Category: Author

Writing Fun…

It’s finally Friday… hope you have an awesome weekend planned. My son is out of school for 10 days so I’m happy to spend time with him.

As for writing, do you have fun with it? Me, yes I love to write. It’s a big part of me that get’s to flow from my fingers daily. Some days I struggle when something is on my mind, but I still enjoy it. Writing is a stress reliever, which is great therapy for me.

I’ve heard writers say that writing isn’t fun, it’s just something they have to do. What? I just don’t understand that frame of mind at all. For me, writing is fun and I think it’s what helps me stay sane in this insane world we live in. After a busy day, I can sit down at my laptop and lose myself. Even if it’s just an hour or so, but it helps clear my head.

Don’t forget all the fun of meeting such wonderful people, other writers, bloggers and reviewers. Then you have the great fans that fill your inbox with wonderful words that make you want to write even more. It’s a wonderful life, the life of a writer.

Writing is fun, if you don’t think it’s fun, then maybe you need to get lost in it for a minute, then rethink it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…Thanksgiving Cowboy

Street Team

BannerHey bloggers! It’s Kaleigh again!

The Street Team is getting a good response and I want to thank everyone who signed up for it! For the next few days ONLY the first chapter of Chase (the 3rd book in the 5 Oaks Ranch series) will be on the street team page for anyone that has joined! I will have to be taking it down next week because Stephanie has provided me with some awesome new information that needs to be put on the site.

Also, make sure that you are referring people! If you refer someone and they let me know you will be eligible for an ARC of Chase before it is available to anyone else! So make sure you are signing up for the Street Team and telling everyone else about it!

Just go to http://www.stephaniehurtauthor.com/#!street-team/cdmb and it is so easy to sign up! We will approve you and then you will be able to view the newest and juiciest new from Stephanie! If you have signed up and did not receive your awesome welcome package please go back and make sure that you sign up for the Street Team and not the subscription to Stephanie’s author newsletter. If you have signed up for the Street Team you should be asked for a password and I will have confirmed your membership!

Have a great day,

Kaleigh

Exciting News!

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Dear Readers,

Many of you have probably read about me in some of Stephanie’s posts. I am her editor, cover designer, and pretty much her personal assistant! (: For the past few days I have been working on a very exciting project for her without giving her too much information. I am pleased to announce that as of today, the Stephanie Street Team is now up and running.

Stephanie’s Street Team is a place for any and all fans to join. I will be posting exclusive private chapters, cover reveals, and many other tidbits of information before they are released to the public.

There will also be challenges at all times on the site so that members ONLY can get a chance to win free books, swag, and many other exclusive pieces of information.

Now, most of you are probably wondering what the catch is here. I mean, Stephanie giving away so much awesome information there must be a catch. Well, there isn’t! You just keep doing what you are already doing, reading her books and posting on your social media about how awesome her books are! We will even provide you with posts and advertising pictures for your social media and blogs! How easy is that?!

Not only will you be getting, exclusive excerpts, awesome swag, and even free copies of the books once they come out! The most active members could also win Advanced copies (yes, that is before ANYONE else) once I get done editing them to help us make them the best that they can possibly be.

All of you are dying to join right now, I know! And here’s how you can do it:

  1. Go to http://www.stephaniehurtauthor.com/street-team/
  2. Read some more reasons to join this awesome team
  3. Click on the log in/sign up button
  4. Enter an email address and a password
  5. We will approve you within 24 hours and will notify you that you have been approved
  6. Start getting your exclusive information.

It wont even take you 5 minutes to sign up!

Me and Stephanie can’t wait to start getting to know all of you guys and for us to start making her books even more awesome! Hope to start meeting everyone real soon. For any questions please feel free to email us at stephs.street.team@gmail.com!

Have a wonderful day,

Kaleigh

Five Oaks Ranch Series

bookmark designMake sure to go follow the Five Oaks Ranch Series Facebook page at facebook.com/FiveOaksRanchBooks

and on twitter @5oaksranchbooks for opportunities to win copies and keep up with publishing dates, book

signings, and so much more!

A Writer’s Brain…

A writer’s brain is a little different from just anyone’s brain. We have an extra chromosome or two in the ‘make it up’ zone of our brain. A writer’s brain is constantly thinking about the next scene in the book, the cover design, a character flaw, etc. You get the picture. Our brains are on overload most of the time.

For example: I road with my son to pick up breakfast yesterday. As we headed home with the breakfast and coffee my mind was reeling with storylines. Then the smell of the coffee hit me and my mind went to a whole different storyline. What’s up with that? 

Now, I’ve had several stories come into my head that didn’t really pan out. They kind of fizzled out after the first thought. But the problem with that is the story still roams around in my head trying to gain a little extra thought. One of those stories just recently went through my head and now it’s actually a finished book. “Safe in the Pirate’s Arms” was just one of those stories. I’ve been playing with the thought for a while, but it never really seemed to work itself out. Then one day it found it’s legs and my brain ran with it.

Again, I have to say a writer’s brain is a little different. One writer joked on social media the other day about someone that wronged her and she turned it around to a murder mystery. I had to giggle because as a writer we can take care of those people that bother us, but we do it differently. We take care of it through fiction, not action. It’s a way to get rid of it and go on to another story. Having a writer’s brain can be useful in that way, right?

The only problem is, some days my brain doesn’t go quiet at bedtime. I’ve spoken about this several times as it is a constant. But of course I do have writer’s block from time to time and would love to have those moments back. I had one of those moments on Saturday and if you follow my blog faithfully you know that’s one of my favorite times to write. I had it all scheduled out. I planned on getting Emma Rose fleshed out, but guess what, a wall of pain was erected and I spent the morning nursing a headache that refused to let creativity in. I did get in several romantic movies, I guess you could say I did research of sorts.

Do you have a writer’s brain? Can you look at something and a story unfolds? If so, put it in print. Get it out there, you never know, it could be the next big thing…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Authors are like bees!

2560x1440 Wallpaper bee, flower, pollination, insect

Ok, I know you’re saying, now where is she going with that? Well, let me explain. I was watching a bumblebee buzzing around my flowers and I was thinking about the pollination process. If you think hard about it you’ll get where I’m going with this 🙂

As authors we start with the seed that grows into a flower which of course is our book. Once we’ve completed our work of art we start spreading it everywhere. Then of course other authors or bees in this analogy, spread it to other places and so on and so on. Are you getting the picture?

Of course we do want to make sure to cross pollinate too. We need to work together as authors and helps other authors promote. It’s a win, win. Have you noticed that we do a lot of promoting on other authors sites and them on ours? I was asked by a non writer once why we do that and I laughed. I told them it may sound crazy, but it still gets our name out there.

We all have followers that read what we post. Then of course if we recommend a book they’ll go over and check it out, then also when we cross pollinate, the original author gets more views from the other authors followers. It may sound confusing, but it’s really quite simple. It’s like a pyramid, but legal. 

So, have you cross pollinated lately? Don’t forget about Romancing September Across The World will start Septemeber 1st. I’ll be posting more in the next week regarding it. But I’ll tell you this, we’ve got 30 awesome authors involved and it’s going to be a great chance to do some pollinating, ummm…. you know what I mean, sharing 🙂

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

For more info:

http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/romancing-september-tour/

Also, the countdown is getting close for Safe In The Pirate’s Arms…

TBT – Moonbeam & Roses

It’s hard to believe that Moonbeam & Roses is two years old. I published it July 9, 2012. This book took me to another plateau in my writing. I enjoyed writing this one. Of course I enjoy writing all my books, but some are more special than orders.

This book carried my fan base to a new level. I gained some really great fans with this book. I guess it was the emotional draw that it had, I don’t know. So if you haven’t checked out Moonbeam & Roses, go on over and check it out. It will put a smile on your face and a tear in your eyes.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Romance and the world today…

It’s crazy how things are changing in the world of romance. I remember racy romance novels being sold in back rooms or passed under tables and kept hidden. Now they’re mainstream. The first romance I read enlightened me to a world of romance and made it hard to look back. I moved forward and read easily thousands of romances through the years.

But the one thing that stayed true was the romance. Whether it’s a racy, wild romance or a sweet Christian romance, the one thing is that romance is romance. It may be portrayed in many different ways but when you get to the bottom of the pot it’s still the same. Romance is a part of being that stays the same through the generations, it’s just the way we put it out there.

I guess that’s why romance novels are the most popular fiction out there. People are drawn to it in droves. Back years ago you wouldn’t have looked at a romance author twice. Now they’re on the bestsellers lists and getting the respect they’ve earned for so many years.

I’m proud to call myself a romance author. I don’t have anything to hide or shy away from. I write from the heart and if you don’t like it, then that’s your opinion. Romance isn’t for everyone, but it’s what I like and what I love to write. So do what you like and write in the genre that makes you happy.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…