Stephanie Verni's Blog, page 73

Suggestions for Helping Kids (and Adults) Enjoy Reading

I’ve been teaching now since 1993 when I instructed that first course in public speaking. Over the years, I’ve moved from teaching public speaking into teaching writing and other communication courses. Over this period of time, I’ve noticed a dramatic drop in the amount of outside reading done by students (I’ve also noticed, as have […]

Meeting People at Baltimore Book Festival

Yesterday, I spent the day in Baltimore at the annual Book Festival, which was relocated to the Inner Harbor from Mount Vernon two years ago. It’s a great place to chat with people, talk about your book, and maybe sell a few copies along the way. With my trusted assistant—my daughter Ellie—by my side, we […]

BOOKISH — Sunday Book Festival and Monday Book Talk on the Docket

Tomorrow begins Day One of the Baltimore Book Festival. Book lovers in Baltimore—there’s a lot to rejoice. The lineup of authors is terrific, and local authors and speakers will be there as well sharing stories about writing and publishing. I’ll be in the Author’s Tent on Sunday, September 27 from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. […]

Random (And I Do Mean Random) Thoughts

I haven’t blogged in over a week, and I was thinking about all the different things on which I could write a blog post. Instead of one focused topic, I decided to go the route of all the random thoughts that have come in and out of my head over the last week. They are […]

A Few Updates On This Rainy Saturday

Happy Saturday! It’s a rainy afternoon here in the Annapolis area. I’m a little disappointed in the weather because I was slated to watch my son’s high school golf match today, but the rain has postponed it. I’m very proud of him for making the golf team. He worked hard over this past year, practicing […]

That First Sentence

Yesterday, my students wore a few blank stares on their faces when I asked how many had started writing their profile articles. This was a viable question since the drafts are due next week. The truth was, few had begun to write. Hence, the problem. Writing that first sentence. How to craft that first sentence […]

Why We Should Stop Using the Phrase “In the Real World”

While there are many trite (and incorrectly structured) phrases that people use constantly, i.e. phrases like “It is what it is” and “I could care less,” whereby the first just sounds silly and the latter actually means you care, there is another phrase that I’d like to see stripped from our sentence constructs. The phrase […]

Friday Fodder | It’s Been a Good Week

Honorable Mention Award | Readers’ Favorite 2015 Whenever something you’ve written garners a little recognition, it’s a good thing. Getting another nod from Readers’ Favorite made my week, as Baseball Girl was a project I worked on for three years. Seeing it earn an award in the category of Sports Fiction made me happy, too. […]

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

Reflections on Cal Ripken and 2131 * * * Twenty years ago this week Cal Ripken tied and broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record. Twenty years ago. It seems difficult to fathom, actually. I was proud to have been a part of such a wonderful front office — people who cared about the game of […]

Feminine, Sparkly Accessories For Fall

While summer is not quite over yet, fall merchandise is upon us. The stores are switching from summer sale items to cashmere. It’s time to think about adding some accessories to your wardrobe–and I’m feeling a little sparkly today. It’s Friday…time to shine. I’ve always loved clothes and fashion. Part of me never stopped playing […]