Stephanie's Studio

Earnestine is the main character and protagonist of my second novel, which is a W.I.P. I am very excited about Earnestine. I have spent many hours developing and refining her character. I would be the one guilty of wanting to put an exclamation point behind her name. With about a third of the first draft written, she is a character very much in development. Some days she is a blur and others, she's crystal clear. Recently, I had a breakthrough, wherein I could finally hear how she speaks. Her's is a difficult voice for me to hear and capture. She speaks quietly. The fact that her story takes place in 1947, in Mobile, Alabama and one of the Greek Islands, makes her all the more mysterious. Her diction, colloquialisms, and tone are not all familiar. I enjoy the process of seeing how her voice will come through as the novel develops. I am eager to see her show and tell me how to write her story. As is true of my first work of fiction No Barren Life  the novel  Out of the...

When I first became a blogger it was difficult to know if I had readers and visitors coming to my blog. I’d post and be met by the sounds of crickets. Then, I branched out into the world of the blogosphere, a world I  didn't  know really existed. From my ventures, I met a lot of interesting bloggers.  I've  started following and commenting on numerous blogs, for you see, prior to my outings, I too was out among the crickets. Lurking about but seldom saying anything. A fellow blogger  I've  met through my journeys around the blogosphere is Melissa Maygrove . She had the brilliant idea to have a Follow Fest , where we share about who we are, what we do and most importantly, how you can connect with us further. It is my intention through joining Follow Fest, that I’ll connect with many more readers and people interested enough in what I do to want to learn more by following. So, here goes my entry for the fest. Name:   St...

I resonate with this image of a butterfly in an ambiguous field of color depicted on this art card because I am on a journey of transformation and changes as well.  I'm excited about so many things.  One of them is that I have started a novel.  It is about 1/3 of the way to being finished, so I have a lot of work to go.  It centers around a 14 year old African American girl who has many trials and tribulations many of which are in the spirit realm.  You might call the book paranormal fiction or alternative spiritual fiction; though the main character if young the book is not a young adult reader, it is meant for adults.  Set in two locations, the New Jersey Pine Barrens, my original home, and the outback of Australia.  Not just a backdrop, the landscape plays an important role, it is lush, mysterious and interactive with the story.  In some ways it reminds me of "the Color Purple" and in others, "Girl Interrupted." I have definitely be...