Decisions and another ice storm!

If you’ve seen the weather reports well here it comes again. Today it starts as rain, then turning to freezing rain, then to sleet and finally a light snow. Oh Joy! Here we go again. I can handle the snow, it’s pretty, but the ice is not. That means possible power outages and that’s not a good thing.

As I told in my post last week, I had to replace one of my computers this weekend. OH, but the fun didn’t end there. Yesterday my main printer went out. Yep, I’ve got a monkey on my back and he’s not very friendly. But all in all I’ve kept up the good attitude that always follows me. I’ve tried to keep it light, but my pocketbook sure isn’t happy…

I’ve got a couple of days to decide whether I’m going to enter the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. I’d originally thought this was a definite decision, but as I do further thinking I just don’t know. It’s a great contest to enter, but I’m being pulled in another direction. A little birdy has put a different direction for this book into my ear. I’m praying on it and working through my indecision. Hopefully by Sunday I’ll have a answer.

Writers are constantly making decisions. They range from settings, main character descriptions, genres, plots, covers, blurbs, publishing, editing, and so many more. Sometimes I spend more time on this than writing which is not a good thing. In order to meet your writing goals, it’s important to know what direction you’re headed in. Try to stay on the road forward, sometimes those side roads lead in the wrong direction.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Looking back at old posts…

I’ve been blogging for almost two years. It’s been such a wild ride. This weekend I was going back through some of my more popular posts. This is one from my CreateSpace blog. If you didn’t know this I have several blogs going. What can I say, I like to multi-task…

First things First. You write the romance novel.

Posted by SHurt on Aug 6, 2012 1:41:24 PM

Well, I have been writing stories for as long as I can remember. The storylines came easily to me. That was the easy part. The

hard part was putting it on paper.

I could always see the story from start to finish, but it was the in between that got complicated. I decided to go old school. I sat down

one day and made an outline of the story in my head. The outline ended up having 18 sections. SO, that was my story in a condensed

version.

I took the outline to the computer and started. I used each section of the outline to fill in my story. I would expand the section until it

filled a chapter, sometimes two. Before I knew it, two months later, I had a completed manuscript.

I looked at the manuscript in awe. I had finally done it. I had completed a whole story from beginning to end. Now what! ON my next blog I

will continue the story.

Get to writing. It can be very stress relieving.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Revisiting an old friend…

As I wrote a couple of days ago, I’ll be revamping some of my first books. They’ll be longer and more descriptive. I’ve always gained more knowledge over the last couple of years regarding different wording and such. I’m excited about it. I started working some last night on the remake of Ghost Lover which is the first book I published in May 2012.

Don’t worry for those that are waiting on the release of two of my upcoming books, they’re still in the works. But as I opened the dusty file of Ghost Lover I had to smile. This was my baby. I read the first couple of words and it was like revisiting an old friend. When you write a book you get to know your characters personally. As you write each word and describe each character in detail you gain so much love for your characters. When the book is finished it’s like a sad moment.

But, when you revisit the book it’s exciting. I’ve been changing several aspects, but the feeling of the book stays the same. It’s even going to have new categories. I’ve playing with the idea of changing the cover a little to honor the newly polished work since it is changing slightly. But the cowboy on the cover will stay the same because I just simply love him.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. Yeah, it’s finally Friday. I hope to post some this weekend on my progress, but I’m going to be busy putting programs into a new office computer. Yep, my tax program was way too large for my laptop, so I had to purchase a new desktop to replace my other desktop. Didn’t see that one coming, but that’s life. Good thing it’s tax season and that will more than pay for the new computer.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Writing, the experience

I’ve experienced so many emotions as I write. It’s amazing the things that go through your mind as you push out that story. You know what I’m talking about if you’re a writer. Sometimes it’s that feeling that makes you think you’re going crazy. Ok, so maybe not every writer experiences this, but I do and I’ve talked to several authors who say the same thing.

Here’s what I’m talking about. It’s the feeling of getting lost in the story. You get filled with the characters emotions and actions. It takes over your brain and at times you have to shake your head to get it out. I’ve been so lost in my writing that I’d block out everything around me. My family sometimes have to actually nudge me because I can’t hear them.

One of my books has a kidnapping section in it and when I was writing this scene I actually felt my heart racing with fear. It was as if I was feeling the fear my character felt. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the emotional bond you have with the characters you write. When the character was rescued I actually sighed with relief.

Then you have those moments when you’re out somewhere or working at your day job and the writing bug hits. It’s like the flu. It hits quickly and rapidly takes your thinking processes away from what you’re doing. The symptoms can range from breaking out into a sweat, intense staring (Nobody or no one person is immune to that stare), itchy fingers, the loss of logical speaking, and then the immense need to find something, anything to write on. It can be a napkin, envelope, gum wrapper(that’s not the best thing but it works), or any writing surface that presents itself in front of you. I have notes everywhere, it’s crazy.

Of course the worst feeling for a writer is the dreaded writer’s block. You’re sitting there writing and all of a sudden you lose the whole feeling for the story. Your mind goes completely blank. It’s as though the book in your mind has been erased and all you see is a blank page. You sit with your fingers poised above the keyboard, you break out into a sweat, you’re disoriented and confused about the new feeling, then you get concerned. Maybe you have a deadline and this is not the time to draw a complete blank. The funny thing is minutes earlier your brain had the whole story completely outlined and now NOTHING!

The best feeling to me is when you hit publish. Of course it’s the most scariest feeling too. You’re euphoric at finishing your baby that you’ve fed, cleaned and babied for what seems like forever and then you have to send it away. Then it hit’s you, oh my goodness I just finished a novel and put it in someone’s hands. Now you wait. You wait for the responses, the sales (this you just hope to see something), the criticism, and the rewards. Hitting that publish button can cause you a moment of every emotion imaginable.

For me it’s really a strange feeling when someone you don’t know comes up to you in a store or event and says ‘hey, you’re that romance writer’. I know I turn red as a beet. I’m not a person that loves for someone to shower me with praises. I’m a shy person at those times. I get embarassed and excited all at the same time. Of course the hidden diva inside is jumping up and down, squealing with delight, but I’m not a diva on the outside by no means.

There are so many emotions and experiences a writer goes through. It’s different for everyone, but it all comes down to the experience of a writer. I love being a writer and expressing my love for the craft. It brings me great joy and it’s a thing of pride to hold a finished book in my hands. I hope you find the joy of writing that I’ve found. Smile, someone might be reading your finished book at this very moment. You may be changing someones life with your writing. If you’ve been holding back on pushing that publish button then you’re not giving yourself enough credit. Do it. You’ll feel better after you do.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

How do you keep the romance?

Today is the 20th Anniversary of my marriage to my hubby. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been together for 20 years. That’s a lot of water under the bridge.

So, how do you keep the romance going for 20 years? Well let me give you some tips. By the way I use these in my writing as well 🙂

1: Never, ever go to bed mad. Not only does this cause you to have a sleepless night, but you don’t get the problem resolved.

2: Always make time for your spouse. Even with a teenager in the house we find time for just us. That’s a big priority.

3: Any time we part either to go to work, or to bed we always say “I Love You”. Those are 3 very important words in a marriage. Without them you’ve got a serious problem.

4: Never shout at one another, well, not in anger. One day we’ll have to shout for the other one to hear, but that’s hopefully way down the road.

5: If you have a disagreement, which everybody does from time to time, just step back and take a breath. That always helps to get a little of the tension away. Then calmy discuss it and work it out.

I know that was only 5, but I can’t give away all my secrets. I’ve been lucky to have a good, hard working, handsome, caring, husband and father to our son. It’s been a blast that’s for sure. So, go give your hubby or signicant other a big kiss and tell them how you feel.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Dust it off and see what happens

This weekend I was working on The Winner Takes All which is the 2nd book in The Winner series. I had to bring out the first book for a couple of references and as I read it was like visiting an old friend. I actually read a couple of chapters before I knew what I was doing. But I did see some things I’d like to change or expand on. Funny how that happens as you start to learn more about your craft.

I’ve had a couple of fans say they’d like to know more back story of some of the characters in a couple of my books. One lady even put in a review that she’d love to see me expand one of my books. She loved the book so much that she wanted to know more about the back story of some of the characters. Well, that got me to thinking about doing just that.

Of course, you know me, I did some research on authors revisiting old stories and was amazed at how many famous authors have done this. Even their best sellers they’ve revisited them and some even revamped the covers and did a whole re-release campaign. So, don’t be shocked if I don’t revisit a couple of my books. I actually have some ideas for a couple of them.

Have you ever did this? Have you read a book lately that you wanted more of the story? It’s funny how you love a story but you want to hear more about a particular character. Well, I’ve listened to these requests from my fans and plan on do just that.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Cowboys, Cowboys Everywhere…

I’ve written posts on this before and it’s still true. Everywhere I look I see cowboys. Romance books, commercials, movies, they’re everywhere. I’ve written most cowboy romance and I do have to say that a cowboy main character is pretty exhirating. I mean they’re masculine, hard working, rugged, everything you’d want in a hero type.

Someone asked me the other day if all my romances are about cowboys and I smiled. I do have a couple that aren’t cowboy related, but most of my books do have cowboys and horses. As I’ve always said, you have to write about what you love. It just makes it easier. If you write about something that you’re not passionate about then it will show in your writing. Always go with what you’re passionate about.

I’m going to write what I’m passionate about. It’s just how I’m made. Do you have something you’re passionate about? As a writer you can really shine if you go with your passion. Since I’ve always loved anything about horses and cowboys, it’s only natural that I’d write about them. I’ve actually heard from fans that I’ve convinced them to love cowboys too. That made me happy because that means that I did what I strived to do.

So what’s your passion? Is your romantic hero a cowboy, Navy Seal, doctor, business man, millionaire, musician, bad boy, body guard, vampire, werewolf, shifter, the list can go on and on? If it’s romance I’ll read it, but my favorite type is obvious…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Why do you write?

That’s a weird question to a writer, but to someone from the outer non writer world it seems logical. I’ve had this question posed to me on several occasions. So today I’ll try to answer this in my own life.

Why do I write? Well, it’s a a passion. I guess my passion for writing started with my intense passion for reading. I’ve always loved to read. When I was young I’d read mysteries and old classics. Then as I became a teenager I was introduced to romance novels. Well that was it for me. I was hooked on romances. I’d go through a couple a week. It was thrilling to get carried away to another world.

So, I started writing what came into my mind as a teenager. I’d fill up notebooks with stories. Mostly they were romances, but I did pen out a couple of mysteries. I’m actually thinking of working on a romance filled with mystery. We’ll see how that goes.

There’s a feeling I get when I sit down to write. It’s like no other feeling. I get immersed in the world of my characters. It’s amazing how you can get so into their story that you actually get lost. Sometimes it’s hard to get back into the here and now.

Of course right now is the busiest time of the year for my accounting business. But I still set aside time to write and plot out stories. It’s actually a stress reliever. If I’m feeling too overwhelmed I’ll go into Bigstockphoto.com or one of the other picture sites and try to set up what I want for a cover. It inspires me. Or I’ll work on an outline of a story I’m working on.

I sprinkle my nights with reading and writing. I consider reading like research for writing. As I read other authors work it helps to keep me focused on my own writing.

So, why do you write?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Unlikely Heros during a bad situation in Georgia

I know, you’re saying ‘not a big deal’, but Georgia doesn’t see this often and especially the ice and 8 degree temps. At least we haven’t lost power. I’m just glad I don’t work in Atlanta. If you’ve seen the news, then you know what happened with the traffic. It was horrible and I heard so many horror stories of the 16 to 22 hours sitting on the interstate. I’m having a panic attack just thinking about it.

Well that puts me to my topic for today. I couldn’t believe it as I watched the horror unfold Tuesday night on TV. People were stuck on the interstates all around and children were stranded at school. The worst was those that did manage to get on buses and the bus getting stranded.

It’s amazing the hero’s that show up during these situations. Our wonderful law officers always step up to the plate and those that are in the emergency management positions, but I’m talking about just everyday people. I’m going to hit on some of the ones that moved me as I watched the stories.

The teachers that were stranded with the children. To me that’s heroism. You may not think so, but those parents that were at home had a little bit of relief that those teachers were there. They stayed with those children and fixed meals, entertained them and were their parents for several hours. It’s hard to imagine what had to be going through their minds. I can’t even comprehend it. They were true heros and stepped up to the plate.

Then I heard of so many going out on foot to those stranded on the interstates. They showed several passing out hot chocolate and others handing out snack bars and water. Even a couple were handing out toilet paper. Things that we take for granted, these people had none of this. I’m sure they were thankful for whatever they could get. One guy even handed out fruit snacks for the children that were stranded in the cars with their families. You know it had to be hard on all of them. A lot of the stranded drivers were truck drivers. They even stepped up letting people get in their warm cabs to get warmth.

Then you have those that stepped up and risked their lives by helping people get their cars out of ditches or unstuck. Even Chipper Jones, a former Atlanta Braves player helped out. It’s amazing the amount of compassion that was shown during this.

Also a big shout out to the many stores that opened up their doors to those stranded motorists. People were sleeping in the aisles of grocery stores, card stores and others.

It just goes to show that in a bad situation, people step up to the plate. They may not consider themselves heros, but to those that they helped they’re Superman or Wonderwoman. It touched me. I counted myself lucky that my family was safely tucked in at home by the fire.

We still have no school and my hubby is here on standby. As for me, I’m working at my kitchen table where it’s warm. That’s the nice thing about having my office beside my house. I can telecommute.

So if you know of someone who has been helpful in this crazy winter, give them a shout out.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Snowy night in Georgia!

Well the meterologists got it right. Here in Georgia we’re getting lots of snow. It’s pretty and really cold. I know those of you from the north are laughing at us southerners, but we don’t get this often. We’re definitely not prepared for it. Atlanta highways are almost closed down and the roads are iced over. As for me, I’m sitting in my cozy den with a roaring fire.

It’s a great night to write a beach scene that I’ve been working on. I’m thinking warm thoughts…..Yeah that helped thaw out my toes. I plan on sitting here and finishing the beach scene tonight. Then hopefully if my power doesn’t go out, I’ll finish the whole book tomorrow. But unfortunately I live in the country and if the ice builds on the power lines, well you know what happens, they snap. Then I’ll be down for the count. But I have plenty of pens and paper 🙂 I’ll go back to the old way of writing.

The snow is falling heavily now as the darkness takes over. It looks like diamonds falling from the sky. The ice crystals gleam in our outside spot lights. It’s simply gorgeous. But since my driveway is uphill, we’ll have to get out the 4×4 if we go anywhere out of four wheeler range.

Hope everyone is staying safe in the cold weather that’s descended from Canada.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…