Stephanie Hurt – Romance Author
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Good morning! Smile, it’s Friday! 
So, what are you up to? Me, I’m finishing up Highlander’s Son and Lacey’s Choice for my editor. It’s been a productive couple of days. So, I’m smiling.
Now, time to get in 2000 words before I head to the office. Have a great Friday and be inspired by all that’s around you. Don’t let anything turn your smile upside down.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Good morning! Life is good…I’m up and the sun is shining. Yes, it’s a good day!
As a writer, have you found your voice? I was told by an editor at Harlequin that I had a voice for romance. Do I mean the voice that comes from my mouth? No, I mean the one that comes from my head. That editor, although she was sending me a rejection letter, which by the news that came out this week, I’m glad I got that rejection in many ways, but she told me something that has stuck with me. She told me that they loved my voice as a writer.
There are writers that if you follow their work, you’d know it anywhere. I’ve been told that my writing is that way. What about you? Does your voice stay steady? Does your writing show the inner you?
In writing workshops, they always harp on finding your voice. I used to sit and think, my voice, I don’t have laryngitis. LOL! Now I know it’s the way I tell a story, or as the Harlequin editor said, the way I spin a tale.
So, have you found your voice?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
It’s hard to believe that the very first book I published is five years old today! On May 12, 2012, I took a leap of faith and I’ve never looked back. It was the hardest step I think I’ve taken in my life.
I remember the first time I worked on this manuscript which was eighteen years ago. I had a new baby, accounting business, house, hubby, and life going on all around me, but I needed an out. I’d worked on writing since I was a teenager, but this story pulled at me, even that long ago. I wrote at least two thirds of it, then put it in a file as my son got older and my business grew. All of a sudden, I didn’t have the time to work on it. Then my assistant (Now my editor and one of my cover designers) pulled the file from the back of my desk drawer and fell in love with the story.
Within a week, Ghost Lover had cover. LOL! Let’s look at that first cover:
Needless to say, that cover didn’t last long. As I went through and searched, I knew this cover was lacking, really lacking. I have to laugh as I look at it, but hey, I was a newbie. Of course, my assistant quickly threw this one out and designed the first awesome cover of my writing career. Here’s what she came up with and I’ve received several great reviews on this cover, even from the cover model that sent me a message. He told me he was the one on my cover, which thrilled me. So, here’s the 2nd cover for Ghost Lover:
This is one of my favorite covers. And it was my first real attempt at making something out of my writing and taking it seriously. This book took me to the bestsellers list within six months, which really excited me. But, as my writing advanced and I learned more about the world of grammar and writing, I knew that my baby needed a makeover, so in amongst all of my works in progress, I began the process of overhauling my work.
The newest edition of Ghost Lover has astounded me in it’s depth of love, romance, suspense and other emotions that I can’t exactly explain. Here’s the newest cover, which I’m totally in love with.
So, as you can tell, Ghost Lover has been through many changes over the last five years, but the heart of the story has never changed. When true love is there, nothing can tear you apart.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Hello, Sunday morning…. What happened to Saturday? It went by too fast and now the weekend is almost over. I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing, yet… Oh well, life goes on.
Here’s a question… How many times does someone come up to you and say, ‘Writing a book is easy, I can do that with my eyes closed.’? I’ve lost count of the people that have told me that when they found out that I’m an author. Usually. I just say, ‘Go ahead, give it a try.’ I know that they haven’t looked into what it entails and probably wouldn’t see it through.
If you’re a writer, you know what’s involved. It’s not the easy job that most think it is. There’s more to becoming a writer than just writing. Most people think that if you’re a writer, then all you do is sit and write. LOL! There’s more to it than that. So, here goes a short list of what goes into the writing of a book, and this is a short list, so it doesn’t get into everything.
1: A story comes to you… This could be the whole thing or just an idea.
2: You begin to outline or put together notes on the idea for the story. At this point, you’re setting up the characters, setting, and plot.
3: You start to write the story. This process could take you a week or couple of years according to how fast the story comes to you or the time you have to get this process completed. Sometimes the story doesn’t come as fast as you want it to.
4: As you write your story, you develop an idea for the cover and at that point or somewhere down the road, you design a cover that goes with the story. (This isn’t as easy as it sounds.)
5: Alright, you’ve written your story, designed your cover, now what? Edit, edit and edit some more. Then you read your story and possibly write more or change some of the story. At this point, I’ve deleted whole chapters that hurt the flow of the story, yes, I said whole chapters. It hurt but had to be done.
As you can see, this is just the start. There are so many other steps to writing a book. This is just a quick, condensed version, but you get the idea. It’s not the easy process that some think it is. But, it’s a rewarding process once it’s done and you’ve published your work.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Good morning! Hope all is well with everyone as we start this Thursday morning or afternoon, wherever you wonderful people are 😉
Fear, everyone has felt fear at one time or the other. Don’t lie, you know you have. As a child, we had fear of strangers and storms. As adults, we have many fears. Maybe we fear financial issues, for our children, the future… etc. There are a lot of fears in this world, but I want to talk about the fear as a writer.
The moment I hit submit on Ghost Lover, the first book I published in May 2012, I was sweating. My palms were damp, my heart was racing, in easy terms, I was a mess. What if nobody likes my writing? What if this is a mistake? What if… What if… What if… Then the emails started coming from readers that fell in love with Jared and Jessie. The fear was alleviated for a moment, then came the next book and the next.
Does my fear ease with each book I publish? Some, but not completely. I’m always afraid of the unknown. Even though my books are poured over and over with edits and rewrites and such, I still have that fear that I’m sending out my work with flaws. Even the best-edited book has flaws and I have to remind myself of that. My fans are so precious and let me know every day the pleasure they get from the words I put on the page, but still, I feel like I could’ve added more to the story, went over it one more time, or even changed something.
Then there’s the fear of not selling a single book, yikes…. Yes, that’s a fear. In January, my sales went on a downward spiral and I had to catch my breath. After an amazing end of 2016, it was like a kick in the gut. But, as I sought out other authors to see if it was happening to them, they confirmed that they too were seeing a sharp decline in sales. Even the authors that normally sell thousands of copies a month were down to hundreds. Although that should make me feel better, it only made my fear worse. Had people stopped reading? LOL! Yes, it was an irrational fear, but it still came through this ditsy blonde head.
Then, the sales started to rise. Yes, my fear was going away, but then a new fear arose. Could I do more to keep that from happening again? The truth is, no. We can’t control what people do or trends, so, I picked myself up off the pity floor and moved forward.
So, as a writer, what do you fear?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Good morning! It’s halfway to the weekend, you can do this!
As I sat this morning, finishing the last minute edits on Promises Made, I read the last paragraph and sighed. Have you ever just really knew when you typed the perfect words to end a book? Well, that’s the moment I had this morning. But, with that being said, I also cried knowing what those last words meant for my characters and also, knowing I can’t say a word yet!!!
Promises Made is taking me to new heights as a writer. It’s different from my other historical romances and has brought me so much excitement for the storyline. I can see all three books in my head and I can’t wait for you to meet Nash and Joy. You will fall in love with them.
Joy is this sweet young woman that believes in romance and love. She’s lost everything, but gained more than she ever expected. Her humble upbringing has made her a strong woman with good morals.
Nash Collins is a rich rancher that was born as a half-breed), his mother was Cheyenne. He is fiercely loyal and needs a wife. The moment they set eyes on one another, Nash knows that she’ll be his one day. But he also knows that it could be impossible until fate turns the tables.
So, be watching for the release that is coming this Friday!
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
It’s hard to believe that it’s already February! I feel like I just got settled into the new year and then, bam, another month has passed by in a flash. My grandmother always said, the older you get, the faster times goes by. Of course, when I was young, I thought that was the silliest thing ever. Now, I get it.
So much water has flowed under this bridge that some days I can hardly believe that I’m nearing the half-century mark. Don’t go there! I don’t feel my age and I certainly don’t act it, but it’s there none the less. And to think, my baby is graduating high school in May, what???
Another milestone I’m facing this year, but it’s a good one is that I’ve been a published author for five years. May 12th will mark Ghost Lover’s fifth year in publication. To think, this time five years ago, I was still skeptical about putting my name and work out to the public and now I’m nearing the publication of my 30th book. Yes, I said 30! That’s another thing that baffles my mind. I guess the old adage is true, time flies when you’re having fun!
This Sunday, the hubby and I will celebrate 23 years of blissful marriage. Some days it feels like just yesterday, then other days it feels like we’ve been together our whole lives. That’s what romance does to you, it blows your mind. I wouldn’t take anything for all of the adventures we’ve had and the things we’ve shared.
Now, as I sit here, getting ready to do my morning writing, I’m gazing at my calendar. Yep, I had better get off this post before I fall further behind and have to deal with my assistant’s frown. She has a tendency to look at my writing calendar and tsk tsk at me. LOL!
As always, good writing and May God Bless You!
Well, my new series, Sky Ridge is off and running. I went to the dollar store and stocked up on these pretty composition books. Inside this notebook, you will find my character sketches, outlines, interesting facts that I’ll need while keeping true to the story line and so much more.
In order for your series to hold up, you need to keep the plotting new and exciting. Don’t do the same old thing all the way through, or the story will grow stale. Make several twists that take your reader by surprise and do a couple of turns that will have the reader wanting more.
I’ve played with this series for a while, but only when I have all three books in my head did I start the process of writing them. I wanted to make sure that the story could hold out for three books and keep the interest. This series is a historical romance that takes you on a journey filled with heartache, joy, happiness, love, suspense and yes, romance. I can’t wait to introduce you to the main characters, but I’ll keep that under wraps for a little bit longer. You’ll fall in love with them…
So, how do you plot your series?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
It’s Friday! Yea! But I have some work to do. With two new series starting up this year, I have several things to do and one of those things is character sketches. If you’re asking what the heck is a character sketch, well, let me fill you in…
Alright, here goes… When you start a new book, there are several steps, but one of the most important during the writing process is the character information. Let me explain how I do my character information sheets.
1. I grab my notebook that will be for the series notes and I keep all my information in it. This notebook stays in my writing bag for quick retrieval. This is very important to have at your fingertips because if you’re halfway through book two and can’t remember what someone’s name is or what they do, you’ll need to be able to grab that without having to read book one to jog your memory.
2. First off, you need to name your characters, starting with the main ones. Then add the details. Let’s face it, when you’re writing that character, you know what they look like, but your reader doesn’t unless you show them. So, under the character sketch, you put every detail you can. I include A. Name
A. Name
B. Description: Hair color, eye color, height, build, disposition, age, birthdate, etc. You get the idea.
C. Family that might show up in the stories. Brothers, sisters, parents, etc.
D. Where are they from and where do they live now?
E. Now, this is where the fun starts, leave plenty of room for added notes. As a story unfolds, you’ll build the character sketch. If they get a new career, get married, have children. Add anything new to the character. This helps down the road and keeps you from having to keep looking back.
3. Make sure you have one for every character you add. Well, if they are only making a one time appearance, leave them out, but if it’s even just the store owner and your character occasionally goes to the store, then you need to add them.
So, do you prepare character sketches? I didn’t for a long time and it was so frustrating, but through writing studies, I’ve learned how to make life easier. Writing is a crazy world of names, places, plots, and so much more that you have to have a way to keep it straight.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Good morning! As I sit here, typing my blog, making my Hootsuite schedule and surfing the social media world, I have to remember that I have a daily word count… Yeah, I’m supposed to meet it before I do all the above. Hope my assistant skips reading this post!!!
Anyhow… When I sat down and prepared my writing calendar for 2017, I decided to be realistic. In years past, I’ve given myself too high of a word count, then crashed and burned when I couldn’t keep up. This year, I took into account days that I’d be editing, redrafting and also had something on the calendar for that day. I also reined in my word count to make it more attainable, also lower than what I’m capable of.
As my assistant and I were working on this, I’d say a word count and she’d raise an eyebrow, then I’d lower until the eyebrow relaxed. What’s sad is that my writing calendar has room for me to post my daily progress, yikes that’s scary. SO far in 2017, I’m officially behind on my word count, which means I’ve got to up my game to catch up.
So, if you’re asking, how do I set my word count to be realistic, not wishful thinking, well, let me enlighten you. Over a couple of days, sit down and time yourself while you write. Also keep up with the number of words. If you have a day job, take into account the time you have available to write, which you need to try every day to make a little available time. Then, figure up what you can do.
For me, I write when my hubby goes to work and my son to school. I have two hours until I have to be in the office, so I try to write for at least an hour. During which time I’m boiling my morning egg, and eating said egg… yes, while I’m writing. Then I have time to shower and run across the driveway to open my accounting office. I also try to get in at least an hour in the evening. Of course, the weekends are my catch up time. I spend a couple of hours on Saturday and Sunday filling in for the lost words from the busy week.
So, how do you schedule your word count? Is it realistic or wishful thinking?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
P.S. Go by and check out my website which has been revamped for the new year! www.stephaniehurtauthor.com and if you want to keep up with me and get cool stuff, sign up for my street team…
Stephanie Hurt - Romance Author 