July 30, 2009
By Rachel Murphy
Guest Reporter
It's 3 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon and Mary Ann de Stefano is sipping coffee outside Borders and staring down a stack of pages 250 thick — a grandmother's manuscript on perfect parenting. It's de Stefano's job to know if it'll ever make it to the presses.
These are the leisurely days made possible through years crafting the written word. For de Stefano, writing has been a lifelong obsession.
"I read at an early age and wrote my first poem in second grade," de Stefano said. "I grew up around readers, and early on I developed an interest in working in publishing."
As her relationship with the English language flourished, she started her own company 15 years ago called MAD about Words, a "one-stop shop for writers and everything to do with writing," she said.
According to de Stefano, the inspiration for her company name came from her own initials and her "love for writing", calling it a "play on words."
Through her company, de Stefano works from home as an independent and freelance writer and also an editor, helping fellow writers with their manuscripts in progress. She also writes promotional copy for business.
De Stefano's company also offers monthly workshops to writers, she said, because there was "nowhere to go outside of the academic system." She realized this after spending time with her friends writing and editing, and she felt it was a good idea to offer writing workshops.
"I like to be around creative people since I am a writer myself. I like the idea of being about to bring people together who are trying to create things and help with the work they are doing," de Stefano said.
Another plus is the cost, de Stefano said. While one college course could cost hundreds of dollars, MAD about Words offers classes ranging from $35 to $150, depending on the class. Classes are from three to eight hours in length.
"It's a mix of people who come," de Stefano said.
One of those people is Karen Blondeau, West Campus library director at Valencia Community College. She began attending workshops in 2006 after she heard about de Stefano's company at a local writers' conference.
"She won me over with her style, sense of humor and practical advice," Blondeau said. "I took a class and immediately got hooked. These writing experiences provide motivation, inspiration and encouragement for those of us dwelling in the lonesome world of writing."
The workshops are hosted at different venues throughout the Winter Park area such as UrbanThink, Winter Park Art Festival, Mead Gardens and Rollins College, according to Blondeau. Most workshops are limited to 10 or 12 people, de Stefano said.
De Stefano said that most of the speakers are local teachers, such as Rollins College professors Susan Lilley and Lezlie Laws.
"We try to connect local writers with very experienced writers and teachers," de Stefano said. "They do more than speak. Our workshops are not just a lecture, but you get an opportunity to learn about an aspect of craft or specific kind of writing while getting to practice it and get feedback."
"The whole idea is to work in a small group with experienced people — not like a big lecture. You are really working shoulder to shoulder with an experienced writer," de Stefano said.
The small classes pay off.
"You build a camaraderie with fellow writers and presenters," Blondeau said. "Even if we only see each other once every so often, we know we have a mutual writer friendship."
Alice Friedman, who is a retired writer, has especially enjoyed the poetry workshops and also networking with other writers. Friedman said that the informational material provided helped her gain experiences in "different types of poetry such as personal, event, advice and place poems."
"The workshops are an excellent opportunity to connect with yourself, other writers and local literary leaders in a non-threatening environment," Friedman said. "By that I mean that the instruction is excellent, but so is the connection with other writers."
De Stefano, a New York native, attended State University of Binghamton in New York and finished her degree in English Literature with a minor in creative writing at Rollins College in Winter Park. She worked for Harcourt Publishing in the late 1970s, and moved to Florida in 1983, when the company relocated to Orlando. She has been working as a freelance writer and editor for the past 15 years.
"I feel really lucky to be doing a job that I really love; it's not a job, it's just what I do, and it makes me happy," de Stefano said.
MAD about Words' upcoming workshops include one called "Shut Up and Write," which will be held Tuesday, Aug. 11, at Dandelion Communitea Cafe in Thornton Park. De Stefano said anyone can drop by from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to write in silence with a community of other writers.
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