Writing on a schedule…LOL!

Good Tuesday morning!

I’ve been working on my 2017 writing project schedule and it’s so exciting thinking about the future works that will come from this crazy writer’s head. One of the problems with setting this up is as I think about the new works, my mind wants to write them, now!

But, I’m trying to be a disciplined writer… yeah, that just doesn’t work for me. Now, let’s just get this one thing straight, I do schedule the books release dates and make sure that I have enough time between now and the release date to write said book, edit and to revisions.

The funny thing about this writer’s brain is that stories are constantly coming into my head, so what do I do when that happens so that I don’t lose it. I have a handy dandy notebook that says in my writer bag. Writer bag? Yes, my writer bag. Tomorrow’s post will be all about my writer bag. It’s quite nifty even if I do say so myself.

But, back to scheduling, whew, I get so distracted. As for scheduling, as a writer, I do need some discipline or I’d never finish a single piece of work. It is fascinating to me when I sit down to work on my schedule for the next year. Of course, I always have works that spill over into the new year, but then I need to fill up the rest of the year. Right now I have works scheduled into 2018, which is amazing.

So, if you haven’t tried working out a schedule, I suggest you sit down and pull out a calendar or planner. All you need to do is make a list of your current work in progress, then a list of upcoming works. Figure out the word count that you desire, divide it by the word count that you want to complete on a daily basis. Now you’re ready to write them in your calendar and schedule it out. Believe me, the time and effort it takes will be well worth it. But remember, don’t over schedule yourself, which I have a tendency to do. Make a workable schedule and enjoy the moment you finish each work of art.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter at www.stephaniehurtauthor.com for all of my news and new releases coming up…

Sonya Loveday – The Vows We Make Releases Today!

tvwm-release-day-blitz

tvwm-release-day-header

Now available on Amazon.
Click here to purchase
Or Read for free on Kindle Unlimited.

Wedding rings, engraved

The Vows We Make
Book 4 of The Six Series
Mark and Paige’s story.

Some vows can be deadly…..

winters-kiss

Mark and Paige are living in sin—that’s what any man of the cloth would say. All they want is to get married, but they refuse to exchange vows without their best friends—the Six. As they wait to hear back from them, Mark and Paige can’t help but feel they’ve been put off… forgotten.

When the threat of an enemy stalking them is brought to light, the call is made to bring them into the secretive world of Cole Enterprise.

Slotted for recruitment by the very agency that stole their chance at a normal life, Mark and Paige have to adjust to their new path as secret agents in a war they didn’t even know existed.
What neither fully understands is that nothing will ever be the same… and some vows are deadlier than others.

winters-kiss-eb

CHANGE WAS ALL AROUND ME. Everything was different. My life. My dreams. All of it.
Maybe some of it was for the best. Maybe it would push Mark and me to make more of ourselves than we would have on our own.
Crossing my arms tightly, I stepped out onto the dock and made my way to where Mark stood looking out over the water.
Coming back to the cabin and being around our friends after such a long absence from both had enveloped us in something like a constrictive hug. Both needing it, while desperately trying to come to terms with it.
“Hey,” I said, stepping up beside him and sighing when he pulled me into his arms.
I leaned back, turning my head slightly to fit into the crook of his neck. His cheek brushed against my hair and he asked, “Can you believe this place?”
I snorted. “No. But then again, we are talking about Jared’s parents, so…”
“True. It still feels the same here though,” he answered, watching the water ripple along the surface with the wind.
Arriving at the cabin, or what used to be the cabin, had sort of floored us all. No one knew what to say when we’d got our first glimpse of the new and improved place.
What used to be one story with a kitchen, living room, and six bedrooms with bathrooms was gone. Its replacement was two stories, ten bedrooms with full bathrooms, a massive open-floor kitchen/living room, a movie theater room, and a game room. Grant and Nadia had gone all out to make the cabin a place where all of us could live together, for an unforeseeable amount of time.
“It’s like they just knew…” I said, leaving the rest of what I was thinking unsaid. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on the things none of us could change.
“How are you holding up with all of this?” Mark asked.
I sighed deeply and closed my eyes. “Honestly? I don’t know how to feel right now. It’s like this huge war being waged right here,” I said, poking my finger against my chest. “I’m happy to see everyone. We’re here together—just like we wanted—but for all the wrong reasons. I’m missing classes and work. I don’t know what to do with myself. My life is literally on hold at this point.”
He hugged me tighter. “Tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it. If you want to leave, we’ll go. They can’t hold us here.”
I snorted. “Can you imagine the look on all of their faces if we just walked out with our suitcases behind us? No. I love you for that though. It’s nice to hear you’d do that to make me happy.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I’d do anything to make you happy, Paige.”

Wedding rings, engraved

The Vows We Make is Amazon Exclusive!
Don’t have a Kindle?
No problem!

All you have to do is download the Kindle App to your tablet or phone!

IEIF cover reveal4

P13 - Copy

Sonya Loveday, first and foremost is a reader, an avid one. It is of that love that brought her to purchasing her first laptop in 2009, and then publishing her first novel, Casted, in 2013.

Not long after the completion to the Casted Series, Sonya tried her hand at Contemporary Romance.
Thusly, the Six were born with The Summer I Fell.

In 2015 Sonya joined forces with best friend and fellow author Candace Knoebel. Together the duo created the Game of Hearts Novels. The series has two published titles: Love Always and Runaway Heart. Knoebel and Loveday will be releasing the third book in the series in 2017.

For more information about releases, and appearances, follow Sonya on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/sonyalovedayauthor

Book Promotions made easy!

23173416364_e8f8ee489e_s

Good morning everyone! It’s a beautiful day, so make sure to stop today and enjoy a moment of it. I know I will because I’ve found something that writers will want to hear… Are you ready for this?

Easy book promotion… I’ve spoken on this subject before and after a couple of tests, I’ve proven it on my own. As I sat, wondering through all my social media, trying to promote my books on my Twitter, Facebook and WordPress, I was getting a little frazzled, bouncing back and forth. Well, here’s the thing, why not do it all from one site…..

Some of you already use a program that posts your promotions on all your sites, but I’m going to talk about Hootsuite today. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

First, let’s talk prep:

I set up several under 140 characters promotions and put them on a spreadsheet for ease of use. Also, I use booklinker.net for my short links on Amazon and it actually promotes the book link to any country on Amazon.
Then I pulled up my Hootsuite account, looking at the spreadsheet on one side of the screen and Hootsuite on the other. This way I can do it on one screen, not bounce back and forth.
Now, on to the posts. I copy and paste each ad, then schedule them one hour apart. That way I’m not overloading my followers. It spreads the word gradually, but not as invasive.

It’s so easy, but I know, you’re wondering the results. Well, I found out that the retweets went up, my back stock sales went up and my new release sales went up. Now you may be saying, that was just a quirk, well, I did this on three separate occasions. It worked. Every time I had a Hootsuite campaign go out, the sales showed an increase.

So, if you’re looking for an easy way to promote your book and get some interest stirring, then try it out. I’m now scheduling several days of posts at a time, which leaves me time for writing, what more could an author ask for.

Let me know how it goes for you. Also, it doesn’t have to be all book posts. You can do cute kitty posts the same way, to change it up.

As always, great writing and May God Bless You…

Submit, reject, Submit again…

submit

As a writer, you write… you submit… rejection comes… you continue to write… you submit again… It’s just the way it goes. In some instances, you submit and it is accepted. This is a time to celebrate.

I’ve had many ask me how I take rejection, well, I tend to think of it as a chance to make things better, especially when the rejection includes well-written advice on what needs to be changed. Of course, there are those that simply don’t give advice, they just tell you they’re not in need of your work at this time. What that means could be several things…

My advice to all my fellow writers is to keep pushing forward because one day, your day will come and it will be all worth it. The rejections will have less of a sting if you push forward, never giving up on your dream.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Stories filling my head…Yikes!

Good Wednesday morning! It’s halfway to the weekend, so relax a little. You’ve got this.

As a writer, sometimes the stories fill my head and I can’t get them out fast enough. Some days it’s hard to focus on one story without the other stories trying to edge their way in. That’s my problem at the moment. I have so many stories running through my head that sometimes I think my head might explode.

The picture I have of my brain is a little hamster running on her wheel. Yep, that’s my brain for sure. So, how do I prioritize 12551866924_826fc1afef this craziness filling my head, I outline. I have so many stories pushing for first place in line, but only one or two can hold that spot at a time. To help with the breaking in line syndrome, I sit down and outline the fussiest, pushiest stories. At least that puts them at ease, for a time, but soon they are pushy again.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is not a problem exactly. As a writer, this is a good problem to have, you just have to learn how to keep your stories in line, which is the hard part.

So, how do you wrangle the stories running rampant through your brain?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

It’s Monday…all day…

Good morning! Why are Monday’s so rough? It might take the whole pot of coffee this morning. But on the good side, it’s slightly cooler this morning, so, I’ll be doing a little writing outside this morning before I head to the office.

As I’ve been telling you, I’m working on a Scottish Highlander series. I was almost done with the first book when it happened. I know, you’re asking what ‘it’ is, well, let me explain. Ok, I was typing along, loving the storyline when all of a sudden the story took a detour. It went downhill from there, but I kept trudging through, thinking it would get better, but alas, it didn’t.

Needless to say, I pulled back, read it from word one and found where the story went wrong, then did the unimaginable, I pressed delete for two whole chapters, two! It hurt, but on the other hand, it felt liberating. When I started back up, the story took on new meaning and the story is now going well.

It’s funny when you know something isn’t working, but you keep going anyway, just hoping it will change. Now, I’m working on getting back the two chapters of work and finishing up. Since this one will be sent to the editor that wants highlander romances desperately, I’ll be working on the synopsis for the two books that come after it. Yep, I’m submitting for a trilogy. Fingers crossed!!!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You… 2350462608_44a5fa8914

Covers…Edits…Excitement

It’s Friday! Plain and simple, I’m ready for the weekend. It’s been a busy week in the accounting office, along with the fact that I’ve had a summer cold which has made put me in slow motion, so my writing has suffered, but hopefully this weekend I’ll make it up.

As for my book Tuscany, which is in the hands of Solstice Publishing, is moving forward. I turned in the last of the heavy edits this week. I’ve learned a lot during these edits. My editor from Solstice has been wonderful. She actually made it a learning process. Her comments were inspiring and some were even comical, which made it a fun time, which is unusual for editing.

Yes, I’ve seen the cover that has been designed for Tuscany, but I can’t share it yet. As soon as I’m given the go ahead, I’ll be sharing it. Let’s just say, I’m excited. The book is beyond the first editing process and now will go on to the run through to make sure that everything was addressed before it goes to publication. So, hope to have some publishing news soon!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Back to Normal…

Well, today my vacation is actually over! It was a very restful and productive vacation. My Solstice editor sent me chapters 4-13 for Tuscany and I’m almost halfway done with those edits. Also, ‘Sowing the Right Seed’ is almost complete, which makes me happy too.

Of course, when you get back to work from a week off, you need to take another vacation to get over the after vacation paperwork pile up. My emails have piled up, the mail has piled up and the appointments are filling the calendar, but that’s fine, I’m rested and ready to go.

As for my writing, things are getting exciting around here. I’m a little closer to Tuscany’s big release with Solstice Publishing. Also, I’m working on an article for Southern Writer’s Magazine that was requested for an upcoming edition. I have several projects in the works and it’s going to be a busy end of summer, start of fall for this writer.

So, how have all of you been? I’ve missed you over the last couple of weeks. Hope all is well! Here’s a peak at the view I had for vacation last week. Yes, it was hard to leave this, but as most of you know, I’m a homebody.

Beach As always, great writing and May God Bless You…

Throwback Thursday! Tender Flames…

Tender Flames revised cover

It’s hard to believe this book came out in May 2012. Wow, times flies when you’re having fun. Since this release so much has happened in my writing career. I’ve been featured in Southern Writers Magazine multiple times, I’ve published over 20 books, I made it to the top 55 in the 2015 Harlequin So You Think You Can Write contest, and this year I signed a publishing contract with Solstice Publishing. It’s been such an amazing ride.

Tender Flames is the 2nd book I published and the first one to make me ugly cry while I was writing it. I actually had to stop and compose myself so that I could finish one part. This book will take you on a roller coaster of emotions, from laughter, grief, excitement, anger and so on. I revised it last year and reinvented the cover, which by the way I love. I’ve had a lot of response from this book, which makes me smile.

Get your copy of Tender Flames and start the journey of the love triangle that will leave you smiling… https://www.amazon.com/Tender-Flames-Revised-Love-Book-ebook/dp/B0084USOE2

Book Trailer:

Hope you enjoyed the trailer!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Lost in the words…

5527853183_56dda25e32_s

Good morning! The week is half over. I realized that I haven’t put a post on here in several days. But my head had been in my current manuscript.

So, with that thought, have you ever got lost in the words? I’ve been busy catching up on my word count. For about a week I didn’t write much and my word count suffered. If you’ve read many of my blogs you know that’s important to me. I have a set word count on the calendar and if I miss a couple of days, well, I go into a frenzy to get caught back up. But when you miss more than a couple of days, it’s almost impossible to get back on track. Notice I said almost impossible.

The characters have been running around in my head, forcing their way out. So, Sunday afternoon I sat down and let the characters take over. Let’s just say, I almost caught back up to where I should be. Hopefully this morning I will get back to task and be on track.

As a serious writer, you have to stay focused. Unfortunately, life slips in and things come up that interrupt that focus. When that happens, I sit back, look at my deadline, then divide it out by the days left. That gives me a new goal that has to be met. Which usually means a higher word count per day until I’m finished.

And as you know, I always have a couple of manuscripts in the works at all times, so get back to where I should be, I’ve put all of them aside to get back on track. The funny thing about doing that, the characters of the other manuscripts scream loudly in my head. Does that make me certifiably insane? No, that just makes me a writer!

Hope everyone is well and staying on track.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…