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Freewheeling in Semi-Retirement
I’ve always thought of my blog as a place where I share information about writing, books, teaching, storytelling, and the like. But now that I’m in this precarious phase of life called “semi-retirement,” I have to figure out what I’m all about. Things change. I mean this statement in the best of ways…it’s weird to be in this place, for sure. And I haven’t really flushed out my thoughts on it until now. I’ve been a teacher since 1993 when I taught my first college course. At that time, I was still working in baseball. Since then, I worked for a newspaper, had children, created my own business (twice), and…
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How Brene Brown’s research influenced my novel
Over the last few years, I’ve become enamored with Brené Brown’s research, specifically with regard to empathy, vulnerability, and shame. On campus, I’ve executed workshops about Brown’s wonderful book, Dare to Lead. If you haven’t read this book, I strongly urge you hop to it. It’s a wonderful dissection about daring leadership, and what factors play into what kind of leaders we admire and what kind of leader we, ourselves, want to be. In the course of preparing to teach others about Brown’s findings, many of her assessments were illuminating, and as I began to figure out what my next novel was going to tackle, I landed on all three…
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Friday Fodder: My Obsession with Letters & Journals
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, first, THANK YOU. Second, you may have read previous posts about writing letters and letter writing, because I’m obsessed with the notion of letter writing. And, you’ve probably also read many posts here about keeping a journal, most recently the one I wrote about keeping a journal during a pandemic. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Are you going to print out a text feed or email chain and save it in your memory box? The likelihood of that is slim to none. The lost art of letter writing is truly a loss of records. When someone takes…
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Valentine’s Day in Italy vs. Valentine’s Day in America
If you ever want to spend time in Italy during Valentine's Day, you may want to hit the two spots known to be the most romantic: Florence or Venice. Or, if Shakespeare worked his magic on you and you consider yourself more of a hopeless romantic rather than a tragic romantic, as was the case in Romeo & Juliet, the city of Verona hosts a 4-day celebration of lovers.
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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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PUBLICATION DAY for From Humbug to Humble, A Christmas Book to brighten your holidays
Yay!!! I’m so happy today! It’s RELEASE DAY for this little novella and labor of love. My new book, From Humbug to Humble, is on the market. If you love all things SCROOGE, I hope this will make you as happy reading it as it made me writing it. I’ve been feeling a bit “Scroogey” since the summer (only in the best of ways), and I’m thrilled that it’s finally arrived. As always, thank you for your support, for following along on this crazy journey of writing books, and for lifting me up. There are so many people to thank for helping me with this project, so as Scrooge says…
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A Pep Talk on How to Use NaNoWriMo to Your Advantage
Okay, listen up writers. I’m here to kick you into gear. I’m here to tell you it can be done. I’m here to tell you not to give up. November is here, and on this 5th day, let us remember that there are many more days in the month, and they shouldn’t go to waste if you are participating in NaNoWriMo, otherwise known as National Novel Writing Month. Established many years ago, NaNoWriMo was created to encourage writers to complete 50,000 words of a novel or work of nonfiction by November 30. The word count of 50,000 words constitutes a short novel, or approximately 1,660 words a day. I’m here…
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Coming in November
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Three Weeks Post Surgery & A New Travel Piece To Share
UPDATE Just keeping it real today. It’s been three weeks since my surgery, and while I am coming along, this has not been as easy a road for me as it may have been for others. I figured I’m not too proud to share my sassy sock fashion and cane on my blog along with an update. Having experienced back pain and SI-joint pain for years, it was time to try something to alleviate it. So, I had a full hip replacement because it had two tears in the labrum and was riddled with arthritis. I’ve taken time away from the university to heal, as was suggested by my doctor.…
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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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Hip, Hip, Hooray: From one Great Birthday Gift to Another, the Annual Birthday Blog Post
I’m not sure last year’s birthday gift of a boat from my husband can be topped, but this year’s birthday gift might come close. I’ll give you some hints: it’s not something you’ll be able to see, but I’ll be able to feel. It’s smaller than a breadbox. It doesn’t come on a keychain or in a small Tiffany box as my birthday gift came last year. And, the gift will be bestowed to me in a building with lots and lots of rooms. You may be getting warm at this point. One more hint: it’s something that only a truly skilled person can give me, and I believe it…
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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…
