Good morning after…

Well, all’s said and done on this Christmas season. The gifts are opened and the food consumed (Sighing heavily)… As I walked into my den this morning I groaned. I was met with the mess that I ignored last night. It looks like Rudolph and all his reindeer trampled through my den and did the two step.

I quietly poured a cup of coffee and waded through the empty gift bags, wadded up wrapping paper, Christmas balls and sat down. Sighing I took a long sip of coffee and clicked the heating pad on for my back. It’s over. The hustle and bustle of Christmas is behind us. Now for the clean up and return lines. Yeah, did I mention I didn’t read my sons new wireless controller for his game system. I bought the wrong one. I’m not game savvy ok…

Now’s time to get things in order and get back to work on my manuscripts. Especially since I have one with a deadline of January and two February. YIKES!!! So much for resting til New Year’s. HEHEHEHEHEHE…

What’s your plans for the next couple of days? Are you writing, cleaning, or a combo of both? I’ll be doing both as I ponder the new year. I wonder what the new year will hold for my writing career. I have some plans for submitting a couple of manuscripts to Avon. We’ll see how that goes.

Last week I was surprised by a wonderfully sweet card from a reader who received one of the giveaways in December. She was very appreciative and said she couldn’t wait for the rest of the Saga to come out. Of course I’m talking about the giveaway of “Victoria”. The next book will be coming out in the Spring, so keep an eye out for updates.

I do hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Series or finish in one?

When you’re writing the book and the story just keeps going and going, so you finish the story or do you make it into a series? Series can be a continuation of the same storyline with the same characters, they can be a continuation of characters that in the first book were in the background, or it can be just a continuation of the same type of story but entirely different story. What will it be?

For me a couple of my books have stood alone completely. I knew and felt good with ending them at the words The End. But some of my stories needed more. Some were supposed to be stand alone but the characters just pulled at me to be more. In my latest book, Open The Heart, I originally planned on it being alone. As I delved into the story around 3/4 of the way in I knew it had more to tell. You may be saying why not just go ahead and make it a mega novel with 50,000 or more words, but in some instances it’s good to just end on a cliff hanger, leaving the reader wanting more.

In Victoria I knew at the start that it would be a Saga. I knew as I was writing the first chapter how it would end and I built it up to that major cliff hanger which of course has garnered lots of readers writing to me stating that they were hanging on pins and needles. I just smile and know I did the right thing. It’s had several asking when the next book could be expected. What’s funny is they always ask what happens? I can’t tell you until the next book comes out is always my response.

So, what will you next book be? It’s sometimes a hard question. Does your story line have the stamina to carry on for several books? Does your general premise for the book have series quality? Well, let me know how you figure it out.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

“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…

It’s raining outlines…

Here in Georgia we’ve had a years worth of rain in just weeks. When we walk in our yard we have to slosh through puddles. The grass is spongy. A little sun would be a nice reprieve. I know I saw the animals pairing up this morning 🙂 (Just a little Noah humor). Yep, I need to see some sunshine and soon…

As I sit on the couch with the recliner out and my laptop in my lap, I watch the rain. The lightning moves in and out daily. It’s good writing weather as we can’t go out and lounge in the pool or sit in the sun. Even working the garden is a chore due to the Georgia red clay.

But the blog is about outlines and writing. I know I’ve talked about them before but this is a little different. As I hinted before I’m working on a historical romance and it’s based around the Civil War. Well, I had to do a outline of the timeline of the Civil War. But that’s just the start.

To keep up with the family tree which is going to get tricky, I’ve started a type of family tree outline. As this is going to be a Saga and go through to today’s time I’ve got to make sure to keep the mamas and papas and kids straight. Now as a writer this can get crazy if you’re writing and forget who belongs to who.

Well, then there’s the outline for the story itself. I definitely need this to keep me straight. I don’t need to kill anyone off that’s important for future parts to the Saga.

By the way, it will be named the “Women of Magnolia Hill Saga” and the first book is “Victoria”. I’m already almost 20,000 words in and only part of the way. This is going to be a long one, so get ready.

So far I’m up to 3 outlines for this story. Usually I only have one, so this is a record breaker for me. Do you use outlines? If so, have you ever had multiple outlines for one book?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…