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…

Downhill slide…

Good morning! It’s a sunny morning here in Georgia. The sun is streaming through the trees and into the windows as I sit here writing. It’s been a productive morning so far. My exercise is completed, my breakfast eaten and 2000 words typed into my manuscript. Yes, Oakley is almost done.

This book has been really fun to work on. I’ve enjoyed writing all of my books, but there’s something about this series that really pulls at me. I think it’s the fact that the whole story of each of the five siblings actually is already in my head. It sounds crazy but it’s true. Of course I do have the filler material to put together and that’s the time consuming part.

Let me introduce you to Oakley, the cowboy, the man. He’s such a old spirit with his old fashioned way of thinking. His heart is filled with compassion and so much kindness. As he goes about trying to understand his brother, Ridge’s decision to hire a woman as a ranch hand, he struggles with other feelings that start up.

Keep watching for updates on Oakley and the release date will be announced possibly this week. Also, with the upcoming release of Oakley, I’m giving away 5 copies of Ridge over at Goodreads. Here’s the link: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/137212-ridge

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Ridge Giveaway

Make sure to earn as many entries as you can! This is not a book you want to miss out on! ‪

Oh it’s easy, anybody can do it…

Good morning all, hope all is well with you. As a writer I often hear someone say when they hear I’m a writer, “Oh it’s easy, anybody can do it. I need to write a book.” My response is always, “Go for it.” I try to encourage people to write if that’s what they want to do. But it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Writing is easy enough, but getting a manuscript down that could be published isn’t as easy. Most people can sit down and write many pages of a story, but can they make it stand out. A manuscript needs to make a statement. You need to have a start, a middle story and an ending. It may sound easy, but it’s not.

Here are a couple of things to think about before you start your novel:

1 – Are you willing to put in the time it will take to get it right? A novel isn’t written in a day.

2 – Writing the words isn’t the only step, you’ll need to edit, edit, and edit some more.

3 – The story will need to stand out in the crowd and I mean stand out. Remember you’re not the only one in the field.

4 – After it’s written, edited and ready for publishing, you’ve got more steps to go. Now you need a blurb, or rather you need the description that will make people want to buy your book. To me this is the hardest part of the whole process. In just as little as two paragraphs you’ve got to sell your book. Sound easy, well try it sometime.

5 – Then of course you’ve got to make the book look really good by designing an eye catching cover. This is the selling point of your hard work. Some people buy a book just from the cover so make it shine brightly and call out to your reader.

This is only a few points, but you get where I’m going with this. Writing is one of the most rewarding and heart wrenching things you can do.

As always good writing and May God Bless You…

As the fog clears

This is the view from my front porch this morning. The temperatures have finally warmed up and the threat of rain looms, but you can’t tell by the gorgeous sunrise. The fog is starting to clear and is barely visible in this photo. I feel inspired as the vibrant colors stream through the front windows.

As most of you know from reading my posts I try to get in my word count every morning. This morning as I woke at 6:00 my body and brain felt heavy and filled with inspiration zapping fog. I dragged myself out of bed and fixed breakfast for my son. As I poured the coffee and the delicious aroma steamed up to my nose I smiled. Yes, I need several cups of coffee. Since the time changed the sun comes up later and that always makes it hard for me to wake up. But one look at this beautiful sunrise I feel inspired to get to work. I can do this is the feeling it inspires.

Does a beautiful sunrise inspire you? As for me, I’m off to get in a couple thousand words before a warm shower and then on to the accounting office. I may need that third cup of coffee while I type…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

The story, do you know how it end?

Good Friday morning! I’ve been working long hours in my accounting office. Of course that’s expected during tax season. But the funny thing about this job is I know the main tax season will end on April 15th. I have a good idea after almost 20 years of how it will go, but with writing do you always know how it will go? Well, not always.

Many of my books came into my head mostly whole, but not always. Even some that come to me feeling whole turn out different in many ways as the stories unfold on paper. Take for instance my latest release, Ridge. In the back of my mind I had a clear vision of how it would go. I could see it unfolding before I ever type Chapter 1. But with some of my other books I wasn’t completely positive.

Safe in the Pirate’s Arms was one of those that I thought I had it completely figured out before I started, but the characters took over and many things changed. Sometimes we know where we want the story to go, but once you’re into the story it just doesn’t work. As with the book in question, I knew after I started in the planned direction that something wasn’t quite right. Something needed to change and once I changed directions of the story, well it just clicked. Usually when you have that ‘aha’ moment things started moving right along at a fast clip, well at least for me it does.

One of my manuscripts took such a sharp U-turn that I went back and changed some of the aspects of the beginning. But when I typed the end it totally made sense. I was proud of the changes that I made. It felt good and made me feel complete. I know that many of you have read my many posts on outlines and I do truly believe in them, but some of the time even the best outline needs to change slightly.

Is it mandatory as a writer to know the whole story? No way are we held to that standard, but we do have to make sure the story flows correctly. Of course we do have to know some of where the story will go, but the whole story, not happening most of the time, even when we think we know the end, it’s not always clear.

So, do you always know how it will end, truly? What’s your writing process? Do you outline and if so, do you stick strictly with it?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Don’t forget to go by my website and check out my March Madness Sale at stephaniehurtauthor.com

March Madness Sale!

Every week day in March my sight will be having a different sale!

stephaniehurtauthor.com

Don’t miss out on these deals!

Romance…Not for everyone…

So many people ask me why I write romance. Well, I love anything romance and believe that everyone needs a little romance. Of course I’ve met many skeptics that don’t believe in romance. They often tell me it’s only found in sappy novels, Valentine candy or something similar, but they insist it’s only in the mind. For me I don’t believe that. I don’t consider most romance novels sappy, but sometimes the sappier the better, but I’m a romance novel junkie and I readily admit to the problem.

Many have asked me when I started loving romance. My love for romance began when I was the tender age of 13 and picked up my first romance novel. I read many Harlequin and dime store novels, so many in fact that I carried them everywhere. One of my dear friends from school came to my book signing on Valentine’s Day and she told me that she remembered me carrying a romance novel everywhere I went. She said it only made sense that one day I’d be a romance author.

But the day I picked up the book “Remembrance” by Danielle Steele, well let’s just say I was lost in a world of the imagination. She took me to foreign countries and many adventures that stirred this country girl’s young heart. That’s when I started filling notebooks with the words that sprang to my heart. That was when I woke up to the world of romance.

Unfortunately not everyone shares my love of romance. Some people have been hurt by love and they turn away from romance. Some people look in the wrong places for the right person and they end up bitter and alone. But some try desperately to find romance and when it’s not found easily they become skeptics. I’m not saying everyone will find that once in a lifetime romance, but I will say this, in order to find romance you’ve got to believe in it with all your heart. That’s where romance comes from and if you believe, it will come.

I know I’m just a sappy romance writer, but I know romance exists. I’ve experienced romance and it’s wonderful. That’s one reason I love writing romance. I want my readers to see how real romance happens. My books explore romance but in real life form. It’s not always easy and sometimes my characters struggle to find it. But that’s how life is sometimes. Some of my fans say I take them away from everyday life and immerse them into my world of romance for a while as they read. That always makes me smile.

So, do you believe in romance? I hope so because everyone needs to experience it at least once in their lifetimes. It can happen in a simple touch, dinner or just a look across the way. But it exists for those that believe and when you find it everything seems better.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

When the mood strikes…Write!

Good Saturday morning! I hope all of you are well and enjoying a great day. Here in Georgia it’s cool, rainy, foggy, just plain out nasty, but it’s a great day to clean house and write. I’m coming off a great day off yesterday. I met my word goal and passed it. I’d planned on at least 2500 words but ended up writing almost 4000. Yes!

The funny thing about my excessive word count yesterday was that the mood just wasn’t there early in the day. I’d planned on writing early, but it just wasn’t there. I knew that if I started writing without the spark it would end up on the cutting floor in confetti, so I waited. Then later yesterday the mood struck and there it was. My fingers flew across the keys as the scene unfolded in my mind. I wanted to write faster, but these fingers can only do so much.

As you know I’m working on Ridge, which comes out February 14th. Yes I know, I’m running on overtime, but I had two main scenes that needed to be finished. Well, one down, one to go, then on to my editor. She’s chomping at the bit to get her hands on Ridge. It’s been a work from the heart and she’d sat listening to bits and pieces as the excitement takes over. Patience is the name of the game.

Just a peak at the man behind the book:

Cute huh! He’s mysterious, hard edged, a Cowboy, a Soldier, and family man. Yep he’s got it all going for him except the ride lady to spend his days with. Well, maybe the new vet can soften those edges and turn him around. We’ll see…

This morning I’m spending some time on cleaning my house, doing laundry and sorting mail, then on to Ridge. He’s filled my mind so much that some days I can’t concentrate. The next installment of this series is Oakley, but the funny thing is I’d love to start Chase next, but that’s not in the cards. But, I can write a couple of ideas into his portfolio. Yep, that’s in the works for today also.

What are you doing today? Staying in? Writing? Reading? Hope it’s great…

As always, great writing and May God Bless You…