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  • About Me
  • About My Novels
  • Press Kit
  • Podcasts 2022
  • Books I’ve Enjoyed
  • Shop My Products
    • Book Pages Wreath
    • Heart Pages Wreath
    • Small Book Pages Wreath
    • From Humbug to Humble: The Transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge – Personalized & Signed
    • The Letters in the Books – Signed, Personalized, and with a letter tucked inside it
    • Beneath the Mimosa Tree: A Novel – Personalized & Signed
    • Baseball Girl: A Novel – Personalized & Signed
    • Inn Significant: A Novel – Personalized & Signed
    • Little Milestones: A Novel – Personalized & Signed
    • The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry – Personalized & Signed
  • Bloggin’ Bout Travel
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  • Sundays Are for Stories

    July 12, 2020 /

    ✨FROM MY PORCH OFFICE✨ This is what Sunday morning writing looks like here at the Verni house. As I’m now officially over 33,000 words of building this story—probably my most complicated story to create to date—I am feeling the hum of the characters, the movement of the story, the connection of my 5 characters, and the way this story will end up. It’s a great feeling to know you’re on track with the story you want to tell—that the characters are yearning for you to tell. . I write relationship-driven fiction. It comes from a place of understanding the nuances of people and what potentially drives them (or does not…

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    Stephanie Verni 0 Comments

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    My Newest Writing Project

    September 7, 2018

    Getting My Books in Order

    May 12, 2020

    Join Me for Two Dickens Events this Holiday Season

    December 1, 2021
  • The Loss of George

    July 10, 2020 /

    * This week, I learned much too late of the passing of my favorite professor and one of the best people I knew, George Friedman. He passed away in late February. Every once in a while someone comes along and makes an impression on your life. That person, for me, came in the form of Dr. George Friedman, professor of English at Towson University. George, as I came to call him, was the singular inspiration for my first novel, Beneath the Mimosa Tree, which began as a short story in George’s class—Writing Creative Short Fiction—during my first master’s degree. When he returned a short story I wrote, and verbally told…

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    Playing with Photography and Memories

    January 19, 2016

    A Nutty Story as a Metaphor for Life

    August 23, 2022

    Is the Power of Positive Thinking Real?

    May 24, 2021
  • The Madness of Writing a Novel (in my own words)

    July 8, 2020 /

    ✨HOW DOES IT FEEL WHEN YOU’RE IN THE ZONE?✨ I’ve hit my stride, finally. As we are approaching mid-July, I’ve made some pretty good progress with reading and writing. I’m about to hit 26,000 words on my work in progress, and my goal this week is to make it to at least 30,000 words. As well, I’ve finished one book about bookstores and I’m on to another. My pile of these books is pretty tall, so I have a lot to work toward. I’m also finishing the last week of the master’s course I’m teaching, so it’s been a little busy. What do I mean when I ask how it…

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    The Annual Birthday Post Turned Poem

    August 16, 2020

    Happy Halloween!

    October 31, 2015

    Please Don’t Squeeze the Charmin or Do Any of THESE Things

    March 20, 2016
  • The Path to Writing Novel Number 5

    June 26, 2020 /

    *** At almost 17,000 words in, I can’t hold in my excitement for the challenge I have ahead of me. Writing this next novel is going to require some thought and some time to get it all in order. There are so many moving parts to this story that I grabbed a notebook and am connecting and dissecting each character in detailed character sketches. I’ve researched what a true empath is, as the character who is an empath is the main thread within the novel. I’ve used sticky notes and pencils, diagrams and plot point outlines. My initial board that I began a couple of months ago has now been…

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    In Snape and Col. Brandon There Was Committed Love

    January 14, 2016

    Sorry, I Just Think It’s Weird—House of the Dragon, updates on a new book, a reunion & Italy

    September 28, 2022

    Podcast 5: What I’ve Learned From Reading Other Authors

    March 7, 2022
  • Reviewing a Movie for Romantics That’s Not a Hallmark Channel Creation

    June 18, 2020 /

    *** Readers of my blog, by now you are probably quite aware that I’m a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic and that I’m endlessly addicted to Hallmark Channel. I also write romance, so I decided to share a film with you that I just watched and thoroughly enjoyed. The movie is from 2015, and I knew nothing about it prior to two days ago. A one-time CRAZY movie buff, over the last several years I’ve pulled away from films and have been sucked into various shows made for television, and some of my favorites have included the following: Game of Thrones (the best television I’ve ever seen; in fact, one of the…

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    For the Love of Postcards (and other written correspondence)

    January 14, 2019

    Celebrating World Book Day 2019

    April 23, 2019

    A Writer’s Muse: Annapolis

    December 18, 2020
  • Booking Remote Book Club Visits

    June 16, 2020 /

    *** 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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    Acceptable “B” Words for a BETTER You

    January 8, 2016

    What I’m Writing Now (or my current WIP)

    May 14, 2020

    Random (And I Do Mean Random) Thoughts

    September 21, 2015
  • Podcast 18: Blogging 101

    June 11, 2020 /

    *** I’ve been asked questions about blogging recently, and so this podcast is for those of you who are thinking of setting up a blog and includes all the basic preliminary questions that should be considered before making the commitment. You have to begin at the beginning…which is to say…why will you blog and what do you hope to achieve with it? This podcast is not about creating a money-making blog. This one centers on creating a platform for which you will share your ideas and creativity. So, if you’re in the market and are shopping for reasons to create a blog, this is where you can begin. xx Stephanie…

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    FROCKTOBER Week 2 for Ovarian Cancer

    October 18, 2018

    Fashion Friday

    January 24, 2020

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    January 1, 2023
  • Early This Morning

    June 1, 2020 /

    *✨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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    Fifty Shades of…Shades

    January 20, 2016

    Fiction Friday: An Update

    January 25, 2019

    Deciding to Be A Hallmark Movie in Annapolis, Not Just Watch One

    December 9, 2018
  • Podcast 17: The MFA Journey as a Writer (and a teacher of writing)

    May 27, 2020 /

    *** 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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    The Best Soup | A Family Favorite

    October 20, 2015

    Breathing in the Air and Tasting The Wines in Napa Valley

    April 27, 2016

    Why I Wrote From Humbug to Humble about Ebenezer Scrooge and Upcoming Events

    November 16, 2021
  • black and red typewriter

    Two Exercises for Teaching Description and Using The Five Senses in Writing

    May 22, 2020 /

    One of the biggest losses I’m feeling from completing the semester at home is the inability to execute my favorite “Five Senses” activity in the classroom with my writing students. It’s one of my favorite days in the classroom, where I play music and ask students to sit and write based on prompts pertaining to their five senses. THE FIRST EXERCISE The exercise requires students to reach into a brown paper bag that I bring into the room and “touch” something that I’ve placed inside it. In the past, I’ve put pinecones, Silly Putty, or sand in it. After they touch it, they have to write what comes to mind…

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    Podcast 7 – Writing a Character Sketch—it’s pretty helpful

    February 24, 2020

    Talking teaching, life lessons, writing, and fashion on FamilyApp.com

    July 7, 2021

    A Little Teaser for My Upcoming Novel: Little Milestones

    June 7, 2019
  • Podcast 16: Taking a Gander of What’s Out There Before You Write

    May 21, 2020 /

    *** Sorry it’s been a couple of weeks…I explain in the Podcast of where I’ve been and why I haven’t posted a Podcast in a while. I’m really looking to hear your thoughts about this one…so feel free to comment below and share your opinions on your readings and your approaches. I love to learn from others. Next week, I’ll share with you my thoughts on my MFA program—people ask me all the time if I think it’s worth pursuing an MFA as a writer, and I’ll answer that in next week’s Podcast. Hope everyone is staying well. Let me know your thoughts on prior reading before writing. I’m so…

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    My Holiday Archenemy

    November 29, 2015

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    December 1, 2021

    On This Valentine’s Day, LOVE

    February 14, 2020
  • There’s Something You Should Do During Quarantine and Social Distancing

    May 17, 2020 /

    Prologue You don’t have to listen to me. But it may serve you well if you do. More importantly, it may serve someone else well. And so, let me share with you something that has the potential to be one of the best choices you’ve made during this pandemic. In This Time of Self-Quarantine and Social Distancing… I’m a teacher. I’m a writing professor. I teach people about writing. I’m also a professor of communication, and I just finished instructing two courses in interpersonal communication. We dissected theories and concepts, nonverbal and verbal communication, work relationships, friendships, and love relationships, self-disclosure, reciprocity, and so many other things about relationships. In…

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    My Newest Writing Project

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    Podcast 11 : Don’t Bring Negative To My Door

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    Coming Up With A Book Title

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Welcome to my website! I'm Stephanie Verni, author of 8 works of fiction, adjunct professor of communication, and part-time travel writer. I love sharing my work, travels, and experiences with you. Thanks for stopping by!
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