Lost in my characters

Have you ever lost yourself in your characters? I think all writers do at one time or another. What’s crazy is I was talking with someone the other day and started to tell them something that happened to a friend and then I realized it had happened to a character in my book. I just shut my mouth and decided to get my head on straight before I talked again. Maybe that’s why most writer’s choose the life of a recluse.

Sometimes when I’m writing I get so lost in my characters world that I have to readjust to my own life. It’s a fact that you have to get into your characters head in order to write a believeable character. If you don’t get involved with the character how can you even begin to tell their story. it would be like writing about someone you’ve never met or seen. It’s almost impossible.

For me I like to write a character bio on all the main characters. That way everytime they do something new, then I write it down so that my characters stay true to form. This helps when writing a series where the characters appear in several books. Oh and for goodness sakes make sure you note ages and names. That’s so embarassing when your editor asks who the new character is midway of the book and you realize you accidentally changed their name. Yep, been there done that.

Lately I’ve been lost in the 1800’s while writing Emma Rose. I’m really excited about this new installment in the Women Of Magnolia Hill Saga. But I do have to make sure I keep up with the times that I’m writing in. Emma Rose has taken over my brain, so I need to get back to her story. I’ll be revealing the cover really soon.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Throwback Thursday – A Love Never Lost

It’s Thursday and time for another look back. As a writer I have several books that are my favs, but this book held a special place. It’s such a sweet romance and with a thrown in suspenseful element it takes you to a different place. As I wrote this romance I could see the ranch as if I was walking with the characters.

Some of the parts of this book were pulled from true life events, but I’ll just let you play with that comment. This cover was phenomenal in it’s design. I was so pleased when it was finished.

Everyone wants someone to love, but when it happens to be someone you’ve known all your life, things get interesting. Then throw in another man who wants the same woman, well you have fireworks that spark a firestorm. Yep, this one has some surprises in it.

Here’s a little excerpt from A Love Never Lost:

She slowly turned in his arms. She heard his sudden intake of breath. She looked up into his eyes and saw what she had feared. He was feeling the same thing as her. His eyes were dark with desire. She had to get a grip, but that was past reasoning.

He looked down into her eyes. It was as though this moment was made for them. They were the only two people on earth. He ran his hands slowly up her arms and framed her face with his hands. He was holding his breath. He finally took in a cleansing breath.

He knew he had to kiss her. If he didn’t he would surely explode. He slowly lowered his lips to hers. She realized what was about to happen. This was wrong somehow this had to be wrong.

She pulled her head back and turned back toward the window. He just stood there. He was unable to move. He wanted to kiss her so badly. His whole body was vibrating with desire for her.

He turned her back toward him. She kept her eyes focused on his boots. He reached out and lifted her chin so that she was looking at him. He could see desire and confusion in her eyes.

“What’s happening here?” He asked the question, but he knew the answer.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the circumstances.” She tried to pull away but he held her steady. He leaned his forehead toward hers. They stood there for a moment just trying to breath.

She put her hand on his chest. She could feel his heart beating wildly. She knew that he wanted to kiss her. She was so afraid that things would never be the same for them if they kissed. Her heart told her that it would never be the same if they did not kiss.

This book can be found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo, Apple iTunes, Diesel, Oyster, Smashwords, CreateSpace and many others.

Also, go over and check out the video trailer at Youtube. Just search Stephanie Hurt and look for my picture. All of my book trailers will be listed.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Release Day for The Winner Takes All…

This is the much awaited 2nd book in the Winner Series. I’m so excited that this one is finally out. I’ve received so many emails and posts from readers wanting to know what happened to Slade and Stacy. Well it’s up and running. The cover went through several changes but the final product is better than we could have imagined. It evolved from one picture to two in this dreamy cover.

Will there be a book 3 in this series? Well, it’s a possibility but it will be down the road some. I have been playing with the possibilities but we’ll have to see if it comes about.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day and hopefully all of you thought about the meaning of the holiday. As for me we spent Sunday and Monday at the lake. It was relaxing, but I only got in about 1000 words all weekend. It’s crazy how you plan to write over a holiday weekend and then life steps in and there it goes. The weekend is over and you’ve missed your word count. Well, I guess that just means extra work every night this week to get the word count back up.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Throwback Thursday – Tender Flames

Well, another one of my books has turned two this week. Tender Flames turned two on Monday. Wow, time flies when you’re having a blast. I always knew that writing was fun and rewarding, but the last two years have really proven this as fact.

Tender Flames was a challenge to me. I pitted two brothers against one another and made it work. I cried and laughed while writing this one. But as with Ghost Lover it is under reconstruction. I’ve learned so much in the last two years and I want to make this book even better with new angles. Even the cover will be remade even though I dearly love the original, everything needs a face lift from time to time.

Here’s a little snippet from Tender Flames:

They walked hand in hand back to the party. They were both deep in thought. She was thinking about how her family would react and how Wes would. Zach knew his family would be happy, well almost his whole family. He knew it was mean of him to want to hurt his brother, but his brother was a fool for not snatching her up long ago.

They arrived back at the party. Randy ran over, “Hey sis, everyone wondered where you two had wondered off to. Judging by the look on your face I know what you were doing.” He grinned as he pulled his sisters hair. She blushed.

Zach led her to the front of the dance floor. He whistled for the music to stop. Everyone turned to see what Zach had to say. “I have some wonderful news. I have asked Sara to be my wife, and she has accepted. We are to be wed before my leave is up.” There was a stunned silence then everyone whooped and yelled. There were a lot of handshakes and pats on the back for Zach and hugs for Sara. Her parents were stunned at first, then relieved. They had always hoped she would marry one of the Dawson boys. The same went for his parents, they were thrilled. His mother had even cried.

Wes walked up and leaned over Sara. He whispered in her ear. “I hope you know what you are doing?” He then gave her a hug that was tight enough to press the air from her lungs. The look he gave her was full of something she did not recognize. She knew then that he cared more for her than she realized. She was suddenly angry with him. It served him right. He should have let her know a long time ago. She did not plan on waiting on him the rest of her life.

He gave his brother a hug and said in his ear. “Brother, she had better not be pregnant. You had better make her happy.” He gave him a look that dared him to go against what he said. With that he had left with his girlfriend.

Zach had noticed his brother’s reaction too. He was sorry for the hurt he had seen in his eyes, but he loved Sara. He would make her a good husband. Maybe one day she would learn to love him, but for now he was satisfied that she would be his wife. He knew deep down that there would always be a large part of her that belonged to Wes. He could live with that, he just hoped that she could.

He turned to her and gave her a big kiss, which brought a lot of whistling and applauding. They danced together for the remainder of the evening. Sara was still a little shocked by the show of emotions on Wes’ face. She knew now that he loved her, but she had committed herself to his brother. She would not back out now and hurt Zach. In a way, she did love him, but she would never love him the way she did Wes. She would make him a good wife.

This is from the original manuscript. Since the rewrite is already in process this scene will read differently but the emotion will be there.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

A little sidetracked…

Good Monday morning! I’ve been a little under the weather with allergies and sinus, so that’s the cause of my few posts in the last week. It’s crazy how off kilter it can make you. My writing has suffered along with everything else.

Do you ever get sidetracked? Is it hard for you to get your focus back? For me it’s been difficult. I felt a little better last night, but just couldn’t stay focused. I guess the stuffy nose and slight headache made my brain way too fuzzy to concentrate.

Of course sometimes we do need to just put things aside and wait for our head to clear. I guess if I had written anything in the last couple of days it would have been strange. What I mean is it would not have made a lot of sense. With my fuzzy head my thinking process was slower than normal. Hopefully I’m on the road to recovery. I definitely have to get back on track and make up for the lost writing time.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Cover Reveal – The WInner Takes All

Every book needs a great cover and when you have an awesome cover designer it makes things go smoothly. I just love this new cover. This book has been a long time in the making. I had to step away from it for a little bit. Sometimes we writers have to do that. But now I’m into the editing and so glad to be almost finished. I love this series.

This cover took alot of thought. What’s funny is it started out totally different and by the time we were finished it was this gorgeous concoction. The original cover was very vibrant, but my designer decided on using these subtles hues of beige, gray and white, which to me looks totally awesome.

Here’s an excerpt to give you a little tease:

The next morning it was rainy and dreary outside. She woke up in a bad mood, which was unusual for her. When she arrived at the office, Abigail had her a cup of coffee on her desk as soon as she saw her face.

“Stacy, what’s wrong? You look like you didn’t sleep well.” She looked a little concerned. She’d never seen her like this.

“I went to bed with a bad headache and it seems to have woken up with me.” As she reached for the coffee her engagement ring twinkled back at her. She smiled through the pain.

“Let me see that gorgeous ring. I heard about the engagement. Congratulations.” She looked at the ring and smiled. “That’s quite a stunning ring. You’re a lucky woman.”

“Thanks Abigail. I am a lucky woman with a lot of hard decisions.” She sat down and sighed.

“Alright, what’s up?” Abigail sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk.

“Guess when he wants to get married?” She propped her head in her hands.

“In June?” She said quietly.

“Oh, June I could work with. He wants to get married on Valentine’s Day.” She looked at Abigail and made a face.

“This Valentine’s Day?” Abigail’s eyes became huge with surprise.

“The very one.”

“No wonder you have a headache. I guess he’s not a patient man.” She grinned and gave her a wink.

“Well, that’s not very long to plan a wedding and it’s about to get really busy around here.” She sat back and sighed heavily. “What are you going to do?”

“I guess I’m going to attempt to put a wedding together in six weeks.” She looked up again. “That’s not the only decision that has to be made.”

“Let me guess, where are you two going to live?”

“Abigail, why does life have to be like this? Here I am with a dream come true groom to be and now I have to decide so much in a short time.”

“Honey, that’s life. I’m sorry you have to go through that part, but I’m happy you found a good man.” She gave her hand a pat. “You have a client coming in at ten.”

As I said, it’s in the editing department of Horseshoe Publishing, so it should be ready really soon. I’m excited to have it completed and ready to go. It’s crazy how relieved I always feel to have the cover completed. The editing is a process that excites me, but the cover is always so pivotal for the book that sometimes this part of the process is so stressful.

Horseshoe Publishing is so happy to have such a great designer. If your book needs a cover and you’re struggling, give us a shout and we’ll help you out. We’re reasonable and ready to help you today…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Have we lost our attention span?

I sat and did a little people watching not long ago. As a writer it’s a tool I use for inspiration and also it’s really fun. People can be funny when they don’t know your watching them. The biggest thing I noticed was that most of the people were easily distracted. Either their phone was buzzing or they were looking at things on their phones.

Do people ever just stop and smell the roses anymore? I remember when I was younger we’d sit on the front porch in the evenings and just watch the sun go down. It was peaceful and relaxing. But now everyone is attached to some kind of device and they’re either text, on social media or listening to something. It’s a crazy thing.

It’s the same with readers now a days. I’ve seen a sharp incline in shorter books. I have even had fans tell me they love that my books don’t take up a lot of time and they can read them in one or two sittings. I remember when you’d grab a large novel that would keep you reading for a couple of days and be happy. Now you have the lunch time readers that want a book that’ll fill up their lunch hour and be done.

We stay way too busy these days. Have you watched sat and watched the sun sink in the sky lately? Have you watched the sun rise with the promise of a new day? What about just sat down and talked with your spouse about random things? We need to stop and smell the roses more often. Enjoy the short life we’re given and remember to live…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Audio books – Have you taken the leap yet?

I took the leap into audio books last year and haven’t looked back. The potential for expanding sales is enormous. This is a growing industry and allows for more creativity than just merely writing the book. It’s your book come to life.

When I first heard one of the auditions for my books I was mesmerized to say the least. It was like a refreshing look at my work, but out loud. I sat riveted to my seat. That was my work being read out loud and it sounded so different. Since I normally read my work out loud during one of my edits for each one, it was strange hearing someone elses voice.

As for sales, I actually do pretty well with my audio books. As I say it’s a growing market. WIth Audible.com they actually do advertising in many online avenues. i’ve seen my books on the weather online, a children’s site, and the newest place was quite a surprise, Pandora Radio. I was listening to Pandora yesterday and happened to look up at the screen and there I was. I did a double take. Wow, there on the right side of the screen was “With All My Heart”. I did a happy dance and then I sat down to take a closer look. My book was on the top spot, guess who was the 2nd spot? “Fifty Shades of Grey”! I had to take this one in.

The irony of the advertisement positioning is this, “With All My Heart” is a Christian Romance and it’s being advertised right above a book about Christian Grey. Two totally different books on one advertisement. It made me a little excited that my book would be advertised with a bestseller, which could boost sales, but these are not the same kind of romance by far. I was glad to be on the top spot. Maybe people will pick up my book before the other one.

Using Audible’s site is so easy to set up. They make it streamlined. If you don’t want to narrate the book yourself, they’ll send the narrators to you. Try it. I know you’ll be pleased with the results.

Have you tried Audible yet? If not, then go over and give it a shot. All you do is go to ACX.com which is affiliated with Amazon and get started. Your audio books will be available on Audible.com, Amazon, and Apple iTunes.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Lightning Bugs and Mason Jars

How many remember this childhood activity? I remember how exciting it was the first summer night every year when the little flashes of light would start. Your heart would race and then you’d run inside to get a mason jar and lid. Of course you made sure to poke holes in the top. Then you’d run outside and chase the bugs until your parents called you in.

Back then we didn’t think about dangers like snakes underfoot in the dark or running into a tree in the dark. It was just pure country fun. I always remember fondly those times. The air would be cooler after the warm days. The grass would be cool under our bare feet as my brother and I would run all over the yard chase that yellow flashing gold. Once they were caught we’d thrust them into the jar and quickly close the lid so they didn’t escape. Our parents would call us in to wash off the lightning bug stink from our hands and place our jars that glowed with the beautiful bugs on our nightstands for nightlights.

Summer holds so many memories for me. My grandfather had a huge garden that the family worked together. I remember running through the corn stalks that looked like they reached the sky. Then collapsing in the freshly tilled dirt and running our fingers through the warm rich soil. Yes, I stayed dirty as a child in the summer. We were country children and dirt was just part of the fun. When the corn was pulled we’d help with the canning. There’s nothing like the smell of fresh corn being cut from the cob on a cool summer morning.

It’s crazy the scents that bring back those memories. If I smell rain in the air it reminds me of watching the rain fall on the freshly tilled ground. I remember my granddaddy hoping for lightning to add nitrogen to the soil. I always thought that was crazy because I never liked lightning. He’d point out that it was important to the soil, but still it eluded me.

Then there’s the traumatic parts of farming. My grandfather decided to raise rabbits. My brother and I thought this was so cool. We each got one of our own to name and help feed. We wondered why he kept telling us not to make them pets. Well, soon we found out why, yep, they were made into stew. That was traumatic for a young child, but he did warn us. He believed in living off the land and that’s what he did.

I attribute my love of tomatos to my grandfather’s farm. I’d wait for the cherry tomatoes to mature and then sneak out to the plants and clean the plant of it’s ripe red heaven. My grandfather would get so angry with me, but then he’d smile and ask if they were sweet enough.

Do you have warm childhood memories? I’d love to hear about them. If you do, make sure your children have a chance for the same memories. I taught my son about lightning bugs and he loves to garden. He actually planted our garden for the last couple of years. Oh yeah, I always plant cherry tomatoes and I’m constantly walking out and picking them while they’re still warm from the sun.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Friday morning Inspiration

Good Friday morning. Here in Georgia the clouds are rolling in and we’re expecting storms this afternoon. But this morning I’m feeling inspired. It’s funny how just reading your social media posts can inspire you. As a writer inspiration is a big thing. It’s really hard to write if the inspiration is not there.

I love to see other authors posts and their success. It inspires me. I talked with a couple of authors one day and they said it makes them depressed to see how well other authors are doing, but for me it inspires me. I’m proud for my fellow authors. It’s great to see the authors do well. It gives me some hope in my own career.

What really inspires me is the posts from once traditionally published authors that have gone Self published and succeeded. It makes me give a fist pump in the air, knowing I made the right decision. Self publishing is getting more recognition. With self publishing you are the publishing crew, the editor in most cases, the cover designer in most cases and the cheering committee. But it’s your business and you can run it the way you want to. It just seems to work if you’re inspired to take the big steps. So watching other authors succeed makes that step a little easier.

How are you inspired in your writing?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…