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Stefanie Worth

Stefanie Worth


Last Updated: 11/29/2009

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Gender: Female
Status: Married
Age: 100
Sign: Scorpio

City: Detroit by way of St. Louis
State: Michigan
Country: US
Signup Date: 10/11/2006

Blog Archive
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Saturday, October 10, 2009 

Current mood:  ecstatic
Category: Writing and Poetry
To celebrate the release of my novella, HeavenSent.com, in the Holiday Brides anthology, I'm giving away books, gift cards, and beautiful keepsakes!

There are two ways to enter and yes, you can enter both ways.

Reader Thank You Prize Pack:
Sign up for my newsletter and you'll be entered to win a $10 Barnes & Noble gift card and a signed copy of my backlist books, Where Souls Collide and The Holiday Inn. Three lucky readers will each win one of these prize packs.

Grand Prize Pack:
My heroine, Brenna, has decided that the only way to make good on her mission to find a man is through online dating at HeavenSent.com. For a chance at the Grand Prize Pack, you need to sign up for my newsletter AND write your own online dating profile! It can be funny or serious. Please keep to 50 words or less. I'll pick five to be highlighted on my web site, blog, Facebook and MySpace pages. Two winners will receive a grand prize pack that includes a $20 Barnes & Noble gift card, signed copies of my backlist books The Holiday Inn and Where Souls Collide, and a gorgeous souvenir ceramic tile from Detroit's nationally renowned Pewabic Pottery studio.

Enter today at through my web site at www.stefanieworth.com!

Good luck!
Stefanie
9:05 PM 
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Thursday, September 24, 2009 

"***** FIVE STARS! I was sent a galley copy of this novella for an honest review. I am going to assume (yeah, I know the joke about assuming) that the other two stories are as good as this one. Therefore, this book receives the full five stars from me. Stefanie Worth's story hits close to home as she clearly shows how the economic world of today is, as well as how it affects people who live in it. Her characters, both mortal and angelic, are totally believable. Nothing comes across as odd or false. This book is perfect for reading while you are cuddled up in front a cozy fire indoors while the snow piles up outside. *****"


"HeavenSent.com is part of the Holiday Brides anthology. Ms. Worth does a fabulous job of bringing readers into this short story while filling it with an unexpectedly sweet romance, as well as heavenly paranormal elements. A fast-paced escape that’s sure to capture reader’s attention."


Visit the HeavenSent.com page on my site to view the book trailer or read an excerpt.
6:29 PM 
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Saturday, September 12, 2009 

Category: Life
After my second son was born and diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia, I joined an online group of special needs moms for support. I remember us passing around emails in those much earlier days of the internet, one of which was about how we were chosen to be mothers to these children for God's own reasons. While I clung to that belief at the time because so much uncertainty awaited us, I understand that poem much better now, 12 years later.

I'm lucky to be chosen as the caretaker of a terrific kid with an awful disease. I see and nurture the strength in him that I know he'll need when I'm no longer able to escort him into a doctor's office and speak on his behalf. The disease has developed character and advocacy in me I didn't know I had, but I still want it cured.

We had an awful spell around Memorial Day when he was hospitalized for the first time in almost two years. We're fortunate that he does not experience daily pain episodes like some children do, that he's only had one transfusion -- preceding removal of his tonsils and adenoids at two -- and that he's been stroke-free. But, boy, a few months ago. . .well, it still makes my breath catch in my chest and brings tears to my eyes.

Sickle Cell isn't as media-sexy as childhood cancer or pediatric AIDS, but it hurts. And to see your child unable to walk or move because it hurts so bad, to watch as another dose of morphine doesn't make it better. Oh, my dear God. I cannot tell you what that is like as a mother. I even had to pause in writing this to try and shake off the memory.

But I tell the story because there is kinship among those of us who share this difficult walk with our children. And kinship among those who've watched their children grow up with this disease and now worry about whether or not they'll find mates who understand and provide them with the support they need, and whether or not the disease will be passed to grandchildren and beyond.

As a global village, we all have parts we can play in eradicating this disease that afflicts one in nine African Americans as well as people of Greek, Italian and Middle Eastern descent (and others, too). My role is to write about our experiences and donate to the cause. Researchers are so close to a universal cure and I want to believe with all my heart that when my son is grown and finds a good woman to be his wife that passing on this disease to their children will not be the issue it is today. Let's hope, pray and act today.

To learn more about Sickle Cell, visit the Sickle Cell Disease of America.
My essay about The Baby God Gave Me

Please join us for the Sickle Cell Health Awareness Fair on Saturday, Sept. 19th, from 5:30 - 9 p.m.at the Boll Family YMCA (downtown Detroit). There'll be hustle lessons, food, fun and education. Tix are $20. Call 313-864-4406 for info. I'll be there signing books and spreading hope for a cure on behalf of my son.

Stefanie
http://www.stefanieworth.com/
10:11 PM 
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009 

Current mood:  imaginative
Category: Writing and Poetry

Well, I'm looking for a hero. And I'm going strictly on looks. He must be worthy of a push pin on my cork board: intoxicating enough to keep me spellbound until I've typed The End. He should not bore me. Every time I look at his face, I have to feel what Fallon (his wife) feels for him. Only I have to feel it more because I'm the one who has to bring him to life on all these pieces of paper that lie ahead of me.

I'm talking tall (let's go with six feet), muscular (not overdone, but purposefully sculpted), savvy, sensuous, sensitive. He ought to be willing and able to cook. And he's not big on housecleaning, but he'll spring for the maid (very personal preference entering the fictional realm there).

Oh, and can he sing. A Musiq, Maxwell, Robin Thicke kind of vibe. Plays the guitar but he's not a playa. I'm flexible on the hairstyle, but he's very well groomed. (In other words, there are two sinks and a huge mirror in the bathroom so Fallon doesn't have to fight him to get ready for work.)

Of course, he's a great lover -- knows when to be gentle and when to put on the power moves. But he's not too insecure to learn a thing or two from his woman.

This man has lived in my head since last year's novella Can You Believe (in The Holiday Inn anthology). I'd leave him there, but I have too many other folks clamoring for my mental mirror these days. I need to make him materialize and relegate him to a square across from my computer. Right now I've got Djimon hanging around as a placeholder, but I'm not trying to fight Kimora for him.

In summary, I need the m-m-good fineness of Terrence Howard, the casual charm of Dwayne Johnson (you know, The Rock), the versatility of Johnny Depp, the youthful vigor of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and the intensity of Laurence Fishburne.

Got any suggestions?
4:57 AM 
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Sunday, July 12, 2009 

Category: Writing and Poetry
In order to turn a page, there must be pages to turn, right?

I'll be the first to admit that my writing productivity took a major nosedive when my household went wireless. Not only did dial up keep me tied to a phone line, it kept me off the internet as a result. Maybe you remember those days when going online was a major expedition.

When I knew that checking my email was going to be a 20-minute undertaking between dialing up and logging in, I set aside a designated time period to do this and was much more organized in my approach. I'd dial in. Wait. Log in. Wait. Read. Respond. And get off line. If I didn't, I was bound to miss a phone call.

Even after I installed some kind of modem monitor software to tell me when a call was coming so that I could get off line, I still stuck to my system unless the incoming call seemed to be urgent. Once I dialed in, hopping on and off line was just too much trouble.

Once I'd finished my 30-60 minute email check and quick surf, it was back to writing. How many of us can say that we only spend, let's say, 45 minutes attached to our internet? Yes, well, like I said, it's affected my productivity.

So, today is the first day of my new writing plan. I've compartmentalized my writing duties, separating the creative, from the social, administrative and promotional. Sunday eve through Friday eve is now reserved for developing manuscripts. I'll check my email, but no surfing (unless it's book research), no social networking, no non-urgent marketing. Friday night through Sunday eve gets to be Facebook, MySpace, Twitter time. That's also when I'll craft blogs, update my web site and tend to my promotional and author admin.

For me, the best way to attack this new separation of duties is through my writing journal. I already set aside a page for goals each month, I'll now add a page for web site updates, and promotional to-do's. So instead of spending chunks of time doing each of these items every night, I'll condense them into the weekends. Just as I can't be all things to all people, my time can't effectively serve all my needs all at once.

Here's to change!
7:44 PM 
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Sunday, July 12, 2009 

Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
What are those four stages of grief? Denial. (Are you serious?) check. Anger. (How could this happen?) check. Depression (What a tragic loss.) check. Acceptance. (What can I learn from this?) check.

So, as I move on, I just thought that for the sake of posterity, I'd focus today's Thursday 13 post on things I'll remember about Michael Jackson:

1) Very carefully writing the lyrics to I'll Be There on that thick-ruled primary manuscript paper in a love note to SH in second grade. (He never got it, of course, because I had one of those mothers who went through all my stuff every day. She found the note and that was that.)

2) Bringing my parents' brand new 45 of the Jackson's Dancing Machine to class in sixth grade. For one day I wasn't the too-tall goodie-two-shoes who talked "proper." I was the inspiration for an impromptu Soul Train line in the middle of the room. Being in good with the teacher has its perks.  ;)

3) Cutting an ABC 45 off the back of a cereal box to play on my red Close and Play record player.

4) Wanting to marry Michael Jackson.

5)  Teen magazines that always pitted the Jackson 5 against the Osmonds. So no contest. . .

6)  College skate parties with PYT in the background.

7)  Watching Michael moonwalk during his Billie Jean performance on that Motown 25th anniversary show.

8) Standing around waiting for the airing of Thriller on MTV. (Then, as a former dancer, trying desperately over the years to learn the steps to Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel, et. al.)

9)  Standing in line very pregnant, for three hours, outside a downtown Detroit AAA office to purchase tickets to see Michael Jackson at the Palace of Auburn Hills during the Pepsi tour.

10) Buying a copy of the Off the Wall CD to replace the album upstairs in my bedroom.

11) Wondering why on earth he picked that Rowe girl over me. ???? LOL

12) Playing Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson CDs in the car so often that all three of my kids (who span 13 years) know the words to his songs. He is as present-day to them as any of their current (and, yes, temporary) fave "artists."

13)  Making sure to buy a copy of Ebony magazine's collector's edition tribute to Michael in honor of Thriller's  25th anniversary.

Not believing he'd died when I heard the news and read the ticker across the bottom of CNN, but coming to accept the magnitude of the loss in the days and weeks that followed. I feel proud to understand why he meant what he did to music and the world. Honored that I was along for the ride.

7:42 PM 
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Wednesday, July 01, 2009 

Category: Blogging

You’re invited to Novel Spaces! That’s where 11 authors of varied genres gather to blog about the art of writing, how it affects the life with live, how the world affects what we write, and what we’re working on these days. Whether you’re a writer looking for how-to’s or why-for’s or a reader in search of something new, we’ve got something just for you. Aside from writing everything from paranormal to horror, sci fi, erotica and romance, we're also scattered across the country...well, globe actually. We'll each be posting twice a month and we'll be featuring guest bloggers as well. So join us at http://novelspaces.blogspot.com. And be sure to leave a comment to let us know you stopped by.

2:56 AM 
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Friday, January 30, 2009 

Current mood:  grateful
Category: Life
At one point in time, the average life span for people with Sickle Cell Anemia was twelve years of age. Today, my younger son has hit that milestone – and not without a whole lot of reflection and praise from me.

Thank you, Lord!

Mine is a quiet spirituality that has carried me through the difficult reality of raising a child with an uncertain prognosis. When I began doling out medicine droppers filled with prophylactic antibiotics when he was two months old, I did so out of duty (the doctor insisted), obligation (this is my child to care for) and, okay, trepidation (what if I don’t?).

A couple of years ago, I wrote a lengthy and cathartic essay about our journey with Sickle Cell Anemia; the hospitalizations with their umpteen pokes, the threats of being fired for being off with him too much, the anger with a teacher who decided to treat a 104 degree temperature and day-long pain by telling him to get a drink of water instead of calling me as instructed.

If I sounded a little ticked in that last line, it’s because I still am.

The emotion is as much anger with that type of ignorance as it is disappointment with a scientific community that still hasn’t defined a CURE for this disease. It’s one of the oldest (if not the oldest) known genetic conditions. And it took how many years for someone to figure out that one teaspoon of penicillin a day could extend these lives to near “normal” length? Come on now.

Today, what we have are bone marrow and stem cell transplants. But because of what the procedures require, both are reserved for the most severe cases: children who have strokes and other debilitating complications. My sweetie is not quite sick enough, it seems, for that morsel of wholeness.

Stem cell transplants are much less invasive, but not yet widespread – reserved still for those who are most ill. Our hematologist, Dr. Wanda Shurney of Children’s Hospital of Michigan, once told me that she believes that his Sickle Cell Anemia will no longer be an issue for him by the time he grows up; that science will have refined the technique to make the transplants more accessible to all those who need one.

He sure can.

Till that fine day arrives, let’s donate, support the research, know your genetics, and say a little prayer for my son and the thousands of children like him. Please.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!
Mom is so glad you’re mine.

Stefanie
www.stefanieworth.com
5:11 PM 
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009 

Current mood:  imaginative
Category: Writing and Poetry
When I was little, I loved to watch Cinderella – the Rogers & Hammerstein TV version featuring Leslie Warren. My favorite part was when she sang the song, “In My Own Little Corner” about how she could be anything her imagination wanted in that personal space. Now all grown up, I too, have such a magical space. I’ve most commonly heard it referred to as a Writer’s Cave.

At one point, my Cave consisted of a Sauder desk (complete with hutch) that I assembled myself. It has traveled from apartment to flat to my current home, where it originally bounced from a wall in the living room to a place I carved out for it in my bedroom between my lingerie chest and the bed. That's the Cave that birthed Where Souls Collide. Eventually, I relocated the desk to our unfinished basement and staked my first claim on an official writing territory.

More about why this writer loves her space

Stefanie
www.stefanieworth.com
6:39 AM 
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Monday, January 05, 2009 

Current mood:  strong
Category: Life

I thought my favorite line from the movie, Transformers, would make a quick and easy New Year's blog topic. And it did, for a minute.

One of the quotes listed on my Facebook profile is from a sheet of paper my father gave me when I was about 16. "The most unfortunate thing that happens to a person who fears failure is that he limits himself by becoming afraid to try anything new. Give yourself a chance."

I can honestly say that I've gone beyond the chance aspect of living and changed that into an expectation. My brothers and I might call it the Worth Ethic. We simply have this expectation that if we set our minds to it, the doggone thing will happen. End of story. So fear, I presumed at the start of this blog, has no place in my life.

But it does!

I am deathly afraid of failing to try. I am certain that if I have the slightest inkling of a talent that I don't put to productive use, the good Lord will look at me as I stand before him and say, "But why didn't you ever. . .?" I am a staunch believer in the parable of the talents (about multiplying what you've been given) to the point that I'm willing to pounce on the slightest glimmer of interest in any new activity by my children.

"Oh, you think you might like to draw?" We try an art class. "Want to be like Denzel Washington, do you?" Acting workshops. "Like to shake it up?" Dance class it is. And for speed, tackling, a good arm, a strong kick, there's been track, football, hockey, soccer, basketball and baseball. Oh, and viola and trumpet lessons -- with the next household instrument to be determined. I even bought a camera for my son who (temporarily) showed a knack for great composition in impromptu photos.

Some might consider it overkill, I call it exposure. How else would Barack Obama have known he could be president if he'd never tried to be an elected official? I just want my kids to venture into new experiences without fear of failure. In our house, it's not not succeeding that I focus on. It's not exploring your heart's desire, not attempting to discern your strengths and weaknesses, not learning what's out there in the world waiting for you to find it.

As a writer, I've done my share of dabbling. Those things that didn't work out get added to my Lived & Learned file. And I relish those experiences. Taking them along on this writer's journey is perhaps one way of multiplying my gift; expanding my own mind while sharing with others.

The fear I carry is not a worrisome one that flinches at failure or cringes at condescending viewpoints. It's more of a "Forget Everything Else And Rise!" motivator that keeps pushing me to do me best.

Fear or courage? For this fleshling, it's both.

Here's wishing you a FEEAR-ful 2009!

www.stefanieworth.com

Currently listening:
The Breakthrough
By Mary J. Blige
Release date: 2005-12-20
10:34 AM 
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