Five Oaks Ranch Coming to a Close!

It’s hard to believe it, but my Five Oaks Ranch is coming to a close soon. Maggie is in editing and will be out in a little over a week, then the Christmas edition will be out before Christmas. I’m excited about the Christmas book. It will feature recipes and so much more, but there will be romance as always…

I’ve grown to love all of the Cauthen’s and will miss their lively banter and all the fun they have. But they’ll live on in fiction.

My new series is already in the works, without a name of course, but in the works. The first book in a chapter in and I can’t wait for you to get a glimpse of it. It’s something I’ve been playing with for a while, so start looking for tidbits before Christmas.

Keep a watch out for bundle specials on the Five Oaks Ranch! Some great deals will be coming before Christmas so don’t miss a post. If you haven’t caught a Five Oaks book, then get one soon. The Cauthen’s are a fun, loving family and you’ll love their stories as they unfold in each book.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Release for Luke

release ad

Hiram Book Signing – the rundown.

Saturday I had a book signing about two hours away from my home. It was a dreary, nasty, rainy day, which affected the attendance. But even with that said I enjoyed the day. I had a nice time talking with one of the owners about publishing, selling, and other authors.

I actually call Saturday’s book signing a learning experience. As I took in the other local author books and the swag they had with their book displayed, I gained many ideas. Of course as a people watcher, I took in the expressions of those that came in and out of the door. It was comical that most of the patrons during my stay there were men.

It never fails that I always forget something, and this time it was the jar to put the entry slips for the giveaway in and the bowl for the candy. They were nice enough to provide me with something to use. Even with the best plans, something can go wrong.

Now my Lean on Him series and the Five Oaks Ranch series are represented at their store which excites me. It’s a new territory to gain some new fans.

Hope all is well with all of you.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Coffee, love, laughter…

Good Saturday morning all! How do you like one of my new rugs? I’m super excited about this one. Can you see why? If you’ve been reading my posts for the last three years then you know why. Hint, there’s three of them… Did you figure it out yet?

This morning as soon as I opened my eyes it was evident the rain was here. So much for some yard work this morning, but I can’t complain because we need the rain. Saturdays at our house are for cleaning and writing. For some reason this week and I’m still a little confused about this one, I actually finished most of my laundry early. That means more time for writing today 😉

If you haven’t checked out my Wattpad entry, then run, don’t walk over there. Votes and views are important for this one. I also enjoy the commments. As a firm believer in the close knit writer community, I want to hear from you. One friend has already helped out by pointing out something that needed tweaking. I’m ever grateful for that too! When someone that doesn’t see the story from your head makes an observation, then you can see it clearer.

Also, for you Five Oaks Ranch fans I have a nifty little surprise that I slipped in this week when you weren’t looking. Ridge is free on most sites for a while. With Chase riding on the heels of publication I had to get some things happening. The downloads have been pouring in, which means there’s an interest in catching up. As I’ve said before, i can’t wait for you to meet Chase, my favorite of the Cauthen brood.

So, what’s your plans for today? Writing? Cleaning? Just being alive? For me, all of the above! My advice for you on this rainy Georgia day, drink a pot of coffee, hug someone you love and laugh a lot…

As always, good writing and May God Bless you…

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/48304085-tuscany

One more thing before you go! When Tuscany’s entry on Wattpad reaches 25 views I’ll be doing a sweet giveaway, then at 50 and 100! So pass the word around and give me some reader/writer love!

Do you treat writing as a business or hobby?

Let’s talk about your writing for a moment. Lately I’ve been reading a lot about the business of writing. It’s got me thinking about my writing. Most articles I read constantly ask, do you treat your writing as a business? Or is it just a hobby that you play at? Something to think about.

I take my writing seriously, really seriously. To me writing is a business that I treat as though it’s a 9 to 5 job, but I don’t get to spend that much time with it. I’ve talked to several writers that feel the same way I do about writing, but others say they only write on a whim and don’t really take it serious. I guess it’s whatever is important to you.

Can I let you in on something I’ve learned from my experience and the experience of the many writers I’ve spoken with, if you don’t take your writing seriously, how do you expect anyone else to? If it’s just a hobby, then your fighting a losing battle because you’re not planning to put in it what it takes to really do something with it. I’m not lecturing, just stating a fact.

So, here goes my soapbox moment. For your writing to count, then you’ve got to believe in it yourself. You need to step up to the plate and take that swing. Yes, you’ll miss the ball a couple of times, I know I have, but in the end you’ve given it all you’ve got. The only way to make it to home base is to put the effort in and push forward.

One author told me that all she ever does is promote to friends and family. That’s good, but if that’s all you do, then your reach is only so long. In order to succeed you’ve got to go past your inner circle, step out of your comfort zone and do it. Do some Facebook promotions, Tweet like crazy, do an author signing, but do something! Ok, I’m off my soapbox for this one moment, but don’t fret, I’ll be back on it again really soon;)

Ask yourself this question. What do you want out of your writing? Is it fame, fortune, or to get a point across? Why do I ask? Well, it’s an important question because a lot of really good writers never see any of that. Do you know why? They never strive to better themselves. Read every article you can get your hands on, enter contests, attend conventions when possible, but inform yourself. As with any business, you’ve got to keep up with today’s readers. To do that you’re going to have to step up to that proverbial plate and swing…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Come like my author Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/StephaniePayneHurt or

If you cut it off, it will grow back, Who knew!

You may be wondering what I’m talking about. Today’s post is two fold. Since I’m on a low calorie diet, that means I’m eating salads, salads, and more salads. That means I’m buying lettuce constantly. A couple of weeks ago as I scanned down the many thousands of posts on Facebook I ran into an article about regrowing lettuce. Well since I’m eating so much lettuce (feeling somewhat like a rabbit) I decided to read the article instead of passing it by.

It was talking about the kind of lettuce that I eat, which is Romaine. All you do is cut the hard end off which you can’t eat anyway and put it in a cup of water. Now I have letter regrowing in my cups. Yes I did a happy dance on my patio the other evening when I saw my little lettuce sprouts reaching up to the sky. Of course my hubby and son laughed at me and they’ve played some really mean tricks on me regarding my little baby lettuce sprouts. Who knew you could grow lettuce from your cut off stalks, well maybe some of your knew, but I didn’t.

As for the 2nd meaning, I’m talking about your manuscript. I’ve been working on Chase, the 3rd book in the Five Oaks Ranch series and something just didn’t feel right about one of the scenes. I read it and reread it until my eyes crossed. Then I made the decision to cut the whole scene and start over. Guess what? It worked! Once I decided to delete the whole scene that wasn’t sitting right with me, I felt better.

Then as I started back over with this section of the book it took on another feel altogether and actually led into another scene I hadn’t even thought of. So, it helped to cut it off and let it regrow and then it multiplied! Now that’s the kind of cutting off I like.

So, how’s your writing going? I hope it’s going well. Also, have any of you ever replanted something in order for it to regrow and multiply. I’d love to hear about it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

P.S. Just a little exciting news, I’m featured this week in Southern Writers Mic Nite! Here’s a link to said article: http://www.southernwritersonline.com/mic-nite.html

photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/7467877@N07/4970032832″>Novelty Gene Autry Barlow</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>

Beach Sale!

It’s summer and the time to go to the beach. If your not headed to the beach, but maybe a staycation at home, then now’s the time to fill up your Kindle. We all know that summer is our time to give back to ourselves. For me that means getting in some reading while sitting in the shade, sipping cool, sweet tea.

With that thought in mind, I’m offering a huge Beach Sale on all of my standalone e-books through Amazon. For the summer they will be .99, yes that’s right, .99. What’s a little sacrifice among friends. So head over to my Amazon author page and grab a couple or all of them before the summer ends. I might extend the sale to other sites where my books are available, but for now it’s only Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-Hurt

As for now, good writing, and May God Bless You…

By the way, try to stay cool!

Ebook piracy is real and growing…

Good Wednesday morning! Hope all of you are well and safe. I know several people in the flood ravaged south and I hope all of you are safe this morning. As I watch the news its devastating and tears at my heart. Prayers going up to all of you in the danger zones.

This morning I want to discuss Ebook piracy. When I started my writing career I was a little leery of putting my book on websites that I wasn’t familiar with. I’d spend hours checking out their ratings and BBB information before I’d even set up an account with them. We want to keep our work safe from those that want to take advantage, but what can we do in this day and age of cyber piracy? Nothing, not a thing…

I noticed about a year ago that when I googled my name, several websites came up that I didn’t recognize. Of course I checked them out and some of them are legitimate because they are distributors from Createspace that legally sell my book and I reap the royalties. But unfortunately a couple were actually pirating my books for free on their sites. A month ago I was searching out my books and found that the number of websites that my books are showing up on have more than doubled.

Of course it got me a little hot under the collar until a well known author told me something that hadn’t really hit me. She told me that it’s like free advertising. The word pirates as I call them were actually doing free promotions for my work. I still don’t like the fact that they steal your work and place it everywhere for free, but in a way it is getting my work out there. She also went as far as to tell me I should be proud that they picked my work to steal because that meant they evidently thought it would help them. Never thought of it that way either.

My question to several authors was how do you stop them, but all of them came back with the same response, you don’t. The websites change constantly and have crazy names. I keep a watch on it though because I don’t want someone else to list their name as the author of my work. Now that will spur me into action, but for now I’m just watching it.

I suggest if you’re a published author to keep an eye on your work. Do a cyber search frequently on your author name, book name and website. It’s just a precautionary measure, but it could save your work.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S. Oakley is coming out by the end of next weeks!!! I’ll be posting updates by the end of the week. So go over to my website at www.stephaniehurtauthor.com and subscribe to my newsletter to get updates on new releases or exciting news. Or go over to Facebook and like my author page to stay up to date at https://www.facebook.com/StephaniePayneHurt. If you’re a Twitter lover then check out my tweets at https://twitter.com/StephanieHurt4.

Giveaway on Southern Writer’s Magazine site…

Good Monday morning. I hope all of you had a great weekend. As for me I start this week with a special piece of news. I’ve joined forces with Southern Writer’s Magazine for a giveaway. Sign up this week for a chance to win a signed copy of “Safe in the Pirate’s Arms”. It’s been great all the help Southern Writing Magazine has been handing me.

Here’s the info on the giveaway:

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.