Stephanie Verni's Blog, page 34

Friday Fashion: The Commitment to Add More Color to My Wardrobe

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Writers wear black.

Lots of it.

It’s kind of funny, actually, that as a lot, we’ve sort of taken this color and decided to claim it as our own. I’m not sure how this got started, perhaps because as a group we’re sort of identified as a deep-thinking with a dark side. But I don’t necessarily subscribe to that label, as some labels just simply aren’t true.

Some of us are happy writers.

Happy writers who wear a lot of black.

So my mission this semester on campus as a professor is to liven up my wardrobe. Does this mean I will never wear black or combinations of it again?

Of course not. That would be a ridiculous commitment to make. I still like the color black. It’s just that I want to lighten up my looks a little bit, especially as I am aging. There is no need to look like I’m headed to a funeral or in mourning every day.

For the past 14 days, I have not worn all black to work. I’m sharing a sample of what I’ve worn, as I’ve been posting some of my outfits (I missed some days) on Instagram at stephanie.verni.

What colors are your favorite to wear? I seem to be gravitating to a lot of reds lately.

Let me know how you’re assessing your own wardrobe, and have a great weekend, everyone.

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Creating An Office That Inspires

[image error]This office is the most inspirational one I’ve found on Pinterest. It is the one that has inspired the feeling that I want in my own office. Love all the colors.

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Yesterday, my students and I were talking about the space in which we do our writing. All of us are inspired by different things; for me, I have to be in a pleasing setting to write. My surroundings must inspire me to hunker down and get to work.

And while I will always drool over the notion of having a writing shed in the back yard (dream on…dream on), I have been creating a space that makes me want to come in it and write.

I’m the one in the house who uses the office. My husband loves to park himself in the kitchen at the counter with his laptop. My daughter does her homework in her room with a desk and our laptop. My son used to work at his desk in his room, which now sits vacant, as he is in college. So, not that I’m territorial or anything, but I do feel like the home office is mine, and as I am the only one in the family who writes and publishes books, I need to be “feeling it” in there, meaning I need to be able to close the door and be creative as I spend a great deal of time in that particular space.

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The walls in the office are currently a Tiffany blue, with built-in desks and dark countertops; there is a built-in bookcase loaded with our books; there is a good-size window that the sunlight comes through; and on the opposite wall is a cabinet for storage and a bulletin board with sweet notes I’ve received that I’ve pinned on it.

Behind my husband’s back, I (along with the help of our electrician, Al) removed the dark fan that hung from the ceiling in the room and replaced it with a chandelier. (“What the hell is that?” he asked, with a smirk on his face, the first time he came home and saw my new chandelier hanging in the fan’s place, to which I replied, “A chandelier. You can never have too many.”) I’m now thinking of painting the room a white or light grey color next year, as I am inspired so much by the office pictured above. I love that office. It screams, “Come on in, sit a while, and write!”

Mine is getting there. With time.

[image error]All of these books were written primarily in my home office. Gotta love your writing space.

Writing is my thing. I’m presently juggling three writing projects at once: updating our textbook, Event Planning: Communicating Theory and Practice, for a second edition with Kendall-Hunt; dabbling with a sequel to Inn Significant; and writing Chapter 5 of a new thing that has me completely motivated.

Writers will write, and we’ll write anywhere, but for me, the home office is where the creativity begins…and thrives.

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Hurricane Evacuations

[image error]Annapolis after Hurricane Irene, 2011. Photo credit: Capital Gazette

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I drove to work this morning thinking of all the people who will be affected by Hurricane Florence on the East Coast as the storm is approaching. My family and I have been evacuated three times by hurricanes from the Outer Banks on vacations, so we are no strangers to the impending damage storms of this size can wreak on coastline towns, and even on inland towns.

The first time we were evacuated, I had a one-year-old little boy, and we had spent only one night in the vacation home. The warnings grew dim, and we left early the next morning. We had no hurricane insurance, so we lost the entire week of vacation rental money. Obviously, our safety was first, and the money not that important, but we smartened up and bought hurricane insurance after that. The second time, we were in a different house, and had to leave mid-week. The third time, we lost the last two days of vacation. Needless to say, it’s both disappointing and frightening at the same time to make the decision to leave or to be told you must evacuate.

Last weekend when I spent time at The Sandaway Suites & Beach in Oxford, Maryland, the innkeepers talked with us about how past hurricanes have affected the beach area there. Pictures of Hurricane Irene from 2011 are vivid in my mind; seeing the damage that storm caused in my hometown of Annapolis makes you concerned for what’s ahead with Florence.

Please keep travelers and homeowners and residents in your thoughts and prayers as this storm makes its way toward the coast. It always hurts a little bit when we see what happens to the coastlines and how they can be drastically changed after wicked rain, winds, and surges hit land.

I will be hoping for the best, and pray Mother Nature is kind.

My Newest Writing Project

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People always ask me what I’m working on next, so I thought I’d get this out of the way. It’s a common question I field often. It may disappoint some folks, but it’s not the sequel to Inn Significant, though I still play with that manuscript a little. Instead, there’s a short story in my latest release, The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry, that I fell in love with and that wouldn’t leave me alone, kind of like a pesky fly that won’t go away. After publishing that book this summer, the characters in that story–Life with Nan–sort of came to life in my imagination–and then more characters arrived. Did someone tell them there was a little party going on in my head?

This afternoon, I took a moment to write a brief character sketch of each one. I have written over 14,000 words thus far, and am excited by the prospect of shopping this novel out when it’s done. I have never tried that path before. The cover you see there is something I created as a visual, just for me. It helps me create when I can see the “big picture” possibility of what the result could be. Pictures, photographs, and stellar note-taking help my process. As you all can probably see by now, it took until I hit my 30s to realize I wanted to teach college and until my 40s to begin writing novels. Both careers I thought about as a teenager.

Therefore the Friday inspirational message is this: Please, do your best to follow your own passion(s)…even if it’s something you do on the side. Remember: these joys make up part of who you are.

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Answering The Big Question…”So, what are you working on now?”

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People always ask me what I’m working on next, so I thought I’d get this out of the way. It’s a common question I field often. It may disappoint some folks, but it’s not the sequel to Inn Significant, though I still play with that manuscript a little. Instead, there’s a short story in my latest release, The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry, that I fell in love with and that wouldn’t leave me alone, kind of like a pesky fly that won’t go away. After publishing that book this summer, the characters in that story–Life with Nan–sort of came to life in my head–and then more characters arrived. Did someone tell them there was a little party going on in my head?

This afternoon, I took a moment to write a brief character sketch of each one. I have written over 14,000 words thus far, and am excited by the prospect of shopping this novel out when it’s done. I have never tried that path before. The cover you see there is something I created as a visual, just for me. It helps me create when I can see the “big picture” possibility of what the result could be. Pictures, photographs, and stellar note-taking help my process. As you all can probably see by now, it took until I hit my 30s to realize I wanted to teach college and until my 40s to begin writing novels. Both careers I thought about as a teenager.

Therefore the Friday inspirational message is this: Please, do your best to follow your own passion(s)…even if it’s something you do on the side. Remember: these joys make up part of who you are.

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Setting #Goals – The First Step in Turning the Invisible to the Visible

[image error]I use a lot of prompts in my writing classes.
Today’s in-class writing prompt was this:

Write about a goal you are trying to achieve. This can be a personal goal, an educational goal, or a professional goal. No more than 350 words.

I decided to write along with my class this morning, as I am going to try something new this time. Feel free to join in the fun and write or blog along with us.
Here’s my prompt.

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Over the last few months, I’ve decided that after self-publishing four independent works of fiction, I am going to write a fifth novel that I will attempt to send out to an agent or publisher. This decision comes after years of struggling with self-promotion as an independent author. While I have enjoyed every aspect of self-publishing, especially all the control that comes with it, I think it may be time to move on and venture outside of my comfort zone. I am constantly telling my students to step outside of their own backyards, and this time, it’s time for me to take my own advice.

This will not be an easy exercise for me, as someone who has control issues. Soliciting for publication takes a whole lot of perseverance and confidence. Getting rejection letters can certainly damage the creative spirit. However, I’ve come to believe that my work is good enough for consideration, at the very least.

The current book I’m writing, another novel which came from the inspiration of a short story I wrote (which incidentally came from a writing prompt), is something that feels magical to me. It’s a story of a woman who goes through a divorce and then decides to leave London, where she lives, and live with her grandmother in the country. It’s the story of friendship among women, of embracing change, and of appreciating the love of a family.

Last night, I checked my word count. I’m closing in on 10,000 words of that novel, and I know exactly where it’s going and what is going to happen to the main character. I’m having to search for British words and slang, as my main character has a British mum and an American dad.

Inspired by so many things I’ve read over the summer, I’m putting all my egg in this basket. It’s a basket I’ve enjoyed pulling together, and for the time being, I’m tabling another work of fiction, the sequel to Inn Significant, while I power through this new idea.

I hope it’s a novel a publisher will love.

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The Results of My Favorite Kind of Getaway Research

[image error]Hello Dear Readers,

I’m back from a fabulous weekend in Oxford, Maryland, with my husband. The Eastern Shore of Maryland is uniquely qualified to sufficiently relax you, while at the same time, invigorate your creative spirit. And if you’ve been following along on my blog for the last week, I needed the getaway so much, having pulled my lower back in the most extraordinary of ways (bending over to reach for something in a drawer, go figure!) that left me in pain for a good 10 days.

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Having nursed myself back from that injury to being able to enjoy the weekend without agony was an accomplishment in itself. Hours spent on my heating pad, innumerable icy hot patches, and some anti-inflammatory drugs from my doctor did the trick. I was so thankful. I was able to bike around the town and kayak on the Tred Avon River with my husband, and I felt great.

If you’ve never visited my blog before, you need to know that I had to go back to Oxford, and requested this little trip as a birthday present from my husband, because I’m not sure if I’m done with Milly and John yet; I’m still toying with them. Milly and John are the two main characters in my third novel, Inn Significant, and something tells me those characters might need a sequel (as do a few of my readers who are requesting more of them).

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We decided to do immersive research, and the results of that research in Oxford has led me to this conclusion—I was right to set my novel in this picturesque, small, and charming town. The people are warm and welcoming—overly friendly—and there is a tight-knit spirit among the locals, as well as a sense of pride about their town. Visitors we talked to along the way, and there were many, were enamored with Oxford as well. One family we met rented a home down the street from the waterfront beach area in Oxford, and were enjoying the simple pleasures of swimming in the river with their new puppy, a Golden Retriever named Molly, who swam for the first time.

“I’m trying to figure out how to afford a second home here,” a woman named Rochelle told me as we talked on the beach.

We saw people take their beach chairs to the water’s edge to read and get some sun as the waves gently rolled onto the small sandy beach. We passed anchored boats in the harbor on the kayak we rented for two hours where people were enjoying a drink and reading on board while feeling the breeze and getting some sun. The Scottish Highland Creamery, one of the best ice creameries in Maryland, was hopping as it was quite warm during our visit and people wanted to cool down with a delicious, frozen treat. And their flavors are quite unique and tasty: I had chocolate sorbet and my husband had a heaping pile of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

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Perhaps my favorite part of the getaway was biking with my husband, as we chatted and rode side-by-side and looked at homes as we meandered our way in and out of streets and alleyways, coming upon one charming home after another. There is so much waterfront property in Oxford, and two casual restaurants that we tried were right on the water—Doc’s Sunset Grille and Capsize (that has a fantastic logo, with the “i” in Capsize upside down–see below). We had lunch at each of them, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Additionally, two great fine dining restaurants are in town: The Robert Morris Inn and Pope’s Tavern. We ate at The Robert Morris on Saturday evening on the outside patio and spoke with other diners while we enjoyed a scrumptious meal prepared by Chef Mark Salter. We topped it off with a piece of Red Velvet Smith Island Cake. Yum-o.

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We stayed, of course, at The Sandaway Suites and Beach, the inn on which I based the premise of my third novel, Inn Significant (to read more about this book, click here), and the setting for the sequel I am presently dabbling with on and off. While I had talked with the folks at the Inn and had walked the property prior to writing the novel, I had not stayed at the Inn. Our room was in one of the cottages on the second floor with a great view of the Tred Avon and the lawn of the property that extends to the river, where Adirondack chairs invite you to come and sit a while. We did. We sat in the shade and watched the boats go by and talked. We walked the grounds and chatted with the owner. We said hello to Ben, the innkeeper. We marveled at the amazing mimosa tree on the front lawn, and I felt as if it was divine providence that I was there, as my first novel is called Beneath the Mimosa Tree (although set in Annapolis). It all came together in one magical setting, and I came away both rested and inspired.

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Therefore, after stalling a bit on writing the sequel to Inn Significant, I feel pleasantly motivated to begin fresh and perhaps pick up where I left off. There’s something that continues to lure me back to Oxford; perhaps it’s in the winds of the place, in the shimmering water and beautiful sunsets, or in the fictitious characters that I imagine I see among the engaging real people in the town that inspire me to set my story once again in this magnificent slice of Maryland.

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Bucket List Item – Staying at the “Real” Inn Significant

[image error]Photo of the Sandaway Suites & Beach from their Facebook page. Looking forward to it!

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Tomorrow, my birthday wish will come true, thanks to my husband.

When he asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told him I wanted to stay at the Sandaway Suites & Beach in the quaint, Eastern Shore town of Oxford, Maryland. It just so happens that it’s the real-life inn that inspired my third novel, Inn Significant.

The original plan for that novel was to have it set in Annapolis, just as my first book was set there (that one’s called Beneath the Mimosa Tree). I headed to Annapolis with my camera in hand, and began to stroll all the side streets in search of that place that would be the inspiration for my story. While I write fiction, I base most of what I write on real people and places and circumstances and things. When I couldn’t quite place where the inn would be in Annapolis, and having just written about that city in my first book, I decided to take a trip to Oxford and perhaps set the novel elsewhere.

I called on my trusty partner-in-crime, my mother, to come with me.You guessed right. I fell in LOVE with Oxford. As soon as I saw The Sandaway, I knew it was the perfect inspirational setting for my character, Milly, to recover from the devastating loss of her husband. And that was that.

The folks at The Sandaway were super sweet and let me come onto the grounds where I took tons of inspirational photos. Those photos were used countless times to inspire my writing–to help me picture where Milly and John and Miles would all be having their conversations, living day-to-day, or attending celebrations and activities on the massive lawn that overlooks the Tred Avon River.

And now, this weekend, I get to go as a guest. I’ll be staying in one of the rooms, and I’ll experience Oxford as my characters did.

I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to the experience, and I’m hoping it inspires me to complete the sequel, which I’m about 1/3 of the way into at present.

 

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Goodbyes. Gripping Pain. And a Giveaway.

[image error] Wishing this kid of mine well in college!

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Hi there!

I feel as if I’ve been away from my blog for a while, and I actually have, although it’s been entirely unintentional. Today, I wanted to explain why, especially as I wanted to write about the past week, which has been somewhat momentous for my family.

My son started his freshman year at a university, and it’s not the one where I teach. The preparation, though, was all that you’d expect. The day before he left, we were frantically getting everything together, making sure he had all he needed. We washed clothes and ran to Target. We created a checklist and began ticking things off. We organized and packed. We loaded up the car that night. In the morning, we ate breakfast and began our hour and forty minute ride to his new “home away from home,” where he will be living for the next four years.

If you’re wondering if I balled my eyes out, I did not. I swallowed hard when I said goodbye, and only a small tear floated in my eyeball; I didn’t allow it to leak out, I fought so hard. My husband got a little choked up, but honestly, we all kept it together. Friends were texting me that night asking how my daughter coped with it all, and I told them, are you kidding? She’s now Queen of the Castle. She’s happy as a pig in … She won’t admit it, of course, but she does miss her big brother a little.

And now, it’s a full week later, almost to the hour, and I’m coming out of it.

Not the goodbye or the notion that my son is gone for extended periods of time, but rather I am coming out of the awful physical pain that happened to me as we moved him in. You see, I thought I had a hip problem and have been seeing a doctor for issues with my hip, but apparently, my doctor was right with his new diagnosis that I may have a back problem, and ironically it was uncovered the day before we took my kid to college. That’s right–I have a lower back problem that needs tending to, and I pulled it as I was moving my child into his dorm room, just like that, by bending over to reach for something. I’ve been out of commission for a week, but am now getting better. I taught my first classes yesterday and today (without pain), and last week I had a few meetings to attend (in pain). Little did anyone know (except the few I told), that I was actually writhing in pain during these four and two hour meetings, in addition to attending convocation and a picnic last week. I fought through all of that.

And now, all I can say is THANK GOD FOR THE INVENTOR OF ICY HOT. That icy hot patch, my heating pad, and the pills that were prescribed for me are my new best friends.

So that’s why I haven’t been around. I’ve been too busy being miserable and cantankerous and mired down in self pity, you see.

In celebration that I’m turning a corner and will soon begin physical therapy to strengthen and attack this back problem I have, I decided to do something nice, so I’m giving a way some more of my new books. Also, thank you to those of you who have bought copies recently. I noticed my sales numbers were good, and I’m happy to see people are enjoying the collection of short stories. All my books are available on Amazon.com and BN.com. I am always thankful for your support.

[image error]If you’d like to enter the giveaway, please do so by clicking this link below:

https://giveaway.amazon.com/p/07e5f03739b746e1

I wish you all well as you or your children begin a new school year, and please, take care of  yourselves. Listen to your doctors and do what is best for you. As Will Traynor says in Me Before You, one of my favorite books, “You only have one life to live; it’s actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.”

Be well, my friends.

And I hope you win a book.

[image error]Let’s give away copies of The Postcard and Other Short Stories & Poetry, shall we?

To Write, You Must Fall In Love … With Words

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The words in the heart above were made with love. And love was one of the favorite words selected as their favorite by some of my friends.

When I put a call out on Facebook for people to tell me what their favorite word was, I received 67 responses. Not too bad for a quick poll as summer began to wind down.

As I promised my Facebook friends who participated, their words made it into this blog post which I will share with my students next week. Some words are more powerful than others; words help us truly define things we want to express or clarify; and when stringing words together, they make up sentences, and through those collected sentences, we have the capacity to tell stories. Every word we write should move our stories along, help us tell poignant memories or fictions, and keep people entertained, because the bottom line is, readers can easily put the article, paper, or book down and move on to something else if they become disinterested.

Writers are constantly challenged to keep readers engaged.

Words matter.

In order to fall in love with writing, you have to fall in love with words. Choosing the right ones for particular purposes requires you to have a handle on clarity, as well, because good writers are easily understood. Additionally, the ability to use words to your advantage typically means that you read a lot and are constantly exposed to words, thereby you grow your own vocabulary. And if you are not a reader and want to be a writer, I strongly suggest you start to read.

As the fall semester begins for my students and me on Monday at Stevenson University, and as I will be teaching three writing courses (two sections of feature writing and one section of travel writing) along with one advertising class, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that these subjects require the use of words. We’re going to do a lot more with word structure, sentence clarity, and readability this semester.

Next week, I’ll have students execute a similar activity in class, and they will have to share some of their own favorite words with their classmates.

To my Facebook friends who participated–thank you so much. It means the word–I mean world–to me.

xx

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