Tag: Romance

If your story falls apart, use duct tape?

Duct tape is a house staple, just as salt, sugar and flour are food staples. For many years people have fixed almost everything with duct tape. At Church we even fixed a broken Christmas tree with duct tape, no really we did. It’s strong and durable. Also you can get it in any width and color so it’s versatile.

What if you’re story is falling apart? We all have those manuscripts that start out really good and we have a phenomenal ending planned, but the middle has so many holes and fractures that it puts a real stink on the beginning and ending. Well, put a little duct tape on it. What am I talking about? Well, here goes the answer in a nutshell.

By duct tape I mean sit down with your beginning and ending. Then really look at it. Where is the character headed? The middle needs some suspense or issue that needs to carry the reader over the hump to the end. It needs something that only the ending can shed some light on. This is where the duct tape comes in.

As I said above, duct tape is strong and durable with lots of versatility, so the middle of the book needs to be taped up neatly. But be careful not to just add fluffy filler that makes the reader fall asleep with boredom. If the first of the book is power packed, then make the middle explode with tension. This is the strong duct tape. Add an element of complete surprise. Let the main character have a major problem that needs solving, or maybe a secret that is threatening to come out, but the secret has to be life altering.

But make sure that it can mesh with your great ending. I did this one time and a book that started out being only around 30,000 words went over 50,000 words with a little duct tape application. Crazy, but true. I had this really great beginning that pulled you in and the ending left you breathless, but the middle was just a bunch of fluff. As I did my first read through I was almost dozing and that’s not good. I sat down and spread out the beginning and ending, then totally restructured my characters. I added a whole new dimension to them that took them on an adventure that meshed well with the ending and soon I had a complete story that I was proud to hit the publish button on.

So, get you some duct tape and pull that story together. If you use the right duct tape it will hold together nicely.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Live Life; Follow Your Dreams…

Today I turn 46! Wow, it’s hard to believe I’m almost half a century old. But I don’t feel 46 and I sure don’t act it. Actually most people say I act 10 but that’s another story for another day. I live life and enjoy it immensely. We’re only give one so live it. Many people tell me I don’t get out and do things enough, but the truth is I live my life the way I love to live it, by following my dreams. No I don’t go alot of places and do a lot of things outside of my job, my writing, the Church and my family, but that’s the way I like it. Am I a hermit? No, because the definition of a hermit is someone who lives their lives in complete seclusion from the outside world. I do leave my house occasionally.

How do I follow my dreams? Well for one thing I have a phenomenal life with a great family and wonderful friends. I follow my call to serve my Lord, Jesus Christ by ministering to children, I love Accounting and get to work everyday doing just that and then there’s my writing. I followed my dream and get to write romance novels which has been my dream for more years than I want to count. Do you live your dream? If not, get to it, because we’re not promised tomorrow and today is only 24 hours.

As far as acting my age, not a chance. I don’t feel my age so why act it. If you act your age you’ll get old before you need to. I love to giggle, cry, laugh out loud, share my joy, sit in the floor with the children and sing, cartoons, children’s movies, and so many more things, not to mention extra marshmallows in my hot chocolate. Oh and sprinkles on my cookies, doughnuts, and cake, did I mention I love sweets!

Do you live life to the fullest? It doesn’t take a lot of money to live life. All you need is a dream, a desire to follow it and a supportive family. I stop and smell the roses, do you?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Wrap up a Pirate for someone…

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Good morning all! It’s Tuesday and it’s cold here in Georgia. As I snuggle under my throw with my coffee at my side and the fire crackling I have to smile. It’s cozy and warm with Christmas cheer in my den. I love this time of year. The Christmas tree is twinkling beside me as though it’s saying Merry Christmas Stephanie!

As for presents, are you finished with your shopping? Me, well, almost, but I still have a couple of things to pick up. If you need a stocking filler or a gift for a reader, why not check out Safe in the Pirate’s Arms. It’s an adventurous love story with suspense, romance and pirates. Several readers have commented that they felt like they were on board the ship as I described every detail. I want my readers to experience the book, not just read them.

Here’s a little tidbit and then some links to buy:

Lightning streaked across the clouds just ahead of them. Caleb widened his stance and prepared for the battle with the storm. He’d been through worse.

The first drops of rain caused the men to move faster. All of the cargo had to be tied down. Serena helped by handing out coiled rope to the men. She never thought about the rain causing her clothing to cling to her body.

Caleb looked down to check the progress of the men when he noticed the boys clothing was wet. Then he did a double take. That wasn’t a boy at all, but a woman. A chill ran down his spine as he realized they had a major problem. Tom saw Caleb’s expression and followed his gaze. He swore when he saw what Caleb did. Caleb motioned for him to take the wheel.

He quickly made his way to where the woman stood handing out rope. Luckily the men were so busy that they didn’t notice. He spun her around and their eyes collided. “You need to get to your quarters.” When she just stood there he looked down at her soaked clothing. “Now!” He barked.

She looked down and saw the problem. It only took her moments to cover herself and run to her cabin. Caleb was on her heels. The look in his eyes was murderous and she knew it wasn’t going to be good.

As she opened the door and turned to shut it, he stopped it with his hand and followed her in. Then he slammed the door, leaving them alone in the small cabin. He made the cabin seem even smaller.

“What in the world were thinking? A woman on a ship with a bunch of men is dangerous and foolish.” He ran his fingers through his wet hair in exasperation.

“I was desperate.” She said in a small feminine voice.

His head snapped up in recognition. Reaching out he snatched the hat off her head causing her dark hair to tumble down around her shoulders. He grunted with frustration.  “Serena!”

She looked up at him and blushed. He turned around and grabbed the blanket off the bed. “Cover yourself.” He was a good man, but even he had his limits. “Why’d you stow away on my ship?”

Suddenly she burst into tears and sat down on the little cot. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” She started to openly sob.

He’d never been really good with women’s emotions. He sat down on the cot beside her and lifted her chin to look up at him. “What happened?”

“After you left last night, my mother died.” She sniffed and tried to get her composure. “Then I overheard my stepfather telling a man that he was going to end your trip and get you back for taking his shipments. He said he’d watch The Lady go to the bottom of the sea.”

He sat there for a moment. It was evident when he’d been at Edwards home that something was wrong. The man seemed crooked. It angered him that the man was part of the pirate’s that he fought against.

“My mother’s last words were that I needed to leave before my stepfather came upstairs. She said I was in danger. So I packed a bag and made my way down to the docks and then onto your ship.” She looked up at him pleadingly. “Please let me stay on the ship. I’ll work for my room and food. I won’t let anyone know I’m not Toby.”

Standing up quickly he looked down at her. He could only imagine why her mother was worried. That man was pure evil and he was glad she’d gotten away, but a woman on a pirate ship, even though his men were all good men, they were men.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Wednesday Inspirations…

As I sit here sipping my coffee and looking at the twinkling Christmas tree I’m inspired to write. This is the time of day that I sit and write. The hubby is off to work and my son off to school. I have a little time to contemplate my newest WIP and work on edits, not to mention blog posts and social media catch-up.

This morning I’m working on Ridge. I’m already madly in love with him and his ornery ways. He’s pulled at my heart strings for weeks because he’s such a deep person with real problems. I can’t wait for all of you to fall in love with him. It won’t be hard and then of course he has three brothers and a sister that will pull you into their lives. Since I love cowboy romance it’s nice to be back to writing what I really love.

Unfortunately my brain is already wanting to write another Christmas romance, but no I refuse to jump into the frying pan. I just hope I can keep it all at bay for a little while. I do have something in the works for release before Christmas, but we’ll see how that goes.

What are you working on today?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Finding your writing niche…

Good Tuesday morning! Hope all is well in your corner of the big world. Have you ever thought about changing up your writing style or even the genre you write in? Many authors do this with a lot of success, some not so much. Let’s talk about the in’s and out’s of changing things up.

To get things started let’s say you’re a romance writer. Well, the romance genre is a widespread market going from the sweet innocent romance to the hardcore erotic style. Some writers just have the knack to write certain types of romance and when they try to go up the pole or even down they don’t seem to excel. But maybe you’re not doing well in the category you write in, what next? Try something new? Maybe…

I’ve talked to several authors that have tried many writing niches. Many authors go from romance to mystery without missing a beat, but others struggle with the change. One author changed her romance writing niche. She normally writes paranormal romance which is racy and at times dark, but then she tried a romantic comedy. It was a hit. But of course she’s known for her paranormal romances, what does she do? Well, she dabbles with both now. I’ve read both by her and have to say they’re great. It was a great transition.

Another author friend tried to step out of writing mysteries to try writing romance. Let’s just say she struggled. She told me that writing mysteries just coming easily, but trying to write a romance novel gave her a headache. I suggested just writing a mystery which is what she does best and sprinkle in some romance. Well, she’s doing that and it seems to work.

As for me, I’ve been writing romance for a long time. I’ve tried Christian Romance, Time Travel Romance, Cowboy Romance, and several others, but they’re all in the romance genre. But, I just published my first children’s Christmas book and I have to say it was fun. Now I’m working on a children’s series and it’s challenging. By no means am I leaving romance writing, I’m just venturing out a little.

So, what’s your writing niche and could you change if you tried?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Saturday morning writing…

Good morning all! It’s really cold here in Georgia. I’m sitting by the fire with my second cup of coffee and checking my posts. I love this time when I’ve got a little time to write posts, post on sites and work on my writing.

Today I’m working on Ridge, which is the first installment of the 5 Oaks Ranch series. I can’t help but smile as I write each part. As you know me well, I’ve got the outline completed and know basically where the story is headed. Some days I’m so excited that I go ahead of myself. No actually I do. If a certain part is calling out to me, I’ll create a separate word document and get it down. When I actually get to that part, just copy and paste. It helps keep the overcrowding of my brain from completely taking over.

Ridge is a special character to me. He’s got this rough edge that just makes him pure cowboy. The time he spent in Iraq during his two tours of duty have given him a edge that will cut the most unwilling intruder into his world. His only soft spot is his little sister Maggie. The smile she gives him makes some of the stone around his heart chisel away. But the fun part starts the minute he meets Mallory, the new ranch vet. Their sparring will keep you wondering where it’s headed. The fun part is how Ridge avoids things that are unavoidable. Can she break the ice that’s totally Ridge?

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be working on his story. If everything goes well you’ll be able to meet Ridge before New Year’s but let’s just see how it goes.

Ridge Advertisement

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Halfway to the weekend!

It’s already halfway to the weekend and I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing. Time flies when you’re having fun I guess. I’m getting excited about my upcoming release of “Her Wish For Christmas” which is scheduled on Amazon for Thursday night at midnight. Since I’m donating 1/2 of the preorder and 1st week of sales royalties to a domestic violence charity I hope you’ve gone over to Amazon and preorder or maybe you plan on getting it Friday. It’s for a great cause.

As for my week, well it’s been busy as usual. I’m working on Ridge which will be set up for release later in the year. This is the first book in the new Five Oaks Ranch series. It’s based on a ranch and the five siblings are funny, complicated and exciting. I hope you’ll check them out as they come into being. Ridge has been an interesting character to write. He’s a hard man with a heart of stone, but he wasn’t always this hard. Two tours of duty in Iraq have changed him. But the new vet might just change that.

I hope all of you are enjoying your hump day! Don’t forget, the weekend is right around the corner.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Romance is in the air, can you feel it?

I haven’t written a post on romance in a little bit. But as most of you know, it’s important to me. Fall is a romantic time to me and especially as it slips into winter. There’s nothing more romantic to me than sitting by a crackling fire, sipping hot chocolate and just being together. As the nip in the air gets nippier, I get excited.

The feel in the air also spurs on my writing. I enjoy sitting with my hot tea and laptop, writing in the chill of the air. As the leaves float gently from the trees and the smell of Fall fills the air, let’s just say my fingers fly over the keys as my mind goes crazy with writing ideas.

Do you have romance in your life? If not, then I suggest a candlelit snack by the fire. You may say, but I have kids in the house, that’s fine, just wait until they go to bed. Maybe you don’t have a fireplace, well just light some candles, spread a blanket on the floor and kill the lights. Everyone needs a little romance and even the simplest things can be romantic.

So, get that romance back or gain a new romance.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Self Publishing – A good thing…

I’m back in the grid again. I’ve been working on our Church’s Fall Festival, which was yesterday, so that’s why I’ve been out of the grid for the last couple of days. It went really well, other that the attack of the cotton candy machine. The wind decide to get a little brisk about the time we started the machine up. We all worked hard to get it caught up and bagged, but unfortunately I was covered in cotton candy. Pictures of this mishap are posted on my Facebook page by many friends that thought it was really hilarious…

Ok, on to today’s thoughts. As most of you know I self publish all of my books. It’s a decision I made for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for one of my books to be picked up by one of the big guys, but if not, that’s alright too. I’ve had a couple of  publishers call me to inquire about what I have coming up, but once we talked about the percentage of royalties and what they’d do for me if I put my book with them, well I politely turned them down.

I’m a person that researches things a lot, well sometimes too much. I’ve looked into the good points and bad points of going both ways and when I look at the numbers, self publishing wins every time. I have control of what, where, when and all the things that happen with my work. I also make more in royalties than if I went with a publisher.

The tools available now for authors allow you to make awesome covers and publish really great looking books. There are so many outlets for self publishers to post their books for sale and advertising. It’s amazing the rise in just the last two years of the acceptance.

You might be saying, but wouldn’t you sell more with the big publishers. Maybe…but when I talked with one of them, they told me that I’d have to do a lot of advertising and social media myself, which I already do anyway. They didn’t offer very much in the way of marketing, well no more than I do now, so why do anything different.

This is a choice I made for myself. Now a big publisher might be the best fit for you, so understand that I’ve just not had a really good deal thrown at me. The couple I did get just didn’t push the right buttons. Self publishing is more widely accepted now than it was years ago. I’ve actually seen big, NY Times Bestsellers come from self published authors. Many big authors are going back to self publishing. That tells me something.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Her Wish For Christmas… Pre order up and running

Good Wednesday morning to everyone! It’s a beautiful, chilly morning here in Georgia. I just love the crisp air that Fall offers. It’s so invigorating and refreshes my soul. I begin to get more itchy to write which is scary because some days I could write for 24 hours a day. Yikes, that sounds a little obsessive, but if you’re a writer you know exactly what I’m talking about.

I’m currently working on Her Wish for Christmas, the 3rd book in my Lean on Him Christian Romance Series. This book has torn at my heart and brought me to tears several times. I thought book 2 in the series, Faith Through the Tears was bad on my nerves, well this one has totally cleared out my tear ducts. Actually had a fan recommend sending out a box of tissues with each copy sold.

If you’re wondering why it brings me to tears, well it’s a book about a problem that plagues this nation and it’s something that just affects me so deeply. But it’s the reactions of the characters that totally takes me by surprise. If you’re not a writer, the last statement might seem strange, but sometimes as writer’s we’re surprised by how the characters take over.

Also, for this book, it’s on pre order through Amazon until the release date of November 14th at http://www.amazon.com/Her-Wish-Christmas-Lean-Book-ebook/dp/B00OJI0BN0. I’m donating 50% of my royalties from all the pre order sales and first week after release sales to a domestic violence charity. I want to help out with making a difference. This is such a problem and it breaks my heart that so many feel they have nowhere to turn.

The first couple of days the pre order was out it was in the top 100 on Amazon which is exciting. I’m so touched by the response to this book and can’t wait for it to be up and running. Since the book is almost completely through the editing process I’m crossing my fingers that maybe this book can inspire someone to speak out and get help.

Her Wish for Christmas ad

As always great writing and May God Bless You…