Category: Writing Life

  • My Dream of Travel Writing

    Hello, tender friends! I’m a sucker for optimism. Despite the unlikeliness of it all, I keep travel writing on my “maybe, hopefully someday I can do that” list. This piece isn’t travel writing, and the conventions are vastly different, but my optimistic tendencies have the gears of my mind turning as always. Maybe, hopefully someday…

  • Dreaming of the Perfect Home- part 4

    Hello, tender friends! I was so excited when I got assigned to write about the art in this home. https://theroanoker.com/magazine/home-and-garden/when-art-comes-home/ But I discovered something even more endearing than the objets d’art in our interview: a couple that loved each other well throughout a long and happy marriage, right up to the end. I left the…

  • Dreaming of the Perfect Home-3

    Hello, tender friends! Thank you so much for your interest and comments on the homes articles I’ve been posting. I have a blast writing them, and it’s so fun to look back at the pictures and remember these beautiful homes. Here’s another for today: https://theroanoker.com/magazine/home-and-garden/blank-slate-built-to-last/ This homeowner was so lovely and even sent me home…

  • Dreaming of the Perfect Home

    Hello, tender friends! https://theroanoker.com/magazine/home-and-garden/eco-friendly-updates-for-year-round-comfort/ To those of you who are new here, thank you so much for signing on to follow along with us! I’ll be sharing a lot of work that I’ve done professionally between now and the end of the year, but I’ll get back to regularly scheduled programming after that. Thank you…

  • A Neighborhood I Love

    Hello, tender friends! I’m sorry I forgot to post yesterday. Because time is a bit tight this week, I wanted to share a home I wrote about in a local neighborhood that I love. https://theroanoker.com/magazine/home-and-garden/satisfying-a-community-craving/ I love touring these homes and interviewing the homeowners. I wish I could do things like this full time, but…

  • A Wedding Story

    Hello, tender friends! I recently published this article with Business Insider. As it went live, I realized that I never actually shared this part of our wedding story on here. So here it is: https://www.businessinsider.com/let-friends-get-engaged-at-wedding-surprise-proposal-good-idea-2025-7 This is a very pared down version of the original, but as I’ve studied Business Insider’s branding, I see how…

  • Celebrating a New Publication

    Hello, tender friends! While it fades, the thrill of a new byline is is fun! I have received so much good, free literary nonfiction advice from the Brevity blog that it was a privilege to publish this with them and pay it forward: https://brevity.wordpress.com/?s=Stacey+manganelli I believe in supporting other writers. I believe that God is…

  • Writers’ Conference Musings

    Hello, tender friends! Here’s a debriefing of the writers’ conference that I attended in Bluefield, West Virginia, at the beginning of April. (Thank you so much for the request, Nancy!) Let’s start with a quote by Hannah Anderson, a writer who actually lives in Roanoke, where we’ve been living for the past 5 years: “Writers…

  • In & Out Travels

    Hello, tender friends! I attended a writing conference this past weekend in Bluefield, West Virginia. This message on the marquee warmed my heart when we arrived. Bluefield was a boom and bust coal town, so much of the city is in poor condition. But the venue itself was beautiful. I’m a sucker for gilded wall…

  • Join Toastmasters With Me!

    Hello, tender friends ! I hope you’re staying safe and dry wherever you are! Here in Southwest Virginia we’re recovering from flooding last night. Thankfully we all stayed safe. While I missed out on some activities yesterday because of the weather, I was fortunately able to attend my Toastmasters meeting this week. I won this…