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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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Travel Writing: From Teaching It to Doing It
You’ll have to forgive me for just getting around to sharing this; my family and I were on vacation last week. This month, I had the opportunity to write for a travel publication called marylandroadtrips.com. After teaching feature writing at my university for many years (having formerly been an editor of a magazine) with aspects of travel writing incorporated into the course, I was thrilled at the opportunity to do some travel writing of my own. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that I often blog about my trips here, writing it in feature style, to use as a learning tool in the classroom. Writing for…
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A Writer’s Muse: Annapolis
Hello, Readers! Happy Holidays! I hope you are all doing well, despite our circumstances. I’m writing to you today, on Friday, at the end of the semester. Yesterday, all my grades were entered, and the semester has officially ended. While it wasn’t a perfect semester, I believe the students and I got through most of the important material we needed to cover, and I’m excited for the spring semester. Which leaves us with the space between now and when the semester begins in January for me to work on my novel. I love that space when I get to write—to really write. It’s exciting to dive in and begin to…
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Facing Monday
* Hello, Monday, I see we meet again. We have come face-to-face for another round. I’m not intimidated by you this week. In week’s past, I may have been. But this week will be productive. There’s a lot to accomplish, so I hope you are ready..First, we have to allow for some time to be creative and work on the new story. Something clicked last week as I was writing my characters for this novel. I realized how vested I am in the project and in Meg, Eva, Lily, Reid and Nick. I like all of them, and while they may have some struggles they’re dealing with at the beginning…
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Early This Morning
*✨EARLY THIS MORNING ✨ I was awakened by the sound of knocking on our house. After looking around and finding nothing, I couldn’t go back to sleep. I’m still not sure what it was. A freak of nature. A bird. A phantom ghost. Who knows. But I got up, made myself a cup of coffee and began to tackle the long, laundry list of items I have to accomplish today..Today is also my daughter’s virtual high school graduation, followed by her actual graduation that will take place on Wednesday. People keep asking my husband and me how we are feeling about “almost” being empty nesters. I tease and say it’s…
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Podcast 17: The MFA Journey as a Writer (and a teacher of writing)
*** As I promised last week, Podcast 17 discusses the MFA from my perspective (and how it helped me in many ways). I know a lot of writers wonder if they should tackle one. In this podcast, I break down my journey to earning my MFA in my forties. I hope this is helpful, and please let me know if there is anything else I can help answer regarding an online MFA. Keep writing! xx
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What I’ve Learned So Far as a Professor During the Coronavirus Pandemic
I’m guessing this particular post is going to be an ongoing work in progress with additions made to it regularly. You see, we are all learning, students and faculty. The decision to move online took only a matter of days once we knew the severity of the coronavirus outbreak and what its potential could be for our community at Stevenson University. Within a three-day span, we learned we were closing and we instituted online practices for faculty. Our university moved swiftly, and there was a ton of support offered from many: from our president and administrators; from our technology folks; from our department chairs and deans; and from each other.…
