Excitement and Tears…

I know I’ve already posted my normal daily post, but just had to do this one. It’s a separate post because this one is on my life.

Yesterday was an awesome day at Church. Well, any day at Church can be awesome, you just have to be open to it. But yesterday was above the normal bar. We had a Easter Cantata. For those of you who don’t know what that is, well it’s a music driven play. The Church Praise Band performed several songs and we had video’s to go with them and a speaker in the background. It went really well, and yes I cried. I know you’re not surprised. I’ve always been open to the fact that I cry easily. I’m emotional what can I say and especially when it comes to my Faith.

The second most important thing was two of my wonderful children from the Children’s Ministry were saved last week and they went down front yesterday to make their choice public. Yep, I cried again 🙂 It’s so awesome when children make that most important decision. It makes my job so rewarding. I’m always in awe of how the Lord works in such young lives.

Then since we had rain yesterday, the annual easter egg hunt was held inside in the sanctuary. I was worried about how it would go, but I shouldn’t have been. It went off without a hitch and the children had a blast.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Getting to the heart of a writer…

I’ve been asked several times lately why I love to write. Well, that’s an interesting question. I write for a lot of reasons. I enjoy it for one. It’s very satisfying to put my thoughts and whims on paper and then have people buy them. I love to sit down with an idea and watch it take shape under my fingertips.

You know it’s the writer’s bug you have when the simplest thing inspires you to write. Watching a sunset can inspire you, but when you have the writer’s bug even a lady bug crawling on leaf can send you into a writing frenzy. Maybe that’s a little over the top but it’s not far off the mark. As a writer everything inspires me.

Sometimes I get an idea in the middle of the night and I have to get up and write it down. It will take over your thoughts until you get it down on paper. The heart of a writer is often open and raw. The only way to heal it is to write.

I know that if you have a true writer’s heart, then it’s a gift from God and you need to just open a notebook or turn on your computer and start writing. You only live once and if you’re meant to be a writer you need to at least give it a try. I’ve enjoyed every moment of being a writer. I’m so glad that my assistant gave me a nudge to publish the dusty manuscripts in my files.

As always good writing and May God bless you…

Here is a revisit from an October 2012 post about my newest book “Rekindled Flame”. I just thought I’d revisit it since this book is finally a reality and doing well. Happy Sunday night friends…

Stephanie Hurt - Romance Author

Have you ever had a love in your life that you gave up? Did you always wonder what would have happened if you would have given that love a chance? What if there was more to the story? What if you had a good reason to step away from that love? Well, your heart will never be the same….

Check out an excerpt from the 2nd book in the “Flames of Love” Series, my current writing project, “Rekindled Flames”, it may have you thinking about that love that you gave up.

“As we lay our dear friend to rest, let’s reflect on his life for a moment.” As Lydia listened to the pastor start on her father’s great life, she lowered her head. It was hard to believe he was actually gone. As she tried to get her head straight, she felt as if someone was burning a hole in her…

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Memories…What do you do with them?

It’s Friday and the weekend is almost upon us. Are you planning a big writing weekend? Me, I’m planning a working weekend which hopefully includes some writing as it’s supposed to be a rainy weekend here.

Now to the post at hand. We all have memories, but what do we do with them. Some dwell on them and let them take over their lives. Not healthy. Some give them wings and let them fly away. Sometimes that’s a good thing when they’re memories that need to be forgotten. But most keep the good memories held in a special place to visit from time to time.

I use memories in my writing a lot. Sometimes life is the best inspiration for a writer. It can give your story depth and realism. The best way to keep a good memory alive is to immortalize it in fiction. Sometimes a bad memory can be rationalized in fiction too. If that bad memory haunts you at night, put it in fiction and leave it there for the rest of the world to see.

As for me I’ve incorporated many memories, good and bad, into my writing. Some of the most emotional parts of my books are pulled from memories. Putting them into my writing has helped in lots of ways to cope with those memories and to learn to put them into perspective.

We all have times of haunted dreams and secret smiles, but we also have the chance to put them where they need to be, in the past. Move forward and make new memories. Living in the past is normally not a healthy thing. Living in the past hinders moving forward and reaching goals. Put them in fiction and move ahead…

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

Crying doesn’t show weakness, but strength…

I’ve talked several times about how I cry easily. It’s just a trait I have. A sweet love song, a romantic movie, a faith filled gospel song, or just a memory brought back to life.

In my opinion crying never shows weakness, but the strength to endure. When a song brings on a memory it’s the strength of heart to let your emotions open up. When a sweet romantic scene in a movie brings on emotions, it’s the strength of that emotion that brings on the tears.

Sometimes a sweet memory gets brought on by a smell, a song, a person, or just memories in general. This can bring on a silent tear that also comes from the strength of the memory.

Maybe you think differently, but I can tell you this, it’s the strength that we hide that brings on the tears. The strength of the memory that pours out as life’s sweet tears.

A good author can bring on tears in just a few words. I’ve cried reading before. A book that brings on tears usually get’s read several times and put to memory.

So let those tears flow and show your true strength.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Why is romance such a big draw?

Have you ever wondered why the biggest genre being sold in books is romance? It’s a huge market in any way. People are constantly looking for romance. In most cases people leave no stone unturned.

This is my thoughts on this phenomena. I think that everyone wants some kind of romance in their lives. It could be in their marriage, in their relationship with someone or just simply in their lives. Maybe it’s the fact that a good romance novel can take you to another place and let you live through the characters for a little time.

Sometimes people just need to read about it. It makes them feel better about things in their lives. Maybe it’s just the feeling of getting lost in someone else’s life. Do you need to get lost for just a little while? It’s a safe way to go to another world, to leave your own troubles for just a moment.

I know personally that I love to get lost in a good book. Especially if the book has a sweet romance or the promise of romance in it. It draws me in and makes me smile. I catch myself sometimes looking forward to picking the book back up to get to the next part. Have you ever been so into a book and just had to read through the night because you were so drawn in? Yep, I recognize that look, you have. What’s worse is when it’s a week night and you’ve got to get up early the next day, but you can’t help yourself 🙂

So pick up a romance today. Even men can get into a good romance novel. Men write great romance too.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You….

It’s Spring, here comes the weather…

Well, living in the South you kind of get used to the crazy weather. We had possible tornado’s around our area yesterday evening. Got to spend some time at my brother’s house as he has a storm area in his basement. Thank goodness he lives next door. Luckily we didn’t have any damage, but several in our County did have damage. It was bad enough that school was canceled for today which made my son extremely happy.

Here is 5 things I love about Spring and 5 I don’t

1: I love the budding of the trees and the rebirth of everything.

2: I love the flowers and planting my flower beds.

3: The feeling in the air is so serene and it inspires me to write which is a good thing.

4: I love to watch a Spring rain with the sun dancing through as rainbows appear in the sky.

5: I love the nice temps as it can get pretty warm here as Summer approaches.

Now what I don’t like

6: Tornado’s which seem to plague us here in the Spring.

7: Pollen oh I don’t like the pollen.

8: Bees and snakes start coming back out. Not a big fan.

9: Spring brings on the end of tax season and my busiest time in the office.

10: It means that we didn’t get any snow and have to wait until next year. I love the snow and it’s always a waiting game to see if we’re going to be graced with it’s pristine beauty.

I have to admit that my two favorite times of the year are Spring and Fall when the air is just warm enough to lose the coat but still cool enough where you enjoy the fresh air. Especially no air pollution until the warmer weather hit.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

What’s in a name?

Good Monday morning to all my friends. It was a wonderful weekend here in the deep south. We had wonderful, sunny weather. I’d planned on doing a lot of writing, but only got in a couple of chapters. Guess that’s better than nothing.

As I was doing my normal morning tour of my book sites, I started thinking of book names and how hard it is to actually name your work. So here are five things to think of when trying to name your work…

1. The name has to be somewhat close to what your book is about. You can’t name your book “The book of numbers” and the book be totally about letters. The name needs to at least bring about the book theme. Nothing is more disappointing than to pick up a book with an interesting name and find out the book has nothing to do with the name.

2. You have to add interest. Most people look at the title and pick the book based on the title. A lot of people don’t even read the description if the title is eye catching.

3. Be creative. Don’t just go with the first thing that pops in your head. Look up different ways to word what you want to say. Get out the dictionary and look up different words that mean the same thing.

4. Do you want the name to be just one word or several words? One word titles have to pack a huge punch because that one word has to draw in potential readers.

5. This is what I normally do. Google the name you come up with. If several books have the same name then you probably want to make a few changes. When someone googles your book name you want them to find you, not everybody else too.

Hope this helps in some way. Have a great Monday!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Weddings, a romance authors inspiration…

It’s a beautiful day here in Georgia. The sun is shining brightly, the air is clear, and the wind is blowing like a small hurricane. Well, my son had a bass club fishing tournament today so the house is all mine. I actually slept in this morning which is a luxury that I normally don’t indulge in.

Also today is a wedding at our Church. I love weddings. It’s so exciting to see the vows exchanged, the smiles of love, and the promise of forever. So many weddings today end up in divorce. I always say a prayer for the couple and hope that their union will be forever as it should be.

As a romance author I’m finely tuned into the feelings and atmosphere. I try to catch every ambiance and put it into my treasure chest of inspiration. A wedding is so romantic in it’s simplicity or in some cases it’s extreme elegance.

Romance is such an intricate part of our lives. I can’t imagine not having some type of romance in our lives. You may be sitting there thinking that romance is dead, but it’s not. It’s in everything we do, you just have to open up to it. Even the most simple thing is romantic if you’re open to it. My assistant says I could find romance in a bag of frogs 🙂 Well sure, haven’t you ever heard of kissing a frog to find the handsome prince.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday. Enjoy the day and remember to stop and smell the romantic roses. Live as though it’s the last day you have.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Friday morning coffee & doughnut…

It’s Friday people! Get excited. The weekend is only a couple hours away or if you’re one of my friends across the pond it’s really close 🙂

As I sit and sip my coffee watching the sun start to beam through the window and dance across the floor I smile. The air is crisp and clean, the world is beautiful and it’s Friday.

I know my posts have been sporadic and I’m sorry. With tax season in full swing and this old cold, allergy thing I’ve had, it’s been a crazy week.

Hopefully this weekend I can work on one of my manuscripts. I’ve been having writing withdrawals. It’ s been almost a week since I was able to work That doesn’t stop the characters and plots from running around in my head. They keep poking me and telling me to pay attention to them. Well, if all goes well I will give them my full attention tomorrow.

So if you’re a full time writer I envy you and if you do as I do and juggle writing with a full time career, then hope you get to write this weekend.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…