Tuscany is a reality, today!

tuscany-001

Tuscany is up and running on Amazon. Here’s the link to the book preview. https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B01M0MIB72&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_H2M7xbPHRZJFN

Here’s a little snippet from Tuscany:

That night, after her soak in the tub, Lana stood in the French doors to Mama Leona’s old room, watching the moon rise over the fields. With all she’d learned over the last twenty-four hours her head was spinning. This place was beautiful and felt magical. Tomorrow, she’d bury her grandmother and start a new life. But what would that life hold? Leaning her head against the door she thought about Romeo and his change in attitude since their arrival. Maybe they could become friends. She pulled out the journal and opened it up, only to shut it quickly. Maybe after the funeral she’d be able to 13 • Tuscany grasp what this leather-bound book held, but not tonight. The past could wait another day. For now, she wanted to climb into the large four-poster bed, with cream sheer curtains and slip back into the dream from earlier. As she drifted off to sleep she wondered if she’d find true love in Tuscany or was that just her grandmother’s wishful, romantic way of thinking? Romeo stood under the tree just beyond the house, watching Lana. This woman was like nothing he’d ever seen. The moonlight glistened off her blond hair as she stood gazing out at the night sky. For some reason, his heart skipped a beat at just the sight. She made him feel out of sorts, and it wasn’t a feeling he liked. Growling in frustration, he turned and headed toward the stables. A moonlit ride was just what he needed.

As I said, just a little snippet. The link I’ve included above will give you more than this, but I can assure you, this story will pull you in and leave you wanting more!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Friday…3 day weekend!

Labor Day Sale

It’s a soggy Friday here in our part of Georgia. The wind and misty rain have arrived from Hurricane Hermine and it looks like that’s the setting for the day. But we need the rain here in Georgia.

Time has been flying by. It’s hard to believe September is already here. Since it’s a 3 day holiday weekend here in the states, I’m offering a sale on my Five Oaks Ranch books. Since Ridge is already free, I’m putting Oakley, Chase, Luke and Maggie at .99 for the long weekend. So if you haven’t introduced yourself to the Cauthen brood, then jump in for the sale!

In writing news, the last of the edits are done on Tuscany and it’s with the proofreader now. So, the clock is ticking and it won’t be long before the release party. I’m really excited for Tuscany to make it’s grand debut.

As you know, a writer can make a 90-degree turn in their writing. I was working on my current work in progress when the extreme need to start a new series overtook me and I had to hold production on everything to start it. Well, in three days I’ve gotten five chapters into the series. Then I saw that one of the editors with Harlequin is desperately wanting Highlander romances, which is what the series is all about. I sent her a tweet and she said to send it to her when it’s completed, so, we’ll see where that goes. Now, on to watching the Outlander, (wink-wink), it’s research for the new series.

Hope all of you have a great Labor Day Weekend and stay safe! Remember to do something special with your family, make memories and have some ‘me’ time too…

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Winter Sale!

Winter Pirate Sale

Staying in the top 100

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,889 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

#74 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Holidays
#157 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Holidays

Good Tuesday morning! It’s hard to believe that The Winner is Love has been out for three years… Time flies when you’re having fun is all I can say. This book has stayed in the top 100 of the Holidays General Fiction in the Kindle Store for over a year which is exciting. Yes it’s free and I know free books tend to do better.

This story is a step out of the box type of book. I enjoyed putting this one together. The cover itself was a crazy couple of days of pictures, photoshop and lots of coffee. Today I downloaded a revised edition of this book. The reason was the original manuscript wasn’t as polished as I’d like and since my writing has changed in three years, well, it needed a facelift, but I wasn’t touching this cover. It’s one of my favorites.

Hope all of you are having a great day!

As always, good writing and May God bless You…

Let’s do a little Throwback Thursday!

Good morning! It’s Thursday, which means it’s almost Friday. Today is the final day for 2014 tax returns to be filed, so you know how my day will go, pants on fire, yep…

Let’s go back to May 2012! I published Tender Flames, a sweet romance. It actually met with reader approval and some disapproval. As I’ve done with some of my earlier publishings I’ve revised this book and made it better. My writing has changed drastically from the early days. With that said, let me give you a look at the new cover.

If you’ve read Tender Flames, then you totally get this cover, if not, then I hope you’ll grab a copy. This romance is a love triangle that pulls you in and takes you on a ride. I love this story for the unique quality of the romance that has grown from childhood for the main characters and yes I mean the three in the triangle. That’s what makes it special.

http://www.amazon.com/Tender-Flames-Revised-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B0084USOE2/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

P.S. Still waiting on the results for the Harlequin SYTYCW15 contest. Keep those fingers crossed.

One more day until the tour!

Heads up romance readers! Tomorrow, September 1st is the start of the third annual Romancing September Across the World Blog Tour. Rosie Amber and I will be doing posts for 30 romance authors. Rosie’s will be first in the morning on UK time and mine later on US time. It’s looking to be a great tour this year.

We start tomorrow with Bestselling author Melissa Foster. Here’s the list of great authors that we will be featuring:

30 Authors, 30 Days, 2 locations.

Here is the line-up;

September 1st – Melissa Foster with Taken by Love

September 2nd – Helen Hollick with Sea Witch

September 3rd – Linda Lee Williams with Old Town Nights

September 4th – Michelle Betham with Shirley Valentine goes to Vegas

September 5th – Georgina Troy with A Jersey Dreamboat

September 6th – V. Steele with How My Cowboy Loves Me

September 7th – Pamela Beckford with Love Aflame

September 8th – E.L.Lindley with Blood Money

September 9th – F.J. Thomas with Lost Betrayal

September 10th – Lizzie Lamb with Scotch On The Rocks

September 11th – Adrienne Vaughan with Secrets Of The Heart

September 12th – Monica La Porta with The Lonely Wolf

September 13th – Margaret Cullingford with Twins Of A Gazelle

September 14th – Nicky Wells with 7 Years Bad Sex

September 15th – Felicia Myers with A Fake Engagement, A Real Wedding

September 16th – Zee Monodee with Whisk Me Up

September 17th – Kimberley Wenzler with Both Sides Of Love

September 18th – Daisy Banks with Christmas Carols

September 19th – Joanne Phillips with Cupid’s Way

September 20th – Sonya Loveday & Candace knoebel with Love Always

September 21st – Della Connor with The Burning

September 22nd – Hilda Vaughan with Here Are Lovers

September 23rd – Bethan Darwin with Two Times Twenty

September 24th – Lorraine Jenkin with Chocolate Mousse & Two Spoons

September 25th – Annie Crux with The Lavender House Mob

September 26th – Sam Cheever with Slow Burner

September 27th – Jane Cable with The Faerie Tree

September 28th – Jane Linfoot with The Vintage Cinema Club

September 29th – Olga Miret with I Love Cupcakes

September 30th – Marcia Meara with Wake Robin Ridge

So, mark your calendars and set your timers, it’s going to be a romance filled ride…

As for me, I have exciting news! Chase is now in the hands of my Editor Kaleigh. Yep, I typed over 8000 words Saturday to wrap his story up. He’s on preorder over at Amazon and will be officially released on September 26th!

http://www.amazon.com/Chase-Five-Oaks-Ranch-Book-ebook/dp/B014OQA6V8

Don’t forget to head over to Wattpad to vote on Tuscany! https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/48304085-tuscany

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Editing, it’s very important!

Good Tuesday morning! It’s nice to be back in a regular schedule. Vacations are really nice and relaxing, but then I start losing track of my days and that makes my brain turn to jelly. Not good when I’m on two book deadlines, and have accounting to catch up on.

While on vacation I downloaded three books to my Kindle to read while at the beach. I was so excited about one of the books, but as I started the first page things didn’t sound right. I struggled through a couple more pages and put it down, thinking I was sleepy. I picked it up the next day and more of the same. The story line was really great, but the writing or rather the editing was bad.

I’ve heard authors say they found books that were hard to read because of the poor reading, but usually I can muddle through. This one wasn’t like that and the sad thing is the book is by an author that I really like and have read before. It has me thinking really hard about my editing process. I’m constantly reading articles about editing and writing which helps keep me educated on the craft. This book would have been covered in red marks and comments. But I really wanted to find out what happened to the two characters. Eventually I’ll pick it back up and try again.

Some may ask if I plan on putting a bad review on this book. The answer is no! I don’t believe in downgrading an author, especially one that’s written some great books. It’s very possible that this book was downloaded from the wrong file. I did that with a reviewer one time. Now that was embarrassing. I might send her a email and inquire if she’s checked the finished and published product. I just don’t like to be negative to my fellow authors. We’re all in this craft together and should support one another, not tear one another down.

So, do you make sure that your editing process is what it needs to be? Also, make sure if you’re paying an editor, double check their work too. Everyone can miss something, even the experts.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Beach Sale!

It’s summer and the time to go to the beach. If your not headed to the beach, but maybe a staycation at home, then now’s the time to fill up your Kindle. We all know that summer is our time to give back to ourselves. For me that means getting in some reading while sitting in the shade, sipping cool, sweet tea.

With that thought in mind, I’m offering a huge Beach Sale on all of my standalone e-books through Amazon. For the summer they will be .99, yes that’s right, .99. What’s a little sacrifice among friends. So head over to my Amazon author page and grab a couple or all of them before the summer ends. I might extend the sale to other sites where my books are available, but for now it’s only Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-Hurt

As for now, good writing, and May God Bless You…

By the way, try to stay cool!

Researching the craft…

Good Wednesday morning! It’s beautiful this morning here in Georgia. The sun’s streaming through the window and the birds are chirping happily, but according to the news we have weather headed our way for the afternoon, but this morning I’ll enjoys the beauty in front of me.

Well on to today’s topic, Research. No matter what genre you write, a little research is needed. For me I read constantly and watch a lot of romance on television. It’s a must when you’re a writer. I try to keep up with what’s new and happening in the romance field.

As for watching romance on television, all it takes is a spark and off to the writing I go. My favorite station is Hallmark. The romantic movies give me inspiration and also an idea of ways to make a story flow. Remember, all of these were written by someone. Some of their movies are actually based on romance novels, which is exciting. Especially if I’ve read the novel, then I sit and compare it.

Of course I’m a avid reader, constantly plowing through the thousands of books to get to the one that just pops out at me. Sometimes it’s the cover that pulls me, or maybe the title. A cover can sell a book quicker than the blurb, really, it’s happened with me. I’ll see a cover that just pulls me in and that’s it. Of course I’ve been disappointed, but even a badly written novel can offer research ability. I make notes of what turns me off about the book. Maybe it’s wording or just the scene placement. But reading is a fun way to research about your genre.

Another way is to scan Amazon. Yes, I said scan it. Type in the genre or sub genre you’re currently working on, then see what’s selling. Look at the covers, the blurbs and the reviews, which are important. This will keep you current with the pull of the readers.

Don’t forget that if you’re writing about something specific like say rodeo, you’ll need to check out some reading on the subject. I’ve learned a lot about the rodeo since I’ve been writing Chase. As I get to a certain spot where I need a rodeo technical term, it’s off to Google. It’s amazing what you can learn. The other day I got caught up in a article and it actually inspired a whole scene that I’d not planned. Remember, I’m a outline person, but that outline can change 😉

So, do you research your genre? If not, I suggest doing a little checking. It’s amazing how much fuller your writing can be when you delve into the subject at hand. You might be pleasantly surprised.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S. Oakley is now available! http://www.amazon.com/Oakley-Five-Oaks-Ranch-Book-ebook/dp/B00YLNDNOM

So much water under the bridge, Ghost Love is 3!

Good morning everyone! I do hope you’re having a wonderful morning, for some of you a wonderful afternoon, maybe even early evening. Well today’s a special day for this writer, it’s the 3 year anniversary of Ghost Lover being published. I’m a proud mama for sure.

Ghost Lover came about a long time ago in my head and was originally named ‘Can This be Real’. But once I was ready to edit the final draft Ghost Lover came into my mind and the name was cemented in my writing history. It’s been a crazy ride since I hit the publish button on this one. There’s been 3 covers, yes 3.

Yep, that first one, well let’s just say it didn’t last long. I fell immediately in love with the second one, then of course I fell over my own feet with the third one. As the book evolved, so did the cover. The third cover goes with the revised, 2nd edition which I published several months ago. I’ve grown as a writer over the last three years and realized that Ghost Lover needed a more detailed edit.

Here’s a few fun facts about Ghost Lover.

1: It was written over ten years ago under the name ‘Can This Be Real’.

2: This was the first book to make me cry and laugh in the same paragraph. Yep, this book touched me.

3: I received my first call from a big publishing house with this one. Actually I had two call me wanting me to republish this one under their name. As you can see, I didn’t. I stuck to my guns and held strong.

4: This book went International and did really well which totally blew my mind as a new writer.

5: I still have a book cowboy crush on Jared. He’s some kind of gentleman and still makes my head spin.

If you haven’t read Ghost Lover then now’s the best time. For a limited time it’s on sale at Amazon and Barnes & Noble for .99. Yes, I said .99! I want everyone to fall in love with Jared and Jess, the couple that started my writing career. I’m forever grateful.

So, have you fell in love with a cowboy lately? If not, then check out Jared. He’ll steal your heart and lock it away forever…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…