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  • Books I’ve Enjoyed
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    • 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
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    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 14: Finding and Flushing Out Story Ideas for Novel Writers

    April 14, 2020

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

    September 28, 2022

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

    May 14, 2020
  • sea beach water ocean

    Fictography For Old Time’s Sake and as a Teaching Tool: Back Home

    March 12, 2019 /

      /FICTOGRAPHY/ def. — The intersection of photography (submitted by readers) and fiction (written by me!). A few years ago, I executed a writing challenge whereby readers submitted travel photos they took, and I would write the story that I imagined went along with that photograph. Today, as I write this, my students are engaged in an activity that asks them to write using their five senses—and to see where those senses can take them. They smelled something, tasted something, and touched something, and then they used photos and clips of music to spark a story. When it came to “sight,” I posted three photographs that they could use as…

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    Pretty Things, Poetry, and Handmade Valentines

    January 27, 2016

    How Brene Brown’s research influenced my novel

    June 13, 2022

    Friday Fodder: My Obsession with Letters & Journals

    May 6, 2022
  • Getting in the Write Frame of Mind

    October 30, 2018 /

    ​​ I can equate the feeling of getting in the right frame of mind for yoga to getting in the right frame of mind for writing. It’s time to stop finally stop saying you’re going to write it and actually do it. All I can do is strongly encourage you to write, to tell the stories you have held deep inside of you. I can’t physically make you do it. But as your self-appointed writing yogi, I am hopeful that you’ll join me on this adventure we call #nanowrimo – National Novel Writing Month. Or, if you’re not ready to begin drafting your work, just grab a journal and have…

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    Happy Easter!

    April 12, 2020

    Friday Fiction: Writing the Prologue & Baseball Girl

    April 15, 2016

    Launching Little Milestones AND NaNoWriMo in one Evening on Campus

    October 26, 2019
  • National Novel Writing Month Kick-off Next Week

    October 24, 2018 /

    Writers get excited about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) like kids get excited about gifts at the holidays. It’s fun, it’s fulfilling, and it can be frenetic. Why? Because you’re trying to write a novel during the month of November. That’s 30 days, people. And if you can’t finish it, you can at least make some progress toward it. Novels such as The Night Circus and Water for Elephants were started during NaNoWriMo, so if that doesn’t motivate you to begin that work you’ve been thinking about for a while, nothing will. In conjunction with the Stevenson University Library and the communication club on campus, 47 House, I’ll be kicking…

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    Podcast 10 – A Little About My Books & Storytelling to Help You Write Your Stories

    March 18, 2020

    Midnight Madness in Annapolis

    December 11, 2015

    Hip, Hip, Hooray: From one Great Birthday Gift to Another, the Annual Birthday Blog Post

    August 16, 2021
  • A Previous Life – A Short Story

    October 4, 2018 /

    Last night at dinner with my friend, Elizabeth, she mentioned that she enjoys reading my short prompts and short stories on the blog. I haven’t written one in a long while, so this morning, I found a prompt that I decided to tackle. It goes like this: Write a scene whereby two people think that they have met before–whether in this lifetime or a previous one. This one’s for you, Elizabeth. A PREVIOUS LIFE The bar was dim, and there were few people in the place at the moment, because it was still early. The 80s music played in the background, and he caught himself tapping his foot to the…

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    One Week to the Publication of The Letters in the Books

    June 21, 2022

    Friday Fodder | It’s Been a Good Week

    September 4, 2015

    The Thing That Connects Us

    December 14, 2019
  • What I’m Working On: My Summer Writing Projects

    April 30, 2018 /

    Two weeks remain until the close of the Spring 2018 semester. It’s been a very hectic, but productive one, and I’m eager to hear some final student presentations, read final papers, and complete the final curriculum of the year. I may take a few days off afterwards to smell the roses, go for a road trip, see the Blue Angels, and stroll around Annapolis and some Eastern Shore towns with my Nikon in hand—one of my favorite things to do. But I’m also looking forward to completing the writing and editing of my short story collection, tentatively titled THE POSTCARD and OTHER SHORT STORIES and POEMS. As some of you…

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    Friday Fodder | It’s Been a Good Week

    September 4, 2015

    Baseball = Love : Reflections on Ripken, Gehrig, and 2131; Baseball Girl Receives an Award; and Thoughts on Moments in Time

    September 1, 2015

    That First Sentence

    September 9, 2015
  • Flash Fiction from a Writing Prompt

    April 20, 2018 /

    * In the classes I teach at Stevenson University, students know that I have the propensity to use writing prompts in class to get them writing creatively and telling little stories. Their purpose? Simply to practice writing. Often, when I have the inclination to write something but am in-between novels, I use writing prompts a lot. There are three main reasons to use a writing prompt: It gets you writing (as stated above) and thinking creatively. It gets you thinking in way you may not have been thinking when you started staring at the blinking cursor and allows you to take a writing journey. It can turn into something wonderful.…

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    The Most Difficult Part is Getting to the Finish Line

    January 10, 2019

    Pumpkin.ssssssssss

    October 14, 2015

    Travel, Interrupted

    January 2, 2019
  • What I’ve Been Up To

    November 20, 2017 /

      *** It’s Monday, November 20, and I’m not as far along with National Novel Writing Month (#nanowrimo) as I would like to be. I’ve hit over 12,000 words, but if one is trying to finish a novel in four weeks, one has to do better than that. But there’s been a slight problem. Father time has keep me busy in other areas. Because it’s been so busy and I have not been fulfilling my obligations very well as a promoter of #nanowrimo, I believe I owe you the reasons behind why I have not held up my end of the bargain. Let me present you with my Three Main…

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    Feminine, Sparkly Accessories For Fall

    August 28, 2015

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    December 8, 2021

    Giving In To Creativity

    February 2, 2020
  • T H A N K F U L | D A Y 14 | NaNoWriMo

    November 14, 2017 /

    With Thanksgiving around the corner, I am thankful for my family who always encourages me to continue with my passion. It’s important to have a good support system around you when you tackle something as big as a novel. And it’s wonderful to have people who support you, even though it’s a time-consuming endeavor. T H A N K   Y O U   M Y   D E A R   F A M I L Y. * * * Now, for TODAY’S PROMPT Write 500 words For Fiction Three characters are stuck in an elevator in their 24-story building. The three have never met before. One has claustrophobia, one is exhausted and…

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    Sunday Positive Thoughts (Post The Chosen)

    March 13, 2022

    Launching Little Milestones AND NaNoWriMo in one Evening on Campus

    October 26, 2019

    Reflections on 2131 after ESPN Aired the Game Last Night

    April 8, 2020
  • Podcast & Prompt | #nanowrimo | Day 8

    November 8, 2017 /

    Steph’s Scribe Podcast 5 | Best Books For Writers My apologies in advance. I never realized how often I say the word fabulous until I listened to this PODCAST back. I’ll work on that… But seriously, all these books are F A B U L O U S, which is why I am recommending them to writers. WRITING PROMPT For Fiction Write a scene in dialogue only. Do not use any other description or narrative techniques. Just write dialogue. For Non-fiction Write the dialogue of a conversation you overheard and tried to piece together. Do your best to stay true to the actual words that were spoken by your characters.

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    An Easter Contemplation About Grandparents

    April 11, 2020

    Books. Book Talks. Bookshelves.

    January 19, 2020

    The Thing That Connects Us

    December 14, 2019
  • Prompt & Podcast – November 6 #nanowrimo

    November 6, 2017 /

    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:…

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    Book Launch – Day Two Promo

    July 17, 2018
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    Two Exercises for Teaching Description and Using The Five Senses in Writing

    May 22, 2020

    The Things We Take For Granted

    December 16, 2015
  • Prompt & Podcast – Day 3 #nanowrimo

    November 3, 2017 /

    Happy Friday afternoon! I hope you are doing well AND doing well with your writing. As it’s Friday and the weekend is ahead of us, maybe finding some time to write won’t be as challenging for us as it is during the week. Today’s PODCAST is about THEMES. I share with you some thoughts about themes and what I think about with regard to novel writing and my readers. I hope you’ll have a listen and let me know your thoughts. Steph’s Scribe   Talking About Themes *** As for today’s PROMPTS, they are below. Have a good weekend, and keep writing. TODAY’S PROMPTS #nanowrimo | 400-500 words | Steph’s…

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    The Most Difficult Part is Getting to the Finish Line

    January 10, 2019

    Friday Fiction: Writing the Prologue & Baseball Girl

    April 15, 2016

    A Vlog About Writing (Because I didn’t feel like writing it)…Is that weird?

    January 26, 2023
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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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