Emma Rose is now available!

Good Friday morning! I’m excited to announce that Emma Rose is finally available. It’s been a long and harrowing journey, but she’s out. This was a book that brought about many changes. I’m ready to move forward with the next installment of the Women of Magnolia Hill Saga. It will be out in early 2015.

I hope you’ve checked out the Romancing September tour that Rosie Amber and I have been doing all month. It’s a great way to help support other authors and find lots of new books for your TBR list. Mine has grown so much that I should be good for a long time.

Another exciting thing to put out here is the upcoming western romance series that I’ll start as soon as I get a couple of days rest. Who am I kidding? I’ve already started the new series. It’ll be 5 books and each one is another aspect of the family of 5 Oaks Ranch. They’re full of family drama, humor, love, romance and just down right good clean, exciting fun. I’m so excited about this series. I’ll be posting little snippets as it goes. The covers are all completed, but nope, I’m not going to give anything away just yet, but I will tell you there’s a little something, something at the end of Emma Rose regarding this series.

Oh yeah, before I go back to writing, I have another announcement. Yep I’m full of them today. I have a Christmas romance in the works and it will be part of my Christian Romance series Lean On Him. This will be a very hard book to write, not that it’s not coming to me, but it’s about a hard subject. I’ll tell you more later, but let’s just say it will be a different side of romance from my normal writing. But it’s a subject that’s close to my heart. Ok, that’s enough of that for now.

I hope all of you have a great weekend and don’t forget to pick up a book. Be kind and give the author a review. We love hearing from our fans.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

Monday Morning Coffee…

Good morning! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. My weekend was great and I got a lot done. I cleaned my house Saturday morning and then grabbed my laptop and headed for the back deck. I recently purchased a large dark green market umbrella for my table, so I opened it and sat down to work. I was able to get in a couple of thousand words which is great.

Writing outside is so awesome. I enjoyed the slight breeze that was blowing and the sunshine all around me. The birds were singing happily in the trees and I was playing one of my writing playlists on the computer. Of course I had my new puppy outside with me. She was running everywhere and biting my toes, but I still managed to get in a lot of work.

As most of you know I have several books in the works. This weekend I worked on Emma Rose which is the 2nd book in the Women of Magnolia Hill Saga. It’s crazy how you get into a piece of writing and then you’re taken away on the adventure. I enjoy this series so much because I love history. It’s fun to write about the history of the great state of Georgia.

As for today, I’ll be back to the office. I do need to work on my other job some. My accounting clients don’t like it when I don’t keep up their work. Some days it’s hard not to pull up a manuscript and write. Since all of it is on the same laptop the books are always there taunting me. Most days I can be strong, but Mondays make it hard. Maybe I need another cup of coffee before heading out to the office. Yeah, I think that’s what I’ll do. I hope everyone is having a great Monday so far. So I’m off to refill my mug and then back to the real world.

As always, good writing and may God Bless You…

Trying to see the surface with a Giveaway…

Come over to Goodreads and sign up for my Giveaway. Of all weeks for me to set up a Giveaway and need to be positive. Well, I guess it will help to keep my mind occupied. Here’s the link: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/69641?utm_medium=api&utm_source=giveaway_widget

“Victoria” is up for preorder!

My latest book will be officially released on September 30th, but you can preorder it for $1 cheaper right now at these links:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/victoria-stephanie-hurt/1116875133?ean=2940045251976 & https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/353698

The press release was also released yesterday at http://prlog.org/12211010

The preorder cost is only $3.99, but after September 30th the cost will be $4.99.

Here’s a little bit about Victoria:

“Victoria” is part of the “Women Of Magnolia Hill” Saga by Stephanie Payne Hurt. It starts before the Civil War and is based around Atlanta, Georgia. As the war talk escalates Miles Slaughter knows his daughter Victoria needs to find a husband. Victoria is not going to marry just anyone. Her heart is set on finding the love of her life. While Miles is in Boston on business he meets Zane Camden, a shipping company owner. He’s impressed with the young man.

When he brings him home to meet his daughter, sparks fly and her anger flares. Miles tries to gather support from his four sons, but they know their sister. Zane can’t believe how beautiful she is and her anger only makes his interest stronger. Will he be able to win her heart before war is declared?

This is a romance with suspense, family, and interesting characters.It’s hard not to fall in love with Victoria and her family. This is part one of the saga that will tell the stories of Magnolia Hill Plantation from before the Civil War and go through to present day. Find out through the books what happens to the Slaughter family and their descendents.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Victoria, Official Release September 15th

Well, it’s official, Victoria will be released September 15th. It will be available for preorder on Smashwords.com, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple and couple of other sites after September 1st.

I’m really excited about this one. I’ll be doing a giveaway on Goodreads in the next two weeks ahead of the release. Also, will be doing a ebook giveaway, but those details will be released before the end of this week. Keep watching.

If you like historical romance, I hope you like this one. I’ve had it in the works for a while and am feeling a little release of breath as the release date is official. Finishing the final edits this week.

As far as other releases, the first edition of my newsletter was released yesterday. If you want to get on board for September, please message me. So far so good.

But back to my release. I’ll keep you updated on the upcoming events tied to the release.

Don’t forget to keep your eyes open starting September 1 for the start of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. Go over to Rosie’s page and check out her part of the tour also at

http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Tuesday Excitement and A little Snippet :)

It’s Tuesday and I’m really excited about a couple of things. Well, first off the Romancing September Across The World that I’m co sponsoring with Rosie Amber over at

http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/ is going great. We’ve almost filled all the spots. So if you’re a romance author or your book has some romance elements message us quick.

2nd, my newsletter is going smoothly. I’m to the point of getting with some of those that messaged me wanting to subscribe and the ones that wanted free exposure. If you’ve already subscribed it’s only a little bit before it’s out. If you haven’t subscribed please message me.

Well, the snippet part is from the book I’ve been working on for a while. I’ve been totally engrossed in this one. It’s a historical romance Saga. “Victoria” is the first book in The Women Of Magnolia Hill Saga. It’s already almost 30,000 words and not quite halfway completed. Deadline is end of this month sooooooo…. Here is a little snippet, hope you like it. Remember it’s a work in progress so no editing yet.

“I meant what I said to Joseph. I do want to make you happy.” When she turned to look at him he held up his hand. “I want to apologize for the way I handled the engagement. I felt pushed in a corner. When I first saw you I thought you were the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. Then you were so nice. I just didn’t want to lose you.”

“Thanks for being honest. That means a lot to me. You seem genuine in your apology so I accept it. We’ll just take things one day at a time.” She turned back to watch the moon.

“Thanks for that.” He walked to the rail and looked in the direction she was looking. “What a beautiful sight. The moon coming through the magnolia is gorgeous.”

“That magnolia has been here since this house was built by my grandfather. He planted it as a wedding present to my grandmother. Then he named this house Magnolia Hill. It was such a romantic gesture.” She was in deep remembrance. Her heart wanted the love her grandparents and parents had. She’d always wanted that. Could she have it with Zane? When she looked into his eyes she saw something that made her shiver, but not from fear but excitement.

“I wondered why it was called that. That’s a nice story.” His mind started working on a wedding gift for her. He wanted it to be special enough to make her look like this when thinking on it.

“My grandparents were special people. They met just like we did. Her father brought in my grandfather for her to marry. She didn’t want to marry him, but her father insisted. My parents were introduced the same way. I guess its part of the ritual.” She shrugged her shoulders as she watched the moon go over the top of the magnolia tree.

“Your father loves you a lot. I can see it in the way he is with you. You’re a lucky woman.”

“I think I’ll go to bed too. Thanks for telling me the truth. I feel better about things now.” She slowly walked to the door.

“I hope you have sweet dreams. Good night Tori.” He watched her smile as she walked through the door.

When she had closed the door he leaned on the post. Taking out a cheroot he lit it and watched the moon. He felt better getting that off his chest. It was the gift that flooded his mind now. As he watched the moon light twinkle on the polished leaves of the old magnolia a grin came across his face. He knew exactly what he’d give her. He finished his smoke and went up to bed.

Hope you liked it. I think this little tidbit makes you wonder what happened before and what the gift is. It’s a sweet story which lots of dramatic elements, war torn elements and loss. I’m really excited about finishing this first installment.

I will be announcing a giveaway in the next week or so. Keep watching for it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless YOU….

“Victoria” Cover Reveal

I think this has been the hardest book cover for me. I’ve had in my mind what I wanted since I started to work on this book back last summer. But what’s funny about my mind is that it has a mind of it’s own. No really 🙂

I sat down with my cover designer and drew out what I had in mind. Well after several eyebrow arches and looks of “What?” later, she told me to hunt the pictures and we’d put it together.

As I searched the pictures I found two really cool antique looking photos and well, let’s just say that was it. My mind changed and the cover took on a whole new look. What’s even funnier is that the book that started out as a stand alone has turned into a several book saga. Well, I’ve always said the mind of a writer is crazy and takes many turns. Here’s that curvy road of my mind.

So without further talk, here’s the front cover for “Victoria” the first book in the “Women of Magnolia Hill Saga” :

Let me know what you think. I’m so excited about this one. It took on a life of it’s own and with my very talented cover designers extraordinary talents it’s done. Now I’ve got to get the book done. It’s over 20,000 words and hopefully will be 3 or 4 times longer when finished.

As always, Good Writing and May God Bless You…

Romance the genre

Have you noticed the number of genre’s in the romance field. It’s amazing how many sub genre’s there are. When setting up for your book to be published they ask what genre. You have to make sure you hit it right.

One of the first publishers I looked for in a romance was Avon. They always had a great selection. I remember years ago you had historical, contemporary or series. The historical covered anything not contemporary. Now you have the different time periods. You have so many sub genres. What’s funny is some of them are so new that I have to google them to see what they include.

When publishing you have to make sure you put your work in the correct genre. Then let’s don’t forget tagging. That’s for a whole new blog post.

But for me romance is romance. Everyone needs a little romance no matter how you get it. I’ve been reading romance since I was a teenager and it’s still the same. Now you just have a lot more to choose from. I used to sit and wait for the next book to come out, but now you just go to your favorite book site and choose from thousands and thousands in every subject you want. If you tried to read everyone of them, you’d never make it.

If you want to check out some great romance and reviews go over to avonromance.com. They offer a great selection of romance and commentary that keeps you intrigued. I’ve enjoyed being a contributor on their site. I know you won’t be disappointed.

As always, great writing and May God Bless YOU…

While looking through the attic…

Saturday afternoon I ventured into my attic which is taking your life in your own hands. I’m, how would you say it, a pack rat. I confess, it’s a thing I inherited. When I was younger I had a book issue. I’d buy books everywhere I went. Needles to say I have a lot of books. Yes actual physical books. You remember those right?

I noticed that the pasteboard boxes that contained my books were looking a little worse for wear. So I had some extra plastic bins so I decided to take on the task of going through my books and putting them neatly in the bins. It was like a journey through my history. I laughed as I went through the different types of romance genres I’ve gone through in my 44 years. I love history, so I went through a rather lengthy historical romance stage. Everything I bought was a historical romance.

There are a couple of books that I hold close to my heart and have been known to reread several times. One of those was a book named “Violet Fire” by Jo Goodman that was published around 1987. It’s an awesome romance. It’s actually the second copy of that book I’ve owned. The first one I let an old family member borrow it. She passed away not long after that and the book never resurfaced. Not sure what happened there. I was lucky to find a copy a couple of years later in a second hand book store. You would have thought I’d found the Ark of the Covenant. I squealed and danced. Needless to say I was happy.

Well, I thought I’d lost it again as I couldn’t find it a couple years ago when I wanted to read it again. I thought I was just destined to not get to read it again. I picked up one of the boxes at the bottom of the stack and guess what, there it was with a couple of other books I thought I’d lost. I let out a whoop and my son came to the bottom of the attic steps. I assured him that I was fine and did a little silent dance. I’ve read every small moment I had. Funny how your hand cramps when trying to hold an actual book. I love it… My Kindle feels a little left out, but it will get some loving real soon.

It’s crazy how you find a book that you love and you just have to read it every once in a while. If you ever find this book on Amazon or in a book store I suggest reading it. It’s rather lengthy, but really good. I like Jo Goodman’s writing and this is one of my favorites.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you!