Friday, Friday, Friday…

Good Friday morning… Well, it’s here folks. It’s finally Friday and it’s gearing up to be a gorgeous day here in Georgia. I feel like it’s been Winter forever. The sun is happily streaming through my windows this morning. As I sip my 2nd cup of coffee, I smile. It’s nice to see sunshine for a change. It’s actually supposed to feel like Spring today.

Friday’s are exciting. It’s the last day of the work week for most and it’s date night for others. Since it’s tax season for me, Saturday is my end of the work week. Oh well, that’s life. Since life has been crazy my writing has been sporadic. As most of you know I have several books in the works, so this is hard for me. I don’t get home until late in the evening and by the time I sit down to relax, I can’t get my head to work on the latest manuscript. I usually just sit and stare at the screen. I did manage to get the outline finished for one of my works in progress, which is exciting.

How’s your writing going? Are you in the middle of a deadline? Are you in a writing slump? What’s up?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

It’s Spring! I’m so over Winter!

Well, today around lunch time it will become officially Spring. Of course that doesn’t mean that Winter has let go of it’s grip here in the US. Here in Georgia we’re looking at cold temps next week and yep, a hint was given about a possible snow scenario coming really close to us next week. Really, we live in the South and for some reason Mother Nature has forgotten that. Oh well, we’ll deal with it as it comes.

When you think of Spring you usually think of Spring cleaning and refreshing everything around you. For me it’s crunch time in tax season and that means I’m up to my elbows in tax returns. My writing usually suffers some during this time of the year. I can’t keep my brain solidly on a story line when I finally get back into the house at night. But I think maybe I can go through my old manuscripts and do some refreshing.

I’ve spoken several times about revising older releases and making them new. Usually when you do this you change the cover and give the book a new outlook. I’m planning on a couple of revisions in the next couple of weeks. I’m also following some advice from a couple of my reviewers.

Also, this is a good time to clean up your files on your computer. In the Winter we get bogged down in the Winter time slow down of our brain. We let junk emails pile up, we let old, unuseful files pile up. Well, let’s clean up that computer and get ready for the Spring/Summer inspiration that comes to most writers. I write more in the Spring/Summer time period. So if the computer is clean and ready, you can write unhindered.

So, how are you Spring Cleaning your writing?

As always, Good Writing and May God Bless You…

Talking with fellow author, V. Steele

Good morning everyone… I do hope you’re having a great day so far. Today I’m talking with fellow author, V. Steele. We actually met well over a year ago through my blog. It’s crazy the way we just clicked. She writes racier books than I do, but we have the same concept of writing. So, without further ado, here’s the interview that we did over the weekend.

S: Good morning V.

V: Morning Steph, how’s it going with you?

S: It’s great. Let’s get down the nitty gritty. When’s the 3rd book coming out in the My Prodigy Trilogy coming out? I love this Trilogy, so I do have a personal reason as well as professional to ask this.

V: (Softly laughs) Well, it’s coming out early summer. I’ve been working on another manuscript that is part of the Chasing Cowboys series. But I do plan on working on the 3rd book soon. The cover is in the works now.

S: I can’t wait to see it. Hope to get a sneak preview when it’s done. Tell us a little about your work in progress. I do love cowboys.

V: Cowboys are fun to write about. The newest book in the series is called “My Obsessed Cowboy”. This has been such a fun book to write. It’s the story of a young woman and her cowboy. She loves him but he takes it too far. She can’t take the obsessive behavior so she leaves town. But as with any obsession, it doesn’t stop there. It’s going to have an interesting conclusion that hopefully leaves you excited and ready to find a obsessed cowboy.

S: That sounds pretty interesting. When should we expect to see this book published. I can’t wait to see the cover design.

V: I hope to have it out this Spring. This cover is also in the works. I’ve played with a couple of different ideas, but ultimately it’s the designer who works the magic with my ideas.

S: Since I’ve had the chance to read some of this manuscript, can you give us just a little sliver of the story without giving away too much?

V: Oh yes, that’s a great idea. Here goes:

That night when he took her home she decided to tell him they had to cool it. When he pulled up to the walkway in front of the house she grabbed his hand as he went to get out. “Kyle, let’s talk a minute.”

“Alright babe, what’s up?” He caressed her hand and she had to close her eyes to keep her body from overtaking her brain yet again.

“Kyle, we need to take a break from one another.”

His head snapped up. “What do you mean, a break? Who is it? Who’s trying to sneak into my territory?” He moved closer and the look in his eyes was murderous.

“There’s nobody else, we just need to take a breather.”

“Why? I thought you enjoyed our time together.” Suddenly she saw something different in his eyes. She couldn’t figure it out, but she knew it was dangerous.

“I have enjoyed the time we’ve spent together, but truthfully I can’t handle your possessiveness.” She had to be truthful.

“I’m not possessive. Is it wrong to love so much that you want to keep that person close. That’s how much I love you Tess.” He kissed her hand and squeezed it.

“Kyle you don’t realize that you’re acting possessive when you say I can’t talk to another man. We have several cowboys that work on this ranch and they are my friends.”

“I don’t like you talking to other men because I don’t like to share.”

“You’re not sharing anything, they are just friends.”

“I see the way they look at you. I’m not blind Tess.”

She pulled her hand out of his and opened the truck door. “Just think about what I’ve said.”

He opened his door and ran around to where she stood. “Baby, don’t walk away like this.”

“Like what Kyle. I’m just going home.” She threw up her hands in frustration.

Well, that’s a small snippet of a pivotal point in the first of the book.

S: Since I’ve read past this point, I can tell you this does pull you into the story. I want to thank you for this interview and the snippet from your newest work.

V: Thanks for this chance to talk about my work. Also thanks for the help with all of my publishing questions that I’ve bombarded you with over the last year.

S: It’s been fun. I can’t wait for the new releases.

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed a small look into what’s up with V. Steele. She has several books out and many more to come. Check her out at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and many other retailers.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

What’s behind the spike in Romance Novels?

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What’s behind the spike in Romance Novels? Could it be the world we live in? Could it be that we need some type of hope? I don’t know about you, but I love to sit down with a great romance and just get lost in it, if only for a couple of hours. It makes you think about possibilities, takes you to another world and makes you laugh, cry and smile.

Romance novels have always been a draw, but it seems as though lately there’s more of a need for them. Several years ago if you said you were a romance author, people would just laugh and say ‘you can’t find anything substantial to do with your life.’ But it’s not that way now. When you say you’re a romance author people sit up and congratulate you. The romance genre has exploded in so many directions. You can find a romance that fits your every need, really every need…

Here’s to hoping the romance genre stays popular. By the way, don’t forget to wear green today, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You

It’s Finally Friday!

If you haven’t looked at your calendar, yes it’s Friday. This has been the longest week in many ways and then again it’s been really short. I was blessed this week to have my assistant home from UGA for a couple of days to help me in the office and with some covers. We finally finished the paperback cover for Finding the Right Time. It’s awesome and I’m so excited for it’s release March 31st.

Along with good, usually a little bad comes. One of my clients and good friends found out she had cancer this week. It was such a blow when she called. It made me think about a lot of things. This was such a shock to her and her daughter. But she’s handling it with such strength and positive thinking. I would hope I could do the same thing in such a situation. My prayers are lifted up to her today.

As for my writing, I received some wonderful advice this week about writing. It helped me to think about some of my previous releases. Did you know that even the most famous writers go back to their first releases and revise them? It’s funny when we first start out writing it’s a learning process. The more we publish the more we learn. I’ve learned so many things over the last couple of years through writer friends and lots of research. So, when I get a little time between manuscripts, I might revise some of my earlier works. We’ll see how that goes, especially the time between manuscripts 😉

It’s Friday and I hope you are planning a fun weekend. It’s supposed to be a rainy last half of the weekend here in Georgia. I’ll be working on tax returns, but I do have some time scheduled in to work on the book that’s currently taking over my brain. I’ll give you a snippet later on, but for now, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

As always, good writing and May God Bless YOU…

Where are you headed? Not Sure?

That’s a hard question sometimes. Most people have no idea where they’re headed in life. They just take like as it comes and usually don’t make plans for the future. Do you have a plan? Have you got your future in mind or just living in the past?

Life is full of turns, curves, stop signs, yields and just plan out warning signals that go unattended. How do you plan to see it through? Do you live life by the seat of your pants, never knowing which way to go when you get to the fork in the road? Most of us stand that this fork and stare straight ahead, confused and not sure what happens next.

This happens so many times with writers. You write your manuscript, but now what? Do you publish it? Do you take a chance with a traditional publisher, but then again do you take a chance self publishing it? This is a hard question to ask yourself, but if you want to become a writer, it’s a question that needs an answer. What’s your goal?

Here’s a couple of road blocks that can come along:

1: Turns: This happens after you type The End. Are you self disciplined enough to self publish? Are you patient enough to wait on a traditional publisher?

2: Curves: Well you’ve made the decision as to how you want to publish your work. What now? If you decide to self publish the road can have many curves and you have to be disciplined enough to take those curves and move forward carefully. If you decide to send it to a traditional publisher, then the curves can be a long time coming and then when they do can you handle the possibility of a 90 degree curve when they either accept it or reject it?

3: Stop Signs: This is when you come to a complete halt. Either your manuscript is completely rejected by a traditional publisher or you decide to self publish and you have no idea where to go from here. That happens, how do you pull away from that stop sign?

4: Yield: With self publishing you have to know when to slow down and take the next step carefully. You need to be patient and slow down before going forward. This is also a good way to handle turning over your manuscript to a traditional publisher. Have you had your manuscript edited by someone other than yourself? One of the easiest way to be rejected by either way you publish is to send in your manuscript before it’s ready. Don’t run straight through the yield without slowing and taking a second look.

5: Warning signs: Also follow the warning signs. Don’t jump into the frying pan without being ready for the burn. If you don’t handle the business as it needs to be handled you will end up getting burned, rejected and ignored in the market. Remember writing is a business and the second you decide to publish, you’re a writer and that’s a business. Run it with that in mind.

So, where are you headed? Do you know your plan? Before you take that huge step into publishing, figure it out. Know what you want to achieve and make a plan. Don’t go into it without knowing the risks.

If you want to self publish and don’t know where to go from the words The End, check out the publishing service that I’m a partner in, Horseshoe Publishing. We strive to help authors move forward and put out the best product they can. The link to what we do is at the top of my page. We are offering a Spring Into Action 25% off special, so check us out.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Men and romance novels…

If you’re a man, do you read romance novels? Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. I know plenty of men that read romance. I have several male fans and I think that’s wonderful. It could be that I write cowboy romance, but they read the couple of non cowboy books too.

When I was younger I couldn’t see a man enjoying a good romance novel, but I’ve had my eyes opened. I have a couple of male authors that I love to follow and they write romance. It’s amazing the amount of romance that some men can pull into a romance. Most men would not feel comfortable admitting they read romance or wrote romance, but not these men.

Do you know a male romance author? What about a man that loves a good romance? As for me I know several on both counts. My hubby doesn’t read or write romance, but he loves a good romantic movie. That’s a plus for me because I’m drawn to them like a moth to a flame.

If you’re a man and you love a good romance or maybe you write romance, then let me know. I’d love to interview you here on my blog. Come on, don’t be shy 🙂

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Dusting off an old manuscript…

As most of you know I’ve been writing stories most of my life. Several of my books come from manuscripts that I wrote many years ago. I was cleaning out a drawer the other day and ran up on a spiral notebook. I didn’t think anything about it and set it on the table with some other papers to go through.

When I finished cleaning out the drawer and the one below it, I decided to see if the notebook was just a old one from my son. He’s bad about saving them from prior school years. As I opened it I was surprised to find one of my stories. Of course I dropped everything and sat down to read the story. The funny thing is I didn’t remember writing the story. As I read it I smiled thinking that it would make a great book, or at least a good book 😉

So, I put it in with my other manuscripts in the works and went about my day. But as any writer will tell you, the story started to fill my head. I kept going back to the words in the book. Soon the story came back to me and I couldn’t help but to sit down and write a few notes before I forgot them again. Yeah, it’s not fun to get older and lose your memory easily…

For now it’s still in long hand form. I plan to one day put it in my laptop, but it’s just a whim. It will be an interesting change from my normal writing. I will let you in on the story line soon, but for now, let’s just say I’m holding this gem close for a little longer.

Do you have manuscripts that are unfinished, but still in your mind? Have you put them away for another time? Tell me about it and share something from it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Love, the long road ahead…

Romance. It’s the time honored wish for most women. We read about it in magazines, novels and watch it in the movies. The search takes on a feverish turn as we get older, but do we find that elusive time held romance? Would you say you found that one man that curls your toes and leaves you in awe? Have you found your romance novel love?

Romance is not a myth, it’s real. But unfortunately we’re all so busy living life that we don’t stop to give it a chance. Romance is inside of all of us, but we don’t let it out. Some men are afraid that if they show their romantic side, then it means they’re weak. What they don’t realize is that romantic side is a indication that they’re in full control of their masculinity and know how to make their women happy. To me there’s nothing more masculine than a man that surprises his wife with a rose or just a simple, spine tingling kiss in public.

Romance can be found in so many ways. It just has to be explored, tested. If your relationship is lacking romance, then maybe you’re not trying hard enough. If your marriage has lost some of that honeymoon phase, then try a little romance. Light a candle at dinner, even with the kids at the table. Give him a look that says imagine we’re alone, he will get the message. Even a little note that simple says I Love You slipped in his lunch or wallet can spread a little romance his way.

I know I talk about romance a lot, but what can I say, I love romance. I guess that’s why I write romance. It’s a way I can spread romance to everyone who reads my work. Romance is a wonderfully, loving experience that everyone needs to have. So, as I always say, go out and spread a little romance.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S.: Finding The Right Time made it to Barnes & Noble for preorder. Here’s the link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-the-right-time-stephanie-hurt/1118861344?ean=2940045730792

Are you using your voice?

Ok, I know that’s a strange question, but hear me out. I’m talking about your author’s voice. That voice that speaks to you and drives you to write. You know that voice, it’s the one that wakes you in the middle of the night, the one that keeps your mind off everything around you, and it’s the one that nudges you to write that next chapter before bedtime. Yeah, you know it. All writers hear it, some ignore it, but you hear it.

But the question is, are you using your voice? Have you listened to others and changed to suit them, but not you? Yes, we need to listen to our critics, but if we totally change our voice aren’t we denying our inner talent. When you write from your heart it shows. When you listen to that voice in your head you use your writer’s voice.

If you change that and don’t listen to your own voice, then where does the story come from. Well, it would have to come from somewhere outside of your head, which means you’re not using your voice. It’s your writer’s voice that makes you the writer. It’s that voice that gives you the stories you write, the emotions, the complexity of characters. So, if you don’t use your own voice, then what next?

Did you know that your voice determines the genre you write in? If your voice leans toward romance, then you write romance, if it leans toward science fiction, then you’ll write science fiction. You get the picture, right? Well, I’ve talked to writer’s that listened to critics and other people and they changed their voice. But it wasn’t a good change, it was a tragic change. Their writing went downhill. Yes, we all need to edit our voice, I mean we’re not perfect in no means, but we don’t need to edit our voice.

I had a reviewer tell me one time that I needed to add some tequila shots to one of my books. She went on to explain that she thought it needed to have more heated love scenes. Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not my voice. She liked the book, but wanted more steamy sex scenes. My writing voice leans more toward the calmer romance voice. I have no problem with steamier books, but it’s just not my voice. That’s why we have authors that write in that voice. I lean more toward the heart warming romance. But that’s just the way I write. I have many great author friends that write steamy romance and I love their books. They in turn read mine and appreciate it also. We understand that all of us has a different voice.

So, are you following your voice? Are you listening to that inner part of you that makes your writing exclusively yours? Remember to follow your heart and not follow what’s popular now. You never know, you could start a new voice or popular culture.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…