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  • Podcasts
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    • Book Pages Wreath
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    • From Humbug to Humble: The Transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge – Personalized & Signed
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  • Travel Writing: From Teaching It to Doing It

    June 21, 2021 /

    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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  • Finding Inspiration

    September 3, 2019 /

    As someone who writes fiction as my side job, I seek inspiration, either from other people or from places. Additionally, as a writer who is about to publish my 4th novel, I use places almost as I use characters in my novel—they must have a personality and purpose.  Setting is very important to me, and getting a handle on that place requires me to do some digging and exploring. Next month, I will launch my newest novel, LITTLE MILESTONES, set in St. Michaels, Maryland, a place I love visit when I need to get away from the rat race of life. It’s only a little over an hour away from…

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    Springtime in Annapolis

    March 17, 2016

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  • Twilight and Twinkles and Travel

    July 11, 2019 /

    * As I tell my students in the special topics in travel writing course I teach, travel happens as soon as you step outside your door. Day trips, afternoon trips, and evening trips can all be wonderful experiences, especially when you’re sharing the time with someone you love. It can also be great to go exploring by yourself. In our local travel writing class, students often pick Annapolis as their spot. I love to read about my hometown from their perspective, some of them only visiting Annapolis for their first or second time. As I’ve grown up in this area and have spent lots of time cavorting and entertaining in…

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  • Travel, Interrupted

    January 2, 2019 /

      Lesson learned in 2018: Perhaps avoid planning travel excursions during the holiday season when people are getting sick and germs are running rampant. Last week, the day after Christmas, for the second year in a row, we had planned a trip to Asheville, North Carolina, with two days in Williamsburg to follow at Christmas. We’ve been trying to do a little more travel and less material gifts with our kids now that they are older teenagers. And so, last year, the trip was put off because my son, as a then senior in high school, had a ton of homework and presentations to put together for both school and…

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    February 5, 2016

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    December 24, 2015
  • A Tear Worth Shedding and Other Things

    November 5, 2018 /

    I thought I’d start this Monday with a little recap of a whole bunch of things I’ve been doing over the last week. Let’s begin with a book recommendation. The Next Person You Meet in Heaven Some people are remarkably gifted storytellers. I finished a book at midnight last night by one such gifted storyteller: Mitch Albom. The Next Person You Meet In Heaven resonated so deeply with me that I shed many tears throughout the book. So many “themes” he touches upon in the novel are relatable. This book picks up many years later after Eddie’s death in The Five People You Meet In Heaven with Annie, the little…

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    What Blogging Has Meant to Me

    January 12, 2019

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  • They Say That Travel Changes You

    July 7, 2018 /

    They say that travel changes you. This is known to be true. For every time you take a step, No matter how many or few– The perspective that you used to have Is replaced with something new. —stephanie verni—  

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  • The Case for the American Road Trip

    July 1, 2017 /

    A few years ago, I read Andrew McCarthy’s piece entitled U.S. Road Trips: Into the Heart of America, and I couldn’t agree with him more about getting into your car and going. He begins the piece with this sentence: There’s nothing wrong that a hundred bucks and a full tank of gas can’t fix. I heartily agree, Mr. McCarthy. One of the most special things about taking road trips, in my humble opinion, is not just getting there and seeing what you want to see, but also the ability to get lost and see what you didn’t expect to see. That’s it in a nutshell. Sometimes the best surprises, or…

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  • 8 Things Teachers Enjoy During Summer Break

    May 19, 2017 /

    *** Yesterday, students at Stevenson University celebrated their graduation at our ceremonies in Maryland. As a professor in the department of Business Communication, I was thrilled to see our graduates walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. They worked hard the last four years, and it paid off. As for my colleagues and me, that means we are done teaching until August (unless some are teaching a summer course). While we certainly have preparations to make for the Fall 2017 semester (and I will be teaching a newly created course as well that requires a lot of work), we are free to do some things we want to do…

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    A Valentine’s Poem

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  • The (Obnoxious) Kid on the Plane

    May 3, 2017 /

    *** It’s a prayer all of us have sent up at some point in our lives: Please, God, don’t let the small, rambunctious kid sit near me on the plane. Sometimes prayers get answered. Sometimes, they don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I love children, especially my own more than others, but when I’m packed in like a sardine on my way to a pleasant vacation—or even worse, on my way home from a pleasant vacation—the last thing I want is a fussy, crying, obnoxious kid sitting next to me on my journey from which there is no escape until we land. I already come to the journey on an airplane…

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  • Home Inspiration: How To Display Collections From Your Travels

    December 12, 2016 /

    Traveling is one of the best gifts you can give yourself and your loved ones. Experiencing things together builds memories that you all will cherish forever. No one can take those remarkable moments from you. There are some places, however, that you visit whereby you may want to bring home a physical remembrance of the place. In those instances, items may collect in your home in a pile unless you know exactly how you will display or use them. My husband and I don’t mind having things from our trips as long as we know exactly what we will do with them and that they won’t just sit in a…

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  • An Eastern Shore Treasure: Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay

    October 5, 2016 /

    * As a Marylander who sometimes enjoys a quick getaway to the Eastern Shore, I recently had the privilege of once again staying at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa and Marina. Situated on the banks of the Choptank River, the resort boasts 342 acres in Cambridge, Maryland. As this was my third visit as a guest—having gone once before with my husband and then again for a girls’ getaway weekend—I always forget just how large, well-maintained, and picturesque it is. Unlike some resorts, it does not have an air of superiority to it; instead, it welcomes guests with open arms and invites them to walk the trails,…

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  • St. Michaels, Maryland: A Photo Essay & Setting For My New Novel

    September 27, 2016 /

    I love the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Whenever I can steal away and spend time in one of the many adorable towns across the Chesapeake Bay, I jump at the opportunity. Saturday was just such a time. Additionally, I have a vested interest in getting a good “feel” for the place as my new novel is set primarily in Oxford, Maryland, with jaunts to St. Michaels and Easton as well. I’ve done my homework—this summer, I spent time in Oxford. I made two trips there to walk around and get a feel for the place and the people. On Saturday, I took a stroll…it was just my camera and me…

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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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I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s book called BIG MAGIC when it debuted years ago. I remember feeling like we were soul sisters when it came out because of how I value creativity—both in myself and in my students. I never wanted to be that teacher who put the brakes on creativity. In fact, it was (and continues to be) a driving force in the way I teach my students. I am always amazed by students who believe they are not creative. Yet when you switch on the light and tell them they are, you see the proof of it in the work they produce. They ARE creative. We all have big magic in us; sometimes it just takes a little push to open the door to it. Don’t you agree that half the battle of writing a good story is believing in it? It takes a certain amount of faith and belief in your story— that it is worth telling—to keep you going. You need this faith in order to pursue all the things that go into the arduous task of writing and publishing a novel. I don’t know about you, but the satisfaction of hearing that people enjoyed it makes having that faith so worthwhile. This is my ode to being near the water. My soul always feels refreshed when I’m on the water. Most of my novels take place in a setting that involves water and boating. I love setting stories in places that reflect the love I have for small towns with water access. To me, it always feels like a place where you can escape to when you need that time to rejuvenate. Most of my characters feel the same way. I guess it’s true – write what you know. Which do you think I love more? The book is called Inn Significant for a reason. 💕 Two years after receiving the horrifying news of her husband Gil’s death, Milly Foster continues to struggle to find her way out of a state of depression. As a last-ditch effort and means of intervention, Milly’s parents convince her to run their successful Inn during their absence as they help a friend establish a new bed and breakfast in Ireland. Milly reluctantly agrees; when she arrives at the picturesque, waterfront Inn Significant, her colleague, John, discovers a journal written by her late grandmother that contains a secret her grandmother kept from the family. Reading her grandmother’s words, and being able to identify with her Nana’s own feelings of loss, sparks the beginning of Milly’s climb out of the darkness and back to the land of the living. The porch is open for the season. Thank you to @leeverni and @hector_herbert for all the help today. Couldn’t have done it without you! XxOo Another Blue Angels fly in Annapolis is in the books. Here’s a glimpse for those who love them as we do. 💙 Blue Angels Day here in Annapolis, but I’m sad to be without my husband, who’s in New York with the Orioles and clients. Wearing orange in their honor. Looking forward to seeing the planes fly shortly! I heard this and knew I wanted to make a reel with this audio. It’s so good & true & on 🔥. We are all of our experiences, both the good and the bad, the heartache and the happy times. You are better off with a woman who has grown from her experiences, including the mistakes, misjudgments, and bad decisions. We are a force to be reckoned with.

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