Guest: Marianne Sciucco, BA, RN, Writer – Board President, Manager and Co-Founder, AlzAuthors

Host: Author, Actor, Photographer, Poet Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN, SJF Communications

Nursing and the Arts Podcast

Nursing and the Arts Ep9 Marianne Sciucco

Audio link above is provided to listen to Ep9: The Writer who happens to be a nurse!: Meet Marianne Sciucco, BA, RN, AlzAuthors and Nursing and the Arts Podcast Host Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN.

Nursing and the Arts is a podcast devoted to Nurses discussing their diverse artistic passions (or endeavors) such as visual arts/photography, journaling, comedy, podcasting, storytelling, writing/poetry, crafting, cooking, dance, theatre, music, film etc.

Join us on today’s 9th episode of the Nursing and the Arts Podcast for an informative and entertaining discussion with our guest Marianne Sciucco, BA, RN, AlzAuthors.

Watch the Nursing and the Arts Podcast (above)!

Ep9: The Writer who happens to be a nurse!: Meet Marianne Sciucco, BA, RN, AlzAuthors and Host Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN (right)

Show Notes

Marianne Sciucco, BA, RN, Writer is the Board President, Manager and Co-Founder, AlzAuthors

(From Susan): I was fortunate to meet Marianne Sciucco virtually in 2022 as a new Author for AlzAuthors. At the time, I was one of over 350 authors sharing of my two poems about Alzheimer’s/Dementia, along with my book POETIC EXPRESSIONS IN NURSING: SHARING THE CARING. (Now there are almost 400 authors in AlzAuthors)! I also was able to be part of an AlzAuthors blog post with my story as well as being included in a virtual poetry podcast collaboration and the same two poems of mine were recently included in the new AlzAuthors anthology POETRY FOR THE DEMENTIA JOURNEY.

Now on to Marianne! I cannot wait to have you all learn more about her! She’s a keeper!

Originally from Massachusetts, Marianne was a writer before she became a nurse! She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in English at University of Massachusetts, Boston. She edited the University newspaper, became Editor in Chief and had intern positions including news radio, newspapers and freelance writing. After working for a few years, she entered the world of nursing at age 29, first as a fast-track LPN, then pursued nursing school and obtained her Associates Degree in Nursing.

She has worked in med-surg staff nursing, case management and most recently is a nurse part-time in Campus Health.

Marianne self-published (with assistance) her first book, “Blue Hydrangeas” in 2013. It’s an Alzheimer’s love story of a New England married couple, Jack and Sarah who run a charming Cape Cod B & B for many years. Then, Sarah is diagnosed with Dementia. Jack promises that he will stay with her at home in their house forever. To read more about Blue Hydrangeas click HERE. Also, listed below are links to more of Marianne’s books etc.

Marianne was an early member of the now very popular group “Clean Indie Reads” where members shared blog and newsletter swaps and reviews. This process led her to consider doing this with people who had personal experiences with Alzheimer’s/Dementia. Marianne met and collaborated with Authors Jean Lee Alzheimer’s Daughter and Vicki Tapia Someone Stole My Iron to promote their books. They are three of the founding members of AlzAuthors!

Most AlzAuthors are left with knowledge due to their personal experiences with loved ones on their dementia journey. Thus they “wrote the book they wished they had”.

Marianne, Jean and Vicki started collaboration campaigns in June, 2015 for Alzheimer’s Month and in November, 2015 for Caregiver Month. In 2016 they started a blog and invited other authors to contribute blog posts. This all led to start of AlzAuthors! Besides the website, there are podcasts, book clubs, virtual events, custom caregiver book collections, a poetry anthology and more!

For fun, in addition to enjoying reading and writing, Marianne likes to watch television series and movies, traveling to see family, visiting her daughter in England with her husband a few times a year and walks in nature.

When she transitioned from writing to nursing, Marianne’s creativity was shut down for awhile.

A nurse manager gave Marianne the opportunity to utilize her backgound in writing and improve a nursing department newsletter four times a year for a few years (paid- she received the equivalent of her per/hour nursing salary). This reinvigorated her professional writing and creative side and got her back to writing, including an article for former journal Nursing Spectrum. Then she started writing Blue Hydrangeas – writing into the evenings!

When I asked Marianne about the importance of a creative outlet for nurses, she astutely stated, “Nursing give you a front row seat to the theatre of life”.

Indeed!

Nurses take on feelings and have many stories inside and need an outlet.

Marianne mentioned that there are many tools and opportunities for nurses to write. One can dicate into their mobile/portable devices, pursue blogging, journaling, writing articles for websites or blogs about aspects of healthcare, etc.

The sky’s the limit and rest is history!

Here is Marianne’s Bio:

Marianne Sciucco is not a nurse who writes but a writer who happens to be a nurse, using her skills and experience to create stories that bear witness to the humanity in all of us. She writes contemporary, women’s and young adult fiction. 

With more than 20-years’ experience as a staff nurse and case manager, she’s worked with countless families dealing with issues related to aging, elder care, Alzheimer’s, and nursing home placement. In 2002, she put the two together and began writing about the intricate lives of people struggling with health and family issues. She published her debut novel, Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer’s love story, in 2013 to glowing reviews. 

This book led her to become a co-founder and director of AlzAuthors, the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer’s and dementia from personal experience to light the way for others. She is podcast producer and host for Untangling Alzheimer’s and Dementia, an AlzAuthors Podcast. Visit AlzAuthors.com.

Marianne has written an award-winning prequel to Blue Hydrangeas called Christmas at Blue Hydrangeas and is currently working on A Wedding at Blue Hydrangeas. She is the author of Swim Season, a young adult novel based on her 11-years’ experience as a Swim Mom in club, high school, and collegiate swimming. 

All of her work is available in Kindle, audiobook, and paperback. 

When not writing she works as a campus nurse at a community college in New York’s Hudson Valley. 

Follow Marianne on her blog MarianneSciucco.com, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Marianne Sciucco’s Links:

Website mariannesciucco.com
Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marianne.sciucco
Threads https://www.threads.net/@mariannesciucco

• Swim Season, fast-paced, drama driven YA fiction
• Blue Hydrangeas, a sweet, poignant Alzheimer’s love story
• Christmas at Blue Hydrangeas, a charming prequel
• Universal Book Link
• Also a co-founder and manager of AlzAuthors, the global community of authors writing about Alzheimer’s and dementia  
• Follow my adventures in publishing! Sign up for my newsletter
• Visit my Amazon Author page

Thank you very much Marianne! It has been a pleasure!

About Susan J. Farese, SJF Communications

Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN, a native of New Jersey, is the owner/ president of  SJF Communications, San Diego, CA.

SJF Communications, originally established in 2002 in San Jose, CA, provides communications services including Public Relations, Publicity, Marketing, Websites, Filmmaking, Acting, Social Media, Writing and Public Speaking, Photography, Mentoring, Coaching and Legal Nurse Consulting services.

Ms. Farese has diversified experience in health care/communications, including clinical nursing practice, management, education/training, research and consulting.

She has a Masters Degree in Nursing in Adult Health from Seton Hall University (NJ) and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Widener University (PA).

Susan has presented numerous continuing education classes, seminars, and keynotes. Susan is the author of the book Poetic Expressions in Nursing…Sharing the Caring (1993 and 2021), currently teaches ‘Capturing Your Creativity with Haiku‘ workshops and has published poetry and articles on a variety of topics.. 

She created and is the Host of the “Nursing and the Arts Podcast” and creator/admin of the Nursing and the Arts Facebook Group.

In addition to her being on the advisory board of San Diego Film Week, Susan is a member of SAG-AFTRA,  American Legion Post 43, Veterans in Media & Entertainment, San Diego Writers Ink , and the Southern California Writers Association.

Since 2017, Susan has been a Volunteer Mentor in the San Diego State University Aztec Mentor Program.

List of clients at https://sjfcommunications.com/list-of-clients/

Contact SJF Communications at:

info@sjfcommunications.com.

Linktree link: https://linktr.ee/Sjfcommo

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Thank you for joining us to listen to and/or watch the Nursing and the Arts Podcast! Please feel free to like, comment on, share our episode(s), etc.

Also nurses can join our Facebook Group “Nursing and the Arts“

If you are a nurse (or know of a nurse) who would like to be considered for a “Nursing and the Arts” Podcast interview, please reach out to Susan by email: info@sjfcommunications.com.