Good morning! I do hope everyone had a safe and Happy 4th of July! It’s always rough the first day back to the real life after a three day weekend. So, as the title suggests, today is my Monday. And of course I’ll have to wrap up two days in one.
As for my writing, well… Yep, got another chapter finished and I’m on the final stretch to the finish line. This book is pulling me from every direction. It’s been a wild ride into a new realm. I’ve written western romance as well as historical, but never about a wagon train. The things I’ve learned have been eye opening.
Television can romanticize the old west and the wagon train experience. But the facts are staggering and sad. Life on a wagon train was hard. The struggle to get to a new life was tough, but many made the trip.
I’ve tried to keep it as close to real as possible, but at the end of the day, it is fiction. And that brings me to another subject. Why do reviewers continue to say, ‘this book doesn’t fit into real life or real life scenarios’? Think about it. If you write fiction, it’s just that, fiction. In the world of fiction, anything can happen. If not, we wouldn’t have some of the best books out there. And if you think some of that really happens, then I need to enlighten you. It can’t.
Writers open up themselves to scrutiny every time they hit publish. Whether it’s a blog or book. But it’s part of it. And as a fiction writer, there will always be something that doesn’t really happen in real life. The reader wants to be taken to another place or time. They need that out of this world experience, if only for a moment.
So, take this from my post. Yes, most writers try to keep close to real life, but in fiction, the rules go out the door.
How many of you hasn’t heard the old saying, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’? Yep, I thought so. Here in Georgia, apples are all the rave at the moment. Tis the season I always say.
It’s the same with writing. But it would say, ‘Writing every day keeps the writer’s block away’. I do believe this is true. A couple of days lately, I’ve been so busy with other things, that I didn’t get to write. I know, that’s horrible, but true. By the time I went to bed on those days, my head was so filled with writing that I couldn’t sleep, so back to writing every day.
Do you write everyday? Even if it’s just a line or two, it helps to keep your writer brain from becoming over full. As I’ve said before, I have a schedule and if I miss a day, well, it causes a schedule jam. I’m in the middle of that jam right now. When you schedule so many words a day, then miss one, well, you get the picture.
How do you keep your writer brain happy?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You..
Just to give you a snippet of my current wip, here’s a few lines from Wine, Wedding, & The Cowboy…
Abri stood there looking at her best friend. She couldn’t do it, could she? Would she find someone in less than a month? No, she couldn’t. Taking a deep breath, she looked him straight in the eye and straightened her shoulders. “Baron, we have to get married.” There, she’d said it. Although from the look on Baron’s face, she hadn’t handled it very well. Baron sat forward, his eyes wide with surprise. “This is so sudden. I don’t know what to say.” Then he laughed. “Have you been testing the new wine again?” “No, I’m serious Baron.” Abri dropped into the chair across from him. “Ok, what do you mean you’re serious?” Baron saw the look in her eyes and knew she wasn’t joking. But what on earth could have her asking him to marry her. Abri clasped her hands together as she looked down at her lap. “My father, being the old fashioned man he is, says that I have to be married before my 25th birthday in order to inherit Tuscan Rose Farms.” “What? When did this come about?” Baron bunched his brows together. He knew that this farm and vineyard was her heart. “If you’d showed up for Thanksgiving dinner as you were supposed to, then you’d know.” Abri shot him a withering look. “You know that I don’t like eating at the main house. It’s no secret that your father doesn’t care that much for me. Besides, I ate with the guys down at the mess hall. We had the best fried turkey and the dressing, well, what can I say, it was amazing.” He began to relay all of the menu, knowing that Abri was beginning to fume, but he loved it when she got angry. There was this light that came into her face. She was beautiful, but when she got angry, wow. “Baron! I don’t need a play by play of what you ate for lunch. All I need is for you to say you’ll marry me and we’ll be good.” “I can’t marry you. What would people say?” Baron was giving her a hard time and it paid off. The light came into her face and he was awestruck. “You have to. I don’t have any other takers. You know yourself I haven’t dated anyone in months. And where would I find someone to marry on this short of notice. Oh, and I already told my father and cousin that we were engaged, well, that you’d asked and I had yet to answer.” “What? Abri!” Baron stood up, running his fingers through his blond hair. “I know! Just listen. I have a plan.” Baron rolled his eyes. “Abri, I’ve been a part of your plans before. They never work out as you see them. This will be a disaster and both of us will be homeless when the dust settles.” He held his hands in the air, then growled in response to the thought of the disaster it would be. “No, wait. We can have a quick wedding, with a fake minister and fake license. Once the deed is done, we can get a divorce later. If I meet someone, then we’ll have a fake divorce.” Abri shrugged her shoulders. Baron sat back down, the air leaving his lungs in a long sigh. “Abri, do you realize what you’re asking?” “Yes, I know it’s a huge favor, but I can’t lose my birthright because of an old fashioned man with old world ideas. Please say you’ll marry me, at least for a short time. You’re my best friend, it can’t be that big of a deal. Well, maybe it’s a big deal, but it will be fake.” Abri sat forward in the chair and smiled at him, batting her lashes. “Abri, I need to think about this.” Baron said, running his hand over his face. He’d die a slow death if he was married to her, fake or real. She was everything to him, but if he married her, it would be the real deal. It would be for love, not for a vineyard.
Good Tuesday morning! It’s time for a Tuesday Teaser. Pier Cove is coming soon, so, here’s a little teaser of what’s inside the covers.
Marley turned as the bell over the door jingled happily. The man coming in wasn’t unfamiliar to her. She’d met him once or twice at the Marina when she ate dinner. He was a nice looking man, in possibly his mid thirties. The corners of his eyes had what she called, ‘sun wrinkles’ which told her that he spent a lot of time in the sun. She smiled as he walked up to the counter as though he had a purpose other than just browsing. If Marley remembered correctly, it was the first time he’d been in the store since she opened it. “Good morning. Can I help you, uh…” Marley hated it when she forgot someones name. “Liam, Liam Masterson, owner of the Marina. We met at the restaurant.” Liam said with a friendly smile. “Oh, yes, Liam. Sorry. I’m horrible with names.” Marley said with a giggle. “SO, Liam, what can I help you with?” “Well, Mr. Searcy came into the restaurant a few minutes ago and said you’d put out an old ship’s wheel. I’d love to take at look at it.” “Sure. I just found it this past weekend. I couldn’t believe nobody hadn’t already snatched it up.” Marley said as she walked around the end of the counter and led him to the section of the store that held mariner type items. “Here it is.” Liam stepped up to the shelf and took a good look at it. “May I pick it up?” “Be my guest.” Marley said happily. “It’s the original patina also. I think it’s in good shape for it’s approximate age.” “I’m thinking it is possibly early to mid 1900’s.” Liam said as he continued to look at the wheel. Marley tilted her head in surprise. “You know your antiques.” She was impressed. “Just when it comes to things of the sea.” Liam laughed at her surprised look. “What? I’m a anything to do with the sea fanatic.” “I love the sea.” Marley said, then she remembered what the two older men had said earlier. “And on that note, is it true there’s a missing treasure just out from the harbor?” Liam lifted his eyes from the wheel to stare at her. “Rumor has it that the treasure was never found. I’m skeptical at best. Why? Do you dive too?” “Yes, several items in this store were found on my dives.” Marley pointed at a picture on the wall of her holding up several gold coins she found while diving off the coast of Georgia. “So, if someone was wanting to dive over the wreckage, who would they see about that? Is it forbidden or protected?” “They’d come see me. I take out divers all the time. Sometimes I dive too. It’s according to my mood when I go out.” Liam crossed his arms across his chest, looking at the woman standing in front of him. “Are you dive certified?” “Have been for years?” Marley said, standing a little straighter as she saw the doubt in his eyes. “I know what I’m doing, so don’t be afraid of that.” “So, would you take me out to the wreckage?” “I don’t think it’s a good idea. That wreckage is unstable and besides that, as I said, I’m skeptical. My best guess is that the treasure is a myth started by someone years ago to make people come to the harbor.” “I’ve dived many old wrecks that were unstable. I’m more than capable to be cautious. Would you think about it?” Marley saw that pushing this man wouldn’t get her anywhere. “I’ll think about it. As I said, the wreck is unstable and shouldn’t be explored. Leave well enough alone and if there is a treasure, which I highly doubt there is, just leave it be.” Liam picked the ships wheel back up. “But I’ll make a decision on this now. Sold.” He grinned as he followed her to the counter. She was a nice looking woman, but he had a bad feeling about taking her to the old wreckage. “You made a good choice. This was a great find.” Marley said as she entered his purchase in her sales system. “I know just where I’ll hang it too. There’s a spot just to the right of my kitchen window where it will look good.” Liam gave Marley his credit card and looked around while she swiped the car. “I’m glad someone revitalized this store. I remember when it was a bait shop, but that was when I was a small boy. It’s been a general store, craft store and one person put a fine art store in here, but that didn’t last too long.” “It’s a great location. I lucked up by getting it and the apartment upstairs solved my housing issue.” Marley said, then she handed him the slip to sign. Liam signed the slip, then looked back up at the woman behind the counter. “You seem too young to be into antiques.” “You’d be surprised.” Marley placed his receipt in the slot on the cash drawer. “Most likely. I’ll give it some thought about taking you to dive the wreck. But please, do some research before you do. I just think it will be a waste of your time. Not to mention the instability of the wreckage. It’s dangerous and I’d hate for you to get hurt.” “I’ll do some research. As you said, it could be a waste of time.” Marley said, mainly to placate this man that seem determined not to let her dive the wreck. And as he said, it could be a waste of time, but she’d still look into it. If there was a chance that the treasure existed, she planned on checking it out. This could be the find of a lifetime. “Glad you’re sensible.” Liam said with a satisfied smile. “I’m going to hang this now. Will you be coming by the restaurant later?” Marley shrugged, “We’ll see. Maybe.” “If you do, I’ll take you to see this on the wall.” Liam said as he put his card up and picked up his purchase. “And tonight is chowder night? You don’t want to miss it.” “I’ll make an effort to come then.” Marley nodded as he walked out the door. She watched him walk past the front windows. He was such a nice looking man. A thrill went down her spine as she thought about seeing him again. There was something about Liam that pulled her in. As she continued to work that day, she decided to ask Liam to take her diving somewhere other than the wreck. Maybe if he saw that she was an experienced diver, then he’d take her to the wreck. With that decision made, she went up to her apartment to freshen up before she walked to the Marina for dinner. It was already bustling with people when she arrived. The hostess seated her near a window overlooking the marina. She ordered the chowder and a small caesar salad. As she waited for her food, she saw Liam come into the dining room. He took her breath away as he smiled at one of the people at the front table. His blue eyes seemed to twinkle, which was so cliche’, but it was true. His presence made everyone smile. She noticed several people wave at him and acknowledge him. He was well liked here in Wishful Harbor. When Liam looked her way, he smiled at her, then started walking in her direction. “I’m glad you decided to come for chowder night. You won’t be disappointed. It’s my great grandmothers recipe.” Liam said as he gestured at the opposite seat. Marly nodded her approval, so he sat down. “I love the view of the harbor. It’s so peaceful.” Marly looked out across the harbor and sighed. Liam watched her face, unable to speak for a moment. She had the kind of beauty that wasn’t over the top, it was just simple and nice. “I agree. The sunset is amazing from here. Sometime you’ll have to go with me for a sunset ride across the harbor.”
Ok that was just a small snippet from Pier Cove. Keep looking for the release date that’s coming soon. This is the fourth book in the Wishful Harbor Series. Each book of the series can be standalone or together. Fall in love with the small seaside town of Wishful Harbor and all of it’s citizens.
Good Monday morning! As writers, we have to make decisions that hurt. When editing our hard work, we have to cut out parts that took hours to type. But it’s necessary to make the manuscript flow. It hurts…
Not long ago, I was working on my manuscript and something felt wrong. But I couldn’t figure it out. The more I wrote into one part, the worse it felt. About three chapters into the bad feeling, I did something that most writers face, I deleted three whole chapters. I really think my fingers bled as I did it.
The fact was, once I deleted the three chapters and started back up writing, it felt right. Although I’d deleted over 6000 hard earned words, my manuscript started to flow again. It was worth the pain and agony of deleting those words.
Sometimes as writers, we do things that don’t make sense. We make mistakes, we correct them, then we move one. But there is one thing for certain, with every red slash of an editors pen, a little piece of us grows stronger. The editors red mark lets us know that the story goes on, even without the deleted words.
So, edit without mercy and write with intention. It’s in a writers blood to continue with the story. Never give up and never surrender even when the red slash of the editors pen rips your heart into pieces.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
P.S. Here’s a link to the book I spoke of above. It hit the top 100 on Amazon in the first three days!
I’m excited to share the cover reveal of “The Knight of Her Heart”. This sweet and funny romance will be coming soon! It’s the first book in The Journal Series. #timetravel #sweetromance #series
I know how hard it is to organize things. Believe me when I say, time is precious. So, that’s why organization is important. Here’s how I set up my 2019 writing schedule.
Over the years I’ve tried to organize my writing schedule and I always overdid it. My expectations were way over what I could manage. I didn’t leave any working room, so if something happened and I got off schedule, well, the whole schedule was off. But this time, I gave myself some breathing room.
Now, don’t think I won’t be writing everyday, because I will, but my word counts are smaller and the deadlines are a little longer. It helps to keep me on task. And on top of that, it helps that my assistant knows my busy schedule, so she made sure I didn’t overdo it.
So, now I’m scheduled all the way through August 2019. The funny thing is, now I have a little extra time to post here and keep up with my promotions. It’s a win-win!
So, how do you keep up with your writing?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
P.S.: With my schedule done, I have several preorders coming up, starting with this one:
It’s the last book in the Sky Ridge Series and you don’t want to miss it…
Stephanie Hurt - Romance Author 