Tuesday Coffee Thoughts

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

As I sip my afternoon coffee, I’m thinking about the last nine years of publishing my work, I have to smile. This publishing life has been the best way to get all of my craziness out of my head. In 2012 I was unsure how it would be received, but wow, it’s been such a wild, wonderful ride.

Now, don’t take this as saying it was easy, but it has been fun. So, with another sip of my coffee I say thanks for all of the wonderful friends I’ve made during this wonderful time. And I look forward to many more years, publishing, writing, and blogging.

So, here’s to more coffee thoughts in the future… Meaning, everyday…

Writing from your heart…

Good morning! It’s been a while since my last post, but I’ve been super busy getting my latest manuscript finished and sent to my editor. I want to share with you what I’ve learned over the last couple of months while working on my newest project.

1: Write what’s in your heart. Don’t let others tell you what you can and can’t write, all that does is tamp down your inner voice. So, fill your pages with what your heart gives you and trust it.

2. Give your writing all that you have. When you get done writing each day, you should feel drained because you’ve put everything into it, but also feel accomplished because you’ve given your muse free reign.

3. Never write something that doesn’t feel right. If it doesn’t feel right, then it shouldn’t be put on paper. Go with your instinct.

SO, do you write from your heart? That’s what I did with the manuscript I just finished. I’m satisfied with the results, which is surprising because I always have that little doubt with each piece of work. But not this time.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

black ball point pen with brown spiral notebook — Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom on Pexels.com

Setting music to your work…

Good morning! It’s been a while, but I have a great reason… Tax Season. But, I’m on the last leg of the first part.

So, as I was working last night, my Pandora was playing movie love songs. I tried to name the movie for each score that played. Then I thought about how powerful each song was to the movie. Actually, in my opinion, some of the music made the movies seem better. The music gave the parts so much power, more inspiring or just more emotionally charged.

Maybe you’re wondering why I’m talking about this, well, wouldn’t it be cool if we could input music into our manuscripts? Of course, like most of you, I have music playing in the background as I write, but if we could put music into our audio books, wouldn’t that be something?

And yes, we put music into our book trailers, which adds that pull. Think about how it would be added to our ebooks in certain spots? It would be amazing…

Ok, so that’s my crazy rambling for this cool, southern Monday. Since I only have two more days left in tax season, I’ll be back to regular posting soon.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Street Team

Hey bloggers! It’s Kaleigh again!

The Street Team is getting a good response and I want to thank everyone who signed up for it! For the next few days ONLY the first chapter of Chase (the 3rd book in the 5 Oaks Ranch series) will be on the street team page for anyone that has joined! I will have to be taking it down next week because Stephanie has provided me with some awesome new information that needs to be put on the site.

Also, make sure that you are referring people! If you refer someone and they let me know you will be eligible for an ARC of Chase before it is available to anyone else! So make sure you are signing up for the Street Team and telling everyone else about it!

Just go to http://www.stephaniehurtauthor.com/#!street-team/cdmb and it is so easy to sign up! We will approve you and then you will be able to view the newest and juiciest new from Stephanie! If you have signed up and did not receive your awesome welcome package please go back and make sure that you sign up for the Street Team and not the subscription to Stephanie’s author newsletter. If you have signed up for the Street Team you should be asked for a password and I will have confirmed your membership!

Have a great day,

Kaleigh

Exciting News!

Dear Readers,

Many of you have probably read about me in some of Stephanie’s posts. I am her editor, cover designer, and pretty much her personal assistant! (: For the past few days I have been working on a very exciting project for her without giving her too much information. I am pleased to announce that as of today, the Stephanie Street Team is now up and running.

Stephanie’s Street Team is a place for any and all fans to join. I will be posting exclusive private chapters, cover reveals, and many other tidbits of information before they are released to the public.

There will also be challenges at all times on the site so that members ONLY can get a chance to win free books, swag, and many other exclusive pieces of information.

Now, most of you are probably wondering what the catch is here. I mean, Stephanie giving away so much awesome information there must be a catch. Well, there isn’t! You just keep doing what you are already doing, reading her books and posting on your social media about how awesome her books are! We will even provide you with posts and advertising pictures for your social media and blogs! How easy is that?!

Not only will you be getting, exclusive excerpts, awesome swag, and even free copies of the books once they come out! The most active members could also win Advanced copies (yes, that is before ANYONE else) once I get done editing them to help us make them the best that they can possibly be.

All of you are dying to join right now, I know! And here’s how you can do it:

Go to http://www.stephaniehurtauthor.com/street-team/
Read some more reasons to join this awesome team
Click on the log in/sign up button
Enter an email address and a password
We will approve you within 24 hours and will notify you that you have been approved
Start getting your exclusive information.

It wont even take you 5 minutes to sign up!

Me and Stephanie can’t wait to start getting to know all of you guys and for us to start making her books even more awesome! Hope to start meeting everyone real soon. For any questions please feel free to email us at stephs.street.team@gmail.com!

Have a wonderful day,

Kaleigh

What’s true love?

What is true love? It’s a question I’m asked a lot because I’m a romance author. That doesn’t put me into the category of an expert on the subject of love. Although I do read a lot about love and romance, it’s part of the job as a writer.

So, what is it? Some say that true love is a myth, what do you think? For me I’m a firm believer in this thing called true love. It’s a real thing. But true love is met by many skeptics. Here are few definitions of true love that I’ve found:

1: From the Bible (My favorite definition by the way)

1 Corinthians 13:4-7New International Version (NIV)

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

2: Dictionary.com –

noun

a sweetheart; a truly loving or loved person.

3: Webster’s Dictionary-

True´love`

One really beloved.

That’s only 3 of the many definitions you can find when you look it up. Does this define the words? Somewhere in between all of these definitions you’ll find the true meaning of love.

Here’s my feelings about it, so sit down and get ready. Remember before you read this that I’m an author of romance, so I warned you…

True love comes from deep inside your soul. It’s the purest, deepest kind of love that you can experience because as the words say, ‘true love’, it’s true, not just lust or infatuation. Your heart beats for someone else. It goes beyond those feelings you had in high school, beyond the fast beating heart, it’s the reason your heart beats. True love is more than words spoken, gifts given or even a look, it’s a feeling all of it’s own. Nothing compares to true love and I know this, because when you find your soulmate, true love, you’ll know it. Everything else that you’ve thought was love suddenly becomes untrue.

Remember I warned you, I’m a sap for true love. So, what’s your meaning of true love? Do you believe in it or are you a skeptic?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Tax season is over and I’m back!

Well now that the main part of tax season is over I’m back to my blogging and writing schedule. I’ve missed speaking with all of you everyday. It’s funny how you miss it. My writing has seriously suffered this year, but I plan to make up for the lost time and quickly.

I have several projects coming up and in the works. Today and tomorrow I’m working with my assistant/editor on those projects and I’ll be letting you in on them really soon… Also be looking for several giveaways of Ridge before Oakley comes out in the next week or so. I’ve received some great response from this new series and I’m excited about what’s to come in this next chapter of my writing.

Also I’ll be working on my publishing company more closely and am excited about the things coming up with it. Since I have a great designer on my team, I know things will only get better. We’re working closely with a fellow author to create her author platform. Can’t wait to get involved again now that things aren’t so busy.

Well off to write and dream. Hope all is well with all of you and enjoy this day you were blessed with.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Author Website – Do you have one?

Good Monday morning! As always I hope you had a great weekend. Have you noticed how short they seem sometimes? Well, on to Monday and the countdown to my book signing. Yikes I only have a few days…

Today I want to talk to you about websites. Do you have one? Have you thought about it, but didn’t know where to start? For a long time I thought about it and put it off. Well, now that I have one I’m glad I made the jump. It’s been a great way to meet need readers and spread the word about my books and releases. I can honestly say it was well worth the money to get it up and going.

If you’re unsure about the whole thing I give you some pointers to help make the decision.

1. Websites give you the ability to advertise to a wide variety of people. If someone searches a particular topic, then you could pop up.

2. Your fans will have somewhere to go to keep up with you and to know what’s new with your writing.

3. You can attached your blog to the website and add a new element.

4. Newsletters are easy when you ask people to subscribe to your newsletter through the website.

5. It’s makes you look more professional as a writer and you can sell your books directly from the site…

If you’re still unsure, just shoot me your questions. I’ve recently added Website design to my list of services at Horseshoe Publishing. Put your name out there and watch what happens.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

10,000 views, Wow!

In my two and a half years doing this blog, I can say it’s been wonderful. At first I was uncertain about it. I thought I’d become stumped and have problems coming up with the goods to make it happen. 😉 But I’m a writer at heart and that hasn’t been a problem. Usually I have to tamp down my need to post more than once a day.

The friends I’ve gained through this blog have been, well what can I say, heartwarming, true and just plain out great. I’ve met so many people from all over the world and gained personal relationships with many. We email each other, join together for blogs and so much more. It’s just phenomenal how it all works.

So, this is to all my friends from all over the world. Thanks for the comments, likes, and all the warm friendships that have made it worth while. I’ll see you on the other side of 10,000…

As always, great writing and May God Bless You…

Throwback Thursday Post…

I am revisiting an old post from almost 2 years ago. Wow, it’s hard to believe I’ve been blogging this long. Anyhow, this was one of my more popular posts from my blog over at CreateSpace. If you’re a fan, try to figure out which book I was working on. It was one of my favs. Also do you notice a phrase missing from this post that is always on my posts?

Third Cup of Coffee!

Posted by SHurt on Sep 13, 2012 1:29:57 PM

Well, it’s Thursday morning. My son is at school and my hubby has gone to work. My mind in swirling with words to put into my current book. I am so excited about this new one.

I just can’t seem to type fast enough to get the words out of my head. I can see the whole ending and I am chomping at the bit or keys as it would be. I worked last night in between watching “The Voice”. My son kept looking at me like I was crazy. I was actually smiling and chewing my lip as I typed.

Have you ever been so into a manuscript that your every thought was focused on it? I had a new thought yesterday for a new spin that has totally rocked my manuscript. One of my characters is going totally on another direction from the original thought.

It is funny how your mind works when you are into a manuscript. You think you have the right answers, but as you type your mind goes ahead of your fingers and totally changes everything. It is so cool how the process just develops on the scope of the work. I can’t tell you where the idea is going, because that would be a “spoiler”. I can tell you that my editor/assistant read up to what I had finished yesterday and she is now not speaking to me. She said she could not believe that I let her read it to that point and left her hanging over a cliff with no reprieve. I just smiled and knew I had accomplished what I wanted.

I know I have said other books were my favorite, but I can honestly say this one has taken 1st prize in my heart. I have honed my writing skills and took into account different reviews of my other books. I have changed techniques and ways of describing characters and places. Just can’t wait to type the end, but then again it has been such a big part of my life for the past month or so that I will probably have withdrawals. LOL!!!?