This WordPress.com site confirms all things are possible through God!
Come over to Goodreads and sign up for my Giveaway. Of all weeks for me to set up a Giveaway and need to be positive. Well, I guess it will help to keep my mind occupied. Here’s the link: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/69641?utm_medium=api&utm_source=giveaway_widget
Today is a day to be anxious. Over 7 years ago we lost my Dad to a heart attack. He was driving when it hit, but fortunately he was slowing for a red light and his speed was under 15 mph. He bumped into a deputy and now that deputy is suing. The case goes to court tommorow and I am not looking forward to reliving the wreck and all the sadness. This man needs to get a grip on his morals and remember what his badge stands for. He’s supposed to help, not hurt.
I tried to work on one of my manuscripts last night, but my mind is so blasted with, I don’t even know how to explain what my mind is blasted with. It’s a mixture of intense anger, grief, anxiousness, hurt, and worry. I tried several times to start a sentence, but my mind kept straying.
So as you go about your daily writing and just life, could you please throw a prayer our way. This is like putting salt in old wounds that haven’t healed.
As always, great writing and May God Bless You…
There was a definite chill in the house this morning as I crept out of bed and headed to the kitchen to make the coffee. It felt good to wrap up in a throw as I watched the news and waited on the coffee to brew. My son actually wore a hoodie this morning. I love this weather. It will bring on the Fall transformation of beauty in the trees.
I’m working on several manuscripts. I can’t seem to stay put on one particular one. Hopefully this morning I can focus on just one. Hopefully my Christmas editions will be ready in the next couple of weeks.
How do you stay focused and away from the other characters and stories crowded your mind? Sometimes a deadline can put a wall of to the over crowding, but most of the time theses stories and characters just keep right on pushing their way through. Let’s just hope I can stay focused for the hour I have before going to the office.
Today’s question: Does anyone else have several manuscripts playing inside their head? What are you working on today?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Ok, I’ve listened. Lately several of my fans have contacted me regarding putting these three stand alone books together. So here it is in one neat little download. All three are Cowboy Romances and now you can get three cowboys wrapped into one for only $8.99. It’s available on Amazon ony for the moment. I will be expanding it’s reach when I see how it’s received.
Hope everyone is having an awesome Sunday. As for me today is our Fall Festival at Church. I’m excited and ready for the challenge. We’ve got food, games, inflatables, prizes, and lots of worshipping. So if you are anywhere near Milner, GA come by Friendship Church and check it out. I’d love to see you there.
It’s such a beautiful day in Georgia so get out and enjoy a festival or just a walk outside today. Get some fresh air.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. This is the time of year that I feel like shedding my problems as the trees shed their leaves. I feel like it’s time to go dormant and rewaken refreshed in the Spring. I love the beauty of this time of the year. The many colors are the work of God’s hand and he really shows out this time of the year.
As the colors change I get inspired to write. As the air starts to get crisp I feel the need to express it. Soon a fire will crackle in the fireplace. I’ll curl up by the fire and type out my thoughts. As the days grow shorter and Christmas nears I get the excitement of a child. During Christmas I keep a smile on my face and a giggle in my throat.
Today I’m going to the Church to decorate with my fellow members for our annual Fall Festival. We will have games, food, a 64′ obstacle course and just plain out Christian fun. I get so excited. I’ve been getting my supplies together for a couple of weeks and as the time nears me heart swells with the excitement of the moment.
So go out today and enjoy the day. It’s a fleeting time we have on this earth, so enjoy every day…
As always, great writing and May God Bless You…
For as long as I can remember I’ve been a reader. The trend I’ve seen over the years and I won’t be saying how many, has been that the hero or heroine was perfect. They were always beautiful, handsome, flawless and a perfect body. That’s what people wanted to read.
Well, I’ve noticed a new trend. I’ve read a couple of novels lately that had not so perfect main characters. I think it’s refreshing because we’re not perfect. We have flaws, it’s just a fact. One of the books even stated that the leading man was not overly handsome, actually the writer went on to explain that his beauty came from his heart. I think that’s what we all need to hear.
Take Jane Eyre for instance. She’s not perceived as a beautiful woman. She’s more let’s just say severe. But you still come to love her for her heart that eventually warms. It’s one of my favorites because I love the stories of a plain, poor girl getting the rich flawed man.
So, how does your main character look? Is he ruggedly handsome or does his beauty come to you from his heart? Is she gorgeous and built like a model or does she need to exercise to stay at a maintained weight?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Well, the SYTYCW2013 emails have been sent out and I didn’t receive one. I’m not sad or mad or upset, just gives me more drive. There was 640 really good entries and the editors had to choose only 50 to go on to the next step. I don’t envy their job. But you never know, my work was read by an editor at Harlequin.
I had a really nice message from a fellow author that’s published with Harlequin and she gave support and her experience. She entered last year and she too did not get picked. Well guess what, she still heard from one of the editors and now has published a couple of books through Harlequin. They told her that all though for the contest they can only pick 50 that doesn’t mean that they don’t look seriously at the others.
So, I still have hope. Anyone that knows me wil know that I’m resilient. Writing is a dream passion of mine and it’s been such a crazy year and a half. I’ve been featured in two magazines and several blogs. Also this week I’ve been honored with being featured as the Must Read of the week in the Southern Writers Magazine blog. Here’s the link: http://southernwritersmagazine.blogspot.com/. Scroll down and I’m on the right. Then when I was on a Children’s Ministry website getting a game for last night I noticed a Barnes and Noble advertisement. I had three of my books featured in the ad along with some other great reads. Needless to say I did a happy dance. So I’m still on a high right now.
As we move on from the drama of the contest wait, there’s always some writing contest going on and our name is out there. Let’s focus on what we as writers do best, let’s write. You never know when that call might come in saying, “We want you to write for us.”
Good writing and May God Bless You…
Have you ever been writing a story and suddenly you’re at the end and only have a couple thousand words. You sit there going, “It seemed longer in my brain.” Well, it could be. This is when you open it back up and you read over it. Look at the descriptions. Have you given the read enough to imagine the place or the real character?
A lot of times we get the story down and forget that the reader can’t see it in their mind. We as writers have got to show the reader the story around the story. Meaning, if the story takes place in a small town and that’s significant, then let the reader know about this small town. Give it life.
If the character has a flaw, bring it out in descriptions, the reader won’t know unless you let them know. Remember this story that you can see clearly has to be brought out vividly to the reader. They can’t jump into your brain and see what you see. I had to learn this. My first couple of books needed more descriptions and one day they’ll get them.
So give your character a life, home and description, not only a name.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Still waiting on SYTYCW2013 decisions to be made. Keep fingers crossed and good luck to all entered 🙂
It’s crazy how a writer’s brain works. Of course I’m working on a deadline that’s looming pretty quickly. As my vacation helped knock some of that out, I still need to finish the manuscript. The funny thing is another story is filling my brain.
I was watching a movie Saturday and suddenly I was inspired. No, I’m not going to write about the story that I was watching or copy what that show was about. It was someone in the movie, or rather the job that they held. As I watched the romance unfold on television, the story was unfolding in my brain.
What made it even worse, I had my laptop in my lap working on my manuscript with a deadline. My hands were just laying on the keyboard as I daydreamed about the story going through my head. So in the next couple of weeks I will fill you in on the story, but for now I’ll get back to the work at hand. Oh, and waiting to hear if I made it to the next level of the SYTYCW2013 Harlequin writing contest.
Hope you’re all having a productive Monday…
So, good writing and May God Bless You…
Well today is the last day of my vacation. It’s been a great one. I’ve written over 12,000 words this week. Yesterday was spent getting all the winter clothes out of the attic and cleaning out the closets. That’s a job. I’ve cleaned out more cobwebs this week. It’s amazing how active the spiders are this year.
But that’s not the cobwebs for which I speak. I’m talking about those that cause that pesky thing call writer’s block. We’ve all had it at one time or another. You don’t even have to be a writer to have cobwebs crowd the brain. I was stuck a couple of times this week in the cobweb, but I worked my way out somehow. Sometimes our words get caught in the web.
Then you have the lovely editing cobweb. You’re reading along and bam there it is. It looms over you like a black widow waiting to pounce. You start to sweat, your heart races and then nothing. You don’t remember why you wrote a certain part, why you added a certain character. You know you had a reason at the time and it could have been a good one or so it seemed. I have that problem. If I don’t write down my characters as they’re added and their purpose, I have an issue either later in the story or when editing.
So, have you cleaned out the cobwebs in your brain. Maybe it’s as simple as stepping back. That’s what I did yesterday. I cleaned house, then shopped, and then had a nice yogurt will all the trimmings at the frozen yogurt shop. That’s enough to inspire you. It was yummy.
So, great writing and May God Bless You…
Stephanie Hurt - Romance Author 