a labor of love for me, and I just want to tell a compelling, yet sweet story that’s perfect for a beach read. This book was heavily influenced by Brené Brown’s research on empathy and shame. I have read her books and watched her TedTalks a million times. Her work on empathy and vulnerability in particular are interesting and worthy of your time. I tried my best to roll her findings into Meg, the empath and bookstore owner at…
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Podcast 5: What I’ve Learned From Reading Other Authors
The Podcast: The Transcript: When I was a child, my mother says I was always on the move and didn’t really have the patience to sit and read a book. I would read, but as I moved into my teenage years, other things were occupying my time, and reading wasn’t one of those things. Fast forward to high school and Ms. Susek and my creative writing class I took. It was the one class I could really sink my teeth into. I loved that class, and it fostered a love of creative writing that I still hold today. As you heard in last week’s podcast, I went back to school…
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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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Juggling Projects & New Author Photo
I’ve been writing books for a while, but I’ve never been writing two novels simultaneously, while also shopping out a completed manuscript (my 6th book, titled The Letters in the Books). I’ve been working all summer on these projects, and it’s taking more discipline than ever as I juggle these three stories. I’m not complaining. I love it. It is so much fun to be able to get lost in storytelling—to invent characters that mirror real life people. Additionally, the two projects I’m working on take place in the past; one in particular is historical fiction. I also just joined BookBub and am about to investigate BookFunnel. Marketing never sleeps…
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Sentimentality Run Amok
I can’t help it. It happens every time. Every single time. Even though I live and breathe baseball vicariously through my husband, who works for the ballclub, when I go to Camden Yards, it’s as if I never left. Be forewarned: take me to Camden Yards, and I get sentimental. With the pandemic seeping into every aspect of our lives, I haven’t been to the ballpark in a year and a half. On Friday night, our family enjoyed a lovely outing and got to spend time “at the yard,” as Orioles fans like to say. Luckily for us, the team had a big win Friday night over the Nats and…
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Summer Reading Roundup Thus Far
Good morning, sunshines! I hope you’re enjoying your summer and getting to spend some time having fun with friends and family and sneaking in a little reading. Today, I’m going to review the books I’ve read so far this summer; each will be short and succinct. Fair warning, however—I’m a pretty gentle reviewer because I know what it takes to write a novel. When someone pours their whole heart and soul into their creative writing and it takes time to do so, I have a difficult time being overly critical, but I will share my overall feelings about the book. I recommend all of them. The Giver of Stars by…
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Fiction Friday: How writers begin a new story-with something weird in their heads
Before I share this weird “thing” that’s in my head, allow me to explain. So…I’ve completed one novel and am presently shopping it out. I’m also 5,000+ words into writing my next one, a novella, which will only be 30,000 words. I’ve had this “hit the pause button thing” happen to me before with Inn Significant. With that novel, I had the bones of the story, but something was missing. While I worked on other novels, I continued to figure out where the plot of Inn Significant was going, and I finally pieced it all together. It took me a few years to figure out just what that missing ingredient…
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Hold Fast to Dreams: An Update!
We all dream of seeing our book go out into the world and having people enjoy reading it. I’m proud of the work I’ve accomplished as an indie author. And I will be proud of the work I produce going forward if I stay in this lane. It’s never easy, but there are tremendous rewards. Meeting people, seeing the support of your local community, and hearing from people who’ve enjoyed your books keep me motivated. My goal is to write books that offer hope and to write better and better books each time. To those of you who have followed along on my journey, THANK YOU. To those of you…
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How Debbie Macomber Inspired Me
Last week, at the last minute, I signed up to join a Zoom call through the Baltimore County Public Library with author Debbie Macomber. It was the best thing I did for my writing career last week, and I’ll tell you why. If you don’t recognize the name Debbie Macomber, you may in a minute. She’s a bestselling author. Her genre is women’s fiction/romance. Her stories have been picked up by the Hallmark Channel (if you watched Cedar Cove, that’s Debbie’s brainchild, as are some of the Christmas movies on the network, including Trading Christmas, Mrs. Miracle, and Dashing Through the Snow). Her books can be found everywhere—at libraries, bookstores,…
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Is the Power of Positive Thinking Real?
Remember the book called The Secret? It’s a book in the self-help genre written by Rhonda Byrne that basically states that the law of attraction is real—that positive thoughts or energy attracts other positive thoughts and energy. It goes further to express that the power of positive thinking can help you achieve what you want or imagine and will it into existence. Some may believe these things are possible; others may not. I am in the camp that believes it can happen. But then again, I’m a pretty positive person. I don’t think I could be a teacher if I were not. Earlier this year, and after many years of teaching…
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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 Cicadas Are Coming! The Cicadas Are Coming!
To mimic Paul Revere, we all know the following: “The cicadas are coming! The cicadas are coming!” In Maryland, they’re already here. Who remembers the 2004 onslaught of the cicadas? We were living in Ellicott City at the time, and I remember my toddler and four-year-old playing in the back yard and being terrified of the insects. The Brood X type, with their menacing red eyes, had crawled out of the soil. My friends, it’s been 17 years, and they are crawling out again. Apparently, billions of these things have fed underground all this time, primarily on tree roots, only to emerge now. This particular Brood X type is found…
